Art Creates Expression

By: Nina Salameh

My whole life, I thought I was talentless. Everyone around me was good at sports, good at music, or had some sort of special skill. Being passionate about music, I enrolled in my school’s choir program since my family couldn’t afford to enroll me in private classes. The program had 40 students per class, and my teacher had so little time she never noticed I couldn’t read sheet music (which all the songs were transcribed in). Many of my friends wanted to enroll in the class but weren’t let in the class to begin with, because there wasn’t enough space. I ended up leaving two years of classes having learned nothing except a couple vocal exercises!

The systematic underfunding of our schools means that certain students can afford to acquire creative skills that are essential for self expression, and other students only learn the bare minimum needed for survival and jobs. In fact, the lack of any arts, music, or sports in our public schools is the norm, not the exception.  We must secure funding for schools, because all students deserve to pursue their passions, regardless of their background. I now realize that I was never talentless, but not given the resources every young person should have to study something they love. Art should never be a privilege—and no child should think they are talentless.