Black is better by Brittney

Black is better by Brittney - July 2020 Scholarship Essay

In my room, my walls are lavender, my bedsheets are lavender, my pillows are lavender, mostly everything is. As you could probably tell, lavender is my favorite color. Not only is it my favorite color, but it’s also my spirit color. I tend to get angry easily, and lavender drives my meditative state— it takes a while to that point. Focus is of the essence when training the brain to achieve an emotionally calm and stable spirit. Lavender exposes your higher self by creating an idyllic atmosphere impelling you to tap into your creativity. Nothing in my room is lavender, although you can now understand why I wish it was, in fact, dull beige coats my walls. Colors have many meanings, but in a classroom setting only one color should be displayed— black.
I’ve spent approximately 100 words explaining why lavender is such a great color, it is, but not in this circumstance. In a learning environment, a compulsively pensive person, like myself could not concentrate with the color lavender bombarding me with thoughts. Think of it this way: do you fall asleep faster in a dark room or a lighted room? Aside from all the people who still use nightlights, my eyes could not fathom falling asleep in a fully lighted room. Black’s neutrality brings forth the simplicity of thoughts, therefore avoiding the hyperactive calm of lavender. Bringing me to my next point, the plainer the better. In most classrooms, teachers pervade the classroom with multiple colors and resourceful posters. For elementary students, there's no problem with having the typical A-B-C 1-2-3 sign stapled onto the walls, but for the older youth, colors can be distracting. Last year in English I, my classmates, and I did a timed write on Orwell’s Animal Farm; Mrs. Murray’s classroom had poster-filled walls. Much to my dismay, I didn’t complete the timed write that day, and my grade was as expected. At this point, you can assume what I was doing, observing her multicolored themed classroom. That wasn’t the first time the environment caught my eye, I had a proclivity for daydreaming into her walls. During the timed write, I looked around the classroom to find a resource that would be of good use to my paper, which didn't work out well for me. Having a different color other than black is slightly distracting, but the presence of symbols, letters, and numbers are unbearable. My dream classroom would be completely black, with the exceptions of the whiteboard, brown desks/chairs, and neutral colored carpet.
As a student, a classroom’s display affects my ability to maintain attentiveness during instruction and retain information from the lesson. Most people associate the color black with depression, but darkness is overarchingly powerful. As a kid, cartoons often characterize the villain in darker colors, but the villain gives the impression of omnipotence. Growing up from those cartoons has taught me there is a positive to every negative. Black represents strength and power, those qualities influence confidence in the lives of students and force them to handle their problems. Black refuses to cower when facing the unknown, instead, it forces us to face reality. If classrooms were black, I guarantee my grades would be higher. Darkness would increase my potential success by creating a blank state in my mind that would allow me to effectively cipher intrusive thoughts. The dark hue provides a perfect backdrop for the projector light or whiteboard as it accentuates them and draws the eye, therefore allowing maximum focus among students.
I imagined for my room to be all lavender, but it would be better black. Tapping into my spiritual life would be nice, but the concentration of black is incomparable. Meeting my high self would be an honor, but that can be achieved by being a productive student. Lavender is my favorite color, however, I wouldn't want it in my dream classroom. Black enables students to unravel their thoughts and place it on paper, and face all subjects without hesitation and overthinking. Think of it this way: would you write a paper faster in a room with a wall full of colors or a wall full of black?