The Forgotten Creativity of Education by Olivia

The Forgotten Creativity of Education by Olivia - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

Creativity is the fundamental truth of intellectual idea. Scientific research, inventions, technology, literature, art, governments, began with one person coming up with something unique. Instead of accepting the status quo, they questioned it to make the world around them better. Without creativity, all advancements are impossible. It is what drives us to go beyond what we are taught and to think for ourselves. The education system needs to acknowledge this and instill creativity into students.

Society puts education in a box. A square box with no holes out, where people are taught to absorb information and then regurgitate it onto blue bubble sheets without ever reflecting. Instead of teaching how to think, we are taught what to think. Teachers, principles, superintendents, even the College Board, have one model for education, teaching to one type of student. Others fail, and they call it a bell curve. Everyone has potential, but the school system squanders this. Big education enterprises will not abandon the model arguing that kids wouldn’t be prepared for the real world. But, our nation is falling farther behind internationally every year. Countries consistently behind the U.S. surpassed us, and we cannot keep up because we are not changing. At the same time the U.S. government is spending comparatively more money on students, they are cutting art, music, and athletic programs: the only reason some kids are in school.

Junior year, I joined ceramics on a whim, convinced I would do it for one semester then move on. Never would I have predicted I would end up in AP art. Creating helps me cope with frustrations by cathartically pouring them into sculptures. Each work captures a snapshot into my life; it is a journal of emotions. The pieces may not be beautiful to everyone, but it does not matter. There is something inside of everyone that is uniquely exposed with creating.

Art classes are more about thinking than anything else. By examining and analyzing my own work and the work of other ceramic artists, I learn new lenses. Like learning new languages, I understand more. The process of creating the art is far more valuable than the actual object itself. The end is not important, it is the thoughts along the way. It forces me to examine myself and my beliefs while simultaneously incorporating images of science, theories from literature, and questions about how life works.

Growing up I always considered myself a hyper-logical, scientific, and uncreative person, but art reminded me that I am more than those descriptors. I do not need to be defined by those three words. I can be scientific and artistic; I can be logical and emotional. These ideas do not exist in seclusion, they are interworking elements of the world and of my personality. Any student can find answers, they have been trained for years in this skill, but it takes a genius to find new questions. Creativity requires me to ask questions of myself and my world.