“The special thing about high school was being able to try everything I wanted to.” –Charlotte Griffiths
As a member of Cross Country and Track, a contributing artist for the Wolfpacket, an active Speech and Debater, and a woman in STEM Griffiths has taken that sentiment to heart. She has followed her interests, found like-minded people, made countless friends and unforgettable memories.
Next year, Griffiths will continue to follow her heart at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) in Ohio, where she has enrolled in the school’s renowned and unique Life Science Illustration program, an opportunity to combine two of her greatest passions: illustration and environmental studies.
“The really special thing for me about the life sciences illustration program was that it’s a combination of two things that you feel like normally wouldn’t intersect,” Griffiths said
Life Science Illustration itself focuses greatly on human anatomy, plants, and animals, and visually describing different viruses and cells, essentially the images and diagrams that one would find in a textbook. Beyond the Life Science Illustrated program Griffiths is looking forward to the freedom of college; adventuring out on her own, deciding where she wants to go when she wants to go, and living with a group of friends instead of with her parents. Griffiths is particularly excited to experience the much colder yet friendlier midwestern environment that Cleveland has to offer.
In the meantime, Griffiths is soaking up the last bits of high school that she can, making the most of her time before she starts to miss the antics of her art classroom, the comradery of the Cross Country team, and pure entertainment of Speech and Debate.
Before she journeys onward, Griffiths would like to shout out her best friend Denise, who was by her side while she was super stressed with balancing all of her activities and who helped sort through and prepare her art portfolio for college. She also would like to thank Ms Kirpatrick, her art teacher, who pushed her to try new things and whom without, would never have found the key to combining her two true passions. Finally, Griffiths has this piece of advice:
“[To the people who say] ‘you can’t do both’, or ‘you’re only going to use one and the other one is going to become a hobby’, or ‘art school isn’t practical you should go to regular school’ I would like to say that, that is shenanigans.” Griffiths said. “I think that you can do all of it. If you want to find a way for two different things that don’t seem to intersect, to intersect, it’s possible. So keep chasing it.”
