I started writing this blog post in a super-formal tone, and then I felt really uncomfortable writing like that while blogging. Hi, I’m Joanne (my close friends call me Joanie) and I’m 17. College has made me pretty much forget that I’m not a legal adult just yet mostly because there’s more freedom than I’m used to. In other words, it’s been great.

To start off, Marianas Trench is my favorite band and their harmonies are amazing, but I do like/love other bands! If you ask to see my music app on my phone, I’ll oblige you. Speaking of Marianas Trench, they were the first band I ever saw live, and it’s an experience I’ll never forget.

The whole reason I am likely enraptured by harmonies is because I was in what my middle school called “vocal talent” for three years before deciding I wanted to try my hand at law in high school. After four years of learning about the law (and three years of speaking roles on the mock trial team), I was positive that I want to become an attorney.

I’m majoring in English (to build a strong critical reading foundation so I can ace the LSAT), but before the cries of “But why are you at Baruch if you’re majoring in English?” begin to ring through these hallowed (virtual) halls, I am also intending to minor in business law.

Art likes to frequently astound me. I could probably spend hours looking at the lines, curves, and shapes if I wouldn’t tire so quickly. My mom and I went to Paris and Versailles, and the palace is more of an art museum/museum of history at this point; there are plenty of portraits of the Louis kings, their queens, and their mistresses.

Exhibits in Versailles

My favorite painter is Artemisia Gentileschi. She is an inspiration to the feminist movement and an excellent painter. The examination of her interpretation of Judith beheading Holofernes is interesting in that she chose to depict that scene from the Bible. I like it because she took her power into her own hands like Judith, and participated in her rapist’s prosecution–the painting was pretty much a metaphor for her own life.

I love fantasy and sci-fi novels, but I like novels in general. I’m reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy right now as well as The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan.

My parents are both Albanian. Both sets of my grandparents are Albanian. I’m not really sure how far it goes back, but as far as I know, I’m 100% Albanian in ethnic origin. I can speak the language–not well, unfortunately–read it, and write in it a little. I’m toeing the line between conversational and fluent.

My mom and I like to travel when we’re able to. So far, we’ve been to Albania, Greece,  France, Florida, California, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.

My friend actually dared me to take a picture in front of the Eiffel with a beret and a baguette.

I have four best friends whom I’ve known for a good fourteen years. They’ve been a very integral part of my life.

I like to joke a lot, mostly in slightly uncomfortable situations. I’ve made way too many jokes in the past few days. I also really like puns. I like when other people make puns, but also when they laugh at my puns. Pun-shaming makes me sad.