This week was crunch time!
I have a due date of October 30th (this coming Monday – 3 DAYS!) for a draft of the exhibit layout, and I’ve finally started messing around with design programs this week.
I’m trying not to feel the pressure too heavily but it’s also inevitable because I’m also learning how to use these design tools, specifically, Adobe InDesign which I haven’t used since Intro to Journalism in 9th grade! That was, like, 14 years ago!
Luckily, it hasn’t changed much and it’s surprisingly intuitive to navigate, at least for the basics of creating text boxes, formatting fonts and paragraphs, and importing images.
I’m also still very new to Canva, which I’ve been using to design visuals like charts, graphs, and infographics.
I know I’ve aged myself now, but honestly, it’s a nod to the fact that I’m reaching an age – or maybe already have - where I don’t feel as confident dabbling with unfamiliar forms of technology and I have to go out of my way to expose myself to them (even with social media where the stakes are so low, I have no clue how to “stitch” videos or make images that I want to point at as my background.)
So, I’m very proud of myself for overcoming those fears and allowing myself to learn something new!
I was able to complete a rough draft of the first exhibit panel (out of 2) and I’m looking forward to some feedback later today (Friday the 27th).
At this point, I can’t tell if I’m making good time on this or if it makes sense as an exhibit, so the feedback is super important to me.
For visuals, I have been clipping open-access digitized newspapers and having to choose which ones are the most relevant and go best with the exhibit.
So, on top of designing, I have also been curating this week! (A skill I hadn’t considered I was developing until maybe yesterday)
I’ve been having a great time, but I can’t deny that I’m struggling, especially since, as I mentioned above, I don’t know if I’m making good time on this.
Admittedly, I’ve been investing most of my energy into this one project this semester, putting my capstone class in the back seat.
I’m very lucky and grateful for the professor I have for that class, who doesn’t take points off for lateness. This gives me the luxury to put those assignments aside to focus on the exhibit, and I haven’t had to turn anything in late yet.
But this may finally be the week.
However, let me clarify that the workload demand is not actually unmanageable.
This year and this semester have just been personally challenging with trying to balance my health needs and my current mental health journey.
Since this is the last post, I’ll be publishing on ADHD Awareness Month, I want to acknowledge how that has affected me throughout this process (I wouldn’t want future interns to think this is an excessively demanding position!)
One of the things that was made evident to me is that I have a slow processing time which makes learning new things and synthesizing them a bit harder for me.
Even though I underwent testing and was told my results weeks ago, the process of writing out the report can take a few weeks. Then I have to give that report to my psychiatrist to review and then set up an appointment to go over it and discuss treatment plans.
I would need that report for specialized counseling programs that treat adults with a combination of ADHD and Autism spectrum.
So, for now, I am relying on medical studies and articles to educate myself on these things. However, I’m still not undergoing treatment, so the struggles persist. (And even more so with the anticipation weighing me down! Like salvation is so close but won’t seem to arrive on time.)
Regardless, I am working to the best of my capacities and keeping an optimistic outlook and I know I have the support from my mentors, supervisors, and peers to stay motivated and get through this!
Now, here are some clippings that won't be making it to the exhibit1:
Image 1: Davis Reflex Journal, 02/22/1945, pg. 2 - An illustration used to accompany an editorial urging women to prepare for soldiers' return from World War II with financial competence and stability.
Image 2: Fort Worth Star Telegram, 10/20/1950, pg. 26 - Comic portraying a "ditsy" woman waiting for her husband who's leaving for the war. Probably refirring to the Korean War.
Image 3: Fort Worth Star Telegram, 10/20/1950, pg. 26 - A PSA for parents to prioritize their children's needs over routine.
You can find all these on Newspapers.com :)
