I hope you enjoyed reading through my artifacts and that you were able to gather a thorough understanding of my background, the lessons I learned during my freshman year, and how they have shaped me into who I am today. Through this class’ focus on exploring many perspectives on how the world, purpose, and meaning should be viewed I have been able to better understand the limitations of the worldview I grew up with. With this newfound clarity, this class has empowered me to develop my own perspective of life’s meaning and purpose that is grounded in beliefs and values that align with my true identity. While I do not quite know if my evolving perspective fully conforms to any of those that we have discussed in class, I have been able to draw three conclusions about my worldview regarding values and priorities. Through the creation of this project, I have concluded that my worldview is significantly built on the prioritization of journey, the emphasis on self-growth, and the value of autonomy.

I drew the first conclusion from My Freshman 15 playlist and the collage of play ticket artifacts as they both convey my prioritization of enjoying life’s journey over focusing on a supernatural destination in slightly different ways. I mentioned several times throughout my artifacts that I was raised in a very dominating religion. Growing up in this community I was taught to dedicate my entire earthly life to earning rewards in the next, supernatural life. This view neglects appreciation of the tangible aspects of meaning the earthly life offers leading to a very bleak and rigorous lifestyle. These artifacts reflect how I have shifted my priorities from focusing on a world beyond ours to appreciating the bright, colorful meanings the physical realm offers. My playlist demonstrates how I focus my energy on thoroughly enjoying and exploring my present journey by capturing moments of life in the form of music to reflect on. In a different but somewhat similar sense, the play tickets add to the representation of how I better immerse myself in the physical journey. It showcases how I choose to spend my limited time on earth attending theatrical performances and appreciating tangible art instead of working towards heavenly treasures. 

The second conclusion is derived from the third and fourth artifacts as they work together nicely to display how over my freshman year I have grown substantially as an individual. While perusing artifacts to include on my website, I noticed that the only way I knew how to describe my current worldview was to compare it to my old one. This greatly showed me how much of an emphasis self-growth has over how I evaluate my life. These two artifacts–the color pink and Howl’s Moving Castle–exemplified some of my strongest progressions of growth over the past year. The re-claiming of the color pink in my life demonstrates my growth from allowing a misogynistic framework to define me to decide for myself what describes me as a person. Personal growth is also seen in the story Howl’s Moving Castle stands to represent. That artifact conveys how I learned to lean on friendships during tough times rather than internalizing my struggles. These artifacts of personal growth are incredibly important to my worldview as they showcase how I have overcome some of the most difficult challenges in my life so far.

The last conclusion that I have made is that at the very core of my worldview, autonomy is immensely valued. All of my artifacts showcase some aspect of claiming autonomy, but the one that stands out for this value is the picture of me and my brother on the BGSU letters. This photo represents a full-circle moment where it became clear to me that despite all the hardships and heartbreaks I was able to start a new life at BGSU. In this new space, I get to live according to the values and principles that follow my true identity rather than sacrifice my autonomy to conform to a pre-set framework. Since this artifact of autonomy is so vital to my worldview, I listed it last so that, out of everything I have shared with you, this value might be the one that stays with you the longest. 

To wrap up my website I’d like to thank you again for respecting the stories I have shared with you. These five artifacts summarize the aspects that are currently very essential to my worldview. While I’m still unsure if my worldview will end up closely aligning with one of the worldviews we have discussed in class or if it will turn out to be slightly more unique, this class has taught me so much regarding differing perspectives. I have learned how to deepen my understanding of my worldview while also respecting other ways people choose to see the world. Through my website, I hope that you were also able to gain this perspective of respect. I hope that you were also able to learn a little bit about me, my story, and my worldview in a way that benefits your own journey to meaning!

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Someday, everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everyting happens for a reason ~ Unknown

This is a very recent photo of me and my brother posing on the BGSU letters.  I wasn’t expecting to use it as an artifact, but it quickly became a crucial part of understanding my worldview. This artifact has many layers of meaning for me, and through its story, the values of respect, autonomy, and trust in the process of life highly stand out to me as key parts of my worldview.

Throughout my entire childhood, I was homeschooled. I never attended a traditional school even though I begged my mom time and time again to let me go to the local public school. Looking back I see the sound logic and protection in my mom’s decision to keep me and my younger brother home as our local school system’s depth of education was lacking but at the time all I wanted was to be around other kids my age. 

My tiny midwest town offered other opportunities to socialize with peers, such as Little League sports and library activities; however, I still felt very secluded. My social circle was incredibly small, made up almost entirely of my extended family. There were a couple of years when I had a friend group through a church community; these relationships never felt genuine and seemed to just serve a religious purpose. Sadly, when I was sixteen, my mom, my brother, and I, upon deciding to leave the religion, were cut off from one of the only communities that we knew.  I was back to only having my extended family to lean on. Although these family relationships were strained due to the now religious difference, they were the most important thing in my life. 

While I longed for a larger community to be a part of, I convinced myself that I was content with the friendships I had with my extended family, particularly my four cousins who were close in age to me. In my mind, not having outside friends was okay, because these family relationships were eternal. At least that’s the mindset that was preached to me. My extended family fervently declared that “families are forever” and “blood is thicker than water” so often that it was ingrained into my subconscious. Consequently, this way of thinking that was persistently enforced on me warped my worldview. Leading me to believe that the outside world would always be temporary and damaging, but family would always be nurturing and eternal. These phrases, promises, and worldviews are unfortunately unrealistic and controlling, as I would despairingly learn to accept.

Tensions had been growing between me and my extended family for several years, but increased in the summer of 2024. I could do nothing to lessen these issues as they stemmed from our religious differences and my decision to think and view life differently than them. I never treated them differently for viewing the world in the way they chose to, but I did not receive the same kind of respect. I absolutely loved my family and wanted nothing more than to have them as my closest people. But something I’ve learned is that no matter how much you want something to work out, you ultimately have to make peace with reality and move in a different direction that aligns with what you value in your view of life.

  A week before I moved to Bowling Green last fall, I was finally faced with the decision I had been dreading: withhold my individuality and fill a persona my family wanted me to be or to embrace my autonomy and stand on my own values. After years of suppressing the desire to think critically about life and form a worldview that differed from the rest of my family, I was mentally ready to walk away from these ties that were, in all reality, unhealthy and controlling. That didn’t mean that my heart was ready, though.  Even though this time was difficult and heartbreaking, I realized that I had been allowing two things that I gave significant importance to in my worldview to be suppressed just to keep the peace with these family members. These values were respect and autonomy. Despite losing a huge part of my life in this decision, I finally chose to allow myself to have my own worldview and live by the standards my values create.

Moving to Bowling Green felt untimely amidst the confusion and uncertainty of abruptly having my whole life turned upside down. With such a significant loss, it felt like my life was ending, but I chose to believe that it was just beginning and that, as the saying goes, life would find a way of working out. This mindset is what drove me to earnestly find my place at BG. This era of working hard towards an unknown future despite experiencing such a shattering blow taught me something that I hold at the front of my worldview currently: life truly does work out.

This picture of me and my brother posing at the BGSU letters encapsulates this important lesson of working hard and trusting life to work out. To me, this picture serves as proof that no matter what challenges I face in life, I can stay true to my values, work honestly, and trust that the future will unfold even better than if I were the one directing every scene myself.

When we took this picture a couple of weeks ago, I immediately loved it. It was taken at the Presidents Day event, the same day my brother told me that he had decided to join me as a falcon in the fall. Every time I looked at it, I was just filled with joy and excitement. I didn’t know exactly what it was about the picture that meant so much to me; I just assumed that it was related to the fact that I was excited to have my brother living near me again. However, thinking about it, I realized that it was more than just that. Seeing my brother get his first photo at the letters felt like a full-circle moment. It reminded me of my first picture at the BG letters and showed me how far I’ve been able to come in developing my own life guided by my own worldview and values because I dared to step away from a life that was not working. This picture was proof that despite all the challenges, anxieties, and hard work, life truly did work out in a way better than I could have dreamed. 

To me, this picture is a significant artifact of my current worldview, serving as a reminder that staying true to myself despite my extended family’s backlash and trusting life to provide opportunities, even when I couldn’t yet see them, has led me to my current era at BG. It’s a life I never planned on, but now, I couldn’t imagine living without it.

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There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family ~ Unknown

This artifact is a movie that my suitemate introduced me to. Ever since she was younger, this movie had been a place of comfort and peace that she would turn to during tough times. She shared this warming movie with me, hoping to cheer me up after an especially rough day. Her care, kindness, and thoughtfulness taught me a lot about the value of friendship and community that night. This movie, Howl’s Moving Castle, reminds me both of how even the toughest days can be joyful and warmhearted with genuinely good friends and how I can learn from my suitemate how to offer the same care and kindness to other people in my life.

Growing up as a homeschooler in a very small town, my freshman year at college held many experiences and opportunities that were both new and exciting. I could attend fun campus events such as football games, hockey games, and Falcon Friday events. I also had the opportunity to participate in a few career-building events, such as the IAAPA conference trip with my major and the Thompson Career Readiness Conference through my Thompson Scholarship. There were also many opportunities to give back to the community. I attended several events like this, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, For The Public Good Day of Service, and Letters of Love meetings. One of the most important aspects, however, has definitely been the opportunities to build new friendships and connections. All together, these new experiences and opportunities have been critical and inspirational to my self-growth.  However, new experiences unfortunately also come with new stresses. Moving out of state, living with new people, attending a traditional school system for the first time, and exploring the plethora of ways to get involved on campus was often overwhelming.

Throughout the year, I generally tried to internalize my stress. I don’t enjoy having a lot of attention on me, especially if it is because I am struggling with something. For a while, I viewed admitting that I was having a rough time as a sense of bothering, disappointing, or failing others. To avoid this disappointment, I strived to keep any additional attention off of me by embodying a calm and stable nature. Looking back, I recognize that this mindset was unhealthy because bottling your stress and emotions ultimately can and will cause more stress and burnout. 

Eventually, one particularly difficult day and the kindness of my suitemate led me to realize the importance of building authentic friendships to lean on during hard times. On this specific day, I was dealing with housing complications for my summer internship, cleaning up a mess in my room that I hadn’t made, attacking a load of assignments, stressing about an exam, and rushing to make it to dinner plans. A lot was going on, but nothing I didn’t think I could manage. That was until later that night when there was suddenly an issue between a mutual friend and me, as well as my suitemates. I didn’t understand where the sudden conflict had come from, but that, combined with everything I had been dealing with that day, just became too much. My suitemate immediately noticed this and offered a safe space to unload the emotions that were weighing on me. Instead of pushing my overwhelming stress away, I allowed myself to lean on the kindness and warmth the friendship with my suitemate provided. 

The decision to open up to my friend instead of keeping everything to myself was probably the greatest opportunity I took this year, as it deepened the value I put on friendship as well as showed me how kindness and care can be shown in many ways. After my suitemate saw how distraught and stressed I was, she did her best to create a comforting and relaxing environment, wishing to make me feel at least a little bit better. She planned a whole night filled with our favorite activities, starting with dinner at our go-to spot on campus. The Oaks has become my suite’s version of Friends’s “Central Perk.” We like to have group dinners there at least a couple of times a week, especially when we see good food on the menu. On this particular night, they were serving one of our favorite Oaks meals: nachos! After we enjoyed a fun dinner at the dining hall, we stopped by the Union to buy cheesecake before heading back to the dorm to settle in with some cozy movies.

The first movie we watched was my suitemate’s favorite, Howl’s Moving Castle. This film significantly boosted our morale and created a calming atmosphere through its wholesome characters and animation styles. In a way, it was also enforcing the values I was learning through my real-life situation, as the film’s storyline has a focus on found family. Watching the movie’s characters grow close and be there for each other while experiencing a similar storyline in my reality was impactful. This simple night of good food, comforting movies, and thoughtful friends profoundly influenced my worldview. Through my friend’s display of unconditional kindness, I learned to change my view on how I should approach relationships. I use the memory of this night as a reminder to not view leaning on my friends during tough times as burdensome or disappointing, but rather as a healthy and comforting way to grow personally and in my relationships with them. I also learned through my friend’s example that I can make a positive impact on others’ lives by being there for them, even in the smallest ways. To me, Howl’s Moving Castle is an important artifact of my current worldview as it serves as a reminder of the kindness my suitemate offered during a very overwhelming moment in my life. This artifact also represents the values of friendship, community, and compassion that I have always respected but now have a deeper connection to.

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Identity cannot be found or fabricated but emerges from within when one has the courage to let go ~ Doug Cooper

This artifact isn’t a singular object, nor is it specifically any of the items included in the collage pictured. Instead, it is the color all of these items have: pink. While this artifact feels somewhat abstract, it still represents a crucial aspect of my worldview. While searching for artifacts to include in this project, I noticed an abundance of pink in my life. Almost every outfit I wore, bag I carried, items I decorated my dorm with, and doodles I colored my belongings with incorporated a shade of pink in one way or another. It was a lot of pink, but it was just a color; how could it hold any significant meaning to my worldview? 

I overlooked the possibility of using pink as an expressive artifact for a while. I simply saw it as a color I’ve loved since I was little. However, one day when I was still stuck on which artifacts I should include, I realized that, while I have loved the color since childhood, there was a period when I absolutely resented it. For a time, the color was associated with a specific persona and false identity that I was pressured to conform to by the community that I was raised in. When I realized the level of control and restriction that this community had over my autonomy, I felt a sense of betrayal and injustice. As a result, I wanted nothing to do with anything that reminded me of pressure to conform to a persona that did not reflect who I truly was. Slowly, over time, I learned how to reclaim aspects of my life from the limiting ideals I was raised in. This act of recovering pieces of my authentic self represents some of the key values in my worldview: personal growth and self-identity.

I was practically born into a very rigid religion that promoted strict fundamentalist beliefs, especially regarding gender roles and responsibilities. Ever since I was little, I was taken to Sunday school, Sunday evening services, Wednesday evening services, and church-related weekend activities. As one can probably see, it was a community that filled up so much of my youth with all of these different services and activities that I was expected to attend. Throughout my many years as a church member, their religious ideals, standards, and expectations were repeatedly enforced into my way of viewing the world and living. The preaching of fundamentalist beliefs turned even more forceful when I became a teenager. It was vital to the church that the young ladies were brought up with the understanding of the religious view of their place in society, which was often very limiting and misogynistic. Standards of femininity that controlled my autonomy and independence were presented to me as the only correct way to live; lifestyles that didn’t conform to their expectations of women were labeled as rebellious and wrong. As I grew older, I realized more and more how dominating and restricting these roles that were cut out for me were.

At the same time that I was experiencing the first aspects of my individuality and independence being stripped away to conform to these religious roles, my mom fully embraced issues that she had with the church. She decided to pull us away from the denomination. After leaving the religion and not constantly sitting through sermons indoctrinating my thinking about how I should view the world, I was able to see the extent of how much of my autonomy had been controlled by fundamentalist ideals. In this realization, there was a sense of betrayal as these people had been my main community for almost my entire life. Catching on that this community wasn’t truly welcoming or supportive, as they expected you to sacrifice your right to autonomy and independence, was especially heartbreaking. In an effort to remove the hurt as well as hold the church community had on me, I rejected all elements that typically contain feminine connotations, including the color pink. 

I self-separated myself from genuine feminine aspects, preferences, and qualities as a form of self-protection. After realizing how limited I had been in embracing my autonomy and individuality, I was determined not to lose these aspects again. The only way I knew how to do that at the time was to avoid everything that reminded me of the identity the fundamentalist views enforced on me, even if I had once loved those elements of life. 

For a couple of years, I explored new hobbies, styles, and interests that didn’t fit into the typical role of femininity that I grew up with. While I enjoyed and grew a love for some of these new aspects of life, it ultimately felt like I was missing a part of my identity. In hindsight, I can see how I spent a lot of time thinking that I needed to find “new” ways of identifying and defining myself when, in reality, I had naturally already found the hobbies, styles, and interests that complemented who I truly was. However, I allowed them to be tainted by opinions and ideals that were not mine. 

Even though I had left the religion several years prior, it wasn’t until I fully moved away for college that I was able to express my individuality comfortably. Taking myself out of the area and community I grew up in helped me feel comfortable reclaiming the aspects of my life that I had pushed away when trying to protect my autonomy. Experiencing leaving my first home to build a new one at college gave me insight into what I valued in my identity regarding views, preferences, hobbies, and qualities. In this new space, I was liberated from needing to protect myself from limiting communities and found the freedom to express my individuality, live autonomously, and embrace my own identity. Gradually, without even thinking too much about it, my genuine preferences reappeared in my daily life as if I had never refused my love for them. Among many things, pink started to fill my life again, and this time, I didn’t look at it through the lens of it embodying an enforced form of femininity but simply as my favorite color. 

This artifact of the color pink may initially seem abstract and meaningless, similar to how I viewed it when I was first picking out artifacts. However, understanding the different meanings the simple color of pink has offered me over my life so far reveals a much deeper and personal aspect of my view of the world. Through my childhood love of the color, my teenage resentment of it, and now my young adult reclaiming it, the values of personal growth and self-identity shine, representing the importance I place on autonomy and individuality and the circumstances that developed these values in my worldview.

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I regard the theater as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being. ~ Thornton Wilder

This is a collage of the tickets to several plays I have seen over the past two semesters. I was not expecting plays or any form of theatrical/performative art to have such a significant presence in my college life. To my surprise, many of my weekends were spent attending plays with the Honors Learning Community (HLC) and my suitemate’s dance, band, and improv performances. Additionally, I would watch new shows several nights a week with my suitemates. Through these activities and events, I realized how profoundly meaningful and intrinsic the art of performance is. I learned how beneficial making connections within a work, discussing interpretations with peers, and applying concepts presented in the art to my worldview is to my overall growth as a socially aware and educated individual. Furthermore, through the arts represented in this artifact, I developed a new value that has become foremost in my worldview. This newfound value includes appreciation for theatrical/performative art and the critical depth it offers.

Before moving to Bowling Green to pursue higher education, I lived in the same tiny town for my whole childhood. While growing up in a small community sounds pleasant in theory, it immensely limited my personal growth. Much of the town was set in its ways about how to think about reality and the styles in which people should lead their lives. There wasn’t much consideration for open-mindedness, self-expression, or deeper education. Due to the stationary aspects of the community in which I was raised, I wasn’t exposed to the depth and meaningful creations the artistic side of life offered until I moved. 

Even without a massive focus on the arts in my hometown community, I still enjoyed theatrical/performative art through movies and TV shows. However, a passive attitude toward thinking critically about films was instilled in me. Comments such as “It doesn’t matter, it’s just a movie,” “Just watch the show,” and “Who knows, who cares” were the usual dismissals I received in response to ideas, questions, or theories I had about the film we were watching. In a larger sense, it dismissed the creative genius and hard work that went into making these movies and films. Subconsciously, I adopted this minimizing and passive outlook on creative works not because it aligned with how I viewed art but simply because that was all I knew. 

Bowling Green was a completely different setting compared to my hometown. There is such a vast art appreciation, presence, and community in BG that I didn’t have the opportunity to experience growing up. Not only is the town so full of art, but a lot of the university classes and learning communities place importance on creating, respecting, and thinking critically about the different art forms and messages that creators share with the world. This curious and admiring perspective on how art should be looked at was like seeing the world through fresh eyes. In this space, it was encouraged to think deeply about a piece of art, ask questions, challenge it, and discuss it with others. It was a starkly different atmosphere compared to my old home. Bowling Green was bright, innovative, and engaging, while my hometown was, regretfully, faded, stagnant, and superficial. 

Within the new, supportive, and creative environment of BG, I was able to attend several theatrical performances and learn how to engage with them actively. The HLC and my honors classes guided students in observing and analyzing the performance’s expressive and subtle messages in an immersive and critical mindset. They taught us how to draw logical conclusions and gather evidence to support our interpretations. This incredibly engaging and appreciative attitude toward theatrical performances introduced me to a whole new way of viewing art that was both beneficial and inspiring.

Through my education at Bowling Green State University, I have had the opportunity to attend several plays live and dissect several more through their written editions. During the fall semester, I traveled with the HLC to Stratford, Canada, where we watched the productions “The Twelfth Night” and “Something Rotten” at their Shakespearean Festival. Again, I traveled with the HLC to Detroit in the spring to see “Come From Away.” It was fascinating to experience these plays in person after reading many lectures on actively engaging with what is happening on stage. In addition, it was rewarding to be able to discuss the plays with other HLC members afterward and share our insights and interpretations. This shared desire to appreciate and think critically about theatre created a sense of community that I lacked when I was younger. This art-based community was also present in my honors classes, where we spent the semester reading through several plays rather than watching them. After reading the plays, I looked forward to discussing them with my suitemates. Having the same play reading assignments allowed us to connect more as we shared our thoughts, confusions, likes, and issues over the play at hand. The critical thinking skills we learned in the classroom also brought us closer through movie nights where we watched shows together, not passively but actively, as we often shared and discussed our opinions and views on the film we were currently watching.

This artifact, although simple as it’s just a collage of tickets, beautifully represents a profound set of skills, appreciation, and community that I have gained through the value of appreciating theatrical/performative art and the critical depth it offers. These tickets don’t just confirm my attendance at a particular play at a specific time; they document the end of my old dismissive view of art and the beginning of my fresh view of creativity and its deeper meanings.

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Funny how a melody sounds like a memory ~ Eric Church

Creating playlists is one of the first things I will tell you about myself. Over the past few years, listening to music has become one of the most essential aspects of my daily routine. Out of all the playlists I have curated, I chose this playlist to be one of my artifacts as it is one of the few that creatively represent several aspects of my worldview. To create an alternate meaning for the usually negative phrase “the freshman fifteen” was the initial inspiration for this playlist. Over time, it also became a place to store songs that I either really liked or heard often during my freshman year at college. In a way, it is a time capsule of sorts. My playlist “The Freshman 15” is a careful selection and arrangement of fifteen songs that characterize several key values of my worldview, including creativity, reflection, and optimism through song. 

I believe that everybody has a creative outlet they use to understand and express themselves. Even if someone doesn’t consider themselves imaginative or creatively talented, I guarantee there is an artistic hobby intrinsically woven into their routine that they haven’t recognized yet. Music is mine, but the scope of these hobbies is extensive. One might express oneself through the more performative arts of dance or acting. They might try to understand themselves through the softer art of writing by creating short stories, poetry, or journal entries. One might find clarity through the visual arts of sculpting, painting, and photography. They might find peace through crafty arts like sewing, crocheting, and scrapbooking. All these creative activities give people space to express and understand themselves, and music is what currently gives me just that.

Though I’m still young, I’ve gone through several creative phases. Different practices or hobbies brought me understanding, peace, or comfort in varied ways during separate eras of my life. When I was in middle school, the art I gravitated toward was drawing; I was constantly illustrating comic strips, clothing, and random concepts that popped into my mind. However, when I reached high school, I grew out of this drawing phase. It simply no longer helped me relax and find clarity. Instead, it became more of a frustration. Naturally, I shifted from one artistic phase to the next, as growing minds can be expected to do. Instead of drawing, I began to gravitate naturally towards writing; crafting my thoughts into stories or poetry was easier than turning them into a detailed picture. After slowly exploring the craft of writing, I found that I loved the art so much that I diligently taught myself how to develop my writing skill set. Expanding my talent in writing was somewhat challenging as I never had the opportunity to attend a structured writing class due to being homeschooled. Despite this challenge, the comfort this art brought encouraged me to create journal entries, play scripts, short stories, poetry, lyrics, or novels for several years. Sadly though, as I neared adulthood, my schedule grew busier and I didn’t have much time to sit down and write. Like drawing, writing became a source of stress and frustration rather than peace and understanding. 

At some point during my high school years, music subtly replaced writing as my creative outlet. Back then, I was always listening to music. It was always playing in the background, whether I was cleaning my room, getting ready for the day, studying, reading, or exercising. While I enjoyed their beats and melodies, what really drew me into songs was the deep emotional level I could connect my current life with the lyrics. This private connection offered a safe space to feel and understand my growing and changing identity creatively.

When I first started creating playlists, I just threw whatever song sounded good onto a megaplaylist. There really wasn’t a purpose or reason behind their arrangements. However, after re-listening to these playlists a few years later, I noticed an underlying theme to them even if I hadn’t meant to create it. These themes deeply reflected the situations I was dealing with back then, as well as how I was internally struggling with them. Recognizing these underlying themes, I realized that I had unintentionally used music to work through emotional struggles on my own. Not only had I documented my journey through difficult situations, but I had also captured memories of the lessons and values I gained during those times through these melodies. This realization almost felt like a precious treasure; I had discovered my unique way of processing the world through music and memory.

Before this realization, I spent a lot of time searching for a perfect method of understanding myself. In my mind, using art to understand life had to be a deliberate habit that demanded a substantial amount of energy and time to be genuinely beneficial. This false assumption caused me to overlook how I was already processing the significant elements of my life through music. After seeing the themes of self-expression slowly reveal themselves through my old disorganized playlists, I felt a sense of liberation and purpose that only truly understanding yourself can bring. I decided that I now wanted to consciously work through my internal struggles and capture my memories in the form of carefully crafted playlists. 

Even with this determination, it wasn’t until I moved to college that I fully realized music had become a key part of my identity. When meeting new people or being obliged to participate in icebreaker games, my interest in music and love for creating unique and meaningful playlists were the first things I thought to talk about. When working on articulating how I viewed the world for this website project, I immediately knew my playlists needed to be one of my artifacts. Still, I wasn’t sure exactly why or what they represented that was significant to my worldview. I sat with the artifact for a while, trying to understand why music was so important in my life. I even wrote a draft on a different series of playlists I’d created before realizing I still hadn’t properly presented how this hobby contributes to the greater picture of how I see life. Gradually, after playing around with the artifact concept for a little while, I saw how my values of creativity, reflection, and optimism were reflected in my most recently curated playlist: “The Freshman 15.”

My playlist, “The Freshman 15,” contains the top fifteen songs I associate with my first year at college. It is a creative twist on the phrase “freshman fifteen,” which usually refers to the weight college freshmen are expected to gain. This playlist redefines the negative phrase that discourages a healthy body image into a fun and nostalgic playlist that I can return to. It also serves as a time capsule of my first year at college by orchestrating memories into the music that constantly surrounded me during this time. This playlist is a perfect artifact of my worldview as it demonstrates how I subtly use creativity to uphold values of reflection and optimism.

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