High school stressed me out. It’s the place where you need to work at your highest potential if you want to get into a great college, the gateway to a successful future in the eyes of students. So of course some of us are drowning as we attempt to impress these ultra selective schools where they reject over 80% of applicants. What is one of the key ingredients in this recipe for success? AP courses. We overbook ourselves, at times taking enough of them to be able to start out as sophomores at a state school. As we focus more on APs and STEM for college, the most important classes that exist in high school are completely forgotten and underfunded: the arts.
The underfunding and elimination of the arts began around the time of the recession. More than 80% of schools had budget cuts for their arts program. It is even worse for minority students, who are two times less likely to participate in art programs compared to white students. The reason is that students of color are more likely to be in schools that serve low income students and have limited funding. These schools' priority is to push their students to do better in the common core courses. However, by shoving English and Mathematics down the throats of students, arts education is the sacrifice. Funding AP courses leaves schools debating whether to prepare students for colleges that expect them to take many of them or to help students grow creatively. So are the arts really worth sacrificing money? It helps children develop many valuable skills such as communication, problem solving, and creativity. It improves discipline because it requires practice to get good at an instrument, acting, dancing or painting. Art is linked to people that have higher test scores on standardized tests. Schools with well supported art education are known to have a higher graduation rate. Also, it helps students feel happier and relaxed, which is perfect during the stressful college process. Let me use some of my personal experience as an example. Music has such a big spot in my heart and has been with me through years of schooling. I started off at a very well funded middle school where the arts were very supported. My love for music really began there because I joined the orchestra. My instrument of choice was the viola. It made me happy to be able to create such beautiful sounds and to experiment with different tones and techniques.
Later on, I went to a high school that didn’t have music after sophomore year. It does make it a lot more difficult for us art lovers to do what we love with the removal of the arts in school, but some of us push hard to explore it outside of school. For example, I discovered my love for singing sometime in middle school. Being able to create melodies with an instrument made me happy, but knowing the music could flow out of me fulfilled me and became my true passion. After music class ended, I didn’t want to stop working on my art. So I asked the music teacher if she could give me lessons, which helped me work out kinks in my voice, have a way to just let out my emotions and stress, and made Thursday my favorite day of the week. Singing and music are my joy and my life, which other people can say about other art disciplines.
Art education is something that is worth keeping. My favorite class in high school was music class and there was never a class that could compete with it. Students like me don't all dislike STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Math is one of my other loves that I have and I’m planning on following the path of pre-medicine. It shouldn’t be a fight deciding whether if STEM courses or art courses are superior because they both belong in education. Schools are getting better at realizing this by changing STEM to STEAM to incorporate arts and making all students feel accepted. My true passion still lies in music (which is what I’m planning on majoring in in college) and we deserve a chance to participate in what makes us truly happy just like other students. I hate that some look down at people that aren’t pursuing STEM as if they are not being realistic. I hate when people give me weird looks when I mention that I want to major in music as if it inferior to anything else. I hate that I feel the need to cover it up by only mentioning my interest in pre-medicine. They may not be 'academic', but the arts do surround us and are involved in everything we do. The arts should not be discouraged or ashamed. One day, I won’t feel embarrassed to proclaim my love for music
