The Art of Life by Briana

The Art of Life by Briana - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

At this point in time, I have my whole life ahead of me and opportunities to help mould myself into the person I want to be present themselves every day. Eventually, a perfectly sculpted part of me will be an educator, so the real question is not what I would teach given the opportunity, it is what I will teach.
When I am finally the one that eager young minds turn to for knowledge, I will teach them about art. Yes, for most, art is an elective. Art is the class that someone chooses to gain that final credit and graduate. For my students, however, art will be an experience.
In my art class, while I teach my students to sketch and sculpt and paint and create, I will also teach them about life. Not the harsh, cruel parts of life, but the magical and beautiful ones. In my class, my students will learn that they can express their feelings through something they made with their own two hands. They will learn to love themselves as well as the beauty of what is around them. They will learn to be proud of what their minds are able to construct. They will be inspired to be who they are and showcase it for all to see without a second thought.
But why art? Why in a scholarly, mathematical, textbook-based curriculum would I teach kids about such fluidity? It is simple. The world is fast-paced. It can become scary, insidious, manipulative, and hateful. The world causes all of us to think long and hard about what life truly means. With art, students can gain the confidence, the originality, and the motivation it takes to combat these challenging obstacles. Students will have the chance to create something out of nothing and spread the resulting positivity to people around them. Those who take my class will learn one of the most important lessons of all: how to mould themselves into the person they have always wanted to be. Not to mention the bonus of creating a personal museum to show where their minds have gone.