Since she was young, Maya Rai (12) has always been interested in art and has been drawing for as long as she can remember. As a child, her father taught her how to draw. 

“I like using Microns, a type of ink pens,” she said. “ I hate drawing still life or realistic things, but I like drawing cartoons and abstract things.”

Every year she has been at Harker, she has taken a drawing class and this year, she is taking AP Studio Art, a class in which each student has a concentration to focus their pieces on.

“Social issues and stuff like that inspires me to draw,” she said. “I feel that art speaks a lot more than words sometimes, and I like using art as a platform to showcase my thoughts about society.”

To her, art is a way of relaxing and a pastime. She often enjoys turning on the TV and drawing while watching shows.

“When I get really obsessed with something like a TV show, I draw characters from that, or when I’m obsessed with a band, I’ll draw them,” she said.

While she enjoys doodling on the margins of her notes, she has started to curb the habit.

“I’m also a weird perfectionist,” she said. “I’m really clean, so I don’t like it when I have doodles on my notebooks.”

Along with her art skills, her confidence level in herself has also grown as she grew older.

“Now, I’m more comfortable with being myself and doing and wearing and saying things that I want to say,” she said. “I remember freshman year I was really scared to speak up in class and I would look to others for advice or opinions when I shouldn’t have. But now I feel more independent  and like I have more control over my life.”