My biggest dream is to be an animator. It will help give me the ability to create new worlds for people to learn from. It has been my dream for my entire life!

One of the hardest moments in my life was attending my Grandmothers funeral. My Grandmother was an amazing person who helped me become the person that I am today. She was such a kind and loving woman, who always made sure that my siblings and I ate well every time we visited her. However, she knew no English, and I knew no Spanish. This made it difficult to talk to her beyond the simple phrases that I learned along the way. For the most part, communicating went fine, but there was definitely a large barrier between us. I always thought to myself that I would learn Spanish one day, and finally be able to communicate with her. However, things started to take a bad turn in 2018. It was in that year when my Grandmother got hit by a car just outside of her own home. She had broken several bones and had to go to the hospital. After that, she was for the most part bedridden, and unable to go outside without extreme assistance. I wish I had gone to visit her more during this time, but since she lived in Panama, and was difficult. Even worse, she had started to develop dementia. I would call her on the phone sometimes, and try to talk to her with my poor Spanish, and she would just be confused. It hurt me to hear about the state that she was in. She was getting skinnier and skinnier as the months went on, slowly losing more of her memory. I intended to go visit her, but another issue came in the way of that. Covid. Due to covid restrictions, it became impossible to visit Panama during the majority of quarantine. I was forced to still just listen to her voice over the phone, rather than ever see her in person. Then came the day that continues to replay over and over again in my head. I had come downstairs to my living room to see my mother crying. She then told me that my Grandmother had just passed away. I felt a pain ache through my heart. Knowing how close my mother was to her mom, it was heartbreaking to know that my mother couldn't be with Grandma in her final moments. I spent the rest of the day frustrated and angry. I never got to say my last goodbye. I couldn't even tell her how much I loved her before she passed away. I couldn't even become fluent in Spanish before she was gone. A few weeks passed by, and I was told by my mother about my Grandmothers funeral. Due to covid restrictions, we were still not allowed to go to Panama, even to attend her it. Instead what we had to do was huddle around a TV, and watch a zoom recording of her funeral. I couldn't even be there in person to say my final goodbyes. I watched a pixelated church service, knowing that it would be the last time I would ever see my Grandma. All of this was so painful to me. I had so many regrets, and couldn't change anything. I was incredibly depressed for a number of weeks. However, over time I began to ask myself what my Grandmother would want for me. She wouldn't want me to be sad. She would want me to keep my head high and keep going. To live my life and to pursue my dreams. It is because of this that I keep fighting. Despite all the pain in my life, I have kept going forward and pursuing my goals. I converted my pain into determination. To keep fighting for the things that I care about. To make the most of every moment that I have with my loved ones. I am so glad to have had my Grandmother in my life. She was such an incredibly strong and kind woman. It is her memory and love that help give me the motivation to keep on going forward in life. To keep on trying, despite all of my hardships. I will continue to live day by day and make the most of it with the people that I love.

The most significant influence on my life has to be my mother. She has supported me my whole life with my artistic aspirations. She has always been there for me and sacrificed much to get me where I am today. She had moved from her home country of Panama to seek a better life. She left her friends and family behind and worked hard to create a future for her children here in the United States. When she gave birth to me and my siblings, several medical problems appeared that will likely never leave her for the rest of her life. Despite all of these challenges, she still is here to support me. Without her, I would have never been able to pursue my love of art and animation. Art has been my way of communicating for nearly my entire life. It comes to me like breathing. I truly believe that there is nothing more I would want to do with my life except create art. It is my biggest passion. I have a love for animation in particular, which is why currently, I am attending college to study storyboarding with the hopes of making it in the animation industry. I want to be able to tell stories and create more emotion-driven animations for the world. To be able to create whole worlds with just a pencil and paper has always fascinated me, and sharing that magic with others would be a dream come true. I have a very strong work ethic and make sure to put my full effort into the art that I make. I am always open to improving my art and advice from others. Something that makes my art stand out from others is that it is very emotion-driven. Many of the works that I make are dynamic and colorful and are used to express things that cannot be expressed through words. Due to personal reasons, I have a difficult time expressing myself through words. It is because of this that I have learned to express complex emotions and ideas through my art. Capturing pure and raw emotion is one of my favorite things to draw. Sharing such raw moments of humanity makes me hopeful. Through art, I hope to spread love and understanding with others. All in all, without my family, especially my mother, I wouldn't have the opportunities that I have today to create art and share my ideas with the world. I am so thankful for her, and I hope to make her proud.

Something that inspires me is animation. Animation is usually thought to just be cartoons and something meant for children. However, to me, animation is an art medium capable of expressing some of the most complex and deep parts of the human psyche. It is capable of expressing incredibly mature ideas and sharing them in a way that invokes such deep thought through the symbolism and colors used within it. So many art students have made such incredible animated short films all by themselves, and it's so inspiring to see how much of themselves are put into the story and world that they created. Even more, animation is quite a difficult medium to work with, which makes it even more inspiring to see people create works with animation. Ever since I was a child, I have been inspired by animation. It is actually the very career that I want to enter. Witnessing all the incredible work that others have done gives me the drive to pursue a career in animation. I absolutely can't wait to see more animated works in the future!

In the future, I would love to pursue a career in the animation industry. I have always wanted to go and work in animation, ever since I was a child. It has been my dream. Currently, I am enrolled in VCUarts as a freshman working to make this dream a reality. I want to inspire others to get into the arts and to share my personal story in regard to art. In the long term, I would love to be able to live off of the art that I create, and hopefully live a fulfilling life by helping others. I don't want to create art just for the sake of it. I want to create art to help create change in the real world. To inspire change amongst people, and lead the planet in a better direction. In my own life, I have already begun to help others by volunteering in my community. I have helped to teach younger children in a classroom setting, as well as lead a youth group to help the community around us. I want to go even beyond these moments and help others more en mass. I want to truly inspire something in others, and help them create positive change around us.

I genuinely believe that Mob Psycho 100 has helped shape me to become a better person. I read this manga for the first time early in middle school. My older brother had shown it to me, and I became immediately enthralled. I was an incredibly anxious and worried person back then. I was completely unable to express myself in a way that was normally expected of other kids at the time. Reading through the manga, I found myself especially drawn to the main character, Shigeo. He was a lot like me. He was an incredibly awkward kid with not a lot of friends. Even so, he didn't allow this to impact the way he treated other people. He was so kind, and a genuinely good person. I found myself wanting to be a lot like him. I try every day to look at the world through the lens of love.

It has always been my dream to be an artist. I have always been in love with art. For the longest time, it was the only thing that could help me get through my day. When I was young, I had the most extreme social anxiety. I was so afraid to talk and just be myself around others. Drawing and art were able to get me through those times. I have become so invested in art, especially with animation and illustration. I can't remember a time where I wasn't interested in the arts. It was actually through art that I was able to make a few of my best friends. I am hoping in the future once I am done with college that I will be able to make animations and create artwork that can help inspire others to work in art as well. I really would love to share my stories and ideas with the world and create and imagine new worlds with other creatives. This is why I chose to go to VCU Arts to pursue my artistic dream. During my first year here, I have grown so much already artistically. Being around all of these other artists has allowed me to improve my skills rapidly. Even more, going to college has really allowed me to gain a better understanding of what the future of my art career can really look like. I can't wait to show the world, and my family what I am capable of!

One of my favorite pieces of artwork is "Drunken Beauty", a piece by Liu Linghua. This piece is such an amazing moment of Chinese culture and represents a significant aspect of it in such a vibrant and intriguing way. This piece has incredible colors as well as a texture that leads your eyes throughout the entire piece. The actual subject of the piece is also incredibly inspiring in its own right as it is of a Peking opera actress. For those unfamiliar, Peking opera is a form of Chinese opera that involves music, dance, and performances. The artist, Linghua created this piece not only as a homage to the art form but to create direct modern attention to the dying art form. He felt that Peking opera was soon going to become a lost art form, and created this piece, (as well as several others concerning Peking opera) to highlight it. This artwork had received international attention and fame and helped contribute to the revival of the art form in many parts of China. I find this piece to be incredibly inspiring in not only its color and beautify, but in the story that comes along with it. It shows to me just the impact art can have on the world, and how it can be used to create real change. This piece really helped me in gaining interest in working with color and using it to inspire the viewer. I hope that one day, I can use art in the same way as Liu Linghua to bring about change in the world.

A piece of art that especially inspires me is "Drunken Beauty", a piece by Liu Linghua. This piece is such an amazing moment of Chinese culture and represents a significant aspect of it in such a vibrant and intriguing way. This piece has incredible colors as well as a texture that leads your eyes throughout the entire piece. The actual subject of the piece is also incredibly inspiring in its own right as it is of a Peking opera actress. For those unfamiliar, Peking opera is a form of Chinese opera that involves music, dance, and performances. The artist, Linghua created this piece not only as a homage to the art form but to create direct modern attention to the dying art form. He felt that Peking opera was soon going to become a lost art form, and created this piece, (as well as several others concerning Peking opera) to highlight it. This artwork had received international attention and fame and helped contribute to the revival of the art form in many parts of China. I find this piece to be incredibly inspiring in not only its color and beautify, but in the story that comes along with it. It shows to me just the impact art can have on the world, and how it can be used to create real change. I hope that one day, I can use art in the same way as Liu Linghua to bring about change in the world.

Art is innately human. It allows people to express themselves in a way beyond just words. Art has allowed me throughout my life to express myself and has become an outlet for many of my emotions. There isn't a time I remember when I wasn't drawing, and making art. I grew up challenged by loneliness and extreme social anxiety. Art helped me cope with these emotions, as well as helped me to make my first long-standing friends. I don't think there is a world out there where I'm not making art. That is just not who I am. I am constantly inspired by the whole world around me when creating art. As an artist, I find myself relishing the smaller moments of the world around me. I try to appreciate every moment of my experience on the Earth in the time that I have on it. Art in my day-to-day life has allowed me to express my passions in a completely unique way. Ever since I was young, I've been inspired to work in the animation field. I am completely fascinated by the art form. It is just incredible to see a single drawing become an entirely new world to become fascinated in. Seeing just how passionate the people who work in the field are made me also inspired to work in animation. Although my school doesn't have a specific animation degree, I am still practicing the art form outside of my general drawing and art classes. No matter what, it is my dream to create animations. I chose to go to my current school, VCU Arts as it was one of the best options within Virginia for an art degree. I am so happy to be here and be around others who share the same passion as me. I am hoping that throughout my years here, I will be able to improve my skills and create a good portfolio. Choosing to go to an art school has been an incredibly good choice for me, as it gives me a professional setting to improve my art, and allows me to understand the ins and outs of the art world from a professional viewpoint. I enjoy having much more guidance when it comes to creating artwork. All in all, I hope that I am able to achieve my goals in animation throughout my time here at VCU, and in general, improve my art skills. I can't wait to share my ideas and stories with the world around me. I hope that others might even one day be inspired by what I make, and choose to pursue art as well.

Art is innately human. It allows people to express themselves in a way beyond just words. Art has allowed me throughout my life to express myself and has become an outlet for many of my emotions. There isn't a time I remember when I wasn't drawing, and making art. I grew up challenged by loneliness and extreme social anxiety. Art helped me cope with these emotions, as well as helped me to make my first long-standing friends. I don't think there is a world out there where I'm not making art. That is just not who I am. I am constantly inspired by the whole world around me when creating art. As an artist, I find myself relishing the smaller moments of the world around me. I try to appreciate every moment of my experience on the Earth in the time that I have on it. Art has such a significant impact on society. It shows a side of humanity that is impossible to replicate through a machine or artificial intelligence. Art also can help the viewer feel much more at ease with their environment. It even can help others to understand each other's cultures. Art is wonderful in that it is capable of crossing the barriers of language and time. Art is also capable of changing the nature of entire spaces. This can be seen in areas that invest time into art. There is a large difference in a neighborhood that puts money and time into art in the area compared to a neighborhood that doesn't. Art eases the mind of the viewer and invokes creative thought within them as well. Art also helps to inspire others. I find that even when stepping into an area with minimal art, I feel much less at ease. Art is something that people will do out of pure passion as well. No matter what, there will always be people out there making artwork, even when not being paid. It is incredibly inspiring to me that people make artwork under any kind of circumstances. Everywhere in the world, you will find people making artwork. Making and enjoying artwork is hardwired in everyone from the day that they are born. Even more, people use art as an outlet for their emotions and ideas. They also use it to protest against evils in the world and show complicated emotions that cannot be expressed any other way outside of art. In total, art is completely inseparable from society. Having humans and no art is nearly impossible to conceive of. There will always be people out there doing anything they can to express themselves creatively. It is just a part of the human experience.