One thing people don’t know about Hopkins is that we have a huge collection of art books in the library. I stumbled upon this as I was assigned a reproduction for my Studio Drawing 1 course freshmen year. I chose a simple Degas reproduction, however I started to see what other collections were there, and some of them caught my eye. This particular art form had always piqued my interest, but I never sat down and studied it. However, I grabbed the book and quickly retreated from the depths of D-level and took it out. What kind of art was it? Graffiti.

When asked, many say that Picasso, Degas, Hopper, Warhol, etc are their favorite artists; mine, however, is Banksy. I know, it’s a little off beat, but I’m serious about it. His work is very politically charged, as you can see by observing any of his stuff. Plus, graffiti (unless commissioned) requires more skill than just being artistic. It requires agility and stealth as you can easily get arrested if caught. So, the biggest allure of Banksy? He’s never been caught. No one knows who he is; he’s simply known by his grey hoodie.

Now, how does this all relate to Hopkins? In my opinion, graffiti is a way of leaving your mark (specifically tagging). In a sense, that’s what we come to college for. Sure, we can learn as much as we want from a textbook, but how do we apply it? In one of my courses, Materials Selection, we have design projects in which we develop a product that will meet some requirement. We design solutions to real-life problems, and not just solving some problems from a textbook.

In that same aspect, other majors are dealing with real problems as well. For example, Jessica worked in Brazil for a company that produced rapid HIV tests (for more info, check out her blog). This isn’t just studying formulas or writing papers; it’s leaving some sort of mark on the world, no matter if it’s grandiose or minuscule. It’s still a mark. It’s something for the good of the world.

So, I guess that’s another reason I like Hopkins; they encourage you to take that extra step. Instead of watching someone making a difference, be that person. Don’t just stop and watch the world change, be a part of it.

My personal analogy? It’s more fun to be the fool at the party dancing like crazy than it is to be the person watching in envy on the couch.