The Tower

Artist: Isabel Hernandez

Starting from the bottom, I changed the tower's foundation to books. The original card has the tower built on rough, unsteady ground. I wanted to represent the instability of the Tower’s foundation with a stack of books. The unsteady foundation represents an unstable foundation of an imposed life path. As students, books are the foundation of our intended careers.

Next up is the Tower itself. I changed the Tower to a piece of the Our Lady of Victory Chapel. Besides looking like the original Tower, it was important to add a historical building that represents our long history as a school, as it just celebrated its 100th anniversary on the campus of Saint Catherine University. It is also a building that Sister Antonia McHugh, a founder of the school, influenced, as it was built under her direction. The Chapel also features imagery of our patron saint, Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

The last change to my card was replacing the people falling out of the Tower with diplomas. The falling people represent having no control over the destruction of your chosen life path or plan. It is common for students to change majors, which can make them feel hopeless and out of control. It is important to embrace and acknowledge the many paths we can take that ultimately lead us to the same place. The traditional college route is preached to us, so when we have to take another path, it feels like chaos, but in reality, there are many paths.