Name: Andre Nandi Mix: Bulgarian & Bengali Major & Year: Computer Science; Sophomore
Q: How has being mixed affected your campus experience?
A: It has put me in a unique position to look at situations from two very different perspectives. While it’s hard to find people exactly like me, I’m able to find some commonalities with a large spectrum of identities
Q: What do you wish more people knew about the mixed experience?
A: Being mixed means you are in a very interesting middle ground between identities. Every mixed person has a very special relationship with the cultures that make them who they are. While some embrace one and look like the other, others may embrace both and look like outsiders in both. Everyone navigates these complexities and finds a home in very different but beautiful ways.
Q: Who is the most influential person in your life?
A: My parents are the most influential people in my life. Whether it’s coming from poverty to living through the end of communism in their country, they took massive risks to come to the US and make a life for themselves. They constantly teach me very vastly different perspectives, and while I don’t always agree with them, these two sides make me who I am.
If you’ve ever read the Great Gatsby, you’ll know the narrator, Nick Carraway, seems like a stranger in his own life. He is an observer, watching as his life unfolds in the third person. One of my favorite quotes from Nick is “I was both within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” I feel that in my own life at times. The hustle of it all can be overwhelming, and oftentimes I feel like I have no control. I realize, the further away I get away from my authentic self, the less I feel in my own body. I become a marionette held up by the expectations that guide me.
Being creative is a way to escape the hold of these strings, and that’s something creator Anna Ho embodies. Being a sophomore at Ross Business School, she is no stranger to the pressure to achieve and how stifling it can be.
Me: So what’s it like being a business student? It seems like there is a lot of pressure there.
Anna: *sighs and laughs* It’s definitely difficult, they make it set up in a way where everything is so competitive.
Me: How does it affect you to be in such an environment?
Anna: You know it can be isolating. Sometimes it feels like in a world of yellow people, I’m a red person.
Me: Yikes, that does not sound fun. How do you deal with that, being a red person in a yellow-person environment?
Anna: Honestly, I think it’s just about doing what makes you happy. When I am myself, there are always going to be people who judge me. No matter what I do, or what I wear, I find that people can be passive-aggressive about it. At the same time, when I am myself, other people appreciate that. They’ll look at what I wear or something and say “I like what you’re doing.” That’s something I find really nice cause it feels like it’s okay to express myself the way I want.
Me: So it’s about being authentic?
Anna: Exactly.
Me: Might I ask who the authentic you is?
Anna: *laughs nervously* Uhh.. good question.
Talking to Anna, I was immediately comforted by her energy. I have the feeling she’s the type of person to sit you down and treat you like a friend whether or not you’ve known her for 10 minutes or 2 years. She puts this energy into what she creates. A dancer since she was 7, she is used to using her body as a tool for expression. Perhaps that’s what drew her to fashion.
Me: I know you’re into fashion, so got any style tips?
Anna: So many. I’ve tried so many different styles throughout my life and I think it’s just a matter of interest. Honestly Pinterest, do you have Pinterest?
Me: Yeah *sighs* It fuels my shopping addiction.
Anna: Girl, same.
Both: *Laughs*
Anna: No, but it’s fun though. Also “what are you wearing” videos in New York. People in New York go all out.
In addition to fashion and dance, Anna likes to explore new realms of creativity. She’s begun journaling more often to relieve stress and hopes to own her inner grandma by learning how to crochet. She’s made me want to try new things too, and she does a good job selling the idea of podcasting. It must be the business student in her.
“Mind Maps Podcast” with Anna Ho
Me: Okay so speaking of podcasts, you have a mind maps podcast right? What was the inspiration for that?
Anna: It was actually high school. I took this one class with my French teacher who also taught a news broadcasting-type class. He was super into videography and I was too. Anyway, he talked to us about how easy it was to set up a podcast using this platform called Anchor, which basically takes care of all the podcasting logistics for you. It uploads straight to Spotify and everything.
Me: So what you’re saying is I could just start a podcast right now?
Anna: I mean…
Me: So what’s the mind maps podcast about?
Anna: It was about exploring different people’s mindsets outside of my little bubble. At first, I just interviewed my friends but eventually, I got to branch out and talk to other people. It was kind of my way of learning more about other people.
Anna agrees that Ann Arbor can be a bit of a bubble at times, with people constantly chasing success. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the rat race of it all. Her mind maps podcast is a way of branching out. Through her podcast, Anna has managed to talk to many different types of students, professors, and professionals. She has gotten to know their perspectives on the world. Her favorite interviewee was a British flight attendant, who lives a fun life far removed from the everyday stresses of college students. She likes how everyone has a story to tell, one that is unique to them.
It’s interesting to view our lives this way, as stories in the middle being told. As young students, we can get caught up in our own lives, and forget those around us. Sonder is the word for it, this profound awareness that people are living lives just as complex as our own. It’s a realization that opens life up a bit, that frees us to live life authentically, acknowledging there is no way our stories can be the same as someone else’s. Reminding us to own our individuality.
Me: So back to the authenticity question. Who are you at your most authentic self?
Anna: Hmm…I feel like my authentic self is just somebody who doesn’t care what other people think, someone who does things for themselves. It’s about doing things that make me happy, not because I think someone expects or wants that from me, but because it feels genuine to me.
Fortunately for Anna, she has found some like-minded people in Ross, other creators looking to express themselves. While in the same class, Anna met Sophie and Simon. Later, they met Priya and formed Campus Creators. A new student organization focused on giving creators a safe space to come together and foster creativity. Reaffirming the idea that it’s okay to be authentic, no matter how that looks.
Editors’ Note: Our reasoning for including this entry and its successors is twofold. First, it provides a glimpse into the current situation and culture of Tokavsk and its inner court. The diary entry of the chief advisor is of the utmost value to this anthology. We have confirmed its legitimacy through careful study, though were it a forgery it would still warrant a place here. The murder of advisor Jalic Seshet sent the court into a state of chaos that we are attempting to sort through. Thus, the following pieces form a reconstruction of the ensuing events that took place over several weeks. They are not in chronological order but are rather arranged in such a way that they tell a cohesive narrative. When originally compiling this, we were only to include the report of the guards because it was all we had, but the wealth of information we later overturned lead to the need for significant revision.
Seshet is no more. I was aroused by this news, and now that I have time to think I am penning it ere it slips from my memory. I still have not processed the fact that he is dead. Though it was hours ago, I hear the frantic words of Pellin over and over as though for the first time inside my mind. The truth of it sinks into me, and then I blink and the initial shock fades again. Jalic Seshet, dead. The flinch, the watering of the eyes, then the strange indifference that is the substitute for grief.
Later
The meeting with the King was sullen. With one less robe and voice among us, our positions felt strained and empty. We could not close the circle around the throne without noticing the greater distance. The room was too silent, but no words were sufficient to penetrate it. Even the King was at a loss. We still had appointments to prepare for and bills to consider, but none of that could be done when one of our number was now dead. A heaviness settled about us, and all and all we fulfilled none of our tasks.
So this is my finalization of Simon’s outfits. One for when he’s in one place, another for when he’s in another. I wanted to add colors but forgot I did everything from the sketch to the lineart in one layer.
I’ve been forgetting to draw the choker in my sketches lately. Perhaps I’ll remove it in the future.
While I’ve posted mecha art and mecha designs here a few times before, I haven’t posted an actual mecha design sheet akin to what would be used on a project such as a video game to guide 3D modelers and other artists further down the production pipeline when replicating the designs that will appear in the final product. As such, I fleshed out and designed Toshiaki Mizushima’s Oyoroi mech “Bhairava” to demonstrate my mecha and character design skills in a portfolio-ready art piece.
While I referenced several different mech design sheets (such as color guides for gunpla and design sheets for fanmade Gundams) to inform what visual information I needed to convey with this design sheet, I took heavy inspiration from the information conveyed by this mech design sheet made for Honkai Impact 3rd.
Also, if you’re on campus on Saturday, April 1st, you can come see me and buy prints from me at the What the F Art Fair in the Kuenzel Room of the Michigan Union from 12:30-4:30. Yes, it’s on the same day as Hash Bash, and no, it’s not an April Fool’s Day joke! You can also come find me tabling at Con Ja Nai in the Modern Languages Building on April 8th from noon to 6pm, so there’s plenty of opportunities to come find me!
Good Afternoon Everybody! I hope that you are all doing well. For those of you who are students, hang in there, the semester is almost to an end!
This past week I decided to do one of the hardest things that I have ever done. After much research and deliberation, I embarked on a journey to do a 5-day water fast. This means that I did not eat or consume any calories for 5 days and only drank water with basic electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium substituted. I was hoping to go 7 full days; however, I made sure to listen to my body and stopped when I felt that I needed to. I wanted to write this post to demonstrate how my art was the sole thing that made this process easier.
As a bit of background and for anyone who may be asking why I would every do this, here it is. I have struggled with my body image and relationship with food for quite some time. The past 6-7 months have been very challenging for me and I wanted to do something positive that would not only help me regain control physically, but mentally as well. Fasting has proven evidence of reducing risks of cancer and diabetes, increasing autophagy, decreasing anxiety and depression, and of course aiding in weight loss.
Though this was a mentally challenging process, I turned to my painting and art to take my mind off of some of the physical difficulties throughout this process. I found that this was a test of mental fortitude and discipline more than anything else. Focusing on classes, work, research, and my art were the best things for me. I have found over the past year that when things get tough for me, I end up prioritizing everything over my art. As someone who gleans cathartic release from art, I have slowly taught myself that doing art is a form of self care. Working on your mental health is oftentimes the most important in order to achieve any external goals.
For those of your who are artists, enjoy art, or maybe have never even tried it, I urge you to take time for yourself and engage in something to take your mind off of daily stressors.
As always, if any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me!
As a bit of background and for anyone who may be asking why I would every do this, here it is. I have struggled with my body image and relationship with food for quite some time. The past 6-7 months have been very challenging for me and I wanted to do something positive that would not only help me regain control physically, but mentally as well. Fasting has proven evidence of reducing risks of cancer and diabetes, increasing autophagy, decreasing anxiety and depression, and of course aiding in weight loss.