The Art Club by Samantha

The Art Club by Samantha - September 2019 Scholarship Essay

If I had the opportunity to create a high school extracurricular activity, I would create an art club. However, this specific art club would not be the stereotypical high school art club where all the “weird kids” sit together during lunch hour. The art club I would create would be for high school students to explore different mediums and learn about different career opportunities that there are in the art world.

I am a sophomore in college, now studying graphic design and studio art - sculpture. When I was in high school, I felt limited by my enjoyment of art. Teachers and family members told me that there were no careers for people that went to extra schooling for the arts. They also told me that there was no money in doing so. This lead me to declare a major in something that I didn’t love my freshman year.

I was fortunate enough to have met my now advisor here at the school through one of the introduction classes freshman must take. He was the individual that told me about all of the different opportunities within a fine arts major. I felt less limited by my interests. After my first meeting with him, I switched my major to graphic design and signed by for as many classes related to my new major as possible for the next semester. For the first time, I felt like I had options about what I wanted to do with my future.

I want to be able to share this feeling, and let high schoolers know that art can be a career. I would want my information to spread about how limitless art is in college and all the different career paths that are possible within it.

Therefore, if I had the opportunity to create a high school extracurricular activity, I would form an art club. One that held specific days for different experimentation with different mediums in art, including charcoal, paint, photoshop, etc. And that also held group speakers that informed the high schoolers of different careers within the art field. That way no student wanting to further their education feels limited by choices in degrees.