When I was five-years-old, I couldn’t draw a straight line.

Today, I am 22-years-old and I still can’t.

I took three years of art in high school, hoping that I could learn just a little bit more and even use it as a way to relax during the school year (art is therapeutic). Yet, even though I learned a lot about using different mediums, learned about some artists and had a lot of fun while doing it, I’ve come to realize that my art classes actually helped me to develop as writer.

I have come to learn art as a form of self-expression. Even if the piece isn’t about “you”, it is still made in your style and represents who you are as a person. Sometimes you could be portraying feelings about a situation in your life, or your hopes, dreams, fears…and on and on. Art is about expressing all of it, interpreting life and helping us to understand the world around us.

For some, it’s even an escape from the world around us. Art gives us the ability to create a world that is controlled by us.

Writing does the same thing for me. Writing has no boundaries. Whether it’s a diary entry, a poem, story, book, or just words, writing is art.

Art taught me to think outside the box and not always follow the rules that we were taught.

In a professional sense, yes, grammar and other rules apply, as they should. But writing for the sake of just expressing yourself, it doesn’t matter.

What I loved about my art teacher is that he didn’t base our grades on how “good” something was. Everyone has their own style and level of skill, so you cannot truly say someone’s is “better” than someone else’s. He graded based upon effort and that’s how I feel writing should be as well.

Whenever a piece of writing doesn’t seem good, many times it is because the writer didn’t pour him/herself out enough in the piece. Ever heard of a songwriter holding back?

Same thing.

What makes a good writing piece, in my opinion, is how thoroughly you tell a story-- your story or someone else’s.

In my own art class, I rarely heard my teacher tell someone to start over. I didn’t know why he told someone people that, but him being the teacher, I trusted he maybe saw that the work wasn’t going in the right direction. But about 98 percent of the time, he didn’t tell his students to do so.

When I write, I only start over for the same reason, because I can tell it’s not going where I want it to go. While I’m no artist, I do believe that the beginning of an art piece sets the tone for the rest of it. Otherwise, writing has zero boundaries.

I cannot say that I was the “best” artist in my class, but I do know now that I got more out of it than what the curriculum was supposed to teach me.

Those classes are part of the reason why today I can write for The Odyssey.