Inspirations

In 2016, I had the opportunity to study abroad at the Freie Universitat
in Berlin, Germany for my junior year (FU LINK)

I was interested in Berlin for reasons other than amazing beer, curry worst and free public transit—which came as a lovely surprise for my parents as well too, don’t worry. I had been following the Refugee crisis and knew Germany was (at the time) one of the top countries to be accepting refugees from various Middle Eastern countries. I was incredibly interested in how the country as a whole viewed this decision. I learned while there, that from this decision, came a multitude of conflicting and complicated issues in allowing such a large influx of migrants into Germany, shaping the future of the country.  I had also researched the alternate and experimental art scene that has been woven into the culture of Berlin, so I packed the coolest alternative jean jacket I had (@Gap—thanks!) , and my Birkenstocks, (just in case it went above 9 degrees-- Rather be safe than sorry—am I right?) and headed on over Berlin in January 2016.

While there I took a course called, ‘Art and Dictatorship’. I had learned about the Holocaust in the classic American grade school way of ‘Germans are evil and Americans are perfect’ but being in the spaces where the Holocaust took place, needless to say, was a completely different experience. Mrs. Daily’s 9^th grade social studies class, didn’t really prepare me for this one. Interacting physically with the different spaces of where aspects of the Holocaust took place; going to concentration camps, speaking with Holocaust survivors, learning the stories, the immensity of lives lost, brought me to a place of understanding/coming to terms with the deep evil that human beings are capable of.