Introductions, Please!

Hello, my name's Catrina! When reflecting on what could be considered my defining characteristics, I would have to say that I am organized, determined, goal-oriented and overall a rather open-minded and quiet person. I may not be the most talkative individual, but I have big plans in life and thrive off of setting and accomplishing new goals. My life revolves around learning, and I spend long hours in the labs and working on projects (and often not getting an ideal amount of sleep because of it). As stressful as a heavy workload can be, I try to maintain a positive outlook and remind myself how grateful I am to be able to have these experiences. When I'm not working away, I love to find peace in nature, whether that be at the beach, in the woods or simply on a walk outside. Outside of the visual arts, my interests lie in many areas, from animal science to science fiction to music-making. 

I come from a rural area in Pennsylvania, surrounded by forests, fields and mountains. It has a very small-town feel, and with that comes a close connectedness amongst family and friends. My lineage varies with each side of the family. My father is Italian, which leads to the origin of my last name, Miccicke, and my mother is Polish and German. My family always identified most with our Italian heritage, and Italian food was an important element of our household as I grew up. My mother helped to bring out my creative spirit and forge the discipline that I hold myself to today, and my father taught me that there are strengths that can be found in being open-minded and taking a quieter approach to life. 

When it comes down to it, I tend to ground myself and my decision-making to reality. In a world where it is incredibly easy to compare your life to the filtered lives of others in media, it is easy to get lost in "could-haves" and "should-haves", but at the end of the day you cannot change the past, and in reality you cannot control every aspect of your lives. When I find myself caught up in the past or taking a negative approach to situations, I ground myself in the knowledge that hard-work and determination prevails above all else. I don't want to wait around to get lucky - it's not realistic. I would rather make my own luck instead. 

Living with a realistic standpoint tends to lead to an onslaught of negativity when consuming media. I try to keep up with major events in the world and on social issues and movements, but the fact of the matter is that optimistic news does not usually make a good story, and thus the ratio of negative to positive outlooks on the world is often unbalanced. It can be hard to look past all of the problems of the world, but I do my best to seek out more optimistic sources as well. Over the past few months I have begun distancing myself from sources of media that leave me with a sense of negativity, and I am trying to utilize my time with these sources wisely. I don't want to be blind to the happenings of the world, but as a general trend I find that I can maintain a much more positive outlook when I focus more on the direct influences of day-to-day life rather than larger problems that I cannot change. Time is limited, so I am working to utilize that time in the mediascape in ways that will benefit me the most.

I try to stay open-minded, and this has definitely helped me when approaching new sources of media and the new outlooks they present. I find great pleasure in reading and viewing visual media, but am often critical of shortcomings in regards to insensitive works and skeptical of large claims as I learn more about the world. Finding a balance when it comes to media consumption and interpretation is an ongoing process for me, but when that balance is met the result is fulfilling.