One of my first experiences working in an art gallery was during my senior year of high school. I had been in galleries, but it was the first time I had actually gone through the process of creating a show, inventorying the art, planning the layout, and even hosting the artist and their families on opening night. There was a rush and excitement in the air that will never be met anywhere else in my mind. This experience was only possible through my photo teacher, having been in her class from freshman to senior year I felt confident that when I had asked if I could be her student aide she’d say yes. She had been, “Yes, but, why not be a photo intern?” For most of her teaching career she has been the lead gallery curator for the Public Education Foundation (PEF), this title allowed her to have student interns. I was hesitant at first, it was a lot of responsibility going into my senior year, and I didn’t want to miss out on time with friends. Little did I know that I was going to end that year with a best friend and a plethora of knowledge from working on three different gallery shows. This took place during the 2021-2022 school year; freshly out of Covid, still wearing masks, and cautious of everything around. Myself and the two other interns weren’t sure that we would even be doing anything gallery related with the different restrictions happening throughout the state. So we started to learn and observe the ins and outs of gallery work. We volunteered to help local artists set up their shows, we helped teach our peers how to mat and mount their prints, and even set up displays of student work throughout the hallway. A few months into the year we, the interns, were told we were creating a show for the PEF, the name, the rules, and everything in between. The show was named Entangled, reflecting the connection that goes into that art that is created every day by those of us that create to live. This show engrained in my mind the amount of collaboration that goes into art. To create you first have to learn, drawing off of others' brilliance to then morph it into your own. You have to ask for help from others, whether it be input or making sure what you're hanging is level. And you have to take a step back with the people that you collaborated with to create a meaningful show and take in the moment that will be unlike anything else you’ll ever do. I am currently an Art Education major, and that feeling that was coursing through during opening night is what I want to enable students to obtain. Satisfaction with their work and acknowledgment of those who had helped them get there because there is no other feeling that could compare.

From the time I was born, communities started to crumble around me  Post 9/11 Post Columbine I was in elementary school when Sandy Hook Happened, watching the news and eating my cheerios as Matt Lauer and Ann Curry broke the news on national television Middle school when 1 October happened My own community 58 deaths 867 injuries I had family there  My people running for their lives Parkland as well Right before I started my formative high school journey Another teen decided to tarnish my thoughts and instill a brand new anxiety within me (i still have his name and face memorized) I don’t know a world without violence Without the never-ending anxiety of open spaces and disgruntled men but that's why we march Why I have protested and cried and yelled at the top of my lungs for my friends and my peers that have bled for no other reason than someone was angry and decided that guns were the only options  That guns were what would help Terrorism, hate crimes, and gun violence always have a 100% fail rate Always strengthening whatever cause they are trying to harm and destroy That is what has strengthened my generation, violence in every which way Separately we are disappointed and wanting Together we are a moving body that is a force to be reckoned with  We are even being elected into the house now  So watch out, here we come…

One book I believe everyone should read once in their lives is "Free to Be You and Me" by Marlo Thomas and Friends. A flowing anthology of tales meant to teach children that there is no difference in gender, no reason to feel different and to be accepting to all. I remember getting my copy of this book in elementary school, my aunt has always been one to give books as gifts and that year was no different. At first glance the book looked enticing, a colorful and loud cover that drew you in, begging to be read. I didn’t get a chance to explore the seemingly huge book until bed that night. Opening the book I was met with a written note from my aunt sharing how she loved this book growing up and thought that I would like it too. I had figured with such an active story book I would have to have a plan going in, what I had devised was simple; skim through the pages to get a feel of the book and then pick from there where to start. Flipping through was a journey on its own, pages full of imagery and text weaving together independent narratives into one message of freedom and compassion to the minds of those reading. A story within the vibrant pages that has always stuck with me is “Boy Meets Girl”. The story in the book is told through a comic that portrays two new babies having a conversation. They talk about the new world that they have found themselves in and the different ideas that they have been told/know but don’t fully understand, but they work together to establish a sense of belonging. The story follows themes of self discovery, the importance of fluid conversations, and that the unfamiliar is okay. It can be argued as one of the dullest-looking stories in the book with its maximum color pallet of five, but it's the story that calls to me. Growing up I was constantly questioning the world around me and it was through stories like those in this book and those similar that helped form the adult that I have become and the one that I strive to be.