Class of 2014: Freshman Blog

Right now, many of you are either looking at colleges and/or filling out applications. With that being said, in the next few weeks, all of us at Hopkins Interactive will be posting a blog on the same theme – our advice, thoughts, feelings, and reflections on the college search and application process. Each and every one of us has experienced what you are experiencing right now. It is our hope that our blogs will provide you with some insight and clarity on this whole process!

There is really no feeling similar to when you put your hands in cold clay and mold it into something. In high school, I took a bunch of art classes, my favorites being the two ceramics classes I took. I love ceramics because you can make either something functional like a bowl or something purely sculptural.

Functional Ceramics (normally holds pencils)

Even more functional ceramics (because it holds candy) made by my friend Katharine at RIT

Ceramics is a process. You start with a lump of clay, mold it into something, wait for it to dry, and fire it in the kiln. Before it’s fired, it’s a light gray (and it’s cold to the touch). After it’s fired, it becomes white and clicks when you hit your nail on it. Once it’s fired, you cannot change the shape of the piece. You can file it to get out some minor bumps, but the overall shape is still the same.

Greenware (before a piece is fired)

Bisque (after the piece has been fired)- Notice how all the pieces look pretty similar

And seniors, you are at this last and final stage. You’ve finished  three years of high school. You cannot change the grades. You cannot change the activities you did, your level of involvement in them, or whether you were president of the cheese club or vice president of the chocolate club. All seniors are made of different clay.  Maybe you went to a boarding school in Switzerland or a public school with 500 students; maybe your parents were brave enough to home-school you. You (in ceramics form) have a unique texture, but essentially you all are are all the same, plain kiln-fired bisque-ware.

The next step is glazing. I loved glazing; you can take a piece that is a bit uneven and make it really cool and unique. As a senior, you can use your college applications to show yourself off. Use your application to display your passions–this is the glaze for your as yet unfinished piece. I, for example, loved this one glaze, so I used that for a lot of my pieces. In high school, I volunteered at a local children’s museum. That was my first layer of glaze. I was in a science research club: another layer of glaze. I loved my swimming and ski teams: two more glazes. My essay was yet another level of glaze, adding color to my before unpainted piece.

Layer of Glaze- Ski Team

Layer of Glaze- Swim Team

Layer of Glaze- Volunteering at the children museum's eco-friendly car wash

The application is your opportunity to talk about all the different things you do and enjoy. Maybe you are a championship ping pong player? Paint on a layer of glaze. Have a question you’ve always pondered that you want to explore in essay form? Layer on a coat of glaze. Use the application to paint a picture of all the things you’ve done and show the admissions committee a stand-alone piece of art: yourself, in final form.

Same Bowl, Different Glazes

One piece of advice that I think is really important: apply to the schools you like no matter what people say. People told me that I was shooting too high by applying to Hopkins; people told me I wouldn’t get in. And here I am! Schools, just as museums want different types of art, want different types of students. I’ve met people from all over the country and the globe. I’ve met people that were amazing athletes in high school that also did research to help create medical devices. I’ve met people that were mock lawyers, and UN members and senators. I’ve met people who know so much about one topic and get so excited when they explain it to you. I’ve met people that have traveled the world to people that like to paint the world around them. No artist is sure that they’ll get into a museum, but they’ve got to try. Not everyone liked Monet, but his art is proudly on display in the Musee d’Orsay.

Cute little ceramic animals by Katharine

Cool pot made by my friend Anna (also helped me search for the French ambassador's son in DC in my last blog post) at American

Cool bowl made by my very, very talented friend Katharine

So, make yourself a piece of art and apply to be in the art museum you love.

Maybe you'll end up on display at a museum like my friend Anna's crocodile