Watching the most important person in my life die before my eyes permanently altered how I looked out on my life. The absence, along with the initial event, twisted my understanding of life. This change inevitably affected my friendships, my education, my future, and ultimately who I am as a person. On April 12, 2025, my father had a massive heart attack resulting in his death. I was the one who called 911 and aided my mother with help. In the end, it did nothing to prevent such an intense heart attack. My mother's heartbrokenness shattered our family. No one was in the right mind to act as a support in order to keep things together. So, I took the initiative to fill that gap and become that strong foundation. While my family mourned, I helped with my brother's education, any household duties that had been left, and keeping my mother's mindset straight despite the grief. While many may see this as a way to cope by burying myself in these new responsibilities, I didn't mind. However, their view on the matter of my grieving process was correct. If I was busy, then I would not have to think about the hole that my father left within me when he died. If I was busy, then I would not have to think about how my nuclear family changed in the span of an hour. If I was busy, then I would not have to think about how I was in fact not alright despite the strong facade I put on. The thing was, I despised how I had no say or warning on when my favorite person would be taken from me. My visions of a future with him walking me down the aisle, meeting my husband, seeing my first child, being there when I landed my first big time job, and especially watching me walk across the stage to graduate. As depressing as it was for my father to be taken from me, it gave me a new sense of purpose as well as a new lens to view life with. I had viewed life as something that would eventually end, but a long way down the road. As many people do, we all think we have time in life. I wonder why it is that we are so certain about the most doubtful thing about us. Death is not a reliable thing in the slightest. My life could end tomorrow or a hundred years from now and I wouldn't know. I could unknowingly spend the little time I had left with people I disliked just because I was scared of branching out. I could stay in a job that I hated just because I didn't know if I would succeed without it. I could spend my whole life committing my name to stupid acts just because I thought there would be time to change. The death of my father killed this view. It showed me that my life could do a complete flip in the matter of a day and there was nothing I could do about it. So here I am applying to places that might not accept me. I wake up every morning and decide that things could be so much worse. I smile through the pain that life brings me because it means I'm still here. I pursue the difficult challenges with the knowledge that my biggest supporter is cheering me on. In the end, I've begun to truly live life because I will never know how much of it I have left.

Watching the most important person in my life die before my eyes permanently altered how I looked out on my life. The absence, along with the initial event, twisted my understanding of life. This change inevitably affected my friendships, my education, my future, and ultimately who I am as a person. On April 12, 2025, my father had a massive heart attack resulting in his death. I was the one who called 911 and aided my mother with help. In the end, it did nothing to prevent such an intense heart attack. My mother's heartbrokenness shattered our family. No one was in the right mind to act as a support in order to keep things together. So, I took the initiative to fill that gap and become that strong foundation. While my family mourned, I helped with my brother's education, any household duties that had been left, and keeping my mother's mindset straight despite the grief. While many may see this as a way to cope by burying myself in these new responsibilities, I didn't mind. However, their view on the matter of my grieving process was correct. If I was busy, then I would not have to think about the hole that my father left within me when he died. If I was busy, then I would not have to think about how my nuclear family changed in the span of an hour. If I was busy, then I would not have to think about how I was in fact not alright despite the strong facade I put on. The thing was, I despised how I had no say or warning on when my favorite person would be taken from me. My visions of a future with him walking me down the aisle, meeting my husband, seeing my first child, being there when I landed my first big time job, and especially watching me walk across the stage to graduate. As depressing as it was for my father to be taken from me, it gave me a new sense of purpose as well as a new lens to view life with. I had viewed life as something that would eventually end, but a long way down the road. As many people do, we all think we have time in life. I wonder why it is that we are so certain about the most doubtful thing about us. Death is not a reliable thing in the slightest. My life could end tomorrow or a hundred years from now and I wouldn't know. I could unknowingly spend the little time I had left with people I disliked just because I was scared of branching out. I could stay in a job that I hated just because I didn't know if I would succeed without it. I could spend my whole life committing my name to stupid acts just because I thought there would be time to change. The death of my father killed this view. It showed me that my life could do a complete flip in the matter of a day and there was nothing I could do about it. So here I am applying to places that might not accept me. I wake up every morning and decide that things could be so much worse. I smile through the pain that life brings me because it means I'm still here. I pursue the difficult challenges with the knowledge that my biggest supporter is cheering me on. In the end, I've begun to truly live life because I will never know how much of it I have left.

Watching the most important person in my life die before my eyes permanently altered how I looked out on my life. The absence, along with the initial event, twisted my understanding of life. This change inevitably affected my friendships, my education, my future, and ultimately who I am as a person. On April 12, 2025, my father had a massive heart attack resulting in his death. I was the one who called 911 and aided my mother with help. In the end, it did nothing to prevent such an intense heart attack. My mother was heartbrokenness shattered our family. No one was in the right mind to act as a support in order to keep things together. So I took the initiative to fill that gap and become that strong foundation. While my family mourned I helped with my brother's education, any household duties that had been left, and keeping my mothers mindset straight despite the grief. While many may see this as a way to cope by burying myself in these new responsibilities, I didn't mind. However, their view on the matter of my grieving process was correct. If I was busy then I would not have to think about the hole that my father left within me when he died. If I was busy then I would not have to think about how my nuclear family changed in the span of an hour. If I was busy then I would not have to think about how I was in fact not alright despite the strong facade I put on. The thing was, I despised how I had no say or warning on when my favorite person would be taken from me. My visions of a future with him walking me down the aisle, meeting my husband, seeing my first child, being there when I landed my first big time job, and especially watching me walk across the stage to graduate. As depressing as it was for my father to be taken from me, it gave me a new sense of purpose as well as a new lens to view life with. I had viewed life as something that would eventually end, but a long way down the road. As many people do, we all think we have time in life. I wonder why it is that we are so certain about the most doubtful thing about us. Death is not a reliable thing in the slightest. My life could end tomorrow or a hundred years from now and I wouldn't know. I could unknowingly spend the little time I had left with people I disliked just because I was scared of branching out. I could stay in a job that I hated just because I didn't know if I would succeed without it. I could spend my whole life committing my name to stupid acts just because I thought there would be time to change. The death of my father killed this view. It showed me that my life could do a complete flip in the matter of a day and there was nothing I could do about it. So here I am applying to places that might not accept me. I wake up every morning and decide that things could be so much worse. I smile through the pain that life brings me because it means I'm still here. I pursue the difficult challenges with the knowledge that my biggest supporter is cheering me on. In the end, I've begun to truly live life because I will never know how much of it I have left.

My name is Claire Ocean Albritton, I was born on the first day of spring, and I love to create. Since my childhood I have always had that creative talent. Designing my house's floor plans, making fairy gardens, and being bossy when it comes to accomplishing my vision. I try my best to stand out with my art and not follow the crowd by implementing things that aren't typically seen. My biggest inspiration is not a person or style, but rather an idea. The spiral is both a spiritual and artistic concept. Everything has a starting point and as growth occurs, the starting point evolves. It is never ending, always growing, and inevitably changing. Similar to life, we never stay in the same spot. Every decision brings that inevitable change of growth. The spiral of our life is forever growing, progressing, and transforming. This is the very reason that I implement it in almost all of my work. It makes the piece unique, mind boggling, and special to me. Throughout my art I try to use detailed calculations by measuring, lining, and attempting to get the cleanest result that I can. I find that the more I do this, as well as the more shapes I add, I can create art that messes with your eyes and brain. It creates a difficult pattern that you cannot always grasp no matter how long you look at it. To get this result I use a majority of black and white, as I find it gives that effect better than color. The reason that the spiral design plays such a huge role in my art is simply because of what I have experienced in my life. The hardest point of my life up until now, has been the death of my father. The loss of a man so important and supportive in my life made it feel as though I would forever stay stuck in that hopeless mindset. I would never crawl out of the hole that his death left inside me without the support that he once gave me. Yet I did, and here I stand trying my hardest to become a woman he would surely be proud of. I crawled out of that pit, I overcame my obstacles, and I grew. Despite the rough change I have already been through, I know that my spiral of life is not done growing.