College is scary, and I know I've definitely gotten caught up in the thick of things and forgotten about my passions. I haven't played the violin in years, and I've accepted that train is long gone. However, my passion for art and photography is now reigniting. At the beginning of my first semester I approached the USC Photography Club booth at the involvement fair, and I've since became a member of the leadership board on events committee, active member, and never looked back.

This experience has been extremely valuable. My choice creative outlet, USC Photography Club, has taken me all over the state of California: to Sequoia National Forest and San Diego, and all over Los Angeles. This has given me the chance to see how important it is for students to find there special place to go when they need to express themselves. To balance academic, extracurricular, and creative needs, students should seek opportunities to try new and fun things without the stress of the class room.

I've started drawing a lot more recently (see above), this is partially due to the fact that my friend Sam Budiartho and I are going to start selling some of our artwork, but mostly because I love to draw. Or at least I did in high school. So many students and their passions are washed away in the last couple of years of HS and the first few of college due to the pressure to perform beyond expectations. It's unrealistic to meet these standards. It's crushing. It literally sucks the humanity right out of your existence. Don't let yourself be the person who crumbles under the pressure and loses touch with what makes you, you!

In the future I can only hope I stay involved with the things that I've found as therapeutic, more so than anything. I can hope the same for whoever is reading this--finding a creative outlet, even for those who aren't students, is important. Whether that is participating in the photo club, writing for the Odyssey, joining an acting troupe, doing martial arts, running a foodie instagram, writing stupid little rhymes, or splattering paint against walls in an "interpretive" fashion, get out there and join it, do it, and get right to it.

PCH during my road trip to USCKelly Peterson

USC Photoclub retreat to Sequoia National ForestKelly Peterson

At the Walt Disney Concert Hall in DTLAKelly Peterson