I grew more than I ever thought I could in completing my Global Contract objectives. I loved every poem I wrote, every outfit I drew, and I ended up switching my goals quite a bit. Instead of using descriptive writing to express my feelings towards paintings, I used a different medium to express myself: fashion design. Flipping through my journal, I can see my growth in those handful of designs based on artwork. My first design, the Lady with the Rose, is just a slightly updated version of the one in the work. My latest piece, the Piet Mondrian piece, is a vastly updated piece that takes into account the movements in fashion I learned from a book I bought in New York.

Creating looks based on art pieces and whole museums inspires me the way listening to poetry inspires me to write poetry. I had never really experienced that sort of fluidity from what I see to what I had in my mind to what I put on paper.

My definition of a global citizen has definitely changed. As someone who was lucky enough to live abroad, I had always subconsciously looked down upon people who never were able to live internationally. I now realize, especially after dinner at the tenement museum, that global influence can truly affect you without leaving your country. I had an authentic Cuban sandwich and authentic German Spatzle in the Lower East Side. These things instantly reminded me of my international homes, and just prove that you can be plenty cultured and become a global citizen without leaving your own country.