RITA (2nd year)

"Ironically, now that I’m at university I think more deeply about my home country than when I used to live there. I think of the way I want to help people there; I think of the way I want to do something meaningful there. But I never thought I would ever be thinking of this. It’s the first time that I feel, I may have found my purpose; it’s confusing and scary though. And at the same time, I can see how my family’s tradition of helping those in need and my passion for photography and cinema actually fit into the proverbial picture. The latter most likely comes from my appreciation for life’s aesthetic side, like my love for fashion and pop art. Although the fashion industry’s ethical aspects are very concerning, it highlights how I still strive to find meaning in everyday life. Even if doing so is not very straightforward, and in this case, even outright conflicting. My ways of self-expression as an evolving human being are anything but simple and straightforward. When I was younger, I was ambitious and wanted to do something big. However, I realised that there is no shame in appreciating the little things in life like the familiar routines of home. However, there are also other precious and unique places where I feel a good kind of loneliness; the kind which frees, motivates, and empowers. Travelling, like cinema, reminds me that one can find meaning in the most unexpectedly intimate ways, which then become a source of joy and shape your daily life in positive ways. Like when something about a movie strikes you and stays with you even after viewing it. Like when I went to Japan and recognised the fishes at an aquarium from my favourite childhood game, Animal Crossing, and how happy I felt when I realised that they were all real. I believe in the idea of “harvesting your luck”: accepting that there are going to be good and bad moments. Even if I am in the (perhaps never-ending) process of overcoming challenges within and around myself, I regard all the little happy moments of my life as a whole constituting my happiness. "