Animation is my everything. In a sense, it’s kind of like a crush or a lover: it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up, and what I dream about when I sleep. The pull of my passion for animation is the aspect of storytelling. The way that human experiences and perspectives can be made into characters, translated through color, or manipulated with dynamic transitions. It motivates me because there are so many stories that are yet to be told. Animation is special because it demands attention—it doesn’t allow people to ignore the story it’s telling. This is powerful when it comes to art. Art in its purest form is all about communicating a message. This is true whether it be painting, acting, music, or literature. But too often, the problem that artists and creators face is maintaining attention from their audience long enough for them to understand the intention behind their work. Animation works to solve that problem because it encompasses all art forms. It uses music to establish mood, it uses art to create characters, it uses literature to emphasize points. Animation acts as a tool that takes the messages of creators and transforms them into something alive, something that connects with all the senses of an audience in real-time. This absolutely mind-blowing because art and design that was once stagnant can suddenly be seen as something that has life and complexity beyond the 2nd dimension. And what is more powerful than giving life to something that was once thought intangible? The beauty and complexity of animation are ever-growing, and I have only yet explored the surface of it all. I know that my education in Animation and Design will enable me to work with other creators in reaching their audiences and sharing their messages on love, sorrow, and social progress. I know that every day that I am alive and able to listen and experience the stories of others and my own, that my animation will grow, expand, and live a life of its own. And I cannot wait to tell these stories.

Animation is my everything. In a sense, it’s kind of like a crush or a lover: it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up, and what I dream about when I sleep. The pull of my passion for animation is the aspect of storytelling. The way that human experiences and perspectives can be made into characters, translated through color, or manipulated with dynamic transitions. It motivates me because there are so many stories that are yet to be told. Animation is special because it demands attention—it doesn’t allow people to ignore the story it’s telling. This is powerful when it comes to art. Art in its purest form is all about communicating a message. This is true whether it be painting, acting, music, or literature. But too often, the problem that artists and creators face is maintaining attention from their audience long enough for them to understand the intention behind their work. Animation works to solve that problem because it encompasses all art forms. It uses music to establish mood, it uses art to create characters, it uses literature to emphasize points. Animation acts as a tool that takes the messages of creators and transforms them into something that is alive, something that connects with all the senses of an audience in real-time. This absolutely mind-blowing because art and design that was once stagnant can suddenly be seen as something that has life and complexity beyond the 2nd dimension. And what is more powerful than giving life to something that was once thought intangible? The beauty and complexity of animation are ever-growing, and I have only yet explored the surface of it all. I know that my education in Animation and Design will enable me to work with other creators in reaching their audiences and sharing their messages on love, sorrow, and social progress. I know that every day that I am alive and able to listen and experience the stories of others and my own, that my animation will grow, expand, and live a life of its own. And I cannot wait to tell these stories.

Being an artist means listening to stories. As someone pursuing Graphic Design, it is easy to fall into the trap of creating beautiful and aesthetic things with no meaning or purpose. But I believe an important aspect of design and all art is storytelling. That is why I am pursuing a future in human-centered design. The human-centered design focuses on using the design process to create human-centered solutions for problems various communities face. The design process consists of four important parts: discover, define, develop, and deliver. This is the process I used when I helped create the Roars and Whispers Literary Magazine in my Junior and Senior years of high school. A literary magazine publication had never been extensive in our school, and I wanted to change that. I discovered by talking to my classmates that there were stories of pain and hope and sorrow wanting to be heard but having no audience. As a result, I defined the problem as a lack of accessibility and communication between the writers and staff of the literary magazine. I developed an efficient writing and art submissions process and created social media campaigns for increased awareness so students knew of all the ways that they could submit to the magazine. Because of these efforts, I and my staff were able to curate and design a tangible magazine with the best writing, reflections, and artworks of our student body. In doing so, I saw how powerful it was to create something that housed and amplified the voices of individuals that felt that they were unheard in their communities. I saw how these students explored complex themes of income inequality, systemic racism, assault, and hope amidst a crumbling climate future with their writing and art. Hearing my fellow peers stories about their experiences with inequality emboldened me to take action during the pandemic. I helped run and design social media campaigns for protests in Charlotte, North Carolina over the murder of George Floyd. I created flyers and spread information about city council meetings and annual police budgets. I helped organize protest gatherings all over the city. In essence, I started to see design as an interconnected web of stories: my time listening to my classmates propelled me to do my part in rewriting stories of police brutality and other forms of systems injustice that pervades the news every day. This is why I am pursuing a career in Graphic Design. It is an ever-evolving field that is only limited by the boundaries people set for themselves. I am motivated that I have yet to create my best human-centered design yet, and know that my education will continue to expose me to how my design can make a difference in creating sustainable and inclusive solutions for all members of society.

My greatest inspiration is knowing that I have yet to reach my full potential when it comes to designing for communities. I will be the first to admit that a career in the arts is seen as risky and downright insane for financial stability—as my parents like to say. Although I understand their fear for my future, it’s their exact sacrifice in the name of love and family that drives my passion and drive for design. I have seen the power that design has—in my life and others—in amplifying the voices that feel like their stories are ignored, that their problems are unsolvable. When my senior year of high school began in 2019, my Dad lost his job. My brother and I started to work part-time while being full-time students while my mom had to return to India for her visa. Despite this tumultuous period, my family scraped by. But then the pandemic hit and my whole family lost any means of income we had. My family struggled to put food on the table. At one point, my family had to discuss putting my enrollment at NC State University on hold because we couldn’t afford basic living expenses. Thankfully, we received some unemployment and my dad was able to find work, but we continue to live paycheck to paycheck, with my dad working multiple online and night jobs while I work part-time any place that will hire. Despite a time of uncertainty, I discovered Graphic Design. During this pandemic, structural inequalities such as systemic racism, unemployment and education inequality, internet access and police brutality all became much more apparent. Seeing these horrendous and unjust systems in place made me feel helpless. And I wanted to do something about it through what I know: design. So as I searched for employment, I helped run and design social media campaigns for protests in Charlotte, North Carolina over the murder of George Floyd. I created flyers and spread information about city council meetings and annual police budgets. I helped organize protest gatherings all over the city. I additionally became the Design Editor of the Roars and Whispers Literary Magazine during this time, which curated the best writing, reflections and artworks of my school. In doing so, I was exposed to complex perspectives on the influence of racism in different minority groups, assault, and what it means to have dreams beyond school. In curating these individual’s voices into something tangible, I saw student’s progress in their healing during a pandemic, as well as growth in my activism through design and advocacy when it came to these topics. After all, design isn’t just about creating, it’s about learning too. And so I want to end on the note of hope. I am driven to continuously create and question the systems in place around me. In doing so, I hope to create a future in which my designs will serve the best interests of entire communities, and not just a few.