Will the Clock Tick When I'm Not There

Sam J.

• Artist Statement

  In my freshman English class, we were assigned an essay to show not tell. We were instructed to use two of eight common writing techniques. I thought it would be challenging to try to use all eight: sensory details; body language and physical reactions; strong verbs; dialogue; internal thoughts; specific examples; symbolism and metaphor; and scene specific details. Ninth grade was a time when everything seemed to be changing. It was my first year at Berkeley High School, a school with 3500 students. There were so many new things available to explore. My problem was deciding what. There were clubs, government, sports, the school newspaper. I had trouble narrowing it all down. In some way, I wanted to be like the big round clock but also knew that there was a big world out there and that I shouldn’t be afraid of exploring all it had to offer.

• Creative Statement

  Creativity is how you choose to express the ideas you think. It feels like everything has been done before except for one’s own authentic thinking. Due to that, the need to stand out is increasingly more important and I rely on my creativity to set me apart from others.