Yashaswini Satish Sharma

Hello Lakshmi ma'am! This is Yashasvini! I've been in our class for 6 years. I'm in grade 12. I can't believe that the young me in 6 grade who could barely draw has improved so much! Art class has helped me develop holistically. Initially when I joined the main focus was to improve my art skills. Fortunately, art class comes with many perks and benefits.

One will definitely pick up many every day essentials like patience, calmness, obedience, respect and attentiveness to name a few. Earlier on, it was more of attempt to replicate the picture that was provided to me. However, I don't know how ma'am does it, but there's so much we learn that in less than a few months it will no longer be a copy paste but will actually involve so much thought and so much work that our mind puts in. Even though there is a lot of banter and gossip that takes place during our classes, it has never affected and come in the way of our works. Moreover, ma'am knows right when we're getting distracted and helps us get back on track. Ma'am's never and will never curb our expression of words, speech, thought or art in any form. As a student who has just started studying psychology, I believe that any form of suppression will have a lot of negative impacts on the child. When I had just joined, irrespective of how I had done my work, ma'am would still appreciate it and ensure that all the children clapped for me. At a young age, compliments, external motivation and affirmation from other people plays a major impact in your interest and liking towards the subject. When I think about it now it's all laughs and jokes. In the hindsight, I don't know if my liking towards art and our classes would have developed so much if not for those small compliments and remarks.

Ma'am would still manage to tell us the places that need improvement and places that could have been worked on better. I still don't know how you manage to do that ma'am! Even when she tells us or tells the others to tell us the corrections, it's always in the most positive and motivating manner. And like ma'am keeps saying, you can only learn from mistakes. I also love how ma'am ensures that if we've completed one picture with no errors, she'll ensure that the next one will be slight challenging to ensure that we're constantly learning something new or refresh what we have learn previously. Be it online or offline, I have greatly learned the basic virtues of punctuality and respect through our classes. Even though ma'am is not harsh or rude in any form, she still ensures that we do not walk over her and take advantage of the flexibility of the classes. Ma'am is also so highly involved with each and every one of us which is so highly appreciated! She does impose some authority to ensure we regularly attend classes and attend our make up classes if there are any. Looking back, we would have all been astray if not for those rules and regulations.

There are some obvious changes that have taken place for both ma'am and us in the transition from online to offline classes. There is a lack of physical interaction with he students, the actual viewing of pictures and the major missing is the art class biscuits! Fortunately, ma'am made the transition so smooth and guaranteed that the distance would not hinder the quality of our work. Laptops have been a huge blessing for us, but I also think ma'am has been a bigger blessing! Ma'am has worked relentlessly to ensure that online classes do no affect our output in any form. Over time it almost feels like our usual physical classes with the same amount of learning and talking. It's also a major advantage for students like me who are no longer in Muscat. Personally, I don't think I'll ever be able to attend any other art class. Hence, online classes were a huge benefit. This also shows us how much effort, work and time ma'am has put in to make this
happen. I'm sure it was not easy on ma'am either! Even though ma'am has so many responsibilities and duties outside of art class she has completely dedicated and immersed herself into our classes. She ensured to learn the workings of a laptop, worked day and night to prevent any sort of degradation in our work and changed all her schedules just so that we can learn.

Seeing the new students and their work is a true testimony for all the work and efforts that ma'am has put in to help us be the best version of ourselves. There is absolutely no difference in the output of those who have started online over those who have transitioned from offline to online classes. Moreover, the inclusivity of the class has expanded which is a huge advantage for the students! I truly wish our classes continue to remain online just so that students sitting miles away can still extract all the benefits. Even people in my close circle are able to see a positive change in me! They feel like I've grown to become a lot more patient and kind. Art class has helped me become very focused and patient as every picture requires you to work with your heart and soul. Also, mentioning the corrections in the works of the other students ensures you are
empathetic and gentle. Another major aspect of the art classes are the psychological benefits. There is a lot of mind work that happens behind the scenes! However, we're never aware as ma'am does it so seamlessly. Moreover, if we were aware it might bother us a lot. As an entrant into the field of psychology I can already see the positives of psychological techniques that ma'am uses. Even the colours of the picture that we have to draw has some benefit. Ma'am is continuously working and putting so much thought into the selection of each and every picture for each and every student. Art helps us express our ourselves and our thoughts
without confining out creativity. The classes have also greatly helped be remain calm and composed during stressful situations and helped me develop the skill of patience. It has also greatly improved the trust I told on myself. Ma'am and the classes have helped me tell myself that even if something were to go wrong, I can trust and myself and ensure that I can fix the problem.

The classes have also helped improve everyone's listening, speaking and communicating skills. The classes also help us bring ourselves to a state of equilibrium and balance and helps alleviate any sort of stress and negativity in our lives. The classes bring about a huge smile and a lot of happiness once they have begun. Art classes have greatly changes my perception towards many aspects in life. I'm eternally grateful to ma'am and our classes! It has shaped me into a better individual! I'm very sure there are going to be no changes in class with years to come. If not anything, it's only going to get better! Ma'am, please please don't stop taking
classes! There are so many more students that need to benefit from our classes.

Thank you for so much for everything you've done for us!