My name is Andrea Maldonado and I am a first-generation Mexican-American student to be achieving my degree from a four year university. I am a senior at Socorro High School in Socorro, Texas. I will be attending Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art. Growing up, I didn't have a role model that I could relate to. I was a young, bisexual, Mexican who liked drawing and lived with multiple cultural identities. My parents were in the midst of a messy divorce. According to my mom, Spanish was my first language, my first word even. However, as I grew older into the public schooling system which devalues the ability of being bilingual, I consumed mostly English media and saw other classmates actively ostracized for speaking differently. I began to lose the value of holding onto that connection. Even though I longed to be accepted by my peers, I came to the deep rooted belief that I was “not Mexican enough.” I was lighter skinned than them, and was quickly losing phrases I had known just because there wasn’t anywhere to use them for very long. Just like my ancestors, I was losing connection with my mother tongue. Gradually, “No se” became “No sabo”, and these small errors felt like a small betrayal to those around me, especially as I struggled to talk with my grandmother who picked me up from school every day. Conversations became short even though I loved to talk. I would get home from school to my grandma’s sopita, and thank her in Spanglish. Either that or “Gracias por el fideo Mama Mina,” was all I’d say because I knew I wouldn’t mess it up. However, throughout it all, art was always a way for me to connect back with my culture and to show my appreciation for my grandparents I could not always clearly express. I would illustrate books and show them, and always doodle my grandparents which they would frame on the wall. I have always had a fascination with how you can use whatever you would like to share something with the world, and there is no right answer. There is no grammar, nor tense, nor accent to put over the n. Nothing to stop me from speaking. Despite feeling “not Mexican” enough for my community at home, I would soon learn just how much my unique perspective would serve me, especially as I briefly lived at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Early Pre-College Program Summer Institute. Now, as I was alone in Chicago for two weeks taking an Advanced Drawing and Painting class, I was surrounded by those who had never been exposed to the culture I was accustomed to. However, instead of attempting to change myself, I utilized this to share and teach others about my culture. I decided to make my final about the ICE deportations currently happening in our country, painting a folklorico woman waving her skirt valiantly, creating what I thought looked like a shield, reminding me of soldiers on the front lines. I was inspired by women waving their skirts during the No Kings Protests in front of government buildings, as I view my culture as a tool against oppression which thrives on systems of erasure. This is why I want to become an illustrator for underrepresented groups. To become a voice for my community, and for unique stories like mine that aren’t told nearly enough. I want to show just what is possible by virtue of determination and self love, and I hope that this scholarship will help me get there.

How I plan to use my Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree with a concentration in Illustration from Carnegie Mellon University give back is by being a role model for my Hispanic community of El Paso, and for all young, queer women of color, that authenticity, self-love, and hard work is all you need to achieve your dreams, and continue advocating for underprivileged groups through my art, inspiring others to take a chance on themselves. I am surrounded by a Hispanic Bubble that looks to the world for guidance, but isn't seen in the headlines. Growing up, I didn't have a role model that I could relate to. I was a young, bisexual, child who liked drawing. My parents were in the midst of a messy divorce, and the isolation it incurred left me to my own artistic devices. From the time I held a pencil at four, I was fascinated with the science behind human psychology, how they managed to convey a person's complexity into a readable character with lines, colors, and shapes. This exploration would soon leap off the page and splatter onto my walls which I scribbled on, singing at my first talent show, various lead roles in my school’s theater productions, my personal cover band The Coop, and eventually to Carnegie Mellon University. Storytelling and art is an expression of my passion for the journey within. I love exploring the mindset of a character, understanding what they think, feel, and do, shaping their journey and arc. I especially love it when the characters inhabit a world and life that is very different from my own. By pursuing my Bachelors of Art in one of the top rated art programs in the nation, I’ll study color theory, composition, and be exposed to a vast amount of diverse resources. I’ll be able to better elevate the experiences of minorities, disabled individuals, and queer folk by having more tools to treat their stories with respect, vulnerability, and compassion. This will help further my goal of a more tolerant world, as Art offers both expression and empathy. A way to imagine better worlds and warn against losing our own. There are children with aspirations like me, who don't feel like they can have a career doing what they love, but through my illustrations, I want to encourage all young people to take a chance on themselves by looking to me as an example. I want to create stories where minorities are more than oppressive factors, which is what encourages me to advocate for my culture so ferociously. By attending Carnegie Mellon with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, I will be able to do just that. Things like economic brackets should not be barriers towards anybody's goals. By getting this scholarship, I will have the resources to publish series like my personal story with a nonbinary Mexican main character, as well as other untold stories. Everyone’s story deserves to be told, so I hope I will be able to encourage more people to turn the page.

Going from an insecure child to a confident young woman was no easy feat. As a bisexual, Mexican teenage girl sometimes it feels like there’s never a shortage of obstacles in front of me. With this scholarship, I will be able to further my education at Carnegie Mellon in their School of Art, and I will be able to facilitate my dreams of being an illustrator for underrepresented groups. I hope to become a role model for my Hispanic community of El Paso that authenticity, self-love, and hard work is all you need to achieve your dreams. As a child, silence felt vital to my survival. I am the product of a teen pregnancy, as my parents had my older brother at 18 and 19, and then had me four years later. My parents raised us when they were still kids themselves, and therefore didn't have the emotional capacity or know-how to properly raise me or my brother. My earliest years were filled with screaming, bouts of depression from my mom, over-bearing punishments (thank you Mexican heritage), and neglect due to their partnership collapsing over time. When I was four years old, they divorced, and I suddenly felt the huge weight of their happiness on my shoulders. I was always a bright, artistic kid, so I decided to weaponize these to try to make them happy. I would come home with straight A’s. I would slip notes under my moms door when she was upset, and make crafts for my dad. So, when I approached middle school and I was bullied for being “cringey” and into musicals and art, I kept quiet- as I did with every other problem up until that point. Once I got to sixth grade, these insecurities came to a climax during the 2020 covid-19 pandemic, when my mental health suffered greatly. After reaching such a low point that I could no longer look at myself in the mirror, I did the only thing I could do- look inward. I sought out therapy during the seventh grade. I was shocked to find that there was someone out there who didn't judge me and what I’d gone through, and this made me feel more inspired to grow. I learned the power of self-reflection, and began regularly journaling my emotions to try to understand them. This taught me that growth is never linear, and that we grow out of love, not shame. This ability has made me a more empathetic friend and honest person, as I am more present, and it is the skill by which all of my goals have been able to come to fruition in the ways that they have. All of these activities encapsulate compassion, confidence, and the courage to go forward with resilience- qualities I try to encompass as a leader. Growing up, I didn't have a role model that I could relate to. There are children with aspirations like me, who don't feel like they can have a career, but through my illustrations, I want to encourage all young people of color to take a chance on themselves. I want to create stories where minorities feel seen and elevated as more than these factors, which is what encourages me to advocate for my culture so ferociously. By attending Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelors in Fine Arts I hope to find more ways to create representation as an illustrator for underprivileged groups, lead with empathy, and use art to help create a world where we can all feel seen.

Growing up, I didn't have a role model that I could relate to. I was a young, bisexual, Mexican-American. My parents were in the midst of a messy divorce, and the isolation it incurred left me to my own artistic devices. From the time I held a pencil, I sat in front of the television, and doodled characters from Adventure Time. I was fascinated with how they managed to convey a person's complexity into a readable character with lines, colors, and shapes. This exploration would soon leap off the page and splatter onto my walls which I scribbled on, picking tomorrow's outfit, singing with my band, and eventually to Carnegie Mellon University. Creativity is freedom beyond the institutions, lives or systems set in place. Art is a reflection of the world as we are, and of who we could be. This is why the importance lies with the message not with the medium in my practice, and why it is so important for me as a way of life, it has enabled me to be more than a scared little girl. At its core, art is about community through our experiences being alive, a community that we desperately need right now. Authenticity and creativity go hand in hand. I have come to value authenticity as resistance to patriarchy which demands subservience. In elementary, I would force myself to hang out with people who would berate my body, face, and interests with hopes of being accepted. During the Covid-19 pandemic, my mental health suffered greatly. I was spending over 14 hours a day online and was experiencing anxiety about who I was. I created my cover band The Coop as a means of creative outlet. We have performed everywhere from indoor markets, to city-wide events like the City of El Paso’s WinterFest to crowds of thousands. By engaging with my community, and sharing my love of singing, I helped enact positive change, encouraging play in hard times. In addition to this, I sought out therapy, and began journalling. This commitment to practicing authenticity would not have been possible without the many artistic mediums in my life, whether that be acting as the lead in my theater troupe the Socorro High School teatristas, or exhibiting art at the El Paso Museum of Art, art is an excellent exhibition in being human and the stories we seek to share with one another. It has transformed the ways in which I interact with the world, making me a more empathetic friend and a hard working actress. In my stories I place these marginalized groups at the forefront of the narrative, like with my main character Guadalupe- a nonbinary Mexican-Asian who wakes up from day-to-day life to realize that they were in a simulation and one of three survivors on a desolate planet. I believe that art not only reflects our shared reality, but can warn us about the future, and I hope that my work will lead to a more tolerant, inclusive world. My piece “EVICTION NOTICE” depicting Guadalupe was awarded a Gold Key at the New Mexico Region Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and was exhibited at The Orpheum Community Hub February 6th- February 28th in New Mexico. This is only the first step in my quest to represent those with little voices in the media. Going forward, I hope to help create a more tolerant world where people can see themselves on the covers of stories, not just as side characters, and they can feel proud of their identities, as I do mine.