Semester Reflections

Semester 2

When I put Arts Scholars as my first choice of Scholars program, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As a pre-law political science student, my parents thought selecting another Scholars program would be better for my future while my high school friends who were also admitted to Scholars were all in different programs than me. I, however, stood strong in dedication to furthering my education in the Arts, and through Arts Scholars, I've gained a lot of insight and takeaways through this adventure since my first night spent in Bel Air Hall, and for future Arts Scholars, boy do I have a lot of advice to give!

First, be excited for the community you’re going to develop. I can say that I loved the welcoming environment that faculty, both head faculty and the TAs, were able to foster. I will 100% recommend that incoming Scholars get to know their faculty because they want to know you! As an example, at my citation review, Heather was interested in not just my Arts Scholars interests, but also my personal and professional interests, which made me feel seen, and I hope to develop a stronger relationship with her and the other Arts faculty because they just seem like a great group of people who will listen to you and your ideas/visions. But, adding a small caveat to this, this is a relationship that you need to pursue yourself. I’ve found professors at UMD will be open and excited to know you, but if you want to develop a relationship, you as the student need to take the extra step, and most of the time,  the faculty will meet you at that step. Furthermore, take advantage of your peers! I don’t think I’ve ever met a group of people this talented and innovative, and that rubs off on you. Their dedication to their craft is evident, and not only was that incredible to see at Arts Fest but was also a welcoming landing space in my college experience because being surrounded by passionate people reminded me that I, as a person who was equally passionate about her work, was in the right place, a place that was going to value my work and insight which was nice to have in a vastly unfamiliar world. To know there’s a community on campus to support you and your passions is hugely comforting, especially at a large university like UMD, and I advise freshmen to build those roots. I was often far away from the CCC because I had a lot of obligations, so developing those roots was difficult. But in my way, through class and my work, I’ve been able to connect people through my artistic strengths and through learning from each other, making me feel like I belonged. 

Second, if you’re afraid about your choice of Arts Scholars, don’t be! The people around me thought my choice of this program wasn’t conducive to my learning, considering the fact my professional interests didn’t fall in the wheelhouse of Arts Scholars. However, through completing my first year, this isn’t true at all. While it is true that Arts Scholars doesn't align with my professional interests, it taught me a lot of valuable skills I can apply to my policy/political science skills. One of the most important was the discussion that challenged my beliefs, which asked what art is throughout the first-semester colloquium. Having your beliefs challenged, and using that challenge to learn more or to defend your previous beliefs is a huge skill to learn and develop. Arts Scholars provided a great environment to do just that and was a place where constructive opinions were all valued. Furthermore, through the workshop structure of the second semester, we learned to work together in small groups to work towards a common goal while also working towards our individual projects, which was great to learn how to balance and see it all come to a head at Arts Fest was not only a commendation of the work I’d put in, but also a reminder to me that I’d learned a lot of amazing general skills in an area of my passions. The workshop and Arts Fest also allowed me first-hand access to engaging with my community regarding the arts, and being able to see and contribute to that engagement was hugely impactful to my perception of the Arts impact us all, and I’m really excited about presenting my personal capstone next year!

With that comes my third takeaway, Arts Scholars is really what you make it, and the program itself gives you ways to make it to your benefit. Arts Scholars gave me a place to explore my current passions, through the first-semester final project, and a place to explore new passions, through the second-semester workshops. I particularly loved the workshop aspect of Arts Scholars, because it allowed me to develop some of the general skills I mentioned earlier and gave me an outlet to do something I’d never been able to do before. Particularly, the workshop I was in, Visual Novel Game Development, was a great escape from my writing-heavy, technical political science classes, and allowed me to practice things I was good at (narrative writing) in an entirely new format (visual novels via Google Slides). I appreciated this program because it gave me a safe way to explore and have fun while also challenging my definition of art through the application of unorthodox art styles. 

To wrap up, expect Arts Scholars to challenge you. Prepare to have your definition of art changed or challenged, prepare to do new art forms, prepare to learn a lot of general and/or specific skills, and prepare to have a lot of fun! Through this year, I know that I made the right choice in picking this Scholars program to make my home and I wouldn’t trade the work and memories through the program for anything!