I’ve always been tied to the idea of legacy and impact. When I leave this planet, will I be remembered through a creation, movement, or impact transcending my life? It can be a trivial concept to some, but I truly believe everyone has a purpose. I remember getting a sheet of copy paper, an assorted pack of Crayola markers, and a pencil in my eighth-grade physical science class. I drew a picture of a girl with long green hair and umber skin with accessories akin to a nature goddess. I wasn’t expecting any attention from my peers; I was just doing what I always enjoyed doing for fun. Little did I know my classmates would swarm me with faces of joy and amusement. Even my teacher was attentive to the class's eruption of amazement. I remember vividly my teacher asking me: “Have you ever thought of doing animation and working for Disney.” I paused for a moment and looked down at my drawing. What was supposed to be the result of boredom turned into a moment of self-discovery and an “aha” moment in my career journey. From that moment on, I decided that was what I wanted to do for my life, and ever since I have been doing everything in my power to make art my impact. I’ve always had a knack for character art and design; however, I’ve always been enamored by storytelling and the power that comes with it. Through storytelling, I have the power to relay feelings of empathy and conjure authenticity through characterization. As an artist, I desire to tell stories that have the ability to directly influence the hearts and minds of many on a large scale. My love for animation and storytelling is not limited to its ability to entertain and influence audiences in general but also its ability to uplift the voices of those whose stories have been overlooked in historical and modern-day media. As a young Black woman in America, stories in mainstream media that bring forth the culture, experiences, and realities that are complementary to my identity are alarmingly sparse due to a lack of adequate writers and designers behind the scenes to deliver such representation. Although thankfully improving as the entertainment industry becomes more inclusive, there is still a gap that needs to be bridged when it comes to disenfranchised creatives being present in writers’ rooms and studios, especially for animation. I desire to become a part of that bridge to bring often-needed diversity into creative spaces. In doing so, I would be gifted with the ability to bring stories and experiences shared by individuals of my racial background to life through animation. Gaining a leadership position is my top priority to make an impact in the animation industry, whether as an executive producer, an animated program director, or a feature-length film director. Through such leadership, I aspire to create art from my life experiences and highlight insights into the life minorities often share. I firmly believe in celebrating our society's many differences in experience, background, and culture. I hope to one day gain a platform that elevates and magnifies the voices of those who have been historically shut down and that garners enough traction to not only influence the world of entertainment but to touch aspects of society that assist in our progression as a whole. Through my possible success in the animation industry, I desire to become a reference to those who have similar backgrounds to mine and inspire them to believe that they can achieve what I did as well.

I’ve always been tied to the idea of legacy and impact. When I leave this planet, will I be remembered through a creation, movement, or impact transcending my life? It can be a trivial concept to some, but I truly believe everyone has a purpose. I remember getting a sheet of copy paper, an assorted pack of Crayola markers, and a pencil in my eighth-grade physical science class. I drew a picture of a girl with long green hair and umber skin with accessories akin to a nature goddess. I wasn’t expecting any attention from my peers; I was just doing what I always enjoyed doing for fun. Little did I know my classmates would swarm me with faces of joy and amusement. Even my teacher was attentive to the class's eruption of amazement. I remember vividly my teacher asking me: “Have you ever thought of doing animation and working for Disney.” I paused for a moment and looked down at my drawing. What was supposed to be the result of boredom turned into a moment of self-discovery and an “aha” moment in my career journey. From that moment on, I decided that was what I wanted to do for my life, and ever since, I have been doing everything in my power to make art my impact. I’ve always had a knack for character art and design; however, I’ve always been enamored by storytelling and the power that comes with it. Through storytelling, I have the power to relay feelings of empathy and conjure authenticity through characterization. As an artist, I desire to tell stories that have the ability to directly influence the hearts and minds of many on a large scale. My love for animation and storytelling is not limited to its ability to entertain and influence audiences in general but also its ability to uplift the voices of those whose stories have been overlooked in historical and modern-day media. As a young Black woman in America, stories in mainstream media that bring forth the culture, experiences, and realities that are complimentary to my identity are alarmingly sparse due to a lack of adequate writers and designers behind the scenes to deliver such representation. Although thankfully improving as the entertainment industry becomes more inclusive, there is still a gap that needs to be bridged when it comes to disenfranchised creatives being present in writers’ rooms and studios, especially for animation. I desire to become a part of that bridge to bring often-needed diversity into creative spaces. In doing so, I would be gifted with the ability to bring stories and experiences shared by individuals of my racial background to life through animation. Gaining a leadership position is my top priority to make an impact in the animation industry, whether as an executive producer, an animated program director, or a feature-length film director. Through such leadership, I aspire to create art from my life experiences and highlight insights into the life minorities often share. I am currently in the beginning stages of development for my thesis film for my senior year of art school, detailing my experiences as a black girl entering the adult realm and the challenges that arise with this change. My definition of a better life includes pursuing my burning passion for art and entertainment without obstacles. Additionally, I believe creating a better life for myself starts by initiating acts of change and improvement in my particular field of interest. Through art and creation, I strive to make a better life for myself and those often underrepresented, underappreciated, and under-repaid in our society.

I’ve always been tied to the idea of legacy and impact. When I leave this planet, will I be remembered through a creation, movement, or impact transcending my life? It can be a trivial concept to some, but I truly believe everyone has a purpose. I remember getting a sheet of copy paper, an assorted pack of Crayola markers, and a pencil in my eighth-grade physical science class. I drew a picture of a girl with long green hair and umber skin with accessories akin to a nature goddess. I wasn’t expecting any attention from my peers; I was just doing what I always enjoyed doing for fun. Little did I know my classmates would swarm me with faces of joy and amusement. Even my teacher was attentive to the class’s eruption of amazement. I remember vividly my teacher asking me: “Have you ever thought of doing animation and working for Disney.” I paused for a moment and looked down at my drawing. What was supposed to be the result of boredom turned into a moment of self-discovery and an “aha” moment in my career journey. From that moment on, I decided that was what I wanted to do for my life, and ever since I have been doing everything in my power to make art my impact. I’ve always had a knack for character art and design; however, I’ve always been enamored by storytelling and the power that comes with it. Through storytelling, I have the power to relay feelings of empathy and conjure authenticity through characterization. As an artist, I desire to tell stories that have the ability to directly influence the hearts and minds of many on a large scale. My love for animation and storytelling is not limited to its ability to entertain and influence audiences in general but also its ability to uplift the voices of those whose stories have been overlooked in historical and modern-day media. As a young Black woman in America, stories in mainstream media that bring forth the culture, experiences, and realities that are complimentary to my identity are alarmingly sparse due to a lack of adequate writers and designers behind the scenes to deliver such representation. Although thankfully improving as the entertainment industry becomes more inclusive, there is still a gap that needs to be bridged when it comes to disenfranchised creatives being present in writers’ rooms and studios, especially for animation. I desire to become a part of that bridge to bring often-needed diversity into creative spaces. In doing so, I would be gifted with the ability to bring stories and experiences shared by individuals of my racial background to life through animation. Gaining a leadership position is my top priority to make an impact in the animation industry, whether as an executive producer, an animated program director, or a feature-length film director. Through such leadership, I aspire to create art from my life experiences and highlight insights into the life minorities often share. I am currently in the beginning stages of development for my thesis film for my senior year of art school, detailing my experiences as a black girl entering the adult realm and the challenges that arise with this change. My definition of a better life includes pursuing my burning passion for art and entertainment without obstacles. Additionally, I believe creating a better life for myself starts by initiating acts of change and improvement in my particular field of interest. Through art and creation, I strive to make a better life for myself and those often underrepresented, underappreciated, and under-repaid in our society.

As an aspiring visual developer and storyteller, I always make sure to truly observe the world around me rather than merely “seeing” the world around me. I have to unless I want to end up with artwork that is stale or void of any substance. In my observations, I consider the settings, people, and atmosphere I encounter daily. Whether drawing the students in my school cafeteria during lunch break or capturing the scenery of one of my local parks, I am constantly inspired by the small things in my life. One of the most common settings I find myself at is the local veteran’s home of my city. However, I distinctly recount one visit, defined as a highly informative moment in my artistic journey. A year or so ago, I was graced with the opportunity of volunteering at my local veteran’s home. Clyde was the name of the veteran I was assigned to that day. Upon further introduction to Clyde, he notified me of our shared similarity: being artists. Clyde told me about his lifelong hobby as a pencil artist and how he had kept up with his skills even in his old age. I was delighted to hear that we shared similar interests, and with this delight, I proposed to create a pencil drawing to visualize my skills for Clyde. I began sketching Clyde with a black ballpoint pen to capture his likeness in a relatively short time frame. I made sure to portray every nuance of his appearance, noting what I observed. Although aged, his eyes were full of character with stories to tell. He had large flared ears and a large button nose embellished with aging spots that brought character and life to his face. I made sure to take note of his cleanly shaven head that paired nicely with his neatly presented collared shirt. Upon rough outline of his feature, I mark areas of shading to further bring life to the drawing and capture the contrastive nature of Clyde’s skin in the shades of grey created by the pen. Upon completing the simple sketch, I showed my work to Clyde and was soon met with eyes of excitement and appreciation. What was such a minuscule act seemed to conjure such joy to him. I grinned as I showed him the drawing and happily signed the piece as he requested. “You’ve got talent, young lady,” I remember him preaching to me. I smiled as I left the building, as it reminded me of why I was pursuing art in the first place. I want to give back to not only my community but my society at large by helping people see themselves in my art. I believe that giving back to the community doesn’t exclusively come in the form of performing charitable acts of service; instead, it includes making those in a community feel seen and appreciated, a quality that directly inspires my chosen field of interest. Beyond representing specific individuals in my work, as a story developer, I strive to uphold morality and virtue, whether that includes depicting characters with upstanding qualities or portraying stories that evoke lessons of leadership and selfishness. Through this, I can serve my community through direct inspiration and influence. I aspire to not only create art from my own life experiences but to highlight the experiences of others. Clyde may have only been one person, but eventually, as I advance into the world of art and entertainment, I hope to influence and touch the hearts of many, even if that influence manifests in a simple sketch.

As one of the millions of high schoolers searching for potential candidates for the dream school, one of my most often performed tasks included typing into the Google search engine “top colleges for [insert area of study].” While browsing the search results, I’d click on the tab labeled “notable alumni.” Although it seems trivial, I’ve always viewed that aspect of a school’s credibility vital as it provides real-life examples of people who’ve “made it.” Undeniably, I made the goal of eventually appearing on that list, not fully understanding what such status would entail or mean in apropos to my desired career: animation. When I begin to answer the “why” of my decision to pursue a career in animation, I can confidently pinpoint a few reasons. Apparent motivations include my love of art and creation, innate ability to craft narratives appropriate for animated content, and passion for creating characters and fictional realities. Furthermore, I’ve always relished being considered talented when presenting my artwork to my peers or presenting narrative essays my teachers would often praise. I concluded I loved entertaining and conjuring emotions of fascination and amusement: animation. My love for animation and storytelling is not limited to its ability to entertain but also its ability to uplift the voices of those whose stories have been overlooked in media. As a young Black woman, stories in mainstream media that bring forth the culture, experiences, and qualities that are complimentary to my identity are alarmingly sparse due to a lack of writers and designers behind the scenes to deliver such representation. Although thankfully improving, there is still a gap that needs to be bridged regarding disenfranchised creatives being present in writers’ rooms and studios. I desire to become a part of that bridge to bring often-needed diversity into creative spaces. I hope to one day gain a platform—such as that of an executive producer or director— that magnifies the voices of those historically shut down and that garners enough traction to leave a lasting influence in the world of entertainment. When I answer why I want to be a noted alumnus, I arrive at a precise conclusion: to make a true impact and how I define true impact is through a straightforward requirement: If someone can answer their “why” with your name, creation, or legacy, then you’ve made an impact, the true accomplishment I desire to have in my life.

Art in all its forms is often derivative of the artist’s life experiences. In my case, one of the main inspirations of my art is my mother and how she essentially single handly raised my twin sister and me. My sister and I found ourselves without a paternal figure when we were seven. Because my mother had to work 10-hour shifts to provide for my sister and me, it made it impractical or almost impossible to participate in typical extracurricular activities due to inadequate funds or lack of transportation. Although this was the case, drawing was one thing I could self-pursue at home and school. Being a child of a single mother is not only responsible for my original spark to create, but it also further encouraged me to pursue it as a career. More specifically, my mother’s early life story is one of the main inspirations influencing my pursuit of the arts. My mother had a rather challenging youth. As a child of foster care, my mother often struggled with mental health growing up, experiencing many mental health scares that would often reflect on her performance in school. Even so, my mother made a conscious effort to pursue secondary education in hopes of making a better life for herself. As a lover of math and architecture, my mom desired to become an architect-engineer. However, due to the many health issues that arose during her final years of high school, it became apparent that she had not had enough focus in school to retain the foundational math needed for her desired degree, ultimately causing her to change majors. Discouraged by this unfortunate truth, my mom was now obligated to find a new career path. Mental health was and still is an essential aspect of her life. Inspired by her hardships regarding mental well-being, she decided her real passion was guiding others to live a life of mental security, so they would not suffer as she did during her youth. Today, my mother works as a mental health counselor. Her success story directly coincides with my pursuit of art as it is one many could find relatable or inspiring, two traits artists such as myself often seek to portray in their works. Fortunately for me, there is a perfect field for the marrying of art and storytelling: animation. Because of this, I have made pursuing a career in animation the one life goal I wish to uphold. However, I wish to carry out this dream and combine this passion with my mom's. From a surface-level perspective, animation and mental health may appear to have few things in common. However, using personal anecdotal evidence, I can confidently say that the animated content I’ve consumed in my lifetime has positively impacted my overall outlook on life psychologically and emotionally. Whenever I feel anxious, I can rely on some of my favorite nostalgic animated creations to help me become at peace and almost escape from reality. Bright colors, fluid movement, and fun and appealing character designs bring me joy and serenity, emotions essential to mental health and well-being. Through creation, I hope to one day make a substantial impact on mental health on a larger scale and honor and repay everything my mom has done for me to become the young woman I am today. Although my life as a child of a single parent may have its negatives from outside viewers, if I could draw the perfect portrait of a family, I would use mine as a reference, with my mom as its focal point.

I was never the most social kid. Other than having cathartic and rambly discussions about my favorite childhood animated programming with my twin sister, the only speaking I would do with my peers would be limited to awkward hellos and the occasional partner work for class assignments. As a way to substitute for traditional peer interaction in school, I would do one of the only things I knew how to do: draw. I had an enact love for art and creation. More specifically, my adoration for creating characters would be something I would carry throughout my entire teenage years. My relationship with art and creation has only strengthened as I matured over the years. As time progressed, I realized that art had the ability to not only serve as a self-indulging activity for myself but also had the potential to be fulfilling and helpful to others at large. Throughout my high school journey, I have made a valid effort to use my artistry to enrich and beautify my school externally. More specifically, during the spring semester of my senior year, I was graced with the opportunity to craft a design for the opening of our upcoming school garden. My school’s nutrition department had always envisioned a design on an old gardening shed to add a splash of interest to the garden, but—according to my school’s nutrition supervisor— they had been attempting to recruit a student to paint the shed for years with no success. Upon request, I was elated to bring this idea to fruition finally. Little did I know when I first took on this task that it would be accompanied by long hours in the summer sun and a level of self-discipline in making daily commutes to ensure the mural’s completion. Through this venture, I have garnered a great deal of respect and appreciation for the art form of muralism. For this project, I had to incorporate many aspects of creation that are often omitted when I practice my preferred forms of art, such as digital art, and even traditional forms, such as painting and sculpture. These aspects included implementing entire-body coordination when painting, crafting a composition on a larger surface area, and accommodating outside working conditions. After the mural’s completion, my school garden’s officially commenced just days after. Presenting my artwork to the dozens of attendees was a truly enthralling and heartwarming experience and further reminded me why I love art in the first place; to bring joy to others. The Mural Art and Consulting’s statement of purpose: “Pushing the misunderstood art form of graffiti art into new territories,” resonates with me as someone who desires to pursue a career in the animation industry, as animation is often viewed as an overlooked and underclaimed art form. I hope to one day see the progression and destigmatization of animation as an art form and witness its recognition among other conventional forms of art. Creativity has played a pivotal role in my emotional and social development. My more introverted demeanor has not changed as much as I've aged. However, although soft-spoken, the messages that can be relayed with my art have only allowed my voice to be more and more amplified. By obtaining Grafitti Arts Scholarship, I could exclusively focus on my mission of inspiring this next generation of creatives and further work toward a day where all varieties of artists can be celebrated in our society, and those whose voices often coincide with artistic expression can also be heard.

“The Scarlet that Signifies Family" is an artwork I hold dear and fully recognize as my favorite fully complete illustration. As citizens of the American country, we often find alignment and community within separated living spaces delineated by our social groups. This phenomenon applies to me particularly, as my identity falls into one of the many social groups of the diverse American population, Black American, by happenstance. Small homes and a big community have always characterized my childhood. As a member of a lower-class household, I’ve experienced life less than lavishly. However, this reality has not impacted my fondness for life and all of its forms, particularly the human race. Human interaction and community have always fascinated me and have also been part of my family-oriented background. This sense of family extends far beyond blood, touching the relationships of my family-friends and neighbors. Social gatherings, summer cookouts, and overall bonding have been stable elements of my life. My background has informed my artistic expression and direction, allowing me to find a voice in the world of illustration and creation. This piece, in particular, embodies the many aspects of character illustration that I love: a combination of a subject matter based on reality with almost surreal rendering to create a striking contrast between concept and execution. While in creation, I kept reminding myself of the type of mood and atmosphere that I wanted to evoke within the piece and how I wanted said atmosphere to influence the viewer. Furthermore, I wanted to create a simplistic landscape or environmental setting and also wanted to assign relatability to said environment. To reference the type of communities I’ve lived in, I choose to depict a street of a neighborhood, highlighting three small urban homes. This composition would allow me to incorporate a sense of detail into the piece and negate the potential threat of a cluttered composition. Through the stylized characters, I am able to portray realism and adopt them into more simplistic designs that reference real life rather than fully becoming real human flesh and blood. I chose to represent three age groups: child, young adult, and elder, to acknowledge the generational connection Black Americans often share with our homes. My favorite aspect of the piece by far is the vibrant hues of oranges and reds that ignite a comforting sense of serenity and somberness. Furthermore, the grainy overlay also contributes to the image's almost old and polaroid-like finish, almost as if the image captures a simple moment as polaroid cameras do. As a mostly character artist, I found it truly enthralling to challenge myself to complete an environmental illustration that includes elements of perspective, rendering, and proper composition. This artwork is what I believe to be representative of the type of art I’d hope to continue doing; twisting the mundane into intrigue.