This past weekend I attended the “Sketching Event,” where each of us picked a building on the arts quad and attempted to draw it. I was unsure about signing up for this event because (1) I am far from anything that could be considered artistic, and (2) because I have never been one to enjoy at least trying to draw—I simply find it frustrating. However, I’m very glad I decided to attend this event. It was decidedly casual and fun, and it was a very pleasant and relaxing way to start my Homecoming weekend.

Half-jokingly, I asked the GRAs which building was the easiest to draw because of my lack of skill. They suggested drawing the side of Uris Library since it was mostly just boxes. After contemplating this for a few minutes, I ended up choosing to try to draw Goldwin Smith Hall instead; Uris, while simpler, was much less aesthetically interesting, and I thought it would be fun to try to capture the trees and plants around Goldwin Smith, even if the end result didn’t actually look like the scene in real life. I ended up really enjoying myself. In letting go of any expectations of what my drawing both could and should be, I was able to enjoy the process much more. Before I even realized what had happened, and hour and a half had flown by. In this way, I really do think that it’s valuable to students—especially those in entirely unrelated fields—to force themselves to tackle artistic projects every once in awhile. It truly does challenge you in a completely different way from science-heavy classes, and I feel better and more well-rounded as a person for having pushed myself to the event and try something out of my comfort zone.