I think that Bard, at its core, is like a canvas in an open field. Alone, the canvas merely exists.It has the requirements for something great; the paints, the freedom, and the isolation. As soon as someone picks up a paintbrush and manufactures some concoction of their own making, using the tools that the canvas offers, they are all the better for it. Bard doesn’t force you to paint something on its all-knowing and ever-expanding board, but you feel compelled to do so anyway (as the alternative would involve the wandering of an empty expanse with no purpose other than to find another canvas farther away). Bard’s unique college program is its canvas. The opportunities that it presents allows some troubled soul to pioneer the advancement of something greater than themselves. Perhaps I’m exaggerating, but from what I’ve seen, Bard has one of the most unique experiences for any average High Schooler. In all, the program has the potential to allow you to build your world using an endless amount of multicolored paints. 

Bard has a fantastic variety of different classes that one can take to further their knowledge and intellectual prowess. They have an extensive and ever-expanding supply of different colored paints, one of which is Mr. Abood’s Creative Writing Course for 11th and 12th Graders. If you ask me, there are a multitude of ways to view the world; countless different lenses to see out of. Of all the different lenses to view the intricacies of this blue marble, I have chosen the pair of glasses worn by writers. I view the world in a very analytical and poetic manner, with a deep and intricate story behind anything and everything. Because of Bard’s laser focus on literature, I have come to the realization that writing isn’t something I want to do with my life; it’s something I NEED to do.  no version of myself  could ever be content with wearing another pair of glasses. Bard has a college program with so many different forms of literature, and such a focus on writing and academics that it blends perfectly with my aspirations. With such a goal of making literature the cornerstone of a High schooler’s experience, they ensure that there are many avenues to explore that are related to it. Their very philosophy can give me an infinite number of fields to traverse, all while providing me with so, so much to learn. 

I’ve often thought about the path which I would like to walk for the remainder of my life. I have considered countless options and accounted for a great deal that can even come close to fulfilling me and aiding to my walk. Without a doubt, one of the things that will aid me the most is an Associate’s Degree in  Liberal Arts. One of Bard’s most prestigious paints is without a doubt the degree that you can earn after 2 years of a college-level education. Having the opportunity to decorate a canvas with the paints of Liberal Arts is an opportunity unparalleled by what other High Schools offer. Essentially, the degree represents expertise in fields that involve social sciences, history, and other forms of literature. With a degree such as this, one can attain almost any occupation in these fields. Degrees acknowledge achievements: they allow a potential employer to point at one regular sized piece of paper and from it derive a meaning of immense recognition and gratitude. Degrees symbolize growth, they convey hardship in a way never thought possible. My favorite part is that this prestigious paint from Bard isn’t necessary for me; you don’t need to grace the otherwise great canvas with its color and diversity, but best believe it’s not going to compromise it. 

This last title feels like cheating, as no paintbrush  justifies the reason for its existence, but a combination of all the paints. When you step back from your finished canvas and you take a gander at the wonderful mixture of colors that you and you alone have chosen to create, you can’t help but marvel at it. One begins to wonder, what now? What must you do with the finished product of your multicolored drawing? (You’re still standing in an empty field, mind you). The answer to this question of where to go after you’ve exercised all of the tools BHSEC has to offer lies entirely in yourself. Some choose to further their education; find an even bigger canvas farther away, and others decide that one canvas is enough to prosper them. However, if you’re like me, when it’s all over and every stretch of the canvas that is Bard is fully realized, you will take your canvas, and attach it to an even bigger one with more opportunities than you can shake a finger at, and you’ll never stop painting

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