"Hey Maddie, what class are you looking forward to the most this year?"
I think I've been asked this question at least a million times over the past week, so I can say with absolute certainty that the class I am most excited about is Advanced Portfolio (AP) Art.
I had never taken a real art class before coming to Groton. Yes, I had “art,” but it consisted of yarn, crayons, and a bin of old colored pencils. I loved drawing in middle school, but it remained a fringe activity; I doodled in the margins of my notes and went to great lengths to make sure my science posters had the best, most colorful diagrams in the entire seventh grade. You can only imagine the shock I experienced when I first set foot in Groton’s ART CENTER?! Needless to say, my mind was blown. Even as a Third Former (freshman), I was learning advanced drawing techniques and exploring shape, color, and texture in a way I had never even thought possible.
I did not consider myself an artist until I came to Groton, where I learned what it truly meant to be an artist, not just in name, but in mind and spirit. Being an artist means carrying my sketchbook with me always. Being an artist means I can’t stop thinking about my AP art class and how excited I am to finally be able to put together a portfolio. Being an artist means I will never stop learning about shape, color, and texture. But here, I have the absolute best teachers to guide me. Groton is where Ms. Ho first inspired me, where I spend my free time in an art center, where Ms. Donovan helped me realize that I could be more than just someone who takes art, where I am someone who creates art, where I am an artist.