Epilogue

I've been home for about 3 days now. I've unpacked and organized my things. I've organized my photos, and updated this blog. I've also gone back to my school and showed my Upper-School art teachers my work. (They had great things to say about it.) I've talked with friends and made plans to work during the break. I'm visiting my grandma later today. I guess I'm fully settled in.
I'm so glad I got to have the experience of living and creating in Paris! I'm so grateful that my parents helped me and supported me. I'm really happy with the level of work that I produced and want to sustain it. I've decided that I'll set some parameters for myself and churn out a couple of project over the summer.
I know that this experience will stay with me forever, helping me in whatever I choose to pursue. One thing that this program did was let me consider other options for careers in fashion. Since my sewing skills don't match that of my drawing, I'm not sure how likely fashion design would be (although I'd still like to do it). I really enjoyed taking photographs of my work (even though I only photographed the bra), so I could see myself having fun as a fashion photographer. I also really liked seeing the shows at Paris Fashion Week, and blogging about them afterwards. So maybe fashion critic? We'll see. I realized through writing this blog that I enjoy writing and would like to keep up with it more. (I've been told before that I'm a good writer, and would like to continue with that.) During my jury, I was asked if I'd considered going into costume design for theater (or even ballet). My teacher Susan suggested, based on my bra photo, being a fashion stylist, seeing as I have a "very definite sense of fashion". It would be fun to do any of these careers, so we'll see how these things shake out. (I'll keep you guys posted.)
Even though I was happy to come home, I can't wait to go back! (Already, I've decided that next time, I want to see an opera at Opera Garnier, a Moliere play at the Comedie Francaise, and attend a cabaret at the Lapin Agile.) My parents are already telling me that I need to find a job over there, and that they'll visit me if/when I do.
I'm already planning on keeping up with my French. Yesterday, I bought a book with lists different conjugations for about 300 verbs. It should help me when I read my 2 volumes of plays by French female playwrights that I bought at Gibert Joseph. My parents have also suggested joining a French club or "dinner club" (where members get together and speak the language) when I get back to Raleigh. So I'll definitely be looking into these options.
I just hope that the next time I go, I'll get more time to explore more!