Adapting to College

My future has been alluded to since I was a very young girl. Most five year olds are infatuated with their toys. Some are interested in battery operated interactive ones, while others are attracted to colorful ones that require a great dose of imagination. Still others are happy with sedentary objects that require no more involvement than merely sitting and observing. I like to believe that I was different.

From as early as I can remember I was a Barbie fanatic. It wasn’t the actual dolls that I loved, but their clothes and accessories. While all of my friends were busy cutting the doll’s hair and putting make-up on them, I was dressing them. 
I consider myself to be a very lucky child. I was the second girl born to a mother who loved clothes, with an older sister who was a true fashion maven. I had an ample amount of dolls and enough outfits to dress and re-dress them all day. As the younger sister I was always forced to be the adoring audience for my sister’s fashion shows. The innovative outfits and accessories her dolls wore, opened my eyes to a whole new world; the world of fashion.


Eventually my horizons expanded and my beloved Barbie dolls were no longer enough, I was forced to bury them deep in the closet. My interests broadened however; suddenly my past experiences came in very handy. I was the most sought after girl in my grade. No, not for my personality but for my flair for fashion. I could take anyone’s drab garb and turn it into something new and exciting. That worked well through middle school but soon my career as a consultant ended as all of my friends and classmates developed their own individual style.

Throughout my high school career, I became involved in many extracurricular activities and volunteer projects. While I was extremely dedicated to all of the activities that I participated in, my community service and volunteer work left the most lasting impression on me. Every girl in my family thankfully has taken part in many celebrations, but with every good celebration comes a special dress. After these dresses were worn would store them away in the back of a closets, in the hopes that our daughters would wear them one day. During my junior year I proposed an idea to my family. We would take Bat- Mitzvah dresses of girls who wore them once and would never look at them again, and redistributed it to less fortunate girls who couldn’t afford to make a dress for their special occasion. I worked on this project with a friend throughout my junior year. We collected pictures of all these beautiful dresses and gowns, and then put them in an album with a description and the size. We then passed the world around via email and word of mouth that these dresses were available to be borrowed for special occasions by people who couldn’t afford to buy their own. Word spread quickly, and soon we were inundated with requests. The satisfaction I got when a girl put on a dress she never dreamed she could afford, was like seeing Cinderella after her fairy godmother transformed her into a beautiful princess, this feeling was immeasurable. This project continued from junior year into my senior year, while I also worked on diverse projects and different jobs including our school wide fundraiser fashion show, and our collection of coats for underprivileged children. 
From the time I was young, I knew that my future was in fashion. Any chance I could get to shadow someone in the fashion industry was never an opportunity that I turned down. Although I continued to explore other interests, like working with children, cooking, and mock trial, I knew the fashion industry was my future.

For as long as I can remember the only dream I had was to go to FIT. Upon entering though I was presented with a whole new structure that demands adjustment. So far, I have been constantly forced to make changes, from honing my time management methods to adapting to bustling life in New York City. For the most part, I feel I have been successful. Nevertheless, there is one area where I have had more difficulty adjusting. My entrance to college has been filled with many transitions. Although the rare dual curriculum of FIT presents additional adaptations, the need to adapt to a new environment is no different from any new setting a person places themselves in. In the end the only way to measure an adjustments success is by weighing the truths in a person’s own life against his reactions to the structural differences of a new environment. I believe that as hard as the adjustments are for me, the end justifies the means and it will all be worth it in the end. Dreams are worth fighting for!