The dream version of myself has published a few books, has a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Computer Animation from Full Sail University and a Master's in Business Administration from Purdue Global making me employable in senior 2D and/or 3D animator roles with my favorite studios (such as Sony Pictures Animation, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, and Cartoon Network) where I work on projects while simultaneously making steps towards starting my franchise which will one day make enough to comfortably support me, my sisters, mother, and creators employed under my company (plus some philanthropy to give back).

“Elmo loves his goldfish, his crayons too! That’s Elmo’s World,” the TV sings in the background of my earliest childhood memories. I laid on the floor in front of that TV for hours watching Elmo’s World while working my favorite crayons into wax nubs. All my life, I’ve been in love with art – every form from music to creative writing, illustration to animation – now, I’m a high school senior pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Animation to fulfill my passion and become the first in my family to earn a degree. My love of art began with Elmo teaching me to love Crayola crayons, but then my favorite classic Disney works Mary Poppins and Fantasia 2000 taught me to appreciate animated storytelling. I was fascinated by the characters in Mary Poppins jumping into chalk drawings then floored by the beauty of Fantasia 2000’s short films. By the age of six, I had given up completing coloring books in favor of writing and illustrating around a dozen of my own picture books. The need to create grew with me leading to my discovery of Minecraft. I got into drawing mostly cubes because they were simple, with them I could make pictures of the game’s creatures, characters, and worlds. In this way, I became interested in environment and character design. I enjoyed creating so much I began to seek inspiration from my favorite shows; the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series), Monster High, and more. I drew paper dolls on cardstock and cut them out to play with until YouTube introduced me to channels like MyFroggyStuff, a mother-daughter duo that made doll houses, and Dollightful, an amazing Korean doll artist who inspired me to customize dolls. But it wasn’t enough to create dolls, models, or Minecraft worlds – I wanted to bring my creations to life – so, in 2016 I downloaded Flipa’Clip, a simple animation software, on my Samsung tablet. At first, I drew frame-by-frame with my fingers. Then my mom bought me a tablet pen which allowed me to make 2–3-minute videos, something I never knew I could do! Now, I animate on a laptop in Krita (a free drawing software) with a Wacom One tablet. I find my favorite artists are no longer just inspirations but my teachers as well. Many I discovered through YouTube such as storyboard artist Ethan Becker (my favorite artist) who taught me to be confident, character concept artist Jackie Droujko who taught me to be the interesting one, CalArts character animation student Anya Butler who showed me how to build a master portfolio, and Casey Golden who reminds me to have a good time. I found others on Udemy such as Hardy Fowler who helped me find my style and a few like Howard Wimshurst, creator of the Animator’s Guild, I came across on my journey. Recent media also influences me; thanks to Spider-Verse, Love, Death & Robots, and Arcane I’m getting into 3D animation. I believe art is in my heart and future. I look back now on my younger self scribbling in crayon knowing that there’s a 96-pack of Crayola waiting on my desk for me to start my next portfolio piece. With some higher education, I hope to make that little girl (and Elmo) proud.