Art & Your High School Experience: Making More Than the Grade

It's second semester. AP Exams are creeping closely forward, term papers are appearing everywhere, you have three days of homework snowballed because you were working on that assignment that took you three days to finish--in essence, you're a gifted student at Desert Vista. "What does this all mean" and "Why did I do this to myself" might be questions that reoccur in your psyche as you laboriously engrave information into a worksheet for your history class.

I have some news for you, my friends: There Is An Escape.

This escape is better known as the Desert Vista Fine Arts Department. I know for some of you, the sound of "electives programs" that aren't AP or Honors can cause a wave of anxiety, ridden with visions of lost rank points, failure, and visions of a homeless future. I'm here to tell you these fears are irrational. I have taken one or more arts classes every year of my high school career, and I am the top 3% of my senior class. I have a very high GPA. I still enjoy my AP classes just as much, if not more! That's right: art classes won't destroy your life as a gifted student.

In fact, I couldn't live without the fine arts. In the midst of all the chaos of my AP/Honors world, I have found orchestra and ceramics classes to provide me with an outlet just to create. Art is such a personal experience--for one hour every day, you aren't judged on whether or not you can create a masterpiece; assignments aren't examined with a pass/fail mentality; you are given a space where you create your own vision of what you think is beautiful. Art isn't about getting an A--that's relatively easy. Art is about finding your own vision, about exploring your own world.

So when you are choosing your classes this semester, or thinking about your busy schedule next year, remember that you might enjoy this kind of outlet. As a culture, I believe we have become increasingly homogenized in order to "make the grade", and art classes help preserve this lost individuality and creativity. Additionally, these classes can help you look at your AP/Honors classes with a more creative, problem-solving mind.

I encourage you, with all my experiences in high school in mind, to take an art class or two. Take a break, enjoy, and create: you will be glad you did. High school is definitely about being successful, but it's also about finding out who you are--taking art classes can help you discover things you never knew about yourself.

-Kellie