October!!! My favorite month of the year. This October was drastically different than any October I’ve experienced before, but in all it was still a wonderfully exciting month. I turned 18, ran a 5k PR in a new state, made a lot of art, and got a crazy new ear piercing - among other things.
Some highlights of October:
I ran a new cross country 5k PR at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge in Knoxville, Tennessee! I ran 18:28 for my last 5k of this season. It was my last race before I turned 18 and an iconic memory of the trip was one of my best friends, Isaac, yelling "this is your last race as a 17 year old!!!!" at me as I was running by him.
The biggest moment of the month by far was turning 18!! This had been a long time coming (I was thoroughly sick of being IDed while buying cold medicine alone at Walgreens - true story, lol) and I was so so excited. My birthday fell on a Thursday, so I had the joy of going to class and then spending time hanging out with friends. The day was full of joyful moments. I was (voluntarily) woken up at midnight by Carlotta (my roommate) and Roan for them to alert me that I was no longer a child! I opened up the gifts my family had given me a few weeks earlier to find a hilariously cute birthday sash and tiara that I reluctantly wore for a photo. I ran six miles with my dear friend Isaac, who made sure that my first run of 18 was filled with laughs and good conversation around Savannah's beautiful historic district. Classes were average, but full of the secret excitement of simply knowing it's your birthday. The main event of the day was getting piercings with my friends that night. I had decided a few weeks earlier that I wanted to get a new ear piercing on my 18th birthday as a fun move of independence. I somehow roped Carlotta into getting a small cartilage piercing and Roan into piercing his ears, so around 8pm we arrived at a local tattoo/piercing shop (and on the door hung a sign that said "no entrance under 18", through which I estatically entered) and did the deed! I got an "industrial" piercing, which is a bar through my upper ear. It's the biggest piercing I've ever gotten and possibly will ever get, but I don't regret it in the slightest. It was such a special memory and such a fun way to spend that night with my best friends!!
Two of my best friends started a podcast and I had the honor of being the first guest! Isaac and Roan started a podcast called "The Ginger and Cinnamon Podcast", as Roan is red-haired and Isaac's last name is, in fact, Cinnamon. It started on a whim and it's become such a fun way for us to all record memories. In my episode we discussed my interest in photography and shared some of our funniest moments of this first quarter!
My friends and roommates and I went to SCAD's Fall Fine Arts Showcase, at which we got to see the incredible work that upper classmen in the fine arts department have been working on. SCAD has events like this fairly often, but this one was so beautiful for all of us to see. We got to see some incredible teammates' work and we left feeling thoroughly inspired to keep pursuing our chosen field of art.
I started shooting photos for SCAD District, which is SCAD's student media publication. This was very exciting for me because it's my first step into the world of photojournalism. Being published was so exciting and so far I've contributed cover photos for two articles!
Halloween was an absolute blast. The costumes were either super elaborate or completely spontaneous. I was "Miss Ellaneous", as I just put together a random assortment of miscellaneous clothing items I had laying around, lol.
I know there are so many more wonderful memories from the month, but these are the immediate highlights! I hope you enjoy the photos and have a fantastic November!!
