Semester 1

This first semester of college definitely did not only exceed my expectations overall, but it also gave me a reality check on different aspects of my life. Whether it was my academic, social, or creative life, there was always something that changed my perspective on these aspects of my life. After going through so many different tasks and assignments in a wide variety of fields/studies, I can safely say that I am ready for what lies ahead in the coming semesters and what to expect. For one, the amount of studying I have to do is a lot more than I expected coming into college. It was a very intense shift, but I managed to find study groups and people to surround myself with to help me with any problems I come across. Study groups were also a lot easier to make than I originally thought. Coming into university, I assumed it would be hard to meet new people in such a big university, but I was completely wrong. In fact, it’s so big that I just ended up meeting someone new almost every day. With that, it was easy to find people with similar interests and similar issues to go and study with which only created stronger connections and bonds. Even with my experience in Arts Scholars, it was really cool bonding with everybody during the many events that were held such as service day, block parties, and craft & chats. I really wasn’t expecting to meet so many new people coming into a program such as this since I’ve never really mingled with the artistic side of my personality. I’m glad everything in college has been really welcoming so far. I was also surprised by how much my writing class connected to what I’ve taken out of CPSA100 during this semester. Writing is very much just as much of an art as any other medium and it shows with the workshops I’ve had to attend within my writing class. It has a very similar critique process to the one we learned in CPSA100 where we go around giving our thoughts on someone’s work without any actual opinions. Asking others permission to give opinions was the one thing that was unique and interesting to me in both classes. Another thing I wasn’t expecting was the wide variety of artistic mediums we covered in colloquium. I expected most of our time to be spent on typical visual art such as paintings, drawings, or other visual mediums, but I definitely wasn’t expecting to not only learn but engage in mediums such as vogue. Not only did we cover subjects I didn’t expect, but we also didn’t cover some subjects such as photography or creative writing as much as I would have expected. I am very much looking forward to participating in workshops next semester for those specific mediums. I also wasn’t expecting to find the field trip to see that theater J performance so moving and impactful. I thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling in the performance of Intimate Apparel and I hope to see more theatrical performances in my own time.
I expected college life to be very stressful and one-dimensional back in high school. Regardless, it is still very stressful, but it also has so much more to offer than what I had originally imagined. There are so many things to do that it’s almost crazy to think that I used to just stay in my house all day long. They say high school gives you more freedom, but the reality is that college is where you really are free as can be. Everyday, I can make my own decisions and do what I feel is right for me. The only thing that can change my perception of college life in future semesters is the potential classes I might have to take that might push me to challenge myself harder than ever before. One thing that surprised me was how UMD went very lenient on the COVID-19 situation that is still going on. I really thought we were all going to have to wear masks and distance ourselves in class this semester, but thankfully I was wrong.
In the end, the one thing I can really say I took away from colloquium this semester was when we danced vogue. I’ve never done anything so out there before, and I can honestly say that it was one of the most uncomfortable things I’ve had to do. However, I stayed in class that day and decided to push through and give it a shot. The instructor was good at keeping up the energy as I’m sure others were feeling the same way I was, so I took his advice and tried to get out of my own head. It was hard, but at least I was able to take a couple of things away from the experience. The instructor’s words at the end were exactly what I needed to hear and it helped me realize that I shouldn’t worry about what others think of me and that I need to have more confidence in myself and what I wish to do. I also discovered how powerful the art of just movement can be because although I felt uncomfortable and vulnerable dancing, I felt something special and creative with each movement. It’s not for me, but I can see why vogue is considered art, and I can respect that about art.

Semester 2

Throughout the year, I’ve met a great bunch of faculty members in the Arts Scholars program such as Harold, Heather, and Gabi. I’m glad I got to establish such profound friendships with all of them as they make for such a vibrant and friendly classroom setting. I’m hoping to finish my next and final year in Arts Scholars having left the program with fond memories of these friends of mine. I just hope I can have some time to do more things for Arts Scholars as it will be a challenge to balance my schoolwork, my job, and Arts Scholars. I recommend that all new incoming freshmen try their best to seek a strong connection with the Arts Scholars community to really make this program worth their while. Not only have the faculty been amazing in helping me transition into college, but the relationships I’ve built with my peers helped me adjust to living on-campus tremendously by giving me friends that can relate to the college life I’m currently getting used to. Not only are they students like me, but they also have very niche interests that allow me to explore different artistic endeavors I might have. A good example of this is how many people I’ve met who have done theater in the past that have shown me what it’s like to be a part of theater as it’s something I want to learn more about. The only challenge I have is, once again, balancing out schoolwork, more specifically my major-required courses. I definitely recommend next semester’s students find a group of peers whom they connect with on an artistic level so that they can explore something new they have never tried before. It’s also important to note that Arts Scholars does a really good job to promote community and artistic engagement within our program. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Craft & Chats I’ve attended because they allow me to be creative and make something while also allowing me to catch up with fellow peers within the program. Another good example is how they made us form peer mentor groups before we even arrived on campus for the first time. If it wasn’t for my peer mentor group, I wouldn’t have been so socially involved in Arts Scholars AND college life as a whole. I’ve met amazing friends through those groups and have already created lifelong memories that I’ll cherish when thinking back to my first year of college. This group has influenced me so much that I will actually come back next semester as a peer mentor for new freshmen coming into Arts Scholars. I hope to be a great and positive influence for these new students next year just as I've been positively influenced by my peer mentor.

My perception of the arts has definitely changed after going through a year of reflections, exhibits, curations, performances, and all other kinds of artistic displays. If there’s one thing that I can definitely take away, it's that art is a way to feed your soul as well as exercise your freedom. Art isn’t just about expressing yourself because expressing yourself isn’t just something you do for fun. You need to express yourself or else you will be confined to only what is currently a fantasy in your mind. The soul needs to let those creative juices flow out through artistic expression so in a way, art is for your mental health and mental sanity. Fantasy can become reality through art. In the future, Arts Scholars should focus more on the soul-searching aspect of artists so they can give a different perspective on what art means to others. I’d definitely say the field trips were the most beneficial parts of Arts Scholars for my work because of the way it allows me to view art in the real world. I get to take what I learned in the program and see it in different kinds of mediums being used throughout my area. It hits close to home when you see a young artist in the DMV create something like graffiti in a nearby metro station and see the level of detail and passion that is put into their work. As you can see, the first discussion we had about whether graffiti can be considered good or bad art stuck with me as I now have an appreciation for controversial mediums such as graffiti. I think the best way for new students to get the most out of this experience is to be involved in something within the program. Whether it’s within your peer mentor group or with everybody in the program, do something that you know will leave a positive impact on you and your new community.

Semester 3

There have been many great exhibits I went to see this past semester in Arts Scholars. It’s also been a time of growth and exploration for me after working so hard on my capstone project idea and theme. During this time, I’ve learned how art can recontextualize our understanding of learned history, biases, and beliefs by providing insight into the different points of view that experienced said subjects. A good example of this was the play I just went to watch, Food For the Gods, where the point of view of unjustly murdered black men is showcased front and center in the perspective of their afterlife. I’ve also been able to understand better ways of initiating the creative process. I knew what my capstone was going to be: a short film. What I didn’t know was what it was going to be about. Thankfully, the brainstorming sessions we had at the start of the semester were very helpful in guiding my mind in the direction that I wanted to take my project. The feedback sessions following the brainstorming also aided me in receiving advice on what parts of my capstone were working and what needed improvement. I now understand the importance of peer reviewing and feedback as a whole in helping our creative minds find focus in the themes we are trying to express.
In other related news, I got to experience this way of self-expression in art first-hand when a musical artist I follow, Lil Yachty, released a new album earlier this year. Within the hip-hop scene, Lil Yachty is known for his unique mumble-rapping voice that garners both positive and negative responses from fans of the genre. In an effort to showcase his musical prowess, he experimented heavily on his new album, Let’s Start Here, which offers a completely new sound to his catalog of music with great production in the forefront. His goal with this project was to express his desire to not be seen as this lucky, untalented artist but instead, be respected as an artist. I took a lot out of his message and even felt inspired to base my capstone on one of the main themes that spoke to me in his album which was the concept of failure. My engagement with Arts Scholars’ lessons on how art is used to express oneself and their values allowed me to better understand where Yachty was coming from.
As an aerospace engineering major, I continue to see how much art relates to the principles of creative design in engineering. I am finally taking courses such as ENAE283 that go more in-depth about the subjects I care about such as aerodynamics and airplane design. With my background in Arts Scholars, I can appreciate the ingenuity and craftsmanship of aeronautic design within airplanes and airfoils as something more than just plugging in numbers into a formula.
The community Arts Scholars fosters an environment where I feel welcomed and not afraid to come to class and interact with peers. Going back to Scholars Under the Lights was a joy for me to experience the feeling of being a first-year college student again, and I immensely enjoyed interacting with all the first-year students. The only negative thing was the time conflicts I had with my busy schedule being a part of other programs here at UMD. There wasn’t any way for me to go to more events. I was, however, able to engage heavily with my TA group as we worked on many projects together during class. One project I was particularly fond of was the day we made a stop-motion short film using a central item. I believe we learned a lot that day about teamwork and the craft of filmmaking as a whole. It was great to see everyone’s creativity at the end of class which was important because, at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to express ourselves creatively in some way or another.
Arts Scholars has brought me in contact with people I never thought I’d be interacting with. I took a fiction writing class last year because of the Scholars requirement and in that class, I met people with all kinds of backgrounds and identities. It was a writing class after all, and everybody expressed themselves in many different ways in accordance to the writing prompts we were given daily. A few times we were asked to discuss these prompts in class, leading to interesting discussions between me and my classmates. A few times we even got into debates over certain themes such as narcissism, the justice system, and how we should treat others with disabilities regarding their ability to read literature. On some days, I’d agree with the sentiment of the other person. On other days, I’d disagree. It’s the fact that we did have a difference in opinion that I can respect because that’s what makes a discussion valid. Different types of people from different backgrounds all have a valid point of view that adds to the narrative of different themes and topics. This can then cause us to be inspired to express these emotions in our writing or through any medium of art, and I think there’s serious value in that.

Semester 4

After a challenging two years, the hard work I put into the many projects, assignments, and responsibilities in this program paid off in a profound and meaningful way. My capstone in particular developed my identity and skill as an artist to be able to take my ideas and write them down with pen and pad so that they can actually manifest into art. I believe the work ethic I had to develop in order to complete this project taught me how to hold myself accountable when it came to shortcomings and failures along the journey.
Along with creating, I also went through a lot of learning during my time here during colloquiums, workshops, and even peer discussions. Specifically, the guest artists exposed me to so many different mediums that I gained new perspectives on the backgrounds of artists and the context of their art. Vogue dancing was something I was not familiar with at all beforehand, but after going through Marquis Clanton’s workshop during second-semester colloquium, I realized the potential in using mediums I’m not familiar with such as dance to express myself. It’s something that got me out of my comfort zone, but I didn’t want just to give it up right then and there. I saw it through and got enlightened in the process. Anybody can use any medium to create art to express themselves. In return, I was able to develop my capstone further by not just using film to express my ideas but also including music and poetry to enhance my capstone. These ideas for my capstone were inspired by the discussion, engagement, and influence of the colloquium lectures, individual research, and peer feedback that I received while working on it this past semester. Workflow and the generation of creative ideas were all skills I’ve honed in on to keep myself at a productive pace in creating my final piece. I was admittedly unsure of what my film was going to be about or whether or not I bit off more than I could chew. However, I responded to these obstacles by referring back to the idea of any medium having the potential to gain the confidence I needed to see my vision through and spend the time working hard to create something I could truly be proud of.
On top of my capstone, scholars provided me with a newfound respect for another crucial part of art: community. The community that I have been able to be a part of here has offered me a way to explore the diversity of the arts in ways I could have never imagined before coming to college. Before being stuck in fully STEM-focused courses and programs, I never got a chance to connect with people who had the same passion for the arts as I did. Being surrounded by others like me was a gateway for me to feel comfortable exploring different mediums with friends, participating in workshops with peers, and even going on a field trip to DC with a community looking to find ways in which the arts culminate into the culture of my hometown. Before coming into this program, I had no way to creatively and freely express myself to others and learn more about the culture that makes up the place I grew up in.
Collaboration was also a big part of this program for me. I remember working with my group freshman year on a combined art exhibit in the Fall for the rest of my peers. Following that, my workshop group for Karaoke in the Spring worked hard together to create a karaoke act that elevated each other’s musical talents which I thoroughly enjoyed working on since it allowed me to explore a new medium with others who come from different backgrounds.
At the end of the day, I will look back on my Arts Scholars days as a chapter in my life where there was growth, discovery, and development of both me and my interests as an artist. Now having a full film in my portfolio, I can take the skills I’ve gained from working on this project and apply them to future projects and scholarly endeavors within my major. I feel as if I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it and put my best effort into whatever I work on. As I continue onto my last two years in undergrad, I will take the work effort I’ve developed from scholars to push through any tough assignments that require proper planning and peer editing since that was a big part of the creative process in scholars. Even going into my career, I can take the value of community I’ve gained from scholars and apply it to any work environment I set foot into. These personal skills of fellowship, leadership, and persistence will also help me push through any of the internal struggles I face in the future as I know I can be my biggest cheerleader and take back the fading sparks I have towards anything in my life that matters to me. I will push through.