Self-Expression – Voices 38

I live my life with more structure than most. Since I started college two years ago, I’ve made sure that every day is planned out in detail. I take a pretty hefty course load, and have zero wiggle room for inefficiency in my schedule.

The days can get long, and I’ve needed an outlet to let myself go whenever I get the chance. My way of doing this is by designing my school’s newspaper.

I know, it seems like this is just another academic resume-builder like most of the classes I’m taking. But it is truly something that makes me feel at peace.

The essence of my job is to take the stories and photographs for the month’s upcoming edition and format them into a visually appealing and artistic format. My editor gives me a ton of freedom, and they trust me to design it just about however I please.

When I’m designing, I lose all perception of time passing. Usually when I’m doing something, a clock is always in the corner of my eye to make sure I’m getting it done by the deadline. But when I’m experimenting with the colors, shapes and styles of the articles of the edition, I’m in a state of flow that is unlike anything else I do.

It’s funny that such a random activity could be such a wonderful practice of self-expression for me. I’d like to think that working on the newspaper these past two years has helped me spread my creativity into other parts of my life, even in some of the more boring tasks I do during my daily life.

While writing essays I consider its visual aspects. When I write letters home, I add colors and texture. Getting this small window into designing has taught me not just how to express myself on the newspaper, but also in my life has a whole.