"I liked ceramics right away. It’s interactive. Since Chadwick has such a good art program, they molded me more toward art. If I had gone to public school, they don’t have art class. I feel like I wouldn’t have tried. There would’ve been no more art.

The ceramics teachers let you go the way you want to. You don’t have to follow exact guidelines. There’s still structure. You’re still being taught. But you can put your own creative spin on it. The teachers care so much. It’s more about your character in the end rather than who has the best grade. It’s much less stressful.

Art has been really de-stressing. It’s an escape from everything else. I feel like, without it, I’d be thinking about that test I had three months ago. I would overthink things more. It’s about being OK with failure. At the same time, if you don’t care about a piece, you won’t do it well. If you really care about something, you put way more effort into it. If I didn’t care in life I would fail.

At Chadwick, you get to do things across classes and bring it all together. If you completely fail at something, it’s great. You learn from it. Chadwick cares about the effort you put in versus how well you do."