Katelyn Mitchell | Staff Writer

Everyone has something that they enjoy doing, whether that be playing a sport, writing stories, creating music or just leisurely scrolling through the Internet. Senior Unique Reddy’s passion is art.

“I enjoy art because I was better at it and enjoyed it a lot more than any of the other classes and activities I had done,” Reddy said.

Many art students aspire to a career in the field, possibly teaching an art class to students, working in the art therapy field, selling paintings to consumers or becoming art curators. Reddy is no exception.

“Art is definitely a career option for me,” she said. “I plan on going to Herron at IUPUI. There, I plan on majoring in photography and minoring in painting, which opens up a lot of doors when it comes to a career in the art field.”

However, making a career in art can be an extremely difficult task; it takes years of dedication and practice to go into art schools in college, which requires students to stay focused in high school.

“I didn’t start taking art seriously until my junior year. In that time period, I started taking two advanced classes, and I sold my first piece of artwork,” Reddy said.

Though a career in art requires early focus, it also requires passion

“When I am doing art, I always forget how much I enjoy it until I’m actually in the zone. Once I start, I won’t stop,” Reddy said.

The Scholastic Art Competition deadlines later this month. It is an opportunity for artists to submit their work and potentially win scholarships or have their work publicly displayed.

“For this year, I have entered many types of media into Scholastics; my colored pencil drawing for example. Last year, however, I had only submitted two that went into the photography category,” she said.

Reddy has documented her progression through art throughout her high school year and hopes to continue to grow.

“I have always loved art, but if you told me my freshman year that I would be as far as I am now, I would have thought you were crazy. I hope that this progression continues to grow so I can continue growing as an artist,” she said.

For some students, their passion will be hobbies for their whole lives. But Reddy hopes it will become her livelihood as well.