It was graduation day. It was bittersweet but being isolated for so long because of COVID left a strain on me. Unable to communicate too well with others, I did my best to go up and smile whilst gripping on the diploma certification. The celebration came and went, nothing super uncommon. But regardless, I couldn't help but feel vacant knowing that it would be the end of my high school expedition. The thought grasped me as I got home, entering my quiet sun blue room I realized that: even if everything after High school turns out to be a massive struggle, at least it'll get better. Middle school wasn't a good experience, but the end of High school sort of was. So if college's expenses stress me out, I just gotta remind myself that it'll get better. Even if I'm solo, or not as talented as other artists, I can keep on climbing. Using other artists as inspirations rather than people who are above me. Even if my parents don't believe in the career I'm pursuing, I can still have credence in myself and raise my gaze to see a brighter scenery. I laid into my bed, overwhelmed but slightly relieved once more. After the epiphany was over, I could still hear the harmonic sounds from my headphones still singing. I tried my best to stay positive: since that's the only way I'll be able to go on forward. Soft raindrops bouncing off my warm sheets.

There's two categories of happiness for me, they're found within the confinements of creative mediums and the positivity of friends. Joy is the result when both of those elements are present. Though art is my favorite creative medium to partake in, one medium that gives me more emotion overall are musical compositions. Melodies guide my way, and keep my mind clear, steady, and motivated. Music itself keep us busy; there's tons of genres that solidify our emotions, some make individuals feel better in the struggles they face. Alongside that comes the hyper-like nature that music can present, energy for working out; studying for exams; doing long projects. This key filled with tremendous orchestras and symphonies is what gives me more joy in times of pressure. Nonetheless, it isn't only the tracks that keep me moving throughout my daily life. For me, happiness also correlates with how my friend's feel. I adore witnessing smiles and positive thoughts that aim for a mindset of self-improvement. However, in moments of negativity, I give my all to shake those friends into feeling more positive. Giving them more accurate words that represent them and pointing out that this negativity that halts us from time to time are nothing but negative thoughts. Seeing them brighten up, and state "I'll keep going", witnessing them simply undergo a cheerful way of speaking. That, alongside the melodies that surround us daily: is what keeps me feeling what I call joy. With those two values in mind, I glance forward. The tunes playing within the shared ear buds of me and my companion, we joked and laughed. That smile and melody in of itself, is something worth being joyful for.

The storm arrived within the High School I attended, it was a storm of demotivation. Walking down the halls, I had read about a program that encouraged artists to join and improve their skills. It was a program that had every couple months or so. With that, I ended up joining. The program was heavy, focusing on large-scale artworks and color mediums--an element I wasn't too familiar with--. Nonetheless, the hurdle arrived within my mind when I took a look between my works and the art pieces of others. In that instance, it began to rain my mind. In comparison to the work that I had created, the artwork of others were ten times more polished and fleshed out. There was a sense of uncertainty; I asked myself "why have I not improved as much as them?" As time went on, I continued to grow negative of my art. Whether it be music production or illustrations, my mind was stuck. This issue of comparing myself to other individuals persisted for months on end, nevertheless, I began digging for a resolution. One night whilst listening to music and looking at the titanium white ceiling, an epiphany had hit me. All this negativity, the comparing of skill and rise of hatred towards my lack of experience: it was but a fallacy. I questioned my doubts, putting down more uplifting decisions rather than keeping hold onto the the bad ones. Rather than doubting my capabilities and comparing myself to everyone else, I began looking at their works as material for inspiration. It soon began to turn into a form of relaxing, in the artwork and music I made: I ended up being more encouraged to learn from their style. With that, I continued forward: with a positive mindset to guide my mind.

The constant ticking of a clock is heard if one were to listen close enough. The element of time continues everlastingly after all, and does so with all the sounds of the world. It's a precious yet scary-element to many including myself, hence I focus on it in lots of my artwork. Art is a valuable element that resides in every corner of our lives, the architecture; posters; music that plays from restaurants. All of these forms are art, each carrying their own processes and forms of expression. During the second year of High School I had taken various actions in finding what my future would become. I would take multiple programs and participate in various school art roles. Prior to those events, I had isolated myself year after year within the phone in my backpack. Listening to music each break I could get to stay calm and not feel stressed from the heavy workload of school. My interest in "Time" would spark near the end of my junior year of high school. All this nervousness and negativity that I had built up against the future since the eighth grade had transformed into anger. I had grown tired of the gray lifestyle that tackled my life. As a result, works that aimed with a different point of view became my interest; one that sought to battle against the treacherous effects of time and it's tremendous negative power it could have upon those who face consistent issues in motivation; sadness; anxiety. In that instance, I had waged war against time and it's sickening after effects. With that, I set out to create grand projects made out of illustrations; music production; animation, so on and so forth: to send a message of comfort to those in need of it.

From the depths of illustration all the way to the orchestra's continuous pounding snare drums. The canvas is the earth, and impactful pieces are expressed via both art forms of music and art itself. It can carry a message, or it can simply be a harmonious piece filled with passion and fire from one or a multitude of individuals. My home is a saturated light-indigo room that holds all my needs. From day to day I wake up, wide eyed, going from train to train with a portfolio and tool box in one hand. Arriving at the MassArt campus, the drowsiness I had wore off. The whole journey up to my acceptance onto campus felt a lot longer than my current train ride however. In High school, specifically my sophomore year: I found myself in a tough patch. The scribbles in my math, english, and science notebooks weren't of interest to me. I felt bonded to my flashcards from eighth grade, where all my school doodles used to reside. Despite this bond, that year this bottle of uncertainty as to what I wanted to do in the future began to tackle me. Hence I ended up going to my school's Art Show. As I stared upon the artworks that I had created, I realized what future path I wanted to grasp towards. This would lead me into applying and attending a multitude of outside programs. Specifically the photography; Advanced Music Production; Harbor Collective programs that were given by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). Though I attended those programs, I also participated within the art fields in my school. I would help out in the Arts Council, and would support my teacher as the Art Assistant of the school. Being required and encouraged to go to a variety of art events ended up helping me find more of art's importance It's an element that surrounds us day in and day out, music playing from mall speakers and street art in the alleys. The skies themselves portray a hyper realistic depiction of art, carrying a vast array of cool and muted colors. All these vibrant sceneries give everyone a space to relax, gives us a brighter picture of what our so-called "home" is. Not only does it give us this sense of calmness but art in of itself can be pushed to greater limits, making a voice for those who cannot speak. Creating greater projects and events that aim for a better world, whether it be for ending great calamities such as climate change or for the justice of minorities. Art is a tool that reaches various depths, all of that is the same with passionate and impactful music: from orchestras to R'n'B tracks. To better comprehend art, one must look deeper into its effect. A piece of artwork can be a monochromatic blue or red, creating the feeling of anger or sadness. Some pieces can take a neutral feeling such as self-portraits, nevertheless, even portraits themselves can turn into more personal deep-themed pieces of art. In the case of music, it is similar. Whether it's the drums and percussions that continuously combat with one another, or a guitar slowly being softly played with whispery-like vocals. The grand effect is this sense of emotion that we get, whether it be motivation, sadness, or empathy. Art in of itself, is tremendously valuable despite what we see on the surface level of things. It will continue on to create movements, companies, and support to many across the world. It's impact goes far, and therefore is an essential key to our world.

Stumbling into the sunlit streets of Chelsea this summer, I found myself feeling a grand sense of nostalgia. Within my house I overheard my Salvadoran parents speaking about how tremendously panicked the world became when the first mention of COVID arrived on television. Going into quarantine last year pushed my endurance to the limits, and though it didn't work quite well: I found myself feeling at least a bit proud of all the work I managed to do remotely. My next objective was to prepare to pick which college I want to go to, and after making my decision, and submitting a grand deposit, I began to recognize the grand cost that is being asked from me. Living within the spaces that my room has to offer, I overheard arguments once more about rent and all the bills that need to be paid. I had managed to successfully get into the school of my dreams, but I started to ponder once more-- at what cost will this come to? As the conflicting subject of money flies around my headspace I try to calm down. It's not only the rent that's on the list, there's books; paint; pencils; watercolor; artistic mediums; digital programs; so much more needed to continue in a straight path. Juggling multiple after-school programs didn't give time for employment either, and so, I'm at a loss. Even so, though one may fall into their own hardships: I've always kept in mind that it would be worth it. Within my room, I continue on drawing to try and improve my abilities. Keeping in the center of my mind all the comfort and messages I want to send within my music; illustrations; animations, to those struggling around the world. I recall all the pushes that I made to continue on forward within High School. All the stresses on grades, the successes, the failures: although I might've tripped here and there, I still felt determined to go on forward. The finish line to the first round is right in front of me, whilst thinking of all of the individuals I might be able to comfort with my projects: I march on.

Arriving at my high school’s art show, for the first time I caught a glimpse of the beauty within art. When I was in middle school I had an interest in art, but never had I ever seen something so energetic. As a sophomore I was simply astounded, I had never been to an art show before: even seeing my booth was shocking. Either way, after leaving it left me thinking more as to my future. Such a brief event had left me pondering, what do I want to do with my life? In the end, I decided to keep on taking art classes: from Pre-AP Studio Art all the way to AP Studio Art. The workload was grand, but I was dedicated to continuing down that path. I began questioning what art really was, and ended up taking programs at the Institute of Contemporary Arts: specifically Advanced Music Production and photography. After two grand years of working in various mediums, I discovered that for me, being an artist was a representation of one’s creativity and how far they would go to push their own message out into the public. My message centers around comforting those who feel unmotivated in their life, whenever they feel stuck in an art block or simply just down: I hope to bring forth various projects that individuals can relate to. I constantly keep in mind that there’s lots of individuals that yearn for more support from artists, and that’s an element that keeps me going. I comprehend how those moments feel, to stay stuck in a loop of procrastination with the feeling that there’s no aid in sight. That’s why I push forward, trying my best to improve not only my character but also my understanding of art in general. In all, the future can go in various directions. I’d like to make some changes to the art industry, even if it’s small. I’ve recognized that big movies don’t really have that 2D-animation feeling to them anymore. Rather, it feels as if it’s been left behind in films and such. There are some animation films that strive, nevertheless, the amount of hard work on 2-Dimensional animation has slowly depreciated. In general, I hope that I can add more numbers to the amount of well-known 2D films. Other generations could look back and look at my--and many other’s--works as an example and continue the cycle. Furthering the amount of fluid and grand 2D animated productions. Nonetheless, even if I were to, let's say, never reach that tremendous goal. I’d settle with leaving lasting impacts on individual's lives via illustrations; animated music videos; songs; etc. Knowing that I perhaps made a person’s day better out there in the world would be enough for me. With that, I'll push onwards to improve on my skills.

Life is filled with it’s epiphanies, and those same thoughts can spiral into beautiful outcomes. For me I had fallen into the rabbit hole when I found out about Yorushika, not necessarily one individual but a duo of an artist named n-buna with vocals from suis. The way that stories are built within their lyrics is so complex yet so astounding at the same time. Hearing the melodies that they come up with incorporated alongside the music videos made me ponder more upon the complexity of my art pieces. Living in a barely-breaking even household, I worked more and more on my portfolio in my room over the months.--The portfolio focused on the subject of nihilism.--I gradually got out of my comfort zone, going from graphite pencils to watercolor. Yorushika’s complex yet simplistic MV’s always astounded me, and as a result I myself tried aiming for that nature. An art piece filled to the brim with complicated elements but at the same time easy to acknowledge and understand. Theme-wise, I focused a lot on surrealism and tones: trying to further my strength of the graphite pencil. Nevertheless, playing around with color also aided my understanding in specific types of shades as well. With that said, as time goes on, personally I want to use my skills to send a message of comfort in various ways. From animated films, to emotionally packed music videos like from the musical duo that I mentioned. In general I want to reach those that may feel unmotivated; those that feel as if they’re in an everlasting art block; individual’s that simply need a push to move forward. Through inevident messages within various mediums, I hope to send a helping hand so that they can continue further and make their own goals become reality. When it comes to my capabilities, one element that might stand out is the tiny details that I personally adore implementing into my art pieces. Being able to leave subtle symbols that actually add onto the piece’s message is one value that I continue on to portray within my portfolios. Yorushika focuses heavily on pushing forward past various obstacles within life. With non-straightforward music videos, they’re able to give such harmonious melodies that simply leave me motivated to do just as good as them. As I march onwards, I can only hope and work to the best of my abilities to do the same.

Illustrating; producing music; making animations; they all hint to that genre that we all call Art. The competitive war zone that I decided to dive into was something I kept in mind ever since my decision. It was at school, I always had the tendency of drawing on tiny flashcards in 7th grade, this habit would continue and land me in art classes for my four years in high school. I always questioned: where does my fire come from? I pondered it, and in my senior year I recognized it. “Becoming an art director is my final goal.” After sharing my thoughts to my parents, they weren’t supportive of it. Yet, I felt the urge to continue on even if there wasn’t support for it within the household. I would hold onto this goal, marking it in my bucket list. The only supporting party around me would be my two cousins, my art teacher, and my online friends. Slowly I began to unravel why I wasn’t backing down. To make a variety of art, in various skills alike: that’s my grand goal. But why? After looking at all my art pieces, reflecting on the amateur beats I created, and just my whole experience as an art student in general. I found that--personally-- I’ve been striving to gain a ground where I could spread a message of comfort. There’s such a tremendous amount of people around the world that feel a weight of sadness, some even worse than others. With the skills I build, I’ve always kept in my head that I really want to support those individuals with my work. To be able to give them something comforting to listen to, a motivative melody, or an uplifting art piece. Something, that by simply looking or hearing, will push individuals spirits to continue on forward with a motivated attitude. In a way, I want to be an example that their dreams are indeed possible. My everything would be the people looking for a source of comfort. Nevertheless, there’s also that value of self-worth. With all my effort I want to show myself that my skills are indeed marching in the right direction, and that my parent’s thoughts on it failing are indeed false. To be able to bring myself up alongside others that are feeling down, that would be incredible. Even so, to make it all happen I have to continue down the lengthy road. With that, I’ll keep walking on to get closer to that goal.