Love, Ran

Dear Studio,

I’m writing to you from Pōneke. My name is Yi Ran (as I was known during my time at University!) and I was a student at Otago University between 2017-2021. 

You have been a part of my life since the very beginning of my University life. Volunteering gave my life purpose whilst I was still clumsily finding my way through questions of who or what I wanted to be, or what kind of meaning I wanted my life to have.

My first lightbulb moment, the moment where everything seemed to click just right, was SIlverline Festival 2019. Like a moth drawn to a flame, I had thought to myself “this space gave me and many others the permission to be vulnerable. I want to be a part of this space”.

I don’t believe vulnerability to be a weakness, nor do I see it as a place of strength where one may rise from the ashes. Instead, it was a place of connection.

Silverline represented to me, a space where the stories of the people we walk past everyday are told. Missed connections, fond/tender memories and the conversations usually reserved for 3am in the flat kitchen after realizing one has drunk too much liquid courage. There are a lot of things in the world that cannot be understood with simple pondering but the open dialogue was here should you wish to try and look at things in a new light.

Being a part of the Silverline team and Otago Leadership Award programme held me accountable- congruent to my belief that I should be the change that I want to see in the world. You saw things in me that I didn’t yet see in myself. I found my passion, my “why” and also a family there. I will carry my experiences and memories with you wherever I go- to challenge convention in creative and unexpected ways!

With love,

Ran