Mari Otsu is a fine arts writer and classical artist. She holds a BA in Art History, Psychology, French, and Global Liberal Studies from New York University (2021), completed the two-year Core Program in Classical Draftsmanship and Oil Painting at Grand Central Atelier (2023), and recently graduated with an MA in the Humanities from Ralston College (2024). Honored to return to Ralston as a Fellow of the College, Mari is studying beauty, form, and creative transformation in the Enneads of Plotinus, one of the grandfathers of aesthetic theory. Thanks to the translation by Marsilio Ficino (1492), the Enneads had a significant influence on Renaissance culture, and she is considering how it might have shaped Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures. Additionally, Mari is deeply concerned about the diminishment of inner life in young people in favor of fleeting trends, external validation, and fragmented attention spans. She aims to help young women navigate the psychological challenges presented by modernity by speaking on a wide range of cultural phenomena, mediated by her own personal experience.