Stemming from a young child who snatched printer paper to scrawl her amateur doodles, senior Meggie Kennedy has let her sketches develop into a fully-rendered version of herself and her skills. From her countless hours spent in the FHC AP Art Studio to her daily meetings with the staff of The Central Trend, Meggie has been letting her creativity flow through each and every outlet she has opened up for herself. 

Although Meggie’s time on The Central Trend began nearly two years ago whereas her adventures in art have been occurring continuously for over a decade, she has excelled in both areas and even found that she can apply her skills from one subject to the other.

“I think both my art skills have helped my writing skills, and my writing skills have helped my art skills,” Meggie said. “The information I know about art and some of the terminologies has reflected in my writing. My writing, since it’s gotten better over the course of me being on The Central Trend, has really helped bolster my own artwork with my themes, meaning behind it, and to actually put on paper what my art means.”

Meggie has found an excellent community within both The Central Trend and her art classes, especially AP Art Studio. Despite the fact that the nature of the class is highly independent, Meggie has forged strong bonds with her classmates.

Creativity can be a struggle when it comes to solitary creating, but with her classmates by her side, Meggie has discovered that they have helped her ideas blossom while aiding her in improving her skills.

“We’ve all been together for a long time,” Meggie said. “Of course, people can filter in and out, but otherwise, I’ve met some of my really close friends through art. We automatically click, we all know what [we] are about, and we love giving each other constructive criticism and asking for each other’s opinions. It’s such a great way to connect on levels as artists and as people.”

Unfortunately, many students put art up on the shelf or consider it an occasional hobby after high school ends. Thankfully, Meggie plans on pursuing art later on, hence why she took AP Art Studio for her last two years of high school and is studying art at Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.

Since Meggie’s days at the University of Michigan will be spent knee-deep in art supplies, it gives her plenty of time to explore new opportunities and mediums while she is at the university.

“I am all about experimentation,” Meggie said. “I want to learn how to do so many more new things in college, and I want to improve the skills I already have with drawing and painting. But then, I also want to branch out with mediums; I want to get better at clay, try more sewing relating things or needle-felting, go into murals or 3-D art, or possibly photography. I want to experience everything the University of Michigan art department offers.”

After college, Meggie is still undecided in which direction she wants to go with her passion for art. While she still wants to be able to enjoy art and avoid burnout, it is also important to her to incorporate what she loves into her career.

In order to maintain a degree of independence, Meggie plans on working in a more freelance manner rather than under someone else with hard deadlines. She also has an arsenal of years of practice under her belt along with her analytical skills.

“I have no idea what I want to do with my career,” Meggie said. “All I know is that I want to be involved in the arts somehow because it’s just so fun for me. I feel like I can analyze other people’s artwork and famous artists’ artwork. I can see where they’re coming from, or I try to see different perspectives; I admire the way they do it. I think that’s so cool because it’s so natural for me, so finding a field where I’m going to be able to have that sort of comfort in the thing I love doing, which is art, [is] my aim.”

Even though Meggie has plans for the future, the road ahead of her is sure to be vastly different than all of her other experiences. Fortunately, Meggie is well-equipped for university life with her independent nature and love for what she’s studying.

However, one thing that her classes next year won’t have are the priceless experiences Meggie has had during her years at FHC. The memories will always warm her heart, but it won’t be easy for her to leave her close friends and teachers.

“I’m going to miss my AP Art class so much,” Meggie said. “That’s probably my favorite class I’ve ever taken in this school because it’s such a small group of individuals who all love art so much. [I] get to see what they’re doing, and they get to see what you’re doing; you get so close to the teacher and each other. It’s such a tight-knit little community, and I’m going to miss that so much.”