Being a creative person has always been one of the most essential parts of my identity. Whether it is through my love of sketching in my sketchbook or teaching myself how to sew and crochet. From a young age, stemming back to elementary school, I always sought out these creative avenues as a way to express who I am. Transitioning from middle school to high school made me realize how creativity aided me in solving most of my problems.

I remember spending hours on end with my old tablet watching all these different YouTube tutorials on how to animate other people or how to do a simple hand stitch at home with a needle and thread. YouTubers like Love2DrawManga, Appleminte and Christina Lorre offered younger me short but simple videos on how to draw.

However, now that I’m in high school, I would say that I’m not as active with my skills of sewing or crocheting, but I still always resort to my original love of sketching. I do it sometimes in my classes as a way to calm my mind from the taxing assignments. It’s considered a “distraction” to some, but I view it as a catalyst for motivation that allows to keep doing my work in class.

Pairing that initial interest with the continuous art classes I took from kindergarten to eighth grade, I did not just gain the ability to draw but also became more detail-oriented, organized and patient. All these skills came together to paint a picture of how my creativity is in fact analytical.

For example, sewing is a creative skill that requires a lot of articulation. It mirrors an everyday occurrence that people don’t tend to make a connection to: a math problem. Math problems have several parts to them: the question itself, the formulas and equations to aid in solving the problem, and finally, the solution. Just like solving a math problem, sewing depends on choosing the right fabric, measuring and cutting properly, and making sure your stitches are precise. One mistake, whether in numbers or stitches, can lead to a miscalculation.

The same has always applied to my sketching. Sketching is not an easy thing that anyone achieves overnight; it is something that requires practice to make it perfect. When I first started sketching, I had to learn the proper anatomy and point of views from which I portray people and animals. I realized that even if you have your own personal style of sketching, there is always a template that has to followed to make the art recognizable to others.

I do believe that a lot of people view creativity as something that comes naturally to a lot of people or something that is not important or essential to everyday skills. Telling people that you are more creative than analytical gives the impression that you are lazy or don’t know how to do math or more technical things.

I find myself telling people this as I have matured: I learned that I use both my analytical and creative skills with one another to aid in my overall development of my character and myself, leading to a lesson — that creative minds have never and will never be left behind.