"Your grandma passed away, Alessandra." This was the message I received after my grandma was transported to the hospital after not responding to the paramedics on January 20th, 2024, ten days before my 19th birthday. From the times I went to the hospital to spend the night with my grandma due to her cirrhosis of the liver, from helping her bathe, and the series of signs that her mental capacity was slowly diminishing from the countless times she was always confused and lost consciousness until her body worked herself to death. It was here that death was the pivotal point for me to be strong as a woman, scholar, and artist, inspired by the unfortunate disparities she endured before her time was up. I had to start living through intentions and pursuing my passions, as that's what she wanted me to do since she had sacrificed so much to come to the United States as a Mexican immigrant. If not for that, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to pursue 3D computer animation and be taught by professionals who worked for major studios like Disney. With the advancement of digital media, I want to use the tools embedded in this artistic expression to tell people's stories. Stories about trials and tribulations, pain, humor, love, death, and more. Often, people ask why I even bother creating art if I'm not going to make a lot of money in the long run as an animator and artist. But it is not the money that drives me to this career; it's the experience of meeting and working with wonderful people to collaborate and talk about creative ways to share messages, lessons, jokes, and forms of expressing what is important to us. The lifelong project I started working on is a feature film I have been working on since high school. It is about a man named Izac who convinces the goddess Athena to stop her madness for the sake of humankind. A combination of 3D and 2D animation will help bring the dramatization and aspect of the film in how the protagonist travels through different regions of religion. So far, I am being trained to animate characters and I'm a 3D graphics intern for a non-profit organization looking to connect the community to restore nature. Receiving the Mad Grad scholarship will help me tremendously, pushing me to complete my projects in time to inspire the digital media community.

STEM and the arts have the potential to make a positive impact on the world in a variety of ways, and I am particularly interested in combing the arts and technology in innovative and impactful methods. One example of this is my current urban design project with my partner, which is focused on restoring the LA River. Through this project, I am using 3D modeling software to design sustainable and practical solutions that consider the historical and cultural context of the river and its surroundings. The LA River, once a vital resource for the Tongva people, has been dramatically altered by industrialization. The riverbed was concreted during the 1940s to prevent flooding during heavy rainfall, but this unintendedly destroyed the natural ecosystem and disconnected the city from the river. In recent years, there have been efforts to restore the river and bring it back to its natural state, but it's a complex and challenging task. This project taught me the importance of understanding a place's historical and cultural context to create sustainable and practical solutions. It reminds me that technology is not an end in itself but a tool that can be used to achieve a greater goal. In this case, the goal is to restore the river's natural ecosystem, create a more sustainable and livable city, and reconnect the community with the river. Understanding these historical perspectives has helped me appreciate the importance of using technology responsibly and to create solutions that are not only technically sound but also socially and environmentally sustainable. In the future, I plan to continue using STEM to positively impact the world. In conclusion, I am passionate about STEM because it has the potential to make a positive impact on the world. My interest in combining the arts and technology to create innovative solutions is exemplified by my current urban design project, which aims to restore the LA River using 3D modeling software. This project taught me the importance of understanding a place's historical and cultural context to create sustainable and practical solutions. Additionally, my interest in STEM has been shaped by the books and articles I've read, which have helped me understand the relationship between STEM and various societal phenomena, such as weather, electricity, and politics. This has shaped my goals to use STEM to solve technical problems, address broader societal issues, and contribute to a more just and equitable world.

STEM has the potential to make a positive impact on the world in a variety of ways, and I am particularly interested in using it to combine the arts and technology in innovative and impactful methods. One example of this is my current urban design project with my partner, which is focused on restoring the LA River. Through this project, we are using 3D modeling software to design sustainable and practical solutions that consider the historical and cultural context of the river and its surroundings. The LA River, once a vital resource for the Tongva people, has been dramatically altered by industrialization. The riverbed was concreted during the 1940s to prevent flooding during heavy rainfall, but this unintendedly destroyed the natural ecosystem and disconnected the city from the river. In recent years, there have been efforts to restore the river and bring it back to its natural state, but it's a complex and challenging task. Using 3D modeling software, I can create detailed visualizations of our design concepts and simulate different scenarios, allowing us to make informed decisions about which solutions will be most effective. This project taught me the importance of understanding a place's historical and cultural context to create sustainable and practical solutions. It reminds me that technology is not an end in itself but a tool that can be used to achieve a greater goal. In this case, the goal is to restore the river's natural ecosystem, create a more sustainable and livable city, and reconnect the community with the river. Additionally, my interest in STEM has been further shaped by the books I've read and the articles I've read about the industrialization age and new technology. I've learned that STEM is not just about solving technical problems but also about understanding broader societal issues and how they are interconnected. For example, the industrialization age brought many technological advancements, pollution, social inequality, and other harmful effects. Understanding these historical perspectives has helped me appreciate the importance of using technology responsibly and to create solutions that are not only technically sound but also socially and environmentally sustainable. In the future, I plan to continue using STEM to positively impact the world. I am particularly interested in using my 3D modeling and urban design skills to work on projects that address critical issues such as climate change, social inequality, and sustainable development. Through my studies and work, I hope to gain the knowledge necessary to make a real difference. In conclusion, I am passionate about STEM because it has the potential to make a positive impact on the world. My interest in combining the arts and technology to create innovative solutions is exemplified by my current urban design project, which aims to restore the LA River using 3D modeling software. This project taught me the importance of understanding a place's historical and cultural context to create sustainable and practical solutions. Additionally, my interest in STEM has been shaped by the books and articles I've read, which have helped me understand the relationship between STEM and various societal phenomena, such as weather, electricity, and politics. This has shaped my goals to use STEM to solve technical problems, address broader societal issues, and contribute to a more just and equitable world.

In elementary school, I confidently acknowledged to my parents that I would eventually become a cartoon version of myself. I ultimately concluded that I couldn't transform into a fictional character, but I never lost interest in art. In middle school, this is where I became fascinated with 3D modeling projects and enjoyed programming robots that could perform various tasks. Boys who refused to work with me usually filled the classrooms. My classmates rebuked me for objecting, calling technology unfeminine and unartistic. They were wrong. I've been attending art and technology internships for the past four years while taking advanced math and science courses in high school in the hopes that I can continue to use technology and art to express my creativity and significantly impact the art world. In high school, I eventually produced a 3D modeling passion project in my Sophomore year during virtual learning. A model of a personified version of myself that stemmed from my childhood. Character design and animation have always captivated me, especially regarding how they apply to computer science since it's often taught in these programs in addition to art skills due to digital art's reliance on technology. I proposed that my design would appear to be three-dimensional. My challenges with my STEM education were having a lack of female role models in the industry and always having persistent stereotypes about my intellectual abilities just because I'm female and Hispanic. I have been discriminated against and undergone sexism, which can be intimidating because of male students' lack of cultural awareness. This year, I joined the MESA team despite my doubts that I would fit in the predominantly male field. I was hooked after I completed projects using 3D modeling, held a coding program for the second time, and dove into the muck to fix a prototype. Thanks to this experience, I expanded my academic expertise in what I love by finding a community that accepts and acknowledges my talents and interests despite my gender and ethnicity. In my practice, I often express my political ideas or convey deeply personal thoughts. The Minority/Women in STEM Scholarship can help me pursue my favorite academic interests with 3D creation, study, research, and computer development. Because of the STEM multidisciplinary accessibility, I believe I'll be able to combine my love of computers with an exploration of the depths of art while becoming a role model for my sisters to continue doing what they love despite their gender and despite their Hispanic culture.

As Toby Fox said, "If there's anything you want to learn, don't be stopped by thinking it'll be too hard! Game-making, music, art, language, anything!" The 2015 role-playing video game Undertale is his most well-known creation. Before Undertale, he created role-playing games in high school. This person was interesting to me because he made game characters since he was a teenager like me. Excited by his persistence to make characters appealing, it was my turn to build a passion project of a caricature. What factors outlined the depth and allure of my passion for animation? This is the exact question I asked myself as my eyes riveted on the white canvas on my tablet digital screen with my stylus pen on my desk. It was 12am and raining on a July weekend in my Sophomore year. I watched the Peanuts movie concurrently. As a result of this movie's artistic decision, I made some small scribbles. Because I enjoyed expressing my personality and interests to others, which allowed me to reflect on the most authentic version of myself, I recreated a character who had been a version of myself since I was a young child. This project came about due to my research into 3D modeling techniques and my hobbies. As part of my passion project, I decided to look into the making of the Peanuts movie to determine what factors best describe the range and allure of my passion for animation. And therefore, I came across The Art of the Peanuts Movie on Amazon. The book was a winner to buy, and I got it in two weeks. After reading this, I realized that animated characters must be given enough time, attention to detail, characters, and technique to appear innovative. The movie was revolutionary because the animators spent two years perfecting Charles Shult's (the Peanuts creator) artistic style while having to disassemble the software and reassemble it. At this point, my geek radars were alarming, so I wanted to talk to an animator who worked on the movie. After weeks of looking, I finally located Dave Vasquez online. I emailed him questions about the movie-making process, the animation business, and what other skills are needed in the field. He explained, "You must invest the time and effort to enter the field as a professional if you want to work as a character animator professionally. But you can become valuable if you excel in one area and have spent time learning other things, such as C++. At Blue Sky Studios, we had a man who was a fantastic animator and great at coding. Who do you believe created many of the tools used by animators? " After making changes to the design of my model, remodeling it, and pausing for thought, I concluded that 3D modeling is an amazing technological accomplishment. I completed my first model in three months using free software thanks to game and animation development research. Later, I explored my interests in coding, urban planning, and filmmaking to develop new skills that would allow me to extract the most emotion from even my most straightforward storylines. I discovered that I could pursue my interests in animation and turn intangible concepts into practical techniques. The Future Minority Leaders Scholarship will help me because I can pursue my favorite academic interests with it, including art creation, study, research, and project development. Because of how college has multidisciplinary accessibility, I believe I'll be able to combine my love of computers with an exploration of the depths of art with this scholarship.