Vanessa

“I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me that I couldn’t fully express in my tiny speech at graduation. I lived my whole life believing I had to be the best. Fighting to belong, to be enough, to be perfect. I lived many years as an athlete, and my intensity, my loudness, my desire to fight for success made me get all the attention, in a way it made me feel special. But it made me live under the constant pressure of living up to the potential others saw in me. My life became a battle for acceptance. But now, Essa comes and she does what nobody else did, she does what every coach I ever had tried doing. She looked at me straight in the eyes, she looked at me without fear, without regret, without asking or wanting anything from me. She simply looked. And not even for too long. She turned to Axel and looked at him too, and Leila and Maria and Melodie and Jess and Jasmijn. And it didn’t matter that some of us were loud and some of us were quiet. She looked at us all the same. And for once in my life, I wasn’t special and I didn’t have to be anything but who I am. I didn’t have to fight for my place in Essa’s heart or for a place in her class. I didn’t have to please her or challenge her. I simply had to be me. Something I’d never learnt to do before.”

“I would like to congratulate the art teacher, Essa and all the art students for the wonderful exhibition we were able to see on Saturday. Creating an atmosphere where students feel so safe, so understood and so respected to be able to express all their emotions, fears and conflicts and be able to express them through such meaningful and beautiful art is not easy. My full recognition to Essa for being not only a wonderful teacher but that mentor capable of achieving such an important evolution in her students. Thank you to the students for showing their hearts and their fears but most importantly, their strength and talent. Amazing exhibition!”

“Just wanted to say thank you so much for these 8 months of the art course. I know how much you care about helping us to “fulfil our potential”. From picking us back up from Y13 when we all had to start from scratch, to pushing us so that we were up to standard, to your almost daily email check-ups /reminders. Not many teachers would reply to my emails in a span of a few minutes/check emails over the weekend. Your constant support, encouragement, incense for positive vibes and groovy music for great energy was what helped me get through these tough 8 months. You helped make the art room feel like a safe space, a place where we can all be extremely emo and talk about our inner thoughts and “express our true selves”. Art lessons were a time that I looked forward to every week because I could express myself creatively and do things where no one would ever say “No you can’t. No you are wrong”. As someone who doesn’t have much conviction in my own work, through your mentorship, you helped me gain confidence. Not only are you a mentor/teacher but you also felt like a friend because of the mental support you gave me and the cheery banter. It was really important for me as an artist to have a teacher/mentor that provided me with the mental reassurance and having someone to believe in my ideas. You helped make art an extremely fun experience and I just wanted to thank you for everything!!”

“I never really liked school before Ms Phung, she made art fun and I found myself staying behind at school and during my lunchtime to do my art. She’s a special teacher and she feels like a friend that provides unconditional support, I felt that she really cared and genuinely wanted the best for us. The art room was a space where I could just be myself and express myself without having to be a particular way in order to feel accepted. I never felt judged, I had the freedom to just be myself.”