Semester 4

My time in the Arts Scholars program has been a pleasure and a privilege. I learned so much in the last two years, but if I had to choose one example, I would say that my capstone project was the most illustrative of my growth as a student. I really had to work to improve my self-advocacy and time management skills, and this project was one of the most creatively engaging ones I’ve ever had. My proposal and research looked drastically different from my end product. I began with a disorganized mess, a string of ideas and hopes, and as the semester went on I had to learn (through activities like “killing your darlings” or setting constraints) how to narrow it down to only the most important stuff. My ArtsFest/Academic Showcase presentations are particularly illustrative of my learning process because they are organized, concise, and were completed in a timely manner (i.e. I didn’t turn them in late, which I tend to struggle with avoiding). The process was difficult, even frustrating and stressful, at times, but the skills with which I am walking away from it help make it entirely worth it. I had no idea how to go about conducting research about 6 months ago, or how to host a workshop, or how to explore the intersections of art and psychology disciplines, but now I feel significantly more knowledgeable and prepared for whatever academia may throw at me.
This program has greatly influenced my perspective on the arts as it relates to the world we live in. My time in Arts Scholars has shown me that art is everywhere: it is within us, it is always present externally, it is transactional, it is unavoidable, and it is deeply ingrained in our way of life. Even things that are not immediately registered or categorized as art often do qualify as being such due to certain creative or open-ended elements possessed. This expands as far as our everyday actions. For example, every behavior we engage in is a performance of its own kind; we display different “selves” depending on our relative situation (e.g. whether we are at home, at work, at school, with friends, alone, etc.), and the choices we make for how we present ourselves and what we choose to hide is not only telling of us as people, but also an innate art form. The Commedia dell’Arte theatre workshop I participated in this past semester really illustrated that for me, since many of the characters are exaggerations of people seen in “everyday life.”
Another belief I now hold is that art can be collaborative and is often strengthened by group effort. My impression of art before entering this program was that it was almost always completed by an individual and that this process can be particularly tedious, time-consuming, lonely, and/or frustrating due to its nature. A lot of the curriculum content taught me otherwise, and for that, I am very grateful because my understanding of the arts is now much less limited. The group projects and feedback activities we completed showed me that art is often just as valuable, if not more robust when more than one perspective is involved. Going forward, I will be more accepting of group work as a process meant to further my academic journey. I also would like to collaborate more often with peers to interact with artmaking, as I now know that this can enhance the process.
My capstone was heavily inspired by one of the prevalent themes within my Arts Scholars courses: what makes art “good?” I sought to answer this question through open-mindedness and curiosity. I found that, at least for the purpose of my capstone project, there should be no set definition and no rigid standards used to judge and qualify “good” art. Art is what it does for an individual; in my opinion, if it evokes any sort of emotion, then it is “good.” We also did a lot of exploration within this program into how art can be used as a tool to spark change. My project used this as inspiration to explore change that occurs at an individual level, through positive mood induction and/or negative mood reduction.
I have had many opportunities to expand upon my existing artistic skills and build entirely new ones. I came into this program only having firsthand experience with digital photography, and coming out of this program I can confidently say I have explored so much more than that (which is great because involving myself with other artistic disciplines was one of my goals coming into Scholars). Last spring, I had the opportunity to participate in a photojournalism workshop, which helped with refreshing and expanding upon my photography knowledge, as well as taught me a lot about the photojournalism world. Colloquium classes, my spring workshop (Commedia dell’Arte), my capstone project, and Arts Scholars events encouraged me to explore other forms of art, such as drawing, painting, sculpting, theatre, music, graphic design, and collage. I have started to practice many of the mediums regularly/casually, and I am very grateful that my participation in the Arts Scholars program enabled me to reach one of my long-term goals of interacting with more art “just for fun.”
I think a good example of successful collaboration in the face of differing abilities is the podcast project we completed during CPSA 101. My group members came from all different backgrounds in terms of interests, areas of expertise, and abilities. We discussed our strengths, weaknesses, and preferences and collaborated to create a project on a topic we all found interesting. We delegated responsibilities based on what everyone was more skilled at or best able to handle and set deadlines to keep everything on track. It was not always smooth sailing, but with mutual respect and a shared goal, we all collaborated to make it work.
There are many things I learned within Scholars that I expect to take away and utilize for a long time. To start, I thought it was very helpful when we learned about time management strategies. Single-tasking enabled me to focus on a particular task and work on it with minimal distraction, while time boxing helped me schedule out my week and stick to a regular routine as best I could. The Pomodoro technique was good for my productivity levels because I was able to start small with task completion and I could take breaks, but work/relax time was still very structured. Learning how to set constraints really helped me get specific with my answers, and it aided in maintaining relevance in my work. Killing my darlings was a really tough one to practice, but I am very glad I now possess this skill because it is what ultimately enabled me to have a straightforward and successful project. I feel much more prepared to continue my education now than I did before I started this program. Besides my time management skills slowly starting to improve, as a student I feel I am better able to make meaningful connections and apply them in a positive manner. I also am more academically contemplative and better able to prioritize certain options. The process of connecting with others looks different for me now, too, as I feel I am more in tune with the emotions and needs of others as well as my own, thanks to the creative work I did in class and as a part of my capstone. I am better able to connect with myself and others through art. My capstone and spring workshops encouraged me to consider certain career paths I feel passionate about a lot more deeply (i.e. art therapist, photographer), and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity already to explore these areas and see how I like them. I will continue to practice the strategies we learned, as I know they will help further my journeys.