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Tag: inspiration

Get Inspired

A wise woman once told me “fake it ’til you make it”; I’ve found that one of the best ways to do this is through consistent study of other people’s work. When making a living in a creative field, it’s important to gather as many sources of inspiration as possible. While Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr can all be good starting points, I have compiled a handful of my favorite “alternative” inspiration sites. The need for visual inspiration isn’t exclusive to designers. The next time you’re stuck on a problem, idea or brainstorm, take a break and explore; designspiration.net has an incredible search function (type anything in — or search by color! — and you’ll get results). Friends of Type and Fonts in Use are amazing for the typography junkie and rookie alike (they’ll make you look at type differently). Oh Beautiful Beer has been a longtime favorite (and secret dream job) of mine. See the full list below:

What inspires you? How do you get “unstuck”? We want to know in the comments below!

I&H Spotlight: Madhulika Banerjee

Madhulika Banerjee is a 24-year-old graduate student in Arizona, working on getting her Master of Science in Cellular and Molecular Medicine. I recently spoke with her about her degree, her research in working to solve colorectal cancer, her recent international experience in medical school in India, and how she stays motivated while maintaining her rigorous schedule.

locke_imgAditi: You’ve got two more years at the University of Arizona, and you’re also working on some research. What do you like about it and dislike about it?
Madhulika: It’s a small department, which is nice because it creates an intimate environment between not only my peers but professors as well. It’s definitely a difficult program though. It’s like mini-prep for med school. My program focuses on viewing what’s inside the human body at a cellular and molecular level and relating it back to the medical field. That might include relating things to different disease presentations, drug discovery, or experimental research, just to name a few.

A: What do you hope to accomplish after you graduate?
M: My end goal is to finish masters and get into med school. As I’ve gotten older I’ve definitely realized that it’s incredibly easy to fail at a goal but it doesn’t mean that you stop dead. My back up plan is to apply for a PhD, either in the same department at my school or maybe a different place, doing cancer research. I’m not sure yet what type of doctor I would want to be once I complete med school. Sometimes it’s easier to identify what you don’t want to do. I know I don’t want to be a surgeon or an OBGYN.

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How to Host

If you live in a big city, you have likely held the position of “host” at some point or another. Whether it be friends or family, hosting can feel stressful; the unspoken expectation is that you serve as your city’s unofficial ambassador of fun. You’ve lived here for six months now, what do you mean you don’t know the best place to get Turkish food on a Wednesday? (Hold on, let me check Yelp…)

All this aside, if you love and care about the people that you’re hosting, you genuinely want to show them a good time. This past weekend I hosted one of my best friends from college, Colleen, for a quick 24-hour trip; here are the things I learned from her stay (along with the several other hosting duties I’ve had during my time in New York):

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Words to Live By

While listening to one of my favorite songs last week, an idea popped into my head. We all have words that inspire us, motivate us, or define some part of us; whether it be lyrics, a poem, a fortune cookie reading, or a quote, there’s a reason they resonate and carry meaning. So why not start collecting and sharing them? I asked friends and friends of friends to help me with this project; below is the preliminary result.

Have your own words you would like to share? Email me via the contact section or reply in the comments below. Thank you to everyone who participated this time around and stay tuned — we can always use a few more words to live by.

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