When I think of art, I normally think of a painting of something realistic or cartoony.

Art can be much more. I never realized that art could be made of anything before I went to the art museum. Some pieces were paintings like I was used to, but there were many things I had never thought of as art. The piece that caught my eye was a good example of this. Christopher Harrison made a piece called “Crust Formation IV”.

When I first saw the piece I felt I was on an island. I could feel the salty waves crash on my feet. The art piece had one big island in the middle with a reef off to the left and a green grass island to the right. The island in the middle had two peninsulas on it. The peninsula on the bottom right looked like the outline of Florida. The other peninsula had a mountain on it. It did not stick out as far and is much wider. The island has terrain like Arizona. All edges of the island have sandy seashores with some small rock. The reef off to the left is at the same sea level as most of the island. It is not nearly as large as the middle island. Covering the reef are many sharp knives making it dangerous to anything passing by. Waves are always crashing over the reef making it hard to hear when near the reef. The grass island on the right is smaller than the reef. Plants cover the island to make it seem as if one piece of sod was laid on it. There were many intriguing things about this piece.

When I first saw the piece of art I focussed on the main island. I thought of how people can feel that they are an island. If someone asked me what it meant to feel like an island, I would say, “being the only one, not having anyone else in the same situation.” There are many different reasons a person could feel as if they are an island. Some people just don’t fit in and feel no one around is like them. A kid at school being picked on by a group could easily feel an island. No one's there for the kid, no one is their friend at the moment. There are many different circumstances a person can feel like an island.

Being an island can be a bad thing. Like I stated previously the kid that is being picked on. I see kids being picked on all the time. I normally think of it as a joke and don’t worry about it. I like joking around and picking on my friends, but there have been times I’ve realized I’ve gone too far, I can see it on a person’s face. I then stop and regret what I have said. Words are very powerful, one sentence can change someone's day. I try to remind myself of that every day.

Being an island can help change things for the better. To be a good leader and a person that is going to make a change you have to be an island. Being a part of the crowd doesn’t change anything, it takes people that are willing to step out of the crowd and create an island to make a change. It is hard to step out and try to get people to join you. It is much easier to stay in the crowd and not leave the safe place. The world needs people who are not afraid of going out of their comfort zone. If everyone sits in the crowd, no changes will be made.

When I think of an island I think of much more than a piece of land in the middle of water. I think of people and how it feels to be an island. I am a person that wants to make a change and impact people in a positive way. I know that I will be an island more than once to do that. To be a great leader you can no longer be part of the gang. Stepping out and going on an island is important in changing things.