Name: Alana Freitas
Year: Junior
Major: Creative Writing
Affiliation: Sigma Tau Delta, NSLS
Relationship Status: Single
Alana isn’t just any writer. She is progressive, impactful, and pushing boundaries. For Alana’s project #NAKEDME, she photographed individuals in nude colored clothing and interviewed them about the highs and lows of their lives. The project embraced vulnerability and highlighted our similarities when it comes down to our human cores.
What sparked your passion to write?
I would say it started as a release. I think it’s cathartic to write things out. It started with a lot of to-do lists, which turned into journaling, and I realized how helpful that was for me to express myself, so I wanted to share that with others to see if it will help them.
What current projects are you working on right now?
My main project I’m focusing on is called “Out of Place,” which is geared towards breaking stereotypes about millenials and showing the older generation that we are more than our presence in the virtual world. And it attempts to solve the issue of our society where people are trying to pull away from the mainstream and the basic, yet still find that sense of belonging.
I know you include very vulnerable and personal content in your blog about both you and others. Why do you choose to do that and what makes you comfortable with doing so?
For sharing my own personal stories, it’s just that I feel like other people will do it if they see somebody do it first. A lot of people have the desire to share about things that are deeper than what their major is or where their hometown is, but people don’t really ask those questions, so they don’t get the opportunity to share it. With my last project, #NAKEDME, I saw a lot of people bond over similar struggles, like body image issues or depression, and it was really powerful, but I just feel like people don’t talk about that stuff enough to make a difference. I use that as motivation.
Any rare fun facts about you?
My normal ones are usually that I have a twin sister or that I was born on Friday the 13th, but I want to give something cooler than that. Hmmm…*softly laughs*…I finished twelve netflix shows in my first two years of college, every single episode.
To read more of Alana’s work, visit her blog here: http://themaptomylife.weebly.com/.