Like most girls my age, I took art classes when I was little. I was never the sporty girl, I was on a swim team—which practiced in the mornings before school. Leaving my afternoon activities to be the usual; Hebrew school twice a week, tutoring, extra swim practice, and art class. As I got older and thought that I wanted to hang out with my friends more, we went to art together. I found that I was always the one that didn't talk, and that always seemed to care just a little bit more.

Art, for me, was the best thing that I could do. I wound up finding my friends annoying actually because they would not, under any circumstance JUST SHUT THE HELL UP and not be total brats. While I enjoyed my time in art class, for my friends, annoying the living daylights out of our teacher was the best thing they could do.

So, what did this mean for me? Well, I wanted to apply to a specialized high school for painting and drawing, but the reality was that I was nothing special. I loved it, but I was never able to fully express myself—at least not in the way that I wanted to. So high school rolls around, and I try my hand at film photography.

The first time that I physically felt that shutter release, it was game over. I was hooked. I was the kid that shot an extra roll every time. I was the kid that always wanted to be in the darkroom. In fact, the better part of my junior and senior years was spent in the high school darkroom. It was different than digital, it was hands on. I knew every single little thing that happened in the process, and how I did it and I LOVED that. I'm the type of person who needs to know. And photography does just that, it lets me know everything.

Going into college, I didn't know what to expect. I was going up against kids from all over the world (Literally. I got to NYU. Doesn't get much more global.) I applied to NYU's Tisch School Of The Arts as an internal transfer (I start in the fall … YAYYYY) and was accepted because of my own merit. I didn't have college counselors and parents breathing down my neck. This was something that I did on my own.

In a way, that is what this degree means to me. It is truly something that I can do on my own. My whole life I was supported by teachers and tutors and parents because the truth was that I am dyslexic and bilingual and I needed that help in school. Photography is something that I pursued on my own. It was something that—yes with the help of many, many incredible teachers and institutions—I was supported through, but also something that I was passionate about because I was finally able to express myself fully.

Yes, I am a double major in psychology and photography. And yes, my psychology major will be my career. But photography will be something that I will always carry because it is something that I really did do on my own, both physically and on my own will.