Let me back up so I can take the long way around this story: When I started undergraduate school, I did so with the intention of majoring in English and I had dreams of being a teacher. By the end of the first semester of my freshman year I had put such aspirations aside to pursue other areas of study, namely politics and religion. After a year of rigorous study, I decided that being a student of religion was not my cup of tea. As with English, I set it aside and pursued politics with a vengeance. And then I came to Italy...
One thing that most people probably don't know about me is that my guilty pleasure has always been art. As a child, I was always trying to draw something. I hated coloring books because I liked creating my own images. When I was in high school, I took as many art classes as I could and when I was 17 my high school art teacher, the brilliant and loveable Mrs. Mary Sederburg introduced me to the Italian Renaissance. I soon became entranced by the wonder and majesty of Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and all around great guy). In a nutshell, art history is my baby and I like to spend my spare time (which I never have enough of) studying it. However, I have never really entertained the idea of making a career out of art history because it seemed to me a selfish aspiration. I would think to myself, "What good am I doing mankind by spending my life looking at a bunch of paintings and sculptures?" But, coming to Italy has opened my eyes to the reality that I cannot put out the flame in my soul that is now burning passionately for art. Art is my first and last love and from this day forward I shall devote my years to being a scholar of beauty and form. And, when the time comes for me to appear before God (the only being whose judgment means anything to me), I will have the comfort of knowing that I will have chosen the path best suited to the calling of my heart.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564
If you don't agree that he is truly the master of the Renaissance, you either don't understand him or your don't have taste. :) :) :)
Now, I want everyone to know that simply because I am leaving behind my political aspirations (for now), it does not mean that I will no longer be active within my community. To put it delicately, I am one liberal piece of work and just because I am changing careers does not mean that I am going to shut up. So, to my conservative friends I leave you with the following words: you haven't seen the last of me. We are blessed to live in a democracy and failure to participate in this process (regardless of ideology) is, in my opinion, a form of mass suicide. So, even if you don't vote for President Obama in 2012, make sure you vote. VOTE!
So, here I sit: a once budding political activist turned art historian in training. I am already looking at graduate schools, thinking of getting both my M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History specializing in the Italian Renaissance. I am even thinking that I want to be a professor at a college when it's all said and done. So, once again, I want to be a teacher! It's funny how things work out and I couldn't be happier. I know, of course, that the road ahead is long but, like Michelangelo, I will not back down. I am going to get up every day and come out swinging, hammer and chisel in hand (figuratively speaking) and pursue the beautiful.
Four words: I. LOVE. MY. LIFE.
Or as the Italian's would say, "La vita e bella." (The life is beautiful).
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