Michelle Nie, the Class of 2019 Artistic Director, expresses that it has been a privilege to be able to work with a group of amazing people, “who have encouraged [her] as an artist and helped [her] grow as a person.” Nie’s experience at Malden High has been “challenging and refreshing.” She explains that for a long period of time she was not mentally in the right place. Nie suffered from anxiety, was “unmotivated in [her] academics, and dealt with depression.” But with the “support and resources of Malden High’s faulty,” she was able to get herself back on track.
Throughout her high school career, one of the most valuable lessons that she has learned is that “[it is] okay to make mistakes and that [she is] supposed to make mistakes.” When she finally accepted her flaws and became “content with [herself], [her] relationships with [her] friends and family,” she was “emotionally and mentally present in [her] life rather than living life day by day.”
Due to her passion towards art, Nie has frequently expressed herself artistically. Joe Luongo, an Art teacher at Malden High, has been a teacher and a mentor who has “cultivated [her] skills as an artist, and expanded her knowledge of design.”
Nie explained that Rebecca Corcoran, the Class of 2019 Advisor, has given her the “opportunity to help [her] class [and her] reputation as an artist. Without Corcoran, Nie expressed that “[she] would not have been able to have the courage to design projects.”
Nie is heavily involved as she did Summer Search, which she described as life changing, and was apart of the Science National Honors Society, National Honors Society, Fine Arts Club and Robotics Club. She explains that she would like to continue these extracurriculars in college, but she plans on branching “out to other clubs and organizations to […] explore more options.” Nie is following her passion for art, and plans to major in graphic design at Boston University.
