Ariel- This I believe

Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed doing arts and crafts in my spare time. At a young age, my mom showed me how to make moko jumbies and weave baskets from palm leaves. By the age of ten, I was taking apart old beaded necklaces and making my own jewelry. Using the method I had learned from weaving baskets, I was even able to create earrings with materials such as electrical wire. As I began to perfect my skills, my mother realized that I was interested in and good at jewelry making, so we visited our local arts and crafts store to purchase a few supplies. I bought a variety of beads in different colors and sizes and began to create eye catching pieces of jewelry. Once my family noticed, they were all amazed by my creations and suggested that I make money off of it. So almost every week I’d go with my mother to her office to sell the jewelry. Her coworkers started to get really interested and I even had to take orders because requests kept coming in! They even requested for me to create the jewelry in other colors and styles so I was soon creating custom pieces. A lot of people really admired how I was so young yet so passionate. I felt proud of my skills and the creativity that went into making them.

In high school, I got an internship at a handmade jewelry store named Crucian Gold. Before I got the internship, I was a huge fan of their jewelry and wore at least ten of their silver bracelets on my wrist and one of their rings on my every finger every day. They noticed how dedicated I was to the store, from my everyday looks to how hard I worked during the internship, that they offered me a summer job. During my internship I mostly worked in the store, selling and showing off the jewelry, but once they saw me work on making jewelry in the studio, they were impressed by my skills and let me be more involved in making jewelry over the summer. When working in the studio you have to be very cautious. I remember using the hand drill and slicing my ring finger on my left hand open. It was very painful and took a while for the cut to close but now that it’s healed I look back and remember how far I’ve come. I worked Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm that summer and got better at jewelry making. From soldering, to rubber wheeling, to buffing, working in the studio has exposed me to the other side of jewelry making that I’ve never experienced. If it wasn’t for getting this job, my abilities wouldn’t have increased and formulated. I was excited about all aspects of the job and began to enjoy working to sell the jewelry in the store as it helped build my confidence and public speaking skills. After working for a month that summer, they offered me a permanent year-round job which I accepted. I believe that working at what you’re genuinely passionate for, results in your best work ethic.