Cancer, our common enemy. A sickness that would make me immediately cover my ears when I heard it aloud. We all fear it, and we all know the sacrifice and pain that this word involves. However, it always felt so distant to me, until it touched the lives of two loved ones: my aunts Geno and Delia. Geno –my mom´s sister and my emotional support system, and Delia, the woman who molded me as a child. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Geno’s diagnosis shook our family in a time of anxiety and uncertainty. She lived an hour away from us and the quarantine in Peru was so strict that we couldn’t see her for a whole year, but she remained resilient as the fighter she is. Fortunately, her treatment was successful. Meanwhile, Delia´s story unfolded differently. A month before I moved from Lima (Peru) to Miami, Delia was diagnosed with cancer. She was not directly related to my family, but she was like a second mother to my brother and me. She was my safe space, a model to follow, and the best hugger I have ever met. She went through countless treatments, but cancer spread rapidly through her digestive system, more aggressively than the doctors predicted. By August, Delia promised to wait for me while I studied abroad. In December, we would reunite after my first semester. After all, my aunt survived, so I wanted to believe that she would too. Then, a month before I could return to Peru, her situation scaled in an unpredictable way, and she passed away. Both stories were terrifying, relieving and devastating in their own ways. At least the pain of both is finally over. Geno taught me resilience and to chase my passion regardless of what anyone says. Life is short, so, why hesitate? Anything can happen along the way –her illness was proof of that. Delia´s passing, on the other hand, was the last push I had before leaving home. She taught me to trust my gut, to believe I have the strength to succeed, and that as I fight for my own future, I must also help those who lack resources. That’s why I chose to stay faithful to my passion and pursue a career as an artist and filmmaker: to tell stories about our loved ones, to give a voice to those that lack one, and to spread awareness regarding health, and the social and emotional issues that matter in our society. Her loss taught me the value of my opportunity to study abroad. So, I chose to keep fighting. Now, I work hard to maintain a strong GPA, proving my determination. Through film, animation, and art, I want to remind people how important it is to ask your friends how they’re doing, to stay in touch with that friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. Are they okay? Are you okay? Reach out. Emotions and health go together. They nurture each other, so take care of your body and soul. Grief is the greatest teacher. I am committed to making an impact thanks to these experiences. Therefore, I feel the need to channel sorrow into purpose, to show to those fighting their physical or emotional battles that they´re not alone. Whether it is through my career or in my daily life, I want to be the support and hope that my aunts are for me. Because love and support guarantee growth and health.

Growing up in Peru, I became highly aware of the socioeconomic gap between people who live right next to each other and are only divided by walls of wealth. Some sleep under blankets and live from scarce daily resources, while a fortunate few live 10 minutes away from the poor and sleep under comfy sheets, knowing that a fully guaranteed breakfast awaits them the next morning. However, although we all grow up witnessing the challenges faced by those in poverty, only a small fraction of the privileged develop a deep sense of empathy and social responsibility. Thankfully, in Latin America, we have organizations like TECHO, which contribute to building emergency homes and providing other community-driven solutions to improve the living conditions of those in need. I had the opportunity to volunteer with them in 2019. This was my first wake-up call to transform empathy into action, and to transform this action into someone else’s home, hope and happiness. The volunteers would wake up at 6 AM to gather materials, greet fellow community members, and head out to build homes for people who don’t even have access to electricity. I mention this experience because, through sweat and restless nights, I witnessed the priceless reaction of a whole family crying out of joy after seeing their new home constructed before their eyes. The kids now had a new floor to play on, the teenagers had a room to study in, and mothers and fathers had a roof under which they could love and provide for their families. The time I spent with them was a reminder of how lucky I am to be able to give back to my community and how even the smallest actions can unexpectedly create a lifetime of gratefulness for someone. And this was only the start. From there, I felt not only purposeful but passionate about lending an extra hand. I started helping the people I knew or were closer to me: kids needing help with homework and education, teenagers wanting to learn how to swim, paint, or play the piano, and adults accessing adequate physical and psychological help to be the best and healthiest version of themselves. Helping others is not just about addressing immediate needs or mindlessly giving money to someone who needs it. It is about recognizing the humanity we all share and igniting hope, curiosity, and joy in those who surround us. It is about reminding kids that they can dream of being doctors, artists, astronauts, and that it will happen if we all practice our sense of community.

I offer you juggling, three-dimensional invisible creatures, a controversially colorful landscape escaping the canvas, a contemporary dance in the living room, a theatrical act of ancient mythology performed in the shower, or a tragic poem fueled by the imagination of a boy who wakes up before the sun solely to write a new story over a nervous breakdown. I offer the sacrifice of a boy who chased approval through talent and talent through creativity. Though creativity is perceived as a tool in the context of this introduction, in my reality it is a state of mind, a lifestyle, a cure, the fastest way in, and the greatest way out. Creativity is a shield when reality strikes, and serves as a sword in the ugliest battles. As a gateway for the lonely, creativity has been and will always be my best friend and ally. Creativity and imagination held hands with me as a kid and developed my passion for storytelling. By the time I was 5 years old, I believed I had superpowers, I believed my cat was secretly an agent, I believed my toys were made to protect me, and I believed I was the luckiest person alive because I was a curious mind exploring the range of reality blending with my innocent perception. At 10, I still played with fictional characters and believed in fantastic ecosystems. When it was playtime, my toys and puppets would wander in and adventure: they were explorers in jungle temples, climbed ice volcanos, they fought intergalactic monsters, met creatures in mythical forests, and they wandered diamond fields, deserts, traveled every ocean and saw every wonder of my imaginary world. Then, as I turned 15, my creativity invited fears into my inner paradise, which soon turned into hell. Puberty and adolescence appeared only to make me ache and challenge me. However, it was through emotional instability that I discovered the power of the mind: the passion that lies within the pain became the fuel of my greatest pieces of art. Finally, when I turned 17, I started waking up at 5 AM, like a maniac, just to write ideas for new stories, poems, or songs, and to create, sketch, or draw divine creatures, characters, and environments. I became consistent and obsessed, and by the time I turned 20, I had a file with over 500 drawings and sketches and a written novel of 190 pages, my best project: "Los mellizos del eclipse" ["The Twins of The Eclipse"]. Thus, my creativity built my work and desires, so today I dream that by keeping consistent enough I will be able to produce the next "The Legend of Zelda", design some new Marvel hero, make another "Mario Galaxy" game, or create the next story for Studio Ghibli. If you ask me, creativity is everything. There are not enough words to summarize it nor a conclusion that captures how much creativity influences our intuition, imagination, interpersonal interactions, and problem-solving skills. Creativity is when your mind flies out of this world and lands wherever you decide. Creativity is my best friend and most fearsome enemy. It´s a dangerous universe, but the most wonderful tool that the human brain has gifted us as well.

Classics like “Mario Kart” or “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” are the reason why I remember with endearment having arguments with my brother to see who would be Player 1, they are also the reason why I recall us laughing in the living room for hours after midnight, and the reason why my childhood was so wholesome and colorful. The concepts, the character designs, the animations, and the soundtracks of games have crafted many memories and a huge part of my inspiration. It´s strange to admit it, but videogames carry a great sentimental value in my life. It is thanks to sagas like “The Legend of Zelda” and “Mario Galaxy” that I would wake up at 5 AM just to write ideas for new stories, songs, and to create, sketch and draw divine-like creatures, characters and fantastic environments. These video games made me discover my passion for visual art, music and storytelling. I developed the need to externalize my creations and that is how I started my favorite personal project: “Twins of The Eclipse” a fantasy novel with 190 pages I wrote, with a structure thought for a videogame or a film, and with an additional file made of hundreds of sketches, descriptions, concept art for characters, items and environments that I have designed for the past seven years. I dream of someday producing the next “The Legend of Zelda”, the third “Mario Galaxy”, or even a new sequel for “God of War”, so I keep working on projects, I keep creating, I keep researching, and I keep playing videogames. I am an international student pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in animation, and I must say that the impact of videogames goes beyond memories. In fact, I use video games as references for visuals and mechanics in my 2D and 3D animation classes, for rigging, for working on digital software for motion graphics, for sketching, for ideas, and, of course, for entertainment when I need a break from school and some me-time. Video games are one of my favorite sources of inspiration and a great way to pause reality and focus my attention on just appreciating interactive entertainment and art through the screen or VR lenses. That´s also why I partially disagree with the older generations saying that staring at a screen is a mind-killer, because, in my experience, that has been a big stimulator for my creativity, reflexes, coordination, and a great way to break the ice and socialize with new groups of people.

If you sit in the living room next to my bedroom at 4:00 AM, you will hear me rushing to my desk, only to grab a pen and paper, to sketch or write. You won´t even hear me pulling a chair and sitting down because I occasionally wake up to THAT insane, magnificent, perfect idea, story, or dream that I write down half asleep as I cannot wait until the next morning to do so. I can´t risk forgetting those midnight ideas. I have a level of passion that keeps me alive and haunts me as a double-edged sword. Our words become tangible, literal, and real through writing. That´s why, it is my favorite tool to exteriorize the mess of the subconscious versus the aware fractions of my mind. I love writing since it is the most authentic way to acknowledge and materialize feelings, memories, ideals, and our stories, or even to share life experiences for others. Writing is beautiful because it gives us a timeless voice. My obsession comes from perceiving “writing” as a mirror to thoughts: when we write, words stare back at us from the screen or the paper as they become part of the physical world. Everyone can read them, so we´re vulnerable in the best way possible. My greatest dream is to continue pursuing education in a creative field where writing and art intertwine: to create scripts, stories, animated films, etc. However, I must climb, compete against other dreamers, artists, and writers, and do it all in a language I am not perfectly fluent in: English –an unavoidable challenge as an international student. I was born and raised in Peru, a third-world country, so as someone who has written in Spanish every day of his life, my main objective in pursuing higher levels of education is to keep expanding my knowledge, my interpersonal connections, to stay active, and to strengthen that part of me which creates without procrastinating and keeps working as a typing machine. Hard work, perseverant routines, brilliant minds, and a positive attitude will always pay off, so now that I am a 21-year-old college student in a first-world country, I keep getting closer to that ‘American dream’ with each step, closer towards an accomplished goal, which makes me feel controversially hopeful, scared, joyful, anxious, and proud. Here I wish to achieve my dreams of being a scriptwriter, an animator, and find success that I, unfortunately, wouldn´t be able to find in my home country. And if you ask me, I am getting closer with every passing minute.