My name is Dara Sloan Piken and I am 22 years old. I currently live in Downtown Manhattan with my gay brother and my bestie from like 2001. It’s basically like your modern day Three’s Company, only John Ritter is gay and no one is blonde. I’m an art student at School of Visual Arts, but it wasn’t until recently that I really realized why. I wrote a thesis, which you can find in my lineup of blog posts. While I have always been interested in painting an aesthetic as well as portraying an ideal aesthetic within myself, I realized it truly didn’t make me happy. I have always been a prisoner to my own criticism, both externally and internally, which is stupid because it caused a blockade within my daily routine. I decided to take my passion with art and my ability to create and channel it through things that truly make a difference. The happiest I have ever been was helping others. I don’t necessarily know how I will go about doing that, but this is going to be how I will find out. I cannot tell you where I will be in 5 years, nor can I even really tell you what I’m eating for dinner tonight, but if I can go to bed every single day knowing that I made a difference somehow somewhere, I will be a happy woman.