How do you complete your art credit when you're not artistic?

The state of Ohio requires every student to attain at least one art credit to be eligible to graduate, but what happens if you are not an artistic person? In my case, I’m not a talented artist, I can’t play an instrument, I can’t sing and I definitely can’t comfortably speak in front of a big group of people.

For students who are not talented in the art category Aurora offers alternative classes like, history of rock n roll, drama, etc. I did take history of rock n roll, but that only gave me half a credit when I need a full one. Also, as stated before I am not a fan of public speaking so drama was not an option for me.

This past year, our school started offering photography to students which I had assumed was going to be perfect because it requires no drawing, speaking or music, but then we all found out that to take photography you must first take art one. Also, our school has classes like electronic media arts, but that class does not count as an art credit even though it says the word “art” in it.

This left me with only having one option which was to take art one. The class is not as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it still does not change the fact that I have no talent. I know of other students who feel the same way and I feel like there are things that could be done to solve this issue.

For example, photography could be changed so that students no longer have to take art one in order to move onto photography because it could be a great class for students like me who need an alternative solution. The school could also make other classes like electronic media arts count for an art credit.

When it comes to an art credit the options are limited depending on your personal skills or strong suits, but there are people like me who do not fit into those categories and it would be helpful to have other options. For example, Solon counts creative writing, film studies and many more as an art credit. They also offer classes like cooking, sewing and fashion as an art credit.

If Aurora possibly had a wider variety of classes that appealed to more people and that were considered an art credit, then students, like me, would not have to stress about completing their credit.