My MECHA friends and I

In many ways, photography and the opportunity that I have had to share it with the online community has been a big part of my becoming a more confident person in the past couple of years. This is especially true since I really got into photography after a bad breakup with a girl I really cared about. I don't like to think that constantly hearing feedback, etc. on my work has been a driving factor in my passion for photography, but it has. It helped me feel as if I had a role to play in the bigger scheme of things.

Now that I am learning Spanish and becoming more involved (both with the community and with my martial arts), however, I realize that my identity is much more than as the photographer alone. Last year, I took tons of photos not only because I was and am completely in love with the medium, but also because it was a big part of establishing my identity and confidence after the breakup made me feel otherwise. This year, I have realized that I never even needed photography for people to like me, for people to get along with me. I never needed it as a crutch to describe myself. What's great is that nowadays I still take photos, but at the same time I feel like I have a better idea of when not to take photos, when to be myself and relax; when to pursue other things that I care about.

Things are going well for me over at UCSD. I have joined the MECHA group at this school (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/Chicana de Aztlán) and am having a great time with them! I decided to join primarily because I wanted to get more involved in the community. Yes, MECHA does focus on latino affairs primarily but as I am both A) very passionate about learning about the Spanish language and Latin-American culture, and B) a bit turned off by the Asian culture groups at our school (all of which seem to be more about hanging out than actually doing cultural things and being culturally aware), I thought that MECHA would be a great choice. More on MECHA in a future post.

What i like about MECHA is that the dynamic is completely different than when I was in the Asian culture groups... I think that my personality fits in better with, perhaps, a more extroverted and straightforward culture than that of my own (Chinese). Hopefully as I get more involved with the latino community in the area, I can begin to use both my Spanish and my photojournalism together - rather than diverting myself exclusively to only one or the other. That's the best thing about photography... it will wait for you until you are ready to use it.

- Chui