I spent a majority of my high school years in a school that wouldn’t support a music program. As a student in an academy focused on science and math, I had little opportunity to really engage in anything that wasn’t so technical. Looking back at it now, I realize that a majority of the stress I had as a high schooler didn’t just stem from my schoolwork, but it was from the fact that I could no longer express myself through a funded visual or performing art program.

Competition is so strong nowadays-- along with the advancement of technology and the wider variety of resources comes a fiercer thirst for more knowledge and a bigger ambition to be on top of the class’s pace. It’s natural for stress and even depression to travel alongside these new standards, but art has been a way for people to de-stress and express themselves in a way that wasn’t so structured. However, there are many cases where the arts program-- whether it’s visual or performing-- just isn’t being supported enough to stay afloat in schools. Having to go to school in an environment that didn’t offer these programs eventually took its toll on me, and I didn’t realize how much the arts meant to me until it was taken away.

From elementary school to freshman year, I was able to fully enjoy my time in the orchestra. I used it as a way to escape class and academics and an overall focus on something I thoroughly enjoyed. Schoolwork was rough on me, but my last class was always orchestra, and despite how bad I did on a quiz or test, or how bored I felt throughout the day, in the end, I always felt rejuvenated because I got to express myself through music. Moving into a new school that had different focuses made an immediate impact on me because I noticed myself slipping away from what I enjoyed most; and when things got rough, I had no arts program to turn to, and practicing at home by myself just didn’t feel the same.

Yes, it’s easy to say that everything done in an arts program can easily be done at home with the right mindset and attitude; but an arts program is more than just that. It really organizes a certain time of day for students to really let loose and flow free. Sometimes, students don’t have the willpower or feel like they don’t even have the time, to participate in the arts on their own. The existence of an art program within a school not only shows that the school supports the idea of student expression, but allows their students to be more well-rounded outside of their studies.

As a college student with so many options, it made me happy to see that I could go back to doing what I loved. Although I’m no longer in the orchestra, I did join a dance team (something I wouldn’t normally do, but was very happy to have received the opportunity to). While dancing today during practice, I realized that every ounce of stress I had in my body subsided, at least for the rest of the night. I put my mind into doing something I loved, and in the end, it helped leave room for more academics.

Priorities are incredibly important, but it’s also important to understand that the arts program isn’t just something that a school can easily get rid of. Student health should be prioritized and there’s nothing more that can help improve it more than an arts program.