Creative.
A friend that is good at art and music. A daughter talented like her family. A student with setbacks but strong-willed. These are all things I've come across hearing people say about me as I've grown.
I like that I'm creative; it's a part of me that will never leave. But how did I get here as Masha Nyanna - Designer, Musician, Creative?
The First Steps.
I was born into the Ferdinands - a family full of creatives (in the music sense mostly), and growing up, music was always present. As I myself grew up, I didn't really enjoy creating, as it only reminded me of what my family had already achieved - dulling my desire and determination to create as it would never be good enough in my eyes. In light of this, I worked on pursuing a whole different career in secondary school, something in forensic science as I found it fascinating to discover what went wrong and wanted to be just like the crime-fighting brainiacs I saw on screen.
However, as much as I excelled in Math and Science, a part of me was always yearning for more - to inspire.
Besides my studies, day by day I picked up pencils, my ipad mini, and created. Drawings, songs, videos, stories - I did them. It was just my little hobby that I hadn't really shared with anyone, not even really my family let alone friends. And that was all that I planned for it to be, until my Orientation Group Leader from when I was Sec 1 discovered something I wrote when I was Sec 2.
It had inspired her - moved her to think deeper, something I didn't think I was capable of doing.
I thought about my life in the big picture again - and though I really enjoyed biology and dissecting things in practical lessons, I wondered again if it was really the path I wanted to walk further on. I had worked hard for this at this point - joining NPCC so I could learn from the CSI modules, joining Science competitions held by the school, and even JCs. All just so I could get to this point. I was able to make my senior feel for my work - what if I wanted to do it again? To more people?
That's when I decided to take up 'O' Level Art at Sec 3, and went on to be the best at it in my cohort, eventually securing an early spot in Temasek Polytechnic's Diploma in Communication Design.
The Next Steps.
At Temasek Polytechnic, I went into building myself as a creative individual at FULL FORCE. Even joining the Arts CCA Group 'Music Vox' as a Vocalist & Songwriter to head back to my roots and heal the messy relationship I had with music. Eventually, one thing led to another and I also stepped up as a leader in my CCA - first as a Subcommittee Member for Publicity in AY21/22, being promoted in that same year to lead Vocal Training & Songwriting as well, with a new role as the Head Of Music Content. I then went on to be promoted the following AY22/23 as Vice-President, where I'd move on to oversee Training overall and Student Welfare. All of this whilst I was working on my diploma studies.
The difficulty of managing school projects, with the countless events we had in our CCA - especially in my final year, never came easy. But instances of my artworks, my music, and even writing touching people and connecting with them - those inspired me to keep moving forward.
It's safe to say that inspiration is an ever-present exchange in my journey as a creative - being inspired by my past and others so that I may also create and inspire more. And as I head out into the world as a fresh graduate, I hope that I can stay true to that.
Will you be there to help me take my next steps?