“My name is…”

“My name is…” is a project deeply rooted experience as a student-athlete at the University of San Francisco. For years running was the foundation of how I understood myself, how I structured my time and how I connected with others. After a career ending injury, I lost a defining part of my identity, something I was not prepared to lose this soon. What followed was a period of uncertainty, and grief. This grief was not always visible, it existed in the absence of routine, and the loss of physical movement. It was the grief of losing a version of myself that I had spent years building, and grief for the future I imagined for myself. Without running, I was forced to try to understand who I am without the thing that once defined me.

“My name is…” emerges from the process of loss and reconstruction. My project explores identity, questioning how we define ourselves when a central part of our identity is taken away. I learned that identity is something fluid, shaped not only by what we gain but also by what we lose. Through my design, I translate the emotional process of grief, loss, and reconstruction into a visual and audio experience. “My name is…” becomes a statement and a question at the same time. It reflects the tension between who I was, who I am, and who I am becoming. By engaging with my work, viewers are invited to consider their own identities, how it is built and how it evolves through a change.