I am Serin Hwang from Fashion Design Major. I am South Korean by nationality, but geographically from Singapore. When I first arrived in Parsons, I had no solid idea about what I wanted to learn for the next four years of my life which ultimately will contribute to the field I will be working in in the near future.

Keeping an online record of some of my works I have made since the beginning of my freshman year made it clear about the values and preferences I have when making art. Although different in subject matter and the purpose, there is a consistent emphasis of social issues that is addressed in my works. Whilst the thematic idea of my works remained relatively similar, the skills used were very different. Materials used ranged from pencil to paint, wire, ceramics, fabric and many more. The technical skills used and learnt did however get transferred from one to the other, as skills used were broad and relevant to many mediums.

Space and Materiality, like its name, was a class that needed broad range of skills that I was unfamiliar to. It was through this class I was able to gain knowledge and experience of using materials unique to my prior works such as ceramics, plexiglass, plastic, etc. These skills were then transferred into many of my studio works, allowing my projects to be diverse in range of materials used.

Seminar on the other hand was a very academic heavy subject unlike the rest of the classes I took in freshman year. Whilst it was academically based, it remained relevant in evoking my creativity within the spectrum of writing, as well as supporting my studio works with applied knowledge. Thus, making them a successful merge of classes that strengthen my development as a creative thinker and writer. I enjoyed writing the final research paper the most because of the level of freedom I had in deciding the genre, style and approach of writing I was able to take. I enjoyed being able to express ideas and concepts that only lived in my mind into writing them down on paper and solidifying them to become stronger stances. Further research on the history of fashion would have helped, as I lack prior knowledge of fashion and fashion trends that are recurring in a cyclical cycle.

The two highlights from first year is producing garments for fashion studio classes and taking photoshoots of these garments. Constructing garments from scratch first as idea sketches into pattern making and choosing the material was tiring yet meaningful and fun, and I have never felt the same level of excitement and joy doing art in the last few years. Also, prior to fashion studio, I was never interested in photography, however, having to photograph the garment I produced was extremely fun and the outcome, in my opinion, was great too. Fashion studio helped me realize what I liked doing and ultimately helped me in declaring my major.

When I first arrived in Parsons, I had no confidence in what I wanted to do, learn and be. I constantly questioned my choice in coming to Parsons and compared myself to all the students around me, asking whether I was as skilled as them, as creative as them, as passionate as them and as crazy as them. My answer was and will always be “no”. I was and never will be as skilled, creative, passionate and crazy as everyone around me. However, I will with no doubt enjoy learning and making fashion like every other students around me.