Hi everyone!

I decided to make a collage of my sketches and pictures since the photos weren’t posting side-by-side. The upper left hand corner is my first sketch, next to it is my second, closer sketch. The bottom two pictures are the up close pictures of the rock.

I know what you all may be thinking, “Great, it’s a rock. How very interesting, Sophia.” If I pretended that you weren’t being sarcastic, I’d say that you were right! This rock was picked up from my garden back in the Summer of 2009, when I was 16 years old. Before this summer, I had previously spent all of my summers glued to my T.V screen playing, quite literally, hours and hours of video games. While playing video games are fun, it wasn’t exactly the most efficient use of my time when I could have been outside playing in the sun with my friends. This all changed in 2009 when I realized that there’s actually some really fun activities to do outside, such as going to the beach, hanging out at the park with friends, etc. I also got to travel to Montreal and Ottawa that summer, which was the most exciting trip for me. Also, another bonus was that I got my driver’s license and I was able to learn how to drive!

More importantly, I realized that my summers didn’t have to involve spending all day locked up indoors and playing video games. I could actually go outside, have fun, and socialize just like a regular teenager. At the end of the summer, I wanted to remember the “Best Summer Ever” in some way, so I picked up this rock, wrote “Summer ’09” on it and I’ve treasured it ever since. This rock not only acts as a reminder of that summer, but it also symbolizes the transition of how I choose to spend my time during the summer. Ever since that summer, I stopped spending so much time in front of the T.V screen and I’ve made a conscious effort to go outside and just breathe in nature and enjoy the amazing surroundings around me. It’s definitely been a life changing decision for me.

When I hold this rock, I first wonder how it formed. How did all the holes and ridges form? The rock is fairly smooth to the touch despite all of the holes, so how did it get its texture? As I went further with my questioning, which I did as I was sketching the rock, I began to wonder what else a rock could symbolize. A question that popped up was, what if this rock was like an anchor, serving as a counterweight to stabilize a structure?