School Pride and Artistic Pretentiousness by Jessica

School Pride and Artistic Pretentiousness by Jessica - September 2023 Scholarship Essay

I love my art school to the moon and back. The culture accepting all walks of life, from gender and racial identity to individual belief systems, is something that is of great importance to me. All of our majors (animation, film, dance, instrumental, musical theater, vocal) are passionate and dedicated to their craft. My love of my talent is only exceeded by my peers, who all join together to strive for the same end goal: to make art for others. This is our life's passion, and we are so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing opportunity to study this year-round. However, for all of our time focused on the art we create, we barely have time to slow down and appreciate our school community itself.

Because we are an art school, we do not have any sports teams. Even if we did, so much of our time both in and out of school is spent on producing showcases and refining our talents, barely anyone would participate! I would be lying if I said I didn't envy schools who had Friday Night Football games, or huge pep rallies with outrageous themes. Of course, these events all come with a school with sports. These activities bring a sense of community and togetherness for a school, providing a common enemy within the opposing team.

Another reason why we are less spirited is because artists must be cool. Of course, if you ask me, I would tell you the coolest thing is to be spirited for your school. However, I would be in the minority of my school for thinking that. Spirit week themes are milquetoast, and the participation reflects that. Besides our annual field day, we don't really have any other ways of sharing our CharterTech pride with other students.

Chartertech Field Day Succeeds as being our number one school spirit event. It’s hosted in mid-May, and serves as both the PE department's event, as well as a final farewell to all seniors. The aforementioned majors are a student's team for the day as they go around to various stations, concluding in a timed relay race competition between every major. The winning major gets bragging rights, as well as a trophy to keep in their room for the year. The competitive tension through the day is so thick, it could be cut with a knife. Something about the friendly competition between majors ignites something, even in the most "too cool for school" students.

What we've proven is that we can combine both one's love for their major AND a healthy competitive spirit to form the perfect school spirit event. This can even be extended towards anything that can have a competitive edge added to it. Canned food drives? Whichever major gets more donations wins. Themed Spirit Day? Most unified major to participate wins bragging rights.

Of course, this is all in the spirit of good-natured, healthy competition. We are a small school, so if anyone were to take it too far, we would know. This is why the main focus wouldn’t be on the competition itself, but the unifying community of one’s major. It wouldn’t have to stop at entire school events, either. If a major’s showcase is that evening, they could come into school wearing their major’s color. Their rooms could be decorated with memorabilia and pictures from past graduating classes. Small touches that make school pride more accessible day-to-day.

For some reason, athletics and sports are a major key to if a school community is spirited or not. Something about having a common enemy in an organized environment, such as a football field, has the opportunity to bring students of any background together. Of course, my performing arts school will never implement sports. We don’t have the luxury of a built-in common enemy for our entire school, but we do have the next best thing. If I had the power to change anything in my school for the better, it would be to make school spirit more accessible for everyone. Starting with the one unifying fact our school offers each and every artist, their major.