This blog post was written by grade 11 student Hana Goodkind. She’ll be making regular contributions to the MPA Blog. I’ve written about her before here.
Hargobind is an American student from Espanola, New Mexico. He has been at MPA since 2012. He will be graduating this year in May.
What creative projects are you currently spending your free time on?
I am interested a lot in technology, media, music production, making digital beats and photography.
Lately, I have been spending a lot of my free time making digital beats on my laptop. I create a beat and then I record friends rapping or singing over the beat. After that, I remaster and edit the sound and we release the songs onto soundcloud. So far, there are about 14 songs on Soundcloud which I recorded and produced. Here is a sample featuring fellow students Karam Singh and Aloka Collister. Trubute ft.Aloka Collister (Prod. by Vile Thoughts).
Or this featuring the words of the Siri Singh Sahib:
I am also really into photography. India is such an interesting and exciting environment for photography. I usually take my camera with me every time we leave the school. I really like looking back at the photos I took. I do a bit of editing and then share them on my Instagram. I always help with photos for the yearbook as I really enjoy taking portraits. I’ve been working on photos and design for our yearbook this year.
How does mpa support these creative outlets?
It is sometimes hard for me, because at MPA we usually don’t have a ton of access to technology. However, it’s been really awesome that I was able to set up a super mini recording studio in my room. I have special permission to keep my laptop out so I can work on making beats or editing recordings.
All the great trips and activities we are involved in give me the opportunity to take some pretty cool photos. Plus, the staff encourage me by asking me to take photos for the yearbook etc.
So, overall I feel pretty supported to explore my own creative interests which may not always align with the schedule. And I find that without the constant stimulation of my technology, I am actually able to generate and receive tons more ideas for future projects.
Hargobind is super excited to be attending the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque this fall. His interests in computers and media inspired him to major in computer science. He says, he figures he’ll start with that as a base and see where it takes him. He also hopes to continue developing his skills and experience as a photographer and he will be taking photography classes in college.
