Personal Narrative: My Education At The Art Institute

My transition into high school was as easy as taking a breath. I had always found school quiet easy and I never had to put much effort into getting promising grades. Before high school I had my whole life figured out, or at least I thought I did. I had planned that I would attend a law school or major in English. After a while of being in high school I started to realize many things. My parents did not have the financial stability to send me to a law school, I was not as smart as all the other kids, little by little I began struggling with a negative mentality about myself and my future. I slowly let go of my dream of becoming a lawyer and decided to join the Health Careers Academy. Soon enough, I began to have a deep interest in the medical field but then again I continued to have the same question; how can I afford going to a medical school? I did not know much about college or what it took to get into college. I assumed I just had to have a pretty transcript and that was all it took. My self confidence began to lower as I saw how other students cruised through their high school years so effortlessly. I never wanted to ask for help because I did not want to seem “dumb”. I would bite my tongue and hold in all the unanswered questions I had. My junior year, I was having a very difficult time. I had a tight schedule which consisted of almost all AP or honors courses. I slowly began to give up because I did not believe that I could do it. I let my grades slip failing almost

I remember waking up and looking out the window for the first time just to see a gigantic white pole with long, stretching fingers coming out of the top. It was just like a huge fan flowing very slow, as that’s where my 10 year old mind lead me. As we traveled, we finally hit a town that read welcome to Normal, Illinois. I felt so lost as we pulled through a different college town. While Illinois State University's campus isn’t similar to Purdue Universities, I was still having flashbacks of the enjoyment and memories I had made in Lafayette, Indiana. All of this was happening because my dad had just got a job as a football coach at Illinois State.

On my twenty-forth birthday, the seventh of May, my mother, the eminent, Whitney West Scooter, almost had a major myocardial infarction. After, I told her that her aspiring Michelangelo had withdrawn, that very day, from her alma mater the illustrious J. C. West Academy of Fine Arts. The only reason I attend the Academy, in the first place was to appease my mother, who believed every artist should hold an art degree. I spend the entire day with my mother and throughout breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I tried to penetrate her armor of resistance so she might understand my reason for leaving the Academy at the conclusion of my junior year. As I spoke, her facial expression took on the characteristics of a rabid dog about to pounce. And I swear

Sophomore year of High School we took a trip to New York to visit The Metropolitan Art Museum we spent the full day immersing ourselves in the artwork. It was the trip that would inspire me to become an artist. We arrived to this momentous building with lots of stairs I was eager to be off the bus and see what the museum held for us. We were greeted by our guide and we began our tour which would only be part of this magnificent day. It must have been one of the first things we came across and the most memorable piece not only the artwork that was in front of me but the feeling I felt that day. It was “The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer” a bronze cast by Edgar Degas it was mixed media of sorts she was wearing a cotton skirt with a satin hair ribbon

In the previous years, I have made the decision to work concurrently with my education. I have been working as a waitress in a local restaurant for years. My parents were opposed to my working since they wanted me to focus on my grades, but I wanted to lessen the financial burden for them. Both of my parents never received an education and they wanted me to solely focus on school to secure myself a better future despite our poverty.

In my recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I visited two different galleries, including European Paintings 1250-1800 and 19th century and early 20th century European paintings and sculptures. The artworks are filled with history and beauty. There are many artworks that caught my attention including Vanitas Still Life by Jacques de Ghyen, The Third Class Carriage by Honore Daumier, Rehearsal of the Ballet on Stage by Edgar Degas and The Garden at Sainte-Adresse by Claude Monet.

My biggest challenge starting this program is getting acclimated to a school setting and schedule once again. I started my Master’s program in 2008 and I completed my degree requirements in 2010. Since then, I’ve begun working full-time whereas during that timeframe I was working on a part-time schedule. While working I’ve accumulated a number of assignments that I am responsible for and my work schedule changes often due to those assignments. So, not only do my duties change but my schedule changes quite often. With my current assignment, I’m working as a New Hire Instructor for a federal agency and I am assuming all duties of this assignment along with my regular position.

My second artist was, Yayoi Kusama. In her images, she uses a lot of color and covers everything with black or white dots. To create my image, I used black acrylic paint to create the penguin and then covered it with white dots. Because this project has to be black and white, I was not able to make it bright and colorful like Yayoi Kusama would have.

I am finally seeing the beautiful campus at my dream school, Theden Academy! On my way here, I met Hershey, the gorgeous pretty girl from our school who basically bought her way into Theden. We were on the plane together and coincidently or not, we happen to be sitting next each other and not to mention I almost died because she was eating peanuts. After we arrive to the campus, we were told by Dean Warter, the principal, that Theden has a super-late curfew, no dorm check-ins, and no dress codes which is the completely the opposite of most private schools. Later throughout the day, I’ve started to slowly accept the fact that my dream had became reality. After seeing all my classmates, I feel like I truly belongs to this school. I can actually

Looking back on my first art response paper I was excited and nervous to be introduced to a new community. Before this semester, I never had the opportunity to be submerged in a community as diverse as Eagle Heights. After my first meeting with my community partner Jeff, I knew that I would be interacting with children from around the nation and world. However, I underestimated how challenged I would be by this factor. Throughout the eight art classes I held and the various volunteering I did throughout the semester, I was faced with overcoming language and cultural barriers. Though challenging at times, I am thankful that I was able to face these obstacles. I believe I was right to be nervous at the beginning of the semester. But, I was also correct in being excited for what the semester had to offer. Though my goals changed as the semester went on, I learned a great amount from my experience.

My trip to the Museum of Fine Arts with my family was quite amazing. We went through the art of the Americas, art of the ancient world of Egypt and Greek gems and jewelry arts of Europe and more. Even though I fell in love with so many pieces, I spotted a few that I consider as favorites. The “Seated Woman (Dora)”, 1938 by Pablo Picasso was one of my favorites at the exhibition. The artwork which is an Ink, gouache, and colored chalk on paper painting depicts Dora Maar seated in profile. The painting intrigued me because of the subject whom appears to be seated like a queen on a throne. Furthermore, it is interesting how the lines turn the picture into a fabric of webs and meshes.

Drat! The trainee in our spacecraft beamed me to the wrong destination, his trainer was supposed to be guiding him but I guess he had more important things to do. Somehow he beamed me to a place called the St. Louis Art Museum, instead of to the planet Zorf where I was supposed to set up a trade station.. I’ll be sure that young Flee gets more training. I guess while i’m waiting I can look around and see if we had made our mark on this civilization.

The Evanston gallery was crowded with bustling teenagers and their parents, all proud of their children for their photography being selected to be featured in the gallery. Here I was, standing under my photo explaining it to those who were curious. It was a plant in black and white with just the top tip of leaves being hit by the sun, the rest blanketed in darkness. I saw it to symbolize growth and on a personal level, how I’ve grown more comfortable in both my skin and my decisions in the life I lead.

There is no concrete way to guarantee that I will change the world. I know that I’m not going to end hunger, or cure cancer, but I feel the changes I can make are also important. I’ve always been impassioned to change the art world. Currently, almost every aspect of the art world is male dominated, from painting and sculpture, to modern mediums such as programming and conceptual art.

I was asked to make a collage in the shape of my silhouette that represented me in pictures and symbols. The first thing I knew I wanted to put in my collage was a softball because my life is all about softball, if I had to give up all other sports for softball I would. I then thought about my love for music so I had to add a music note. Thinking about my past, present, and future I wanted to add the word magical because when I was little I was addicted to disney princesses and the magic involved in their stories. Ever since I was little, my heart has been set on going to UNC for college which is why I had to add the UNC Tarheel to my collage. I added all the pictures of different places around the world because after college I want to