Junior Jenan Hammad makes the stickers that decorate her laptop in her free time.

“I make my own stickers,” Jenan said. “I print out photos at the library, and I laminate them. Then, I put them on the sticky side of the double tape, and then I cut them because the label on the double-sided tape acts like how you would peel off a sticker. So if you look at my laptop, a lot of the stickers are stuff I made.” 

On top of making her own stickers of a variety of things—mostly memes are what Jenan finds humorous—she also makes key chains using a similar method. She laminates the desired image a few times before hole punching it.

Being crafty isn’t Jenan’s only artistic endeavor; she’s been drawing a majority of her life.

“When I moved out of Forest Hills overseas,” Jenan said, “I started taking it seriously because it was like an escape. Because I didn’t know how to speak the language [in Jordan], I would just draw all the time.”

When Jenan moved to Jordan right before she started fifth grade, she started to get serious about her passion for the arts and single into exactly what medium she’s most comfortable with. 

“I was always self-taught,” Jenan said. “I always took the classes that were in the public schools. And over [in Jordan], we didn’t take classes. So I was fully self-taught [through] fan art, YouTube, [and] everything.” 

Through platforms like YouTube, Jenan was exposed to not only a variety of artists, but also a variety of mediums like digital art and oil pastels as she further explored the depths of her passion. 

She now uses Instagram as a platform to share some of her favorite creations. After determining that watercolor combined with colored pencils was her favorite, she started posting some of her creations online to share them with others. Moving forward, Jenan is trying to get into more digital artwork. 

On top of having a passion for art, after moving back to the Forest Hills area during her sophomore year, Jenan discovered that she had a knack for languages as well. Since she is already bilingual and studying Chinese at school, Jenan thinks becoming a translator might be an amazing opportunity for her to expand on her knowledge of many languages. 

“At the moment, I’m not going to pursue art as what I’m going to take in college,” Jenan said. “It costs a lot. I’m probably just going to go to community college to continue [studying] languages. [I’m] currently taking Chinese; I’m already bilingual, so I want to add on to [those] languages. [I want to] be a translator that makes bank.”

While she doesn’t think she’ll pursue art as her career, it’ll always have a place in Jenan’s heart as a creative outlet and a chance for her to express herself when she’s stressed. 

After moving back here from Jordan, she found a home within FHC’s art department, and it has helped her further her passion and enjoyment of art. She even has plans of taking AP Art next year as a senior to hone her artistic skills in on one subject.

“I love the art department here because I can actually express myself,” Jenan said. “Back in Jordan, there was never an art department, and whenever someone did a drawing, they always came to me since I was the only one who could actually draw well. Now, it’s for my own enjoyment, and I’m learning at the same time.”