Walking into a room on the first day of school is always an unpredictable experience. Dropping by any arts class could prove this in a heartbeat. Whether you’re just starting to sing, dance, or draw, or you’ve been doing one of those for the past seven years, feeling the pressure of coming to an official class for the first time can be a high pressure experience.

    Lily Mihailovic (11) has had an easier time than this, though. When asked if she had any experience, she said she was a “self-taught artist”– something a lot of us could never manage. When asked if she felt any pressure upon joining, Lily gave us her unique situation, saying “I think something was expected, considering I’m on the Art Club Board, and then going into the class, the teacher already knew me a little bit, but I felt pretty confident going in.” This leg-up with relationships is something she’s lucky to have. The rest of us aren’t so lucky.

    One such example is Alex Tyo (11,) a newcomer to West High and Play Production. While he also has experience under his belt with theater and performance, he feels quite differently to Lily. His first impressions, coming into the year, leaned more towards fear. While he participated in theater at his old school, he had been made to expect a more professional environment from Play Production, stating “New people intimidate me in general, but I’m going into Play Prod and everyone there is such an amazing performer; I’m kind of scared I won’t be able to reach their standards.” 

   Nervous or not, there’s credit due to anyone who takes the plunge into the deep end of the West High Arts Departments. You’ll be seeing these two and their work later during the year when the arts get their time to shine, but for now, they’ve got lots of work to do!