Faculty of Design

Illustration

Qiutong Lu

Story of Myself

When I was 12 years old, I got to travel to Italy with my parents. I was very excited to explore Milan, and as a young artist, was curious of how the narrow streets of the city mixed with the colourful array of foods, flowers, and wares to be sold. I must have got caught up in looking at all the amazing sights, for when I turned to see where my parents were, they were gone! To my dismay, I realized I was lost, and proceeded to search for my parents along the crowded streets. I bustled through the throngs of the locals and tourists, getting overwhelmed by the loud noises of the many people, mixed with the sounds of the streets. I was sometimes pushed by the crowd, and I didn’t remember what street I was on, for they started to all look the same. This was the time before children had cell phones, so I knew that I simply had to find a place which was familiar to us all, for they must be looking for me too. After some time, I accidentally came across a house that I once saw, with my parents, that had a little flower-shaped decoration on its green roof, so I stayed there. After more time passed, I was happy to see this work, for my parents arrived, sharing that they went to many of the places we had already visited, and that would be familiar to me. Amidst my many travels to come, this experience shared with me good travel skills, to keep communication in my travel group, and to always plan with them, if we ever get separated, to find a special place that we all appreciated. I can still see that flower-shaped decoration on the green roof of that house, grateful for these unique visuals that remain in our mind for many years to come.

“An illustration of my extraordinary experience of almost got lost. ”