By Leidis Vásquez

Have you ever felt trapped, like no matter how much you try to go out and explore a different zone, you can’t? Well, that’s how I feel every time I go to my art classroom. I think to myself, “Why am I here?” This isn’t going to help me. I want to study fashion design. It is so frustrating that so many students interested in applied arts are only offered courses in fine arts. Lord knows how stressed I become when I realize that I’m losing so much time that I could be using learning how to work a sewing machine, or the specific skills that are necessary to be a successful designer in the fashion industry.

Many students like me, who have a particular career they want to pursue, are not being given the opportunity to learn the skills required by that career while in high school. I strongly believe that applied arts schools or programs should be endorsed. When I say “applied arts” I mean fashion design, graphic design, photography, interior design, architecture, and decorative design. These arts require skills we see expressed all around us in our everyday life. For example, every business building needs an architect to build the place, and an interior designer for the furniture and to set up the lounge. You need a photographer to take pictures and broadcast the place. Every business needs a logo, and that’s where graphic designers come into play. Fashion design usually helps define what type of person you are. Fashion is a multi-million-dollar business and provides various careers. This is why it is so important to offer programs that can help students prepare themselves be successful in the specific career of their interest.

Applied art is not only about the hard skills. You also need training in the soft skills. In my interview with Donna Marie Cecere, Department Chair of Fashion at Bay State College, she emphasized the importance of soft skills. For example, you need to know how to communicate with consumers, which is considered marketing. You need to communicate with the models who are modeling your product and explain how you want them to move down the runway. You need to communicate with the people that are going to construct what you design. You need to manage time and punctuality, and also meet deadlines. You need to learn how to cooperate and work with diverse groups of people; pattern makers, seamstress, and buyers. You need to have presentation skills to be able to present your designs. All these soft skills are necessary to applied arts careers, and they are necessary to almost every other career.

For those interested in the applied arts, I strongly believe that they should have access to a high school for the applied arts, or programs in applied arts in the regular high school curriculum. Internships or apprenticeships should also be encouraged. Many can’t afford to go into debt to go to college for applied arts. So if they are taught in high school, they will have a better chance of finding work in the field that they are passionate about. Getting a feel for what a typical applied arts career looks like would really benefit students and give them a heads up to see if they are really qualified to work with the arts.

If this were a reality, going to school would be so much more fun and interesting. My attendance would be 100 percent in every class and I wouldn’t find myself bored and wishing I could be doing something else.