Some people have one pursuit life that truly means the world to them. Senior Athina Apazidis’ passion is drawing. She has been doodling since elementary school, but began seriously drawing towards the end of middle school.

“[Drawing sparked my interest] when I saw how talented my friends were. It was always something I wanted to do when I was younger, but never really got into until my friends encouraged me to try,” Apazidis said. “It was really a super awesome experience learning and practicing and having fun with them, and that’s how I got into drawing in the first place.”

Apazidis draws with a variety of media. She typically draws on a piece of paper with a writing utensil, but sometimes she uses drawing applications such as Adobe Illustrator or Krita on a computer.

“I always end up going back to a more cartoony kind of style when drawing people or animals, but the best part about being an artist is that it’s possible to experience and try out many different types of drawing and art that we see,” Apazidis said. “Experimenting in realistic, pop art, anime, and other styles is one of my favorite pastimes.”

Her biggest inspirations include drawings she sees on social media sites such as Instagram, art sites such as DeviantART and her friends’ artwork.

“[I have been able to witness] my friends come so far and develop their techniques and styles to create extraordinary things,” Apazidis said. This inspires Apazidis to work hard so she can improve her skills and techniques.

During her junior year, she entered in her first and only competition. She entered a piece in the AATSP [The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese], where students were required to design a poster that the organization could use for a year. Apazidis won first place in Massachusetts, and first place in the United States.

“I had to convey a meaning with art, which is basically what art is, and knowing this could be the poster of an entire organization for a year was a little scary,” Apazidis said. “However, once I got started on the poster, the amount of fun I had with it was unexpected. I was proud of the result, and if you’re proud of your work, however you do in the competition doesn’t matter.”

Although Apazidis has a love for drawing, she does not plan on pursuing it as a career.

“I’ve been told I should go to school for it, but drawing has always been something that calms me down when I’m having a bad day, or distracts me from pressure in other classes,” Apazidis said. “The last thing I want is for my hobby to become the thing that stresses me out in college or for a career.”

Apazidis wants to continue drawing in the future during her spare time. If she could pick one word to describe drawing, it would be “liberating”.

“Drawing for me is an escape, an expression. Whatever I’m feeling can be spilled out onto paper and take away stress and pressure and negative thoughts like nothing else,” Apazidis said.” “The best way to get rid of any unwanted emotions that I’m feeling is to draw something that expresses them. It’s almost similar to a dreamcatcher, but instead of bad dreams it traps my bad thoughts.”