In the road of life lies many paths that can trouble ones emotional or physical being, and any pets that accompany a person can make those roads easier to walk in. Any type of pet can change one's life and can keep them from falling into an eternal dark void, and can make one love animals, which can apply to me. When I was young, I dealt with many problems such as being bullied, sexually abused/ molested, and emotionally abused by former or older students at that time and by my stepfather. My pets were the ones that helped me go through the pain of those problems during elementary and middle school. I recall having four pets which were my black poodle, my dove, and two different parrots from my actual father. Right now, I don't have all the four pets I had when I was younger besides one parrot, but I do have an additional seven, which are two zebra finches, three dogs, a parrot, and a cat. The cat and dogs helped me emotionally in college and at my new home with my actual father and stepmom. These pets helped me see that there is some good in life, even if it's not from people, while also being a sort of emotional support pet changed me to be a more caring person, especially when it comes to any animal. So overall all, the reason why I love pets is that they can bring joy to one's life and help them through any problems they can face while also giving them comfort and company. I'm sure that if I didn't have a pet with me when I was young, I wouldn't be here now.

Life isn't an easy journey for everyone, but pushing through the harsh waves while learning is the right way to go. When growing up, my dad encouraged my brother and me to focus on our school work since he believed it would help us significantly in our future, especially in our careers and studies. Still, I think deep down that he was building us up to gain specific "characteristics" about ourselves and to grow up better than he was, especially with my brother. Anyway, as I grew up, I noticed that I had many characteristics, influenced or not by my parents, that I found valuable to who I am and how they would build my career and help me through my journey in life. The quality characteristic that I value the most in myself is that I'm devoted. When it comes to my work, I devote all my time and effort to it till I complete it with maximum effort, which results in me passing most of all of my classes during high school to even now in college; plus, it's even seen when it comes to my hobbies or passions, which are art. The reason why I value and believe that his character of devotion is helpful in my journey is that I feel that it can help me achieve my goals of making a difference with my artwork while also working hard toward building a small business with my partner. Plus, devotion can be tied with other aspects of my life besides work, such as relationships, hobbies, cooking, etc., which connects to another element or characteristic of mine. The other characteristic that I value in myself is my creativity, which stems from my most profound passion for art throughout my life. I think it could help me move forward in my career and to my primary goals as I make creations of art that inspire and motivate others. I feel that my artwork and overall creativity can make a difference in the world, even if it's not a big difference, and I would like to lift others' emotions or make them feel seen or heard based on the communities they are part of, such as the LGBTQ+. Overall I think my characteristics would help me greatly in my long life journey, even if it won't make the road any more accessible. Still, I will continue till I achieve my goals and dreams since I'm determined to make a difference.

Being part of a unique and inspiring group as the LGBTQ+ can make one feel seen and heard while having a place to feel they truly belong. I have been part of the LGBTQ+ community for about four years now, and it has helped me feel better about myself and come to terms with who I am and with my sexual ordination. The community also taught me more about other orientations and shared people's experiences in life being part of the LGBTQ+ while becoming an inspiration. The community is very welcoming of all ordinations and gender preferences; it also has many people willing to lend a helping hand to their fellow members or supporters. Of course, like any community, the LGBTQ+ have some members that are seen as the bad apples of the community; some are that they don't support or are toxic to their fellow members based on the member's orientation or gender and, at times, based on specific orientations. For example, the asexual orientation, the thing is about being under the asexual orientation is that some members of the LGBTQ+ don't see them as a real orientation or think that they aren't "normal" because they don't feel sexual attraction for others (unless for specific reasons, which is the subcategories of the asexual septum: graysexual, demisexual, allosexual). Which, even I see and experience this when interacting with those out of the community or at times within the community since I consider myself as a demisexual and romantically a lesbian under the asexual umbrella. Anyway, being part of the LGBTQ+ community helped me find a safe place to be myself and find others like me to befriend or help me befriend others of other orientations and share a bond of being part of the LGBTQ+ community. Overall my experience of being part of the LGBTQ+ community is relatively good. As I grow as a person while being part of the LGBTQ+ community, I have many aspirations and career goals to pursue as I continue with my studies. I aspire to use my art to tell cavitating stories that show more representation of LGBTQ+ members in media while also avoiding stereotypes and sexualization of peoples orientations (society has a sexual view when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community) and make them feel seen/heard as I form a small safe community within the LGBTQ+. I also want young members of either LGBTQ+ or not to see that experiencing love with the same gender is the same as if it was with the opposite gender and that they don't need to beat themselves up for not being "normal" in societies or their parent eyes. Such creators/artists that inspire my aspirations are Rebecca Rose( creator of Steven Universe), Vivienne Medrano (creator of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss), and Dana Terrace (creator of Owlhouse), etc. At the moment, my career goal is to complete of degree in computer science and work on my animation degree, to which then I would find a job that aspires me to make a difference with my talents/skills while also opening up a side art business with my partner.

Since I was growing up, I was inspired to create works of art filled with untold stories and influenced by the media surrounding me. Such influences were: Disney films/shows, Studio Ghibli films, various video games, other prominent artists, and encouragement from my former teachers. So as I grew through the years, I had created thousands of artwork, and even if most weren't the best, there was still improvement and growth, which led to my passion for art. My passion for art stems from the urge to make a difference in my life while inspiring others through my artwork and telling the stories, either real or fictional, from a different perspective that can make the audience feel seen and relate while avoiding stereotypical views. For instance, I wish to create more content that members of the Lgbtq+ community could connect to and enjoy while making them feel appreciated. Plus, I want to inform older or younger people who aren't in the community or are debating if it's ok and normal and they shouldn't let society silence them and that they have nothing wrong with themselves. Plus, I want to eliminate the stigma tied to the community. In today's society, any form of love in a same-sex relationship is seen through a sexual lens, even if being in a relationship is more than sex. Anyway, my passion in art is to create something that can help build a safe place for a community/audience that I'm aiming for and tell stories or artworks to make people feel happy and noticed. Overall, I'm passionate about art and hope to make it my primary job. When I immerse myself in creating, I realize how much I enjoy it and wish to share said enjoyment with others in every artwork.

Questions (answer all): 1. Why do you deserve this scholarship? I deserve this scholarship because I am the worst candidate to sign up, and I'm going to use the money on needed items such as video games, a new switch, and plushies. 2. What are your academic and/or career goals? My academic goals are to fail all my classes and not study hard, and my career goal is to not work hard on my portfolio and not open a side art business after failing to get my degree since I'm a failure as an artist. 3. Tell me about a time you’ve overcome an obstacle. I overcame an obstacle which was passing my finals. I overcame this by not going to class all semester and never doing my homework or study sheets from the course.

Coming from a low-income family isn't easy, but it does help you grow to be a better person and improve compared to others; or as my dad states, "we may not be wealthy, but we can use our knowledge to get far in life". As I grew up, I found myself to be quite fond of the pathway of art, and even if it's not a path that my parents truly wanted me to walk in; I found myself glued to it. As my inspiration grew for art, so did my passion. I slowly cultivated my skills throughout my childhood and schooling with the influence of media, film, video games, and my former art teacher's advice. This art growth led me to become an artist at a young age and led to an experience that taught me a lot about myself. If I recall correctly, I think my most outstanding achievement, even if it's not grand, was when I was rewarded a ribbon for the best honorable mention and a close finalist for one of my original artworks/ pieces that was submitted for the art guild during my senior year of high school,and that one of my art series that was also submitted was selected to be under the highschools' art honored mentions and the art guild in the local newspaper. This experience taught me a lot about myself and helped me grow as a person and as an artist. The experience boosted my confidence in my artwork and gained support from my parents, but it also taught me that if I continue refinding my art skills while building a portfolio, it would someday become my dream career. Plus, it also taught me that there are people who are willing to buy my art pieces due to how many asked if it was for sale during the viewing, which gave me the idea of forming a small art business after I gain my degree in animation and having a temporary or permanent job to support me more. So I continued to illustrate and have gained skills from previous teachers about different art mediums while building a following online, which is my small base/ step before launching a business in the future. At the moment, I hope to achieve my goal of gaining my degree in animation and wish to use that degree to make a difference and inspire others as they have done to me. I also wish to encourage others to chase their dreams and push themselves to improve since others will notice and can even help you in your career path. I also wish to use my art to help others feel noticed in their community: such as those in the Lgbtq+. But overall I wish to make a positive impact in the world and make my parents proud.

My artworks impact Waves of colors or engaging sounds of all types of media are a form of art that captivate their audience in an experience created only from the artist's view. Anyone who experiences art would be set through an emotional roller-coaster being a visual or audio format, and it's able to make someone's voice, or voices heard while leaving a positive impact on the world. My artwork tends to be on the visual side and, at most, tells a small story hidden within its lines, which could have been my own or based on a franchise (which makes it a fanart of it). With my artwork, I plan to positively impact the world by portraying or telling a story through them about the people who aren't heard enough or have little representation from more prominent companies. An example would be anyone part of the lgbtq+ community or those from cultures who are portrayed little or are under a stereotypical view which could be reversed. My plan to leave an impact starts with pursuing a degree in animation while improving my art and storytelling, either fictional or real. I wish to tell a story about the main cast being part of the lgbtq+ or other "minor" cultures (that will not be in a stereotypical view). Some shows further influenced this idea I had watched growing up or currently that I wish I had seen more when I was growing up; some of these shows are the Owl House, She-ra, Steven Universe, Adventure time, etc. Anyway, I want to leave cheerful content/artwork that represents any community in a normal/relatable view for the viewers; an example of this would be by making it normal that people having crushes on the same gender is the same if they were crushing on a oppose gender, or if they don't like anyone at all they don't feel that they have to, this helps those who think something wrong with them but realize that it's normal. Or show through my art that one mental health is just as important as your physical health and seeking help is ok. Overall, I plan to create artwork that positively impacts the world that reaches out and helps others feel represented and noticed. My art pieces can even help form a safe community surrounding it and help society be better even by a little.

Dayanara Villela Galeas April/ 21/2022 My Simple Pleasures Life is like a wave crashing and wharling full of storms and chaos, but at times there are periods of calm waters seen in simple pleasures. These pleasures are scattered in life and can make one happy. For instance, all I can think of is creating art, music, and my pets. When I create artwork, it can lie within many mediums, such as painting or drawing; and it makes me forget my problems or help me process them in a safe environment. While holding my pencil and staring at the blank canvas, I zoned out the world within my music as my mind filled the canvas with inspiration. Overall, creating art is an immersive experience, and I tend to be shaken out of it when I realize how much time has passed; it's a simple pleasure that I dream of fulfilling as a career. My second simple pleasure is my pets. When I feel stressed or have spare time, I tend to go outside with my three dogs, or if I'm indoors, I'm with my cat. Overall, it's just a pleasant/enjoyable, stress-reducing habit to be around my pets. Such as petting or playing with my dogs as they run around outdoors without any care in the world or when I'm indoors, I can have a good laugh when my cat is up to their silly antics and can play peak-a-book or fetch, and at times I take a cat nap with him when he lays next to me. This simple pleasure makes me feel at peace and form pleasant memories. These two pleasures are my examples of what one could have in life that brings enjoyment. I must enjoy these pleasures more since life is more than work or study.