Patience, perseverance, practice and the ability to grow: the components of what it takes to forge someone’s craft, the components of a creator. This is what Amanda Pham, a Kaneland High School sophomore and Sugar Grove community member, brings to the table when exploring her passions as an artist.
With an ability to inspire others and the flexibility to approach all art forms with an open mind, Pham tackles everyday teenage high school student frustrations with the outlet of her artwork, investment in hobbies and her exploration of her surrounding community, step by step.
Since June of Pham’s freshman year, she has been taking walks throughout the town of Sugar Grove. Whether it’s exploring nature paths near her house, visiting nearby shops and businesses, or inviting friends along with her, Pham has gotten to know the surrounding area very well.
“When I first started walking, I would only go to the park,” Pham said. “And then there was a little trail near my house, and I think that’s where most of my first photos came from.”
These explorations invited a new creative expression into her life: photography. On Pham’s Instagram page, among the occasional posts with friends or artwork she has drawn, await pictures and pictures of nature she has photographed while making these trips. She has accumulated quite a portfolio of a passion that has grown greatly from originally being a subject of strife for her. Reliance on others can be a source of confinement, and being the youngest child in her family, Pham struggled with this.
“It’s very frustrating having to be dependent on other people, because I can’t drive places by myself,” Pham said. “I can’t do anything really. I feel grateful for my parents and my brother, but I wish I could do more and not rely on them and burden them.”
A lack of freedom in movement was starting to become an issue for Pham, so she looked for solutions that considered everyone in the equation. And gradually her footsteps began to mark up and down the sidewalks, crosswalks and trails of Sugar Grove.
“It really helps me clear my mind,” Pham said. “Especially with not being able to go anywhere besides my house without having to ask somebody to drive me places. I realized I could just walk around my neighborhood.”
In this exploration, a new art form stemmed. Pham began investing practice and time into her photography, and it only evolved further despite navigating her sophomore year and the challenges it brings. School itself poses a problem for Pham’s artistic process.
“I am really into art, but I haven’t really found the time to do it because schoolwork is really important,” Pham said. “I try to do as much as I can, like mainly on breaks or during the weekends.”
Time management can provide a large challenge when it comes to creation, causing art block or other procrastinations. Pham, in the end, found ways to manage both school and her creations by maintaining patience and focus on the present. Pham allows herself to find passions within school as well, aiming high with all her interests in her different classes.
“I feel like course-wise, my favorite is definitely Principles of Biomedical,” Pham said. “We got to dissect hearts, and we had this crime scene [activity] where we would get to mark things and take pictures, and that would carry on throughout the entire semester.”
While Pham maintains her passion for artistic work, she also holds a passion for her favored classes. She looks forward to the future of her education, despite its chance to provide an obstacle against her creative work.
“The main reason why I want to work in an emergency room is because I want to be in education as long as possible,” Pham said. “It’s such a big part of me. I don’t know who I am without a grade to define me.”
Disregarding a common societal view of the educational system holding one down when involved for too long, Pham aspires to work with it as long as she possibly can. She is planning for the future and dreaming far for all of her passions, even with a concern about it getting overwhelming.
Pham generally turns her concerns instead towards her relationships, social skills and connections. She strives to maintain friendships and let them blossom, even with worries about her social life growing up and its impact on her.
“Being the youngest, I can’t really talk to anybody because my sister went off to IMSA, and my brother is six years older than me,” Pham said. “I feel like it’s harder for me to develop my social skills. I only get to talk to people in the classroom, and so I feel like I’m stunted in some areas.”
Navigating high school socially can be challenging and worrisome, and it can make one doubt connections easily. Pham works hard to maintain friendships and to make a good impact on her relationships. And in doing so, Pham has gained admirers and inspired those deeply around her. Junior Rylee Van Wie expresses their own personal experience.
”We never really talked, but then, later on, when we got into competitive [Color Guard] competitions, we started talking more because we were in the same section, and we slowly became friends,” Van Wie said.
Pham’s contribution to the Kaneland Color Guard team provided the ticket to a friendship with Van Wie. And later on, this led to the exchange of creativity and inspiration of artwork amongst one another.
“Her artwork is really cool,” Van Wie said. “She makes the drawing and then makes it look like a poster, like a movie poster. It looks so cool.”
Van Wie’s admiration for Pham’s artwork moved even further with a collaboration between the two. After Van Wie uploaded a video of their own work online, Pham took the time to make her own adaptation in appreciation for it.
“She drew one of my characters and spent nine hours on it, and I was like, ‘What?; It was so good,” Van Wie said. “The shading was amazing. It was so beautiful.”
Pham’s creative process itself helped to fortify her connection and relationship with a friend. Even with the concerns, her hard work showcased the connection she creates with others.
Her dedication makes ripples around her, not going unnoticed. Especially with closer friends, she is widely appreciated for her talents. Sophomore Kenzie Farmer explores her admiration for Pham, their relationship and her artwork.
“I’ve seen her posts and a few other pieces that she hasn’t posted,” Farmer said. “It’s all very good. I love her art style.” Farmer said.
There is a clear appreciation from those simply around her, witnessing her enthusiasm to keep moving forward and practice enhancing her skills. Farmer recalls a specific occasion of her awe at Pham’s effort.
“Her photography is so good,” Farmer said. “I don’t know how she does it. We were at the mall one time, and she was taking pictures of literally just [fake] mall garden flowers, and I was like, ‘How are you making this look so good?’”
Both Farmer and Van Wie have hope for Pham to continue pursuing these talents and passions, such as continuing and progressing more in photography.
“I would love to see her get more into it, maybe get a professional camera, or just like a better camera overall, experiment more with it,” Farmer said.
Among Pham’s relationships, there is an obvious appreciation and recognition of her efforts. Whether that be for her artwork, photography, involvement in sports, her future goals or her care for her relationships. While Pham has an affinity for creating artistically, she also has a talent for creating connections with others.
Her use of patience, perseverance, practice and the ability to grow doesn’t just show up in her creative process, but also in her relationships. Concerns, struggles and obstacles are all overcome through Pham’s effort as not only a student, athlete, explorer and artist, but also as a friend to those around her.
Pham’s footsteps across her community are not the only thing she leaves an impact on around her.
