Photo courtesy of Morgan McDonald
At 17 years old, Pickerington High School North senior Morgan McDonald has a pretty good idea of what she wants to do when she grows up.
Throughout her high school career, McDonald has immersed herself in art and volunteering in equal parts, doing a great deal of volunteer work with her church, participating in mission work in Cincinnati, working in suicide prevention and education, playing in her school’s touring chamber orchestra, and painting a mural honoring veterans for the American Legion.
After graduating, McDonald plans to study art education at either The Ohio State University or the University of South Carolina. Eventually, she hopes to become an art teacher. In particular, she wants to teach art in inner-city high schools.
“A lot of people in (the) inner city go through rough stuff,” McDonald says. “I feel like art would be a more positive opportunity to put that energy into.”
One of the major factors influencing her goals is her involvement in SURGE Columbus, an art-based after-school program facilitated through the Columbus Museum of Art. Because of the museum’s proximity to some of Columbus’ own urban areas, McDonald has had the opportunity to make art with urban students who are her age.
Her involvement with SURGE has helped McDonald come up with ideas on how to approach urban arts education.
Photo courtesy of Morgan McDonald
McDonald paints a wheelchair ramp for a disabled veteran.
“I have a lot of conversations with this one kid,” McDonald says. “Because he lives in the inner city, I’m like, ‘OK, how does this and this affect you?’ so I can know when I go into that field.”
McDonald has seen firsthand through SURGE that high school students in underprivileged areas are just as driven and passionate as students in affluent areas.
“(They) really (work) hard at it,” McDonald says. “It’s just insane to see that somebody who comes from … that sort of area wants to do so much more with their lives … and not be held back.”
Photo courtesy of Morgan McDonald
McDonald poses for a photo while packing high-protein meals for the hungry in Swaziland.
McDonald has also seen that manifest through her involvement in the Summer of Service Cincinnati mission trip with Vineyard Community Church over the summer, which would often involve doing volunteer work in low-income areas of Cincinnati.
“It kind of makes me mad that people are so quick to judge,” McDonald says. “A lot of people in this area … just had a bad string of luck and … their house was foreclosed on or something. They just got in that situation, and it’s not necessarily their fault.”
While in Cincinnati, McDonald and her youth group held a block party for the Children’s Home of Cincinnati, packed 41,000 meals for people in Swaziland, packaged sanitary napkins and paint for people in Haiti, and passed out bags full of food to people in impoverished areas of Cincinnati.
Photo courtesy of Morgan McDonald
McDonald talks to area children during her Cincinnati mission trip
With all of this on her plate, a schedule as intense as McDonald’s can get difficult to juggle, but this isn’t a problem for her.
“I involve myself with things that I would want to be involved with anyways … and it doesn’t feel like it’s taking up all my time,” McDonald says. “It’s something that I can put my time and effort to, rather than just sitting at home, and it helps other people along the way.”
Emily Real is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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