Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in the same old boring town that you’ve been living in for years, but there is no way out because you’re only a teenager? Well, that’s basically me. I’m Gabriela, a soon-to-be 17-year-old high school senior from Smithtown, New York. I am the only daughter in a family of six living in a middle-class suburban town on Long Island. Living in a house with four boys means that my life is surrounded by sports. After playing basketball, softball, and volleyball for so many years without much enjoyment, I concluded that sports were just not my thing. As a result, I picked up fashion and Italian as my hobbies instead.

I began learning Italian at age 11 from a family-friend who teaches Italian, and continued to study the language throughout middle school and high school. The majority of my family is Italian and the culture has always been a big part of my life; I was excited to be able to communicate with my relatives who spoke Italian fluently. I’ve always wanted to go to Italy, mainly because Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world, but also to absorb a different culture than what I’m used to. However, I never thought that I would enjoy the Italian language and culture as much as I do; therefore I decided recently that I want to continue my Italian studies throughout college.

During my freshman year of high school, I realized that the majority of my peers have no originality when it comes to fashion! I became bored of going to school every day seeing the same Abercrombie & Fitch blouse paired with chunky Ugg boots and a non-matching Coach purse on every other girl in the hallway. I, however, don’t mind standing out and being different, so I would walk into school wearing never-before-seen outfits to show my peers that you don’t have to look like everyone else in order to ‘fit in.’ Because of this, I began making more and more trips to New York City, a place where I could flaunt my fashion originality, and others could influence my ideas for the future.

Even though I may appear as the creative type, I never saw myself as becoming a designer, but working more in the business field of fashion instead.  Many may criticize the Kardashian family, however, I believe that their empire is one of the reasons that I’m so caught up in the business aspect of it all. With Kris Jenner being a powerful businesswoman, and all of her children following along, they have created a huge name for themselves in the fashion industry, which has inspired me to do it myself. When I heard about the summer Precollege Programs at FIT, I knew right away what I was going to look for, and I sure did find it! I signed up for  HIN131: International Fashion Marketing. I thought that this program would be a perfect blend of my interests—fashion and culture. I also figured it would give me a taste of what I might be seeing in the future. Other cultures seemed to have always fascinated me, especially in fashion, and I am excited to learn the business practices for the fashion industry all over the world.

During these three weeks at FIT, I am hoping to learn new information, meet new people, and decide whether or not this is what I want to major in college. I think blogging for the Precollege Programs at FIT will be a great way for me to share what I’ve learned and experienced during these weeks. In addition to Italian and fashion, photography has always been a minor hobby of mine; I love to take pictures of everything I see or do since nowadays we live in a society where ‘if you didn’t take a picture of it, it didn’t happen.’ On my free time, I run a fashion blog and a personal blog. I use these blogs to express myself through photographs, and I am looking forward to using the FIT Precollege Program blog to express myself through writing and photographs.

These upcoming weeks in New York City will be an adventure. It is my chance to mature, and I’m eager to challenge myself every day to work hard during class and make my time there well spent. Overall, I am anticipating a great learning experience, and the chance to connect with readers from all over the world excites me.

Gabriela