Community Service Seoyi Lee

Paper plates. It was always the favorite medium for my five friends every Saturday morning. Through connections with a certified neurologist, Kyung Il Park, I helped to develop an art therapy program for children and adults with special needs. While there would be different participants each week, I became close with a group of five with Down Syndrome. At first, they were just patients, but as I came to bond with them, they became my friends.Helping the students complete an art piece was difficult as many had trouble focusing for a long period of time or became frustrated with their inability to accurately express their visions. For instance, one second my friend would be pointing at the yellow marker, but as soon as the color yellow was added to our flower, she would kick and scream.

Moments like these were hard due to our communication barrier. However, we overcame this obstacle through gestures and laughter. I realized that art therapy is not just about teaching art; it has more depth to it. Art therapy is a vehicle for understanding the other’s mind. Most of all, seeing the impact art can create gave me a firm assurance in my love for art. Art therapy opened up ways for me to to interact with my friends without the need for...