On September 18, a group of students participated in the Pine Ridge service project for the University’s annual Change Day. This project allowed students to go to the nursing home and serve its residents using their musical talents. The voices of the student body engaged the nursing home group and created a spiritual atmosphere in the building. It is always a great experience to come together not just as peers, but with generations before us and worship together. It is also an eye opening experience to know that it doesn't matter how many years are between us, music will always be the uniting factor for all generations.
Most find it easy to overlook music and the arts as a form of service, seeing as most people view service as something tangible, but no matter what genre of music you listen to, or the kind of art you engage in, it always brightens your day. Art is all around us, in the buildings you study in, the walls you decorate in your dorm, and the music you listen to when you study. It is all a service to you and those around you. For me, the arts–and more specifically music–is a way to express the inexpressible emotions that I have on hard days. I use music when I walk to class, when I study, or even when I sleep–and I think the same can be said for almost everyone you meet. Service doesn’t always have to involve manual labor or be something that you can hold. Sometimes creating a comfortable atmosphere with music or creating a new experience with art can be the perfect way to uplift someone. The arts can be used as a physical representation of the emotions inside of you. They are the embodiment of things that someone could never describe without color or a melody.
Murals are painted in schools and on city buildings to represent the values of that group of people. You can paint a portrait of a family, compose a song for someone you love or paint a mental image through the words of a poem. As someone who writes poetry every so often, I can say that I would have never started poetry if I had not read Maya Angelou’s work in high school. I would never have learned to love music and use it as a healthy way to cope if my mother had not loved it first as it does the same for her. I would have never thought that I had the option to be an actress if there weren't movies like “Black Panther” and “The Woman King.” I would have never learned to appreciate the art of dancing in all its forms if I had never gone to a Broadway play. The arts have done such a service to me in the long term that I am just discovering now as I write this article. While most of these things seem like something to easily attain, most people don't have the means to access anything that has to do with the arts. Music, poetry, theater,and movies should be free for everyone to enjoy. Just imagine how much color they would have if people knew that they had options outside of the practical, how much more we would understand each other if we could find a way to express our unspeakable feelings. The things that we as a community could create to serve each other would make a long lasting effect.The arts are never temporary. They will always find a way to impact someone, no matter their age or station. Service is anything you can do for someone else, so the next time you consider doing an act of service, remember that the arts are a service too.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.