Artist Statement

I decided imagination as my theme because when I was in elementary school there were so many rules that we had to follow for playing. Since I went to a private school, there was more funding for certain things. For example if we wanted to play kickball, we had to play with a bouncy ball, we couldn’t use a soccer ball. There was a time when I volunteered and these three girls wanted to play volleyball even though the gym didn’t have volleyball net. In school we couldn’t play volleyball unless the net was set up. After seeing how these kids played I realized that it didn’t matter that there wasn’t a net or that the gym was too small for kickball, they used their imagination and had fun.
Although it was fun taking pictures, it was very hard getting a good shot. Every picture I have is an action picture of kids running around and catching, throwing, and kicking balls. The best pictures that I got were when they were playing kickball. Even though I didn’t capture the students with the teachers, I still noticed that everyone knows each other. Being Hispanic I can relate to how they were interacting with each other. Everyone is nice to each other and has each other’s back.
I didn’t take pictures of the kids that I was torturing. I think tutoring is the best part of the service learning because you get to interact with the kids one on one and learn a little about each person. One of the most important things that I have learned so far is that when you don’t have everything like a large gym or a volleyball net it leaves your mind up for imagination. Another example was when we played soccer, they didn’t need a net or large field they were just happy with kicking that ball and trying to get the ball in holes in the walls. Just like my teacher said to my class, “Limitations live only in our minds, but if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless”