The coloring phase represents the period when I began finding color not only in my projects, but in my life in college. After years of prioritizing technical rigor and externally defined conceptions of “serious” work, I began to allow myself to pursue what felt meaningful. In my art process, coloring is where a piece stops being purely functional and starts to represent mood and intention. Similarly, this phase marked the point at which my work began to reflect the value I had previously set aside: creativity. The artifacts here show a shift from building because I could to building because I cared, and I chose projects that felt relevant to my purpose and my desires to be creative. As you read this section, think of it as the moment when the portfolio moves from grayscale into color: after the sketching and layering, I am adding what gives me purpose into the whole picture of my time at university.