HEALTH & ART
My name is Anna, and I’m 20 years old. I’m a business and psychology major concentrating in health care management/consulting, and I love to create.
Art and music, for me, has been a crucial part in not only relieving stress, but also expressing experiences and feelings into shape, color, and song. Every visual or auditory piece I make can be linked to a song, a feeling, a color, a person, a place or even a texture.
I draw a lot of these feelings and inspiration from a specific part of my life, specifically related to my health.
When I was fifteen, I became incredibly sick. I suffered from 24/7 dizziness, vertigo, visual hallucinations, fatigue, and migraines. Perceiving reality became a chore. It took almost 11 months from when I first became sick to find a diagnosis, and even longer to fully recover. I missed almost a year and a half of high school and didn’t even know whether I would graduate with the rest of my class.
What came after was a year or two of dozens of pills, IV’s, oxygen machine usage, hundreds of shots, and treatments. After the underlying brain infection was identified and treated, I am happy to say that I did in fact graduate with the rest of my class and go to college, against all odds.
It was later discovered I had an underlying congenital immune system deficiency known as Hypogammaglobulinemia. I also have Leukopenia (lack of white blood cells), and other unidentified deficiencies. Additionally, I have POTS, (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), which is an autonomic nervous system disorder that causes a multitude of painful or uncomfortable symptoms.
Living with uncertainty has become my norm. During this period of my life, I started relying heavily on the arts to convey what I was experiencing, even if no one else could quite experience it themselves. I played the violin with my orchestra every day and began writing poetry. I also started experimenting with graphic design.
It wasn’t until the end of 2020 that I decided to invest serious time into creating, making a promise to myself that I would improve my skills. I still remember the first day I downloaded Photoshop on that one late November evening. I never knew that it would take me so many places not 8 months later.
For anyone wondering where to start with graphic design, knowing how your mind works is a big one. I am not good at drawing. If you put a pencil in front of me, chances are you wouldn’t even know what I drew. I approach animation, music, and design with a problem-and-solution methodology. How can I make what I ‘see’ or feel into something tangible, and what knowledge does that require for me to get there? I also rely on my synesthesia to translate sound/motion into something visual and vice versa.
In the following 7 months, I used the skills and programs that I taught myself in order to share what I love doing with my friends, family and clients. I have now integrated animation, design, song transposition and writing in my daily, academic, and professional life. It is something I am incredibly grateful for.
I particularly find myself drawn to 3D stills and animation. I usually play a five-second clip of a song over and over on my computer and make a sketch of what I want the product to be based on colors, motions, and shapes I imagine in my head. Now, any time that I’m feeling angry, sad, or am having a symptomatic day, I put on a song and design a 3D render
My dream is to integrate my love for creating with my passion for health care that came from being a patient. Interdisciplinary fields are incredibly untapped and under-utilized, and to be a part of such a fast-growing cross-section is something I greatly anticipate in order to help improve and revolutionize the health care field for everyone.
My chronic health conditions have become a normal part of my everyday life. So has my art. Both are parts of my story, but not the entire thing. Art and music, even completely unrelated to my major or career path, are something I use to share this anecdote, when I feel I cannot always vocalize it. Although my health is not always a given, my creations are, and that is enough for me.
Every day, I am grateful for the people in my life, and what I get to do. A few years ago, I wasn’t sure if each day I woke up would be the last. Now, I can’t wait for the next.
