I had a lot of origami paper stored in my room because back in high school, I really thought I’d take up origami as a hobby. I made origami butterflies for my graduation cap, and I remember hearing that a student at my old college did research at Cornell on how origami structures can be ideal for some bioengineering application, I don’t remember exactly what, but it seemed like an art form with a lot of possibilities so I wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I didn’t follow through with that, but this event was a nice way to use some of the pretty origami paper I still have. I got to see some familiar faces too, so it was a double win. Honestly, though, I don’t feel so bad about not taking up that hobby, because origami is very difficult and it takes a lot of time to make something really cool. But who knows–in the future I’ll probably be making origami butterflies for some other decoration, maybe my next graduation cap!

Coming into this event, I felt more confident than some of the prior arts and crafts event hosted by the Rose Schools Program, particularly the ones involving paint. I’ve always loved art, but I don’t think I’ve been particularly good in it. With origami, I’ve always felt safe due to its very precise nature-one fold here, another crease there and voila, a crane! With painting, there’s a lot of uncertainty with how the final product may come out to be like. One smudge in the wrong place, and the painting can easily go awry. The first few activities were pretty easy to follow, but the frog one had me completely confused. With origami, you also have to be careful of the shape and size of the folds, just as you’d need to be cognizant of it in painting. But one wrong fold in origami, and you come out with something completely disparate than what you intend to make, whereas with painting, you can probably improvise to make the mistake into something else! Nonetheless, the activity was quite therapeutic in the midst of finals!

Prior to the event, I had always accepted that origami was probably something that I wouldn’t be the best at. As a painter, I never really care much to make the straightest lines because things are going to be getting blended anyways. Origami on the other hand, requires very precise and careful folding of paper to achieve the best creases and shapes. I was glad that most people at the event were not experienced with origami either. It was challenging to follow the youtube videos because the instructor would often get through the folding process much quicker than I could. This was okay though because in the end, I went at my own pace and was still able to create a crane that I was proud of (for my first try). I love working with my hands and creating art so I look forward to learning how to create more creatures!

Learning how to make origami figures was slightly challenging, but really fun. I was really happy with how the origami turned out. I was able to make a crane, frog, and rose.

With finals and projects coming up, I was not particularly thrilled to attend anything that did not have to do with academics.  However, the origami session yesterday was a great way of briefly taking my mind off of studying and giving myself a mental break.  The paper folding was quite therapeutic as we made a crane, a frog, a rose, and attempted a turtle (which didn’t go well but was still fun).  Hopefully, if this happens again in the future, I can pick up some origami paper beforehand to make things go a little more smoothly!  Overall, this was a relaxing event that I thoroughly enjoyed.

In the past, I have made various origami figures. Most of the time, I had made easier figures such as cats or dogs, but today’s session allowed for us to make cranes, roses, frogs and attempt a turtle. Thankfully, the instructor of this session found a video that was slow and slowed the speed of the video so it was easier to do. As a near-finals week activity, it was extra relaxing to watch the video at a slower speed and not feel additional stress from falling behind in the video. Plus, I know have some decorative origami!