Emo. Nerd. Geek. Jock. Prep. Stereotyping tends to be something that is a part of being in high school. Sometimes teens can take one look at someone and put him or her into a certain stereotype. Sometimes it turns out to be correct but a lot of times it’s not.
For senior Tara Sawyer, her stereotype may be misunderstood. To a lot of people she is the basic cheerleader, but what some people don’t know is she is a gifted artist. She has a strong opinion on stereotyping. She said she hates it because teens put labels on people that are not true.
“I think stereotyping is dumb because people assume things before they get to really know someone and sometimes they’re missing out on a great person,” Sawyer said.
Since she was a small child, Sawyer said she could draw. She said she gets her art skills from her dad, who is always the one to encourage her to pursue her art in any way she can.
“My dad is actually a really good artist; he draws all the time and ever since I was young I was drawing,” she said.
Sawyer practices her art in many different ways. She attends the Art Club and also has taken art classes since tenth grade. She also paints and draws on canvases for her bedroom.
“My favorite piece is when I was in Mrs. Harts class in 10th grade and I did scratch art and it was of a tiger and I loved it because it was a different kind of medium; and its my first scratch art I’ve ever done and the hardest I’ve worked on a piece of art,” Sawyer said.
She said she loves being a cheerleader, but she loves art just as much. She said if she had to give up one, she would have to give up cheerleading.
“I think I like art the best because you can always do it, even when you’re old. In cheer you can’t always do it,” Sawyer said.
Since she comes from and artistic family Sawyer said she will pursue it too. Art is special to her because that’s how she bonds with her dad. Art lets her say what she can’t say in words.
“I just like how I can express my feelings on paper,” she said.
Sawyer said she loves art, but she said she’s not going to make is a career. She plans to take a few art classes in college and do it in her spare time. She said she is going to go college to be a veterinarian.
Sawyer said being in both Art Club and cheer has expanded her range of friends. She said it has made her see that people are not what they may seem, and you just have to get know people before you judge them.
“To people that is probably the last thing they expect, that I’m an artist just because I’m a cheerleader, but I kind of like it because when people find out, they are surprised,” Sawyer said.
