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For Alysa Hernan (8), when choosing her electives, she went with her heart.

By Riddhi Jakkal

“Art is everything. It is my friend,” Alysa Hernan (8) said. “My enemy; my ally and my foe. It is something I can confide and express my thoughts and feelings into. Overall it means so much to me.” Three years ago in 5th grade, Hernan, like any other student, had a decision to make. She had to choose what elective she would take in 6th grade. “You have so many electives that are ripe for the picking, but yet only have the ability to pick one for sixth grade. It was always a debate back and forth on what I wanted to do.” At the end Hernan decided to choose band to try something new. “I’ve been doing art since I’ve been able to pick up a pencil so I guess I just wanted variety,” Hernan said. At the end of 6th grade, Hernan had to choose her electives once again. However, as a 6th going into 7th grader she would get to pick two electives. But then came another obstacle. More electives were added to the already wide variety of choices. Hernan’s parents pressured her to do Gateway, while her band teachers

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constantly encouraged her to take band. “It was such a conflict that I changed my electives three times over the summer from the uncertainty,” Hernan said. Finally, Hernan chose Select Symphonic Band, and art, with a promise to her parents that she would do Gateway to Technology in 8th grade. After a whole year, elective choosing was back again. “I think it was almost as crazy as seventh grade,” Hernan said. She first expressed her thoughts on quitting band near the end of the year, and surprised many people. Her friends constantly called and texted her, bringing up the issue and arguing with her. Then like the year before, her Band teachers once again talked to her to stay in band. For Hernan, Gateway was already a permanent thing, so at the end, it was choosing two out of three electives. “It was extremely hard to choose and I felt really bad for quitting [band], in fact I still do.” Finding your passion may seem easy, but Hernan says it really isn’t. “The best way to find your passion would be by trying out as many things to the best

of your ability and finding the things that best fits you,” Hernan said. “Sometimes it takes compromises, arguments, and talks, even a little research; there will be definite time when it’s all so jumbled up that you just kind of want to sit in your bed and sleep until all your problems melt away, but in the end you’ll find what’s for you.” Hernan also has a Instagram account on which she posts her artwork that brings out her love and passion even more. Hernan started the account on the intention of making it a personal private account. “Everyone else had Instagram accounts and I thought ‘Hey, why not make one?’ So basically the birth of my account was from boredom.” It started to become an art account after Hernan completed more artwork. She started posting more and even changed her account from private to public. At the beginning of her account Hernan wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. How would people react? What would they say? What would they do? “I mostly posted things I’ve already made. At that time I also didn’t post anything colored. If you scroll through my

account you’ll slowly see a little more color as I get comfortable with the new media as well as many others. You’ll also see me be more interactive with my followers as I ask them questions or vice versa or just having conversations in the comment section.” Hernan has six art Instagrammers who have been supporting her from close to the very beginning. They encourage and push her to do better. They are also one of Hernan’s earliest followers and even consider them to be her ‘older siblings.’ “I used to have low self esteem about my account so there were times when I almost deleted my account, but thanks to them they helped me learn so much more.”

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Some of the best pieces in art come from the simplest to the worst mistakes. All you need to do is push through and believe in yourself (as well as a good attitude).

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