I would not know who I am or know how to express myself if it was not for art. Art has always played a large part in my life, from the beginning and will until the end. I have used art as an outlet to show who I am and how I am feeling. Whether it is angry, happy, sad, disappointed, it has been a way to show my emotions when I don’t know how to express them any other way. When words do not work, art always has.
Organized chaos is my process. Art cannot be fully planned out. When it comes upon me, I let it flow out. Just like in life, you may think it will go one way but there are always bumps and hiccups that can get in the way. My life has had many bumps and bruises. I try to reflect that in what I do. The chaos of my life becomes the chaos of my art. Showing mayhem can be beautiful when you do not expect anything to go as planned. I choose to embrace the unexpected with open arms.
For example, my Fayetteville Comic-Con piece entitled “Marcie” showcases this artistic process. This piece took many hours of hard work and self-reflection, not because it was difficult but because of what it represented. This piece was done in honor of my grandmother. We were
incredibly close. She was the one adult in my life that stayed consistent, that stayed loving, that stayed with me. She passed away in my freshmen year. To call my emotional state complete devastation would be an understatement. Artists feel emotions more strongly than others. I kept these intense emotions close to my heart and my art until I finally created this piece. I wanted something that reflected who she was. I wanted something she could be proud of. At Comic-Con, my piece for her was voted the best at the Fayetteville Technical Community College’s Graphic Design booth.
Graphic design is my chosen form of media. I tend to dip my toes into any art practice I can find. Painting, sketching, sculpting, and more I have all tried. Yet, I always come back to graphic design. I am attracted to the limitlessness of the discipline. Painting and sculpting have strict rules with centuries of subdisciplines and lessons. Graphic design is new and open to interpretation. It can be anything and with it, I can be anything.
Kiley will graduate with her Associates in Graphic Design and many accompanying certificates Currently applying to universities to continue UNC – Greensboro and SAIC – Chicago to continue in graphic design.
Hi, my name is Eboni and I am currently a freshman here at Cumberland Polytechnic. Being that this is my first year here I expected things to be very difficult especially because we are currently dealing with a pandemic, resulting in all of Cumberland County having to switch to virtual learning. Now that we are close to being 5 months into the school year I can honestly say that things here have been amazing! At the beginning of the year I was warmly welcomed by some of the upperclassmen, who explained how things were going to be here at CPHS, they also provided me with some beneficial tips that I could use as the school year progresses. All of the teachers that I’ve had so far are very helpful and do their best to steer each and every student in the right direction so that we can all become successful in the end. Another thing is the classes here are smaller in size than a regular high school so it makes it easier for teachers to be able to work one on one with students who may need the extra help. Also, since we have smaller classes it gives students the chance to get to know not only the teachers better but to get to know the other students here better as well. CPHS even provides a variety of extracurricular activities and clubs that are education based but allows us to have fun at the same time. Overall being a student at this school has really helped me grow in many different ways whether it be with time management, communication skills or simply just becoming a better person, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have received the opportunity to be a part of this school.
Both CPHS and FTCC tested not only my academic performance but also my character. CPHS is filled with diversity! We have students and teachers from different backgrounds and cultures which allows us to be exposed to different people just as it would be in our future workplaces. Its diversity is one of the many factors that makes our school beautiful. We have various clubs for various interests that competes with other schools and executes great events throughout the year!
For these two years that I’ve been at CPHS and FTCC, I’ve been around great people and made friends. We are surrounded by great faculty that willingly give tremendous loads of effort to ensure that we are on the path that is both good for us while simultaneously being a path that we desire to walk on. As I continue to attend CPHS and FTCC, I’m continuously learning more about my future ambitions and how to be a responsible individual.
When reflecting on my last 4 years at Cumberland Polytechnic High School on Fayetteville Technical Community College campus, I can say it has been a wild roller coaster. When taking dual enrollment classes, it can be hard to stay afloat with your work and balance having a regular life with extracurricular activities, however, I have been very successful in attending this school. I took classes in the associates of arts program because I didn’t wanna have a specific major, but Mrs. Matthews allowed me to take some different kinds of classes like business and marketing to help me understand those fields. I now will be hopefully attending North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, and with the skills I learned from FTCC, Cumberland Polytechnic, and being a part of clubs like Speech and Debate at Polytechnic, I feel completely prepared to start my college career. As of right now I want to major in Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations. I strongly encourage everyone I meet to attend Cumberland Polytechnic or any early college for that matter. It is a great opportunity that I am glad I took advantage of!