2020
Black and White Charcoal, Lead Mechanical Pencil
10.25 inches x 9.75 inches
My interest in making this piece came from wanting to depict the idea of a hobby that someone can go to in order to take a break from surrounding stress. While the idea is universal, the specific example given in the piece is video games because I can speak from experience and observation in regards to the hobby. I’ve seen time and time again the positivity that games have brought people in periods where they personally felt that they needed it most, and I’ve seen the good that they have done in bringing people together. Games can help people destress, find motivation, or even satiate a desire for competition. Over the years, people have worked to find ways in expanding inclusivity, as the industry had not initially been very mindful of people with disabilities. Additionally, games have become an accessible staple as a pastime in periods of recovery. Ideally, I would like to become a part of the creative process which leads to the creation of so many fascinating games that bring positivity to countless people’s lives.
I ultimately didn’t interact with many of you, and it’s an unfortunate regret to have not been very social. I wasn’t too willing to leave my comfort zone and I am admittedly not very good at talking about much outside of my hobbies. But on a handful of occasions I did begin to interact more with some of my classmates and I genuinely enjoyed those times. I really like meeting new people and learning about what makes them who they are. But on most occasions I decided against reaching out to people, knowing that I can’t really hold conversations well. I had lots of time to enjoy my years of high school by meeting new people and exploring while opportunity seemed almost limitless, but I ended up sticking with my restricted preference of what I knew in order to avoid discomfort. I did nothing outside of going to school, with the exception of going to a friend’s house on rare occasions, and in school I was very set on simply keeping to myself and my studies. So although I never really got to know any of you well, I would like it to be known that you were all great classmates to grow up with, many who I had even been going to school with since 6th grade. Times have definitely been odd, as most of us were trying to continue figuring out who we are and what we want to make out of our lives. And in a lot of cases, that journey isn’t over. I would like to thank all of you for being fantastic, unique, and irreplaceable people to have had around in my times of growth and I hope you have all been able to learn from each other, and especially yourselves, to aid in becoming the people you wish to be.
I'm sorry, this is the only photo of myself that I have.
For me, senior year became another year that I personally took for granted. Despite the opportunities that I have been fortunate enough to have, I had done very little compared to what I could have done. The conflict at hand is rooted in an unreasonable fixation on performance and perfectionism that leads to an inability to face potential failure. Failure is a crucial factor of learning, and yet this particular mindset was so uncomfortable with failure that it was willing to do nothing at all to prevent any possible chance of seeing unfavorable results. This doesn’t simply slow the learning process, this completely prevents any amount of growth and ultimately wastes away valuable time. What I would like you all to understand is that you need to find yourselves in a state of mind that is willing to see an effort through to the end, even if it means that it did not live up to initial expectations. When you’re in learning stages of a particular subject you need to be able to recognize what can go wrong and why it can go wrong so they become preventable factors later on. Or you can identify particular areas that require further attention and can plan out future experiments and efforts. Risk taking, in a craft, is essential to innovation.