Additional Educational Experience

Student Government Association

Over the course of my years at SPCC some of the most rewarding and memorable times I have had relate to the college’s SGA. I had heard of it in my freshman year of high school, but I later learned that early college students could join starting sophomore year. Despite that news, I patiently waited and eventually became a delegate! It was a really fun experience; I was able to volunteer a lot around the campus and also further develop my social skills. The latter in particular was something I really hoped I would strengthen the more I stepped into SGA. Thankfully, my hopes came to fruition. My sophomore year was when COVID-19 had begun to strike, but it was also the year I applied for (and got accepted) to become part of the SGA Executive Board. I decided to become the Public Relations Officer for the Polkton campus as I felt my skills would match there best.

My first year on the Board, while fully online due to the pandemic, was very rewarding to me. I stepped out of my comfort zone by getting to know new people and with a strong support network within SGA, I had begun to become more self-confident as well. I had enjoyed that year so much that I decided to reapply! This leads me to this present time in Spring of 2022. I have become a lot more self-assured in my decisions and with my experience, I was able to help out this new board acclimate and familiarize themselves with how SGA works. It was odd being the oldest board member, but I noticed my shift in demeanor- that was more outspoken and prepared- helped me better interact with not only those within SGA but with the physical student body as well. It was not only rewarding for me to be able to help plan for and hold events for the student body, but it was also rewarding seeing my own self grow as I kept doing it. I have come a long way since my starting years, and while I know myself enough that I will be one of the quieter people in a crowd, thanks to SGA I can say with confidence that I have faith in my skills and that such skills will be used and seen well.

Art and Design

Perhaps it was not my first love, and it definitely is not my last either, but art and other related creative mediums hold a place near and dear to my heart. I started drawing as early as elementary school for fun, but I only started keeping a sketchbook in 2017 when I was in the 8th grade. Even then I only started putting a greater focus on drawing in the Summer of 2020, after I truly settled in with the idea that I wanted to become an illustrator. That particular journey and the story behind it I will save for some other time. I will say though, a lot of my background was with art always being a lower priority, whether due to my other time commitments or due to a lack of proper resources. In fact, a lot of what I do know now is from what I managed to scrape together on my own time. Thankfully my schedule allowed me to take Drawing-I (Art-131) eventually in Spring of 2021, my first serious art class. Though that is not to say I was not idle in between those times with no art classes. I drew as much as I could outside of school, and have been a page editor for ACEC’s Yearbook club for two years now. In a residential summer program called Governor’s School, I even became a page designer for their “Summer-Book” as well!

The process of me learning art taught me a lot more than just knowing how to draw. That was the direct result of course, but managing my time well enough to squeeze in a sketchbook session, becoming self-sufficient when there was no outside help, and most of all, earning an undying hunger to grab and learn from presented opportunities were all other benefits in my journey. Art taught me not only how to see and observe, but also how to take action. Eventually, what was a pipe dream I had as a kid, became a doubtful and insecure idea, and then one day, a beautiful thing I wanted to make a reality. Art means the world to me and as I kept experimenting in various mediums- from watercolor to ink, to designing page spreads, and more recently digital art- I learned I wanted to become a freelance illustrator. Honestly, I do not think I will ever stop learning when it comes to art, and that is something I do not mind at all given how much I have grown and found myself alongside it.

Writing and Journaling
I read with an almost scary voracious appetite, but I not too long ago dabbled in the world of writing words too. English class and paper writing was always something that I did not find particularly unfavorable, sometimes I even reveled in it, but I barely wrote for myself. Near the beginning of 2019, I started journaling my life just to process my thoughts and emotions, and it is something I still do now. Though last summer in 2021, I came across creative writing with the help of a summer program (Governor’s School) I got accepted into for its English Discipline. I never really looked back from there! I love researching for my stories and inlaying hidden meanings in the words on the screen and it was another way to express myself creatively when I felt more burnt out from drawing.