Creating Pure Happiness
Allow Northeast Harbor Eight Grader Juniper Macko To Paint You A Picture With Words
MOUNT DESERT—Allow us to paint you a picture of a Mount Desert Island student who wows.
She’s a painter, a writer, but most of all eight-grader Juniper Macko is an expressive dynamo whether you meet her in real life, on a canvas, or on the page.
This year, Juniper who goes by Junie, too, won the top award in the school system for her essay that may not necessarily sound like the most dynamic topic, but it was for her.
“Our prompt for the essay was to talk about ‘an interesting landmark.’ At first I had no idea what I was going to write about, but then I stopped to think about places I have a deep emotional connection with, and that’s when it came to me! I wrote my essay on Monhegan Island, a magical isle just off the coast of Maine,” she said.
That inspiration came from Junie’s time there with one of her grandparents.
“I go out there every summer with my grandmother to get away from the world, make art, and make memories together,” she said of the island.
The ceremony took place at Camp Beech Cliff after school where two people from each school attended to read and perform their speech. Junie attends Mount Desert Elementary School, but went to Conners Emerson until fourth grade.
“There were three judges in the room, watching and making notes, but the environment didn’t feel stressful at all,” she said. “Everyone in the audience was just excited to hear what their child or grandchild had to say and what their peers had written about. After everyone had performed their speech, there was some time to mingle.”
After that, the judges announced the top three essays. The contestants stood in a line to wait for the announcement.
“It was kind of nerve racking! I was so excited to hear the winners even though I thought I knew who the top three would be: Nayeli, Ruthie, and Blue. I thought everyone had done so good,” she said. “So, they announced Blue as third place, gave her a trophy and lots of applause. Then my classmate Ruthie was announced second place and I was so happy and proud of her!! At that moment I thought to myself, ‘Well now we know you’re not on the podium, and obviously Nayeli got first place.’”
Junie waited for Nayeli’s name.
“But when he read out the name for first place, it was my own name!! I was so shocked and proud, for I had not seen it coming. Then I received a trophy and had people coming up to me to say congratulations, especially my balling grandmother who I had written about in the speech,” she said.
It’s hard not to cry when your grandchild writes a cool essay about you and your time together.
That grandmother and her other one are some of the people Juniper loves, people who care about her, who see her. She sees them, too, easily listing people who have helped her so far.
”Well, my teacher Mrs. James helped me so much to make my speech way more direct and tight than it originally was, so I thank her so much for that. This one is kind of obvious, but my grandmother, Bonnie Chase. She is the most creative and artistic person I know and has introduced me to being able to express myself through all sorts of different medias and methods. She is so talented and doesn’t get enough credit for it!” Juniper said.
Writing and thinking, art and kindness are all driving forces in Juniper’s approach to life. She’ll bounce into a room, lean forward and absorb everything. Then, like most creative humans, she’ll remember, process, and use it again when she writes or creates or problem solves.
”I LOVE writing so much. Whenever I’m given a prompt I feel at all passionate about, the words just seem to roll off my tongue and onto the paper. It is a creative and powerful way to express your emotions and feelings to others, or even to help yourself understand them better or be able to just get certain thoughts out there if they weigh to deeply in your mind or heart,” she said.
It’s not just about writing. It’s about thinking, too.
”I enjoy thinking a lot. I love doing anything creative like writing, journaling, drawing, doing little projects, etc., and they all let you process and execute your ideas and feelings you experience in your head. I think I am definitely an overthinker and have a hard time narrowing things down,” she said. “My speech started off at over seven minutes long, but with the help of my other grandmother, my teacher, and my friends, I was able to narrow it down to about 4:50. I think this actually helped my speech to be as strong as it was, because I still said everything I wanted to, but it was all just much more direct.”
Sometimes the best way to understand how someone sees the world is through their art and their words. Juniper was gracious enough to share her vision and her essay with us.
JUNIPER’S WINNING ESSAY
Creating Pure Happiness by Juniper Macko
Let me paint you a picture. You’re in Maine, it’s summertime, and you’ve just stepped off a ferry onto your favorite summer island getaway. The second you step onto land, you feel all your stress and worries falling into the water and being carried out by the tide. The sun on your face, the breeze in your hair, and the chatter of seagulls and happy day-trippers surround you. For me, that getaway is nowhere other than Monhegan Island, a magical isle just off the coast of Maine.
Monhegan is a charming and beautiful place. The island is an hour’s ferry ride from Port Clyde, in midcoast Maine. The ferry, Elizabeth Ann, offers views of tiny islands full of trees and seals basking in the hot sun, rocky cliffs with waves crashing against them, and an endless horizon. Then you arrive on the wonderful Monhegan itself, which is less than a square mile, making all of the island very walkable. It feels so different from what we are used to here on MDI. There are dirt roads, hardly any cars, lots and lots of wood walks leading to magical places, and sunsets that light up the evening sky with warm pinks and oranges. There are vast sand and rock beaches all around the island and buried in the sand, you can find abundant amounts of smooth, colorful sea glass.
The Islands' magnificent look is not the only remarkable thing about it. It was colonized in 1604. Since then, the island's popularity and population have continued to grow and grow. Even though the year-round population is only 65 and is still decreasing, the number of day-trippers and summer residents is quite large. The number of summer residents is 200, and the day-trippers can be up to 600 people! Some famous artists who have been among the mix of summer visitors include Rockwell Kent, Edward Hopper, and the Wyeths. These are all important pieces of the island's history.
Allow me to paint you another picture. You are seven years old and you love art. It’s a language you have spoken since your earliest years and has offered you comfort, joy, and a way to process your emotions. Your grandma, also an artist, sees your love of art and invites you to Monhegan. That trip grew something in your heart and was so important to you both that it’s become an annual pilgrimage. Since others have had similar experiences, Monhegan is known mainly for its relationship with art and artists. Its nickname is literally the artist’s island. A writer from the Island Institute talks about how Monhegan is an important part of Maine's history and an active part of American art. “Monhegan is an iconic part of Maine….There is probably no single square mile more important to American art.” This is mainly why Monhegan Island has grown so popular in past years. Artists come from all over Maine and the world to experience the magical and deep connection this place has with art. Jamie Wyeth describes the ocean he so often paints off of Monhegan in creative detail: “The ocean is so enormous, such a force. It changes every day. I’m up there in the winter as well, and honestly, I almost prefer it. It’s so stark.…It’s fantastic.” But art is not the only impactful thing about Monhegan. The island is also famous for its conservation efforts towards land, lobstering, affordable housing, and making sure that schools on remote islands have the proper technology provided to them. This shows how Monhegan makes more of an impact than just giving people a gateway into art. It changes people’s lives for the better.
The impact that Monhegan has made on my life is vast. Every time I’m there, I learn lessons in life and art. In life, I’ve learned to be independent. My grandma lets me wander the island by myself, learning to keep track of time, location, and other skills. For art skills, every morning and afternoon, my grandma and I get together to sit and make art of the beautiful landscapes that meet our eyes. We critique and applaud each other's art so often that it has become a casual routine. The island residents have gotten to know us and have grown to expect us every year. I must accept that eventually, a summer will roll around, and my grandma won't be here to go with me. Luckily, I’ve collected and stored the memories with her through my art, so I can look back at it and remember our times together.
All in all, I believe the time I spent making art with my grandma is really why this landmark is so important to me. Every trail, every store, every beach will hold special memories of my time on Monhegan with her. It will always be a constant in my life. Monhegan has allowed me and others to learn to express themselves through art, and the residents have fought for rights of varying conservational efforts and are paving the way for generations to come. It will forever be a landmark not just in my brain but in my life and heart. It means more than just a stress-free summer getaway, it means a place to leave your worries behind, make memories, and create pure happiness.
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Beautiful, Junie! In word and image. I want YOU to take me to Monhegan!!!
Juniper! Brava. Keep writing. Don't stop. Also what's up with all these Kids' Corner kids making the headlines?