Semester Reflections

Semester 2

I’ve always found it difficult to connect with professors and my fellow peers, but I feel like Art Scholars has definitely helped me in that regard and boosted my confidence.  Out of all the staff and faculty I’ve met in my first year as a college student, I feel the most connected to the ones in Art Scholars.  The fact that we are a small, tight knit group where the professors know all our names makes me feel more comfortable than if I were just another nameless student in a large lecture hall.  I appreciate the fact that the professors make the effort to meet with each one of us individually to check in on how we are doing, even multiple times a semester, something that most professors don’t bother doing because they would have so many students to keep up with.  My peers also share similar interests and hobbies, which makes me feel more at ease with this group.  Most of the friends I’ve made here at College Park have been fellow Art Scholars, I just feel like we connect easier being part of the same group.  I think the Art Scholars program fosters a community by having all these events that we have to attend, allowing us to showcase what we’ve been working on all semester and chat with other artists.  Something that really influenced me was the days leading up to and of Artsfest.  Even though I had to be at the atrium for hours to finish helping set everything up, I found it an overall enjoyable experience.  I felt special knowing that I was in this community, helping to create this presentation of all our best works for everyone else to see.  Being part of the behind the scenes definitely helped the feeling of “community”.  I feel like my definition of art has expanded since being part of Art Scholars.  Before this, I knew of different types of art but stuck strictly to digital illustration, because it was what I was most comfortable with.  Now, I think it's safe to say that Art Scholars has pushed me way outside my comfort zone, having me experiment with all different kinds of mediums that I wouldn’t even dare to touch a year ago.  Some of these mediums I have come to enjoy too.  My appreciation for all these different artists that work in these mediums gets greater every time I attempt it and end up making something far less than a masterpiece.  I enjoyed the workshops and craft and chats the most.  I’m glad I got to pick a workshop teaching something that I’ve always wanted to try in the past, and I picked up many useful techniques too.  Overall I was very happy with what I created in that workshop, and I will definitely look into trying more art projects in the future with a clay medium.  I also enjoyed the craft and chats, being a low stress environment to try new things with the company of friends.  I found myself wanting to go to a lot of them because they looked fun, but ended up only being able to do a few because of time.  I hope to go to more in the future.