2016 Self Portraits

7th Grade Self-Portraits: 

This assignment asks students to take a closer look at themselves and dig deep to think about who they are. They then take several weeks to research different symbols that they could use to represent the person that they have become. Below you will see the end result, along with an excerpt from their symbolism essay, or artist statement, that goes along with their art. The written piece explains what they have chosen and how they have chosen to represent it. Students did an amazing job and we hope you enjoy them. 

"Revealed in the background of my portrait is a tree of friendship stands. The tree represents my relationships with friends. When I was seven and older, I had trouble making friends. I tried very hard but all of my friends ended up using me. The dark, colorless hands on the ground near the roots of the tree represent the people in my life that didn’t look at me as their friend but as just a tool. Unfortunately, when I moved to West Springfield from Chicopee, I had the same problem in third and fourth grade. However when I started fifth grade, there was a girl that looked innocent and alone. Like any normal person, I walked up to her and introduced myself. A short time after we had to do a project together, that project was a time capsule for the end of the year, we became close and shared many of the same interests. When I transferred from my simple elementary school into the middle school, she stayed with me, and shared some of her old friends from her old school with me. The friends I didn't really talk to much still cared for me and came back to be my friend and now we're all a big group of crazy weirdos. Woven into the tree of friendship’s branches, I included a quote by an unknown person that states, “Some friends come into your life for a reason, others come only for the season.” This quote made me realize that some people care, whereas others don’t, and I need to be more aware of who I “make friends” with."

"When I was five, I went fishing for the first time, just me and my dad, just us and the rod. We swung the rod over our shoulder and into a pond that was across my street. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t have enough strength to swing the heavy fishing rod over my shoulder. My dad saw me struggling so he tied a hook on a piece of string and he tied the string with the hook on it onto my wrist, not to loose, not too tight. He said, “Lower it into the water, don’t be afraid.” But I was afraid, I was afraid something would pop out and drag me to the bottom of the pond, but I still committed. I put my trembling wrist above the water just so the hook is in at least 1 inch, and out of nowhere a fish jumps out the water glistening by the sun's rays. It snatches my hook and starts to pulls, but I stand up and pull the fish onto land. My dad takes the fish in his hands, takes out the hook and places the fish into a water filled cooler. That night dinner was delicious."

"Marigolds are my favorite flowers and a very important part of my memory of my time with my friends and in my country Nepal. Ever since I was young, the flower which I see everywhere was a marigold. It was planted almost everywhere in Nepal. On early mornings when nobody was awake, my friends and I would go to the school nearby. There was always a guard so we would sneak around and pick marigolds. But the guard always tried to catch us and we always ran away and went around the neighborhood looking for the flower. When our house was burned, the marigolds were destroyed and we moved away. I made new friends and we would pick marigolds and use it to pray or worship our God. When we moved to America I thought that I would never see another marigold around because I thought that it only grows on Nepal. But I did see lots of marigolds and we always plant them around our house. Marigolds are an important part of my memory with my friends even when I don’t see them anymore."

"All my life I have been really close with my cousins and my family in general. My cousins and I  used to all gather at my grandma's house to play. My oldest cousin, Mirranda, would take me and her sister Lily into the bedroom. She would lay out blankets and roll us into what looked like a burrito. She would help us hobble into the dining room sometimes rolling our way there. Through the tiny hall way and passed the dining room, making our final destination, the living room. Mirranda picked me and Lily up, putting us into the red wagon that sat by the hutch in my grandma's living room every time we’d look to find it, that's where it'd be waiting for us to use it again. She'd bring us outside rolling us around on the drive way for our and her entertainment. One day while we were playing outside in the wagon and we turned to short the wagon toppled over creating a cracking noise, we cringe getting up to inspect the damage that it took, noticing a large crack down the side. We were unable to use that red wagon again."

"For many years, I have loved my passion of writing. Writing anything helps me escape from reality for as long as I want, and I am able to express my creative imagination out on paper. Sometimes I just write so I can let all my heavy emotions out on paper, because it helps me clear out my stress, or just because I want to in general. Writing has always been something I’ve loved doing, and in 4th grade we always did quick writes at the beginning of class, and I always wrote a lot more than other people did, and it was something I loved to do. On Fridays we normally did fun quick writes, like “if you got one million dollars, what would you do with it?” which were always questions that were easy for to answer. I could write on and on about the question, and it always helped my creativity running. Writing sometimes inspires me to do many positive things in life, and I think that other people should feel this way as well."

"Chinatown in New York, is really where most my heritage started. My heritage is Chinese if you didn’t know by now and my traditions I have are Chinese New Year’s, which is on February 8th of each year. The reason I celebrate Chinese New Year’s is a because, it is time where you forget the past and move on to a new year with good luck. Everything I learned in Chinatown is my heritage of what I am today. Chinese New Year’s is the most important to the Chinese culture since it scares away the bad spirits. The dragons and lions dance does the job of the scaring them away do we can can be free of the spirits. Having this tradition in my family and other people makes us a brand new good person."

"The mountain and the picture of the lions called the coat of arms represent where my parents are from and my culture. The mountain is Mount Kenya and the picture of the lions mean a lot to me because I am proud to be half Kenyan and American.  Mount Kenya is important because where my parents used to live they used be able to see the mountain when they looked outside. It’s one of the many features of Kenya. Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The Kenyan coat of arms also represent, it also says ‘Harambee’ means in Swahili means unity or to bring together. The two lions represent The coat of arms of Kenya features two lions, a symbol of protection, holding spears and a traditional East African shield. The shield and spears symbolize unity and defense of freedom.The shield contains the national flag’s colors. The middle red stripe is a rooster holding an axe, which according to local customs, denotes a new and prosperous life. "

"There is one day in my life I will never forget and it was the day I became a big sister. I can remember being at my aunt's house for a sleepover, and the morning I woke up my aunt was waiting for me with a shirt that said “I’m a big sister” on it I was only three years old so I don't remember my exact reaction but I know I was really happy. I remember that afternoon we drove to the hospital, and going up a bunch of stairs and finally finding the right room. My aunt and I ran through the door without even stopping to knock we were so excited to see the baby. As I stepped through the door I the first thing that I saw was my little brother. That very moment was by far one of the most overwhelming, most exciting, and most happiest day of my life. I can remember sitting in a big chair holding him as all my other relatives came in to see him, and in that moment promising to be the best big sister I could ever be. I symbolized this memory by putting the August symbol into a clock, but what you may not notice is that I made the time on the clock 8:10 because his birthday was on the 10th and August is the 8th month. Therefore, I made that the hour."

"It all started when my mom was going to have her first born child. About a couple months later my brother was going to be born. Before he was, my mom planted a tall tree on the side of the house to represent when he was born. A few years later my second brother was born and my mom then wanted to plant the same tree to represent two boys. Five years later my mom and dad found out they were having a girl (me). They wanted to keep going with the tradition, so my mom planted a beautiful Fringe Tree for me. Every time I look at the tree it reminds me of what an amazing childhood I had growing up. On the Fringe tree is carved a heart to represent my family. My family means a lot to me because they always give me good life lessons and lets me be who I am. They taught me to be a good person and to never give up and never stop believing. The heart also represents how strong our family bond is. When me and my family go on vacations together we always have so much fun. Dinners are the best with my family because we all love talking and laughing about hilarious stories."

"Whenever there is a storm I’m always scared when there is lightning because usually if there’s lightning thunder comes with it. I’ve always hated thunder storms because there’s only one place I love to go and feel safe and that’s my bed in my room it makes me feel safe because that's where I seem to feel happy and that I actually own. When it rains I’m actually happy because after it rains there’s pretty much a chance to have a rainbow and I love rainbows and unicorns but anyways rainbow make me feel happy and I feel I can be anything I want to be. When it rains I also get to spend time with my sister if she wants to I guess I can’t force her to. When I was little my family would go to Hampton beach for a whole week from the end of July to the beginning of August. It’s about a 2 hour and a half hour ride from our house to  our hotel we stay in. When it’s like a few days from the last day of July the Beach usually has 4th of July fireworks and that goes on for the whole month of July and so the last few years we’d go as a family to watch the fireworks and that's when we could spend quality family time together. All the fireworks were always beautiful as always."

"I chose the building symbol which is the Samarra Minaret as the culture symbol because it is in Iraq. I chose it because I LOVE IT. It’s called the Samarra Minaret because it’s really high. Lot of people like to walk all the way up. I want to go see because I have never been to it. All of my friends that have went to are saying that is so cool and I should go see it. My family are saying the same thing. Which makes me really interested in it. I LOVE IT also because it one of the highest buildings in Iraq. It has a lot of stairs. I also chose it because all of my family have went to it except for me. I didn’t go because I was a little kid when I was in Iraq. And a very interesting place."