During my first year of college I sectioned off my free time into trying out different extracurricular activities. Admittedly, I signed up for too many during the Club-expo and put false effort into areas of the college I thought I’d be interested in simply because of the type of person I wanted to be, or because of the positivity I heard about certain areas of college and social life. But one of the clubs I signed up for had a lil’ something that resonated with me a bit more than the rest, and that was the opportunity to collaborate with the entire student body in a creative environment. I started attending meetings and learned all about this club, Art & Scope, which produces a publication of student work each semester (and has ever since the 1950’s!)

In the beginning I sat quietly in the meeting room but thoroughly enjoyed the presence of such creative, artsy and open-minded people. An environment designed for the sharing, and collaborating student work in a creative supportive way was a wonderful thing for me to have throughout the first few months and year at school. By the end of my this year I realized I could continue to be an active member and ran to be a member of the executive board. My belief that a student run and produced publication was vital on campus only grew stronger every week. This led me to attend semester after semester as I got the chance to read intriguing creative writings, and unbelievable artwork and encouraged friends to do the same. This creative outlet for students remains healthy, supportive, and is forever growing. The existence of this club also offers the opportunity for a student to design the complete layout of the magazine each semester. The skills that are needed for creating an entire magazine (typically with page numbers ranging from somewhere in the sixties to eighty) are extremely useful when creating a resume and looking for careers in the realm of computer art, graphic design, editing, and many more fields.

Make sure to pick up a free copy of the fall 2016 publication of Art & Scope at the end of the semester and find yourself captivated by your peers’ beautiful creations. In my role as VP, managing editor, I along with the other members am filled with pride to know the talent and hard work put into this. Then I encourage you, with every inch of my being, to find a club that does the same for you that Art & Scope has done for me during my four years.