In my life, storytelling is the closest I feel to my roots. As a child, I read wonderful adventures of Heroes in far-off lands, defeating incredible beasts and returning home triumphant. These stories fueled my passion for art and I wanted to be an illustrator. I often found myself drawing the scenes of the story I had read that week—a bright orange, Crayola dragon, ready to fight the stick figure hero on my page. Yet as I grew older I began to notice that the heroes I idolized looked nothing like me. Their skin was pale and their hair as golden as the sun, nothing like my dark skin, hair, and eyes. I also realized many stories my abuela and tias had told me were never written in books I read. I felt someone like me could never be portrayed as a hero. Any folks that resembled anyone I knew were often comic relief, the antagonist, or just some minor role. Due to this my love for art grew further, and my dream was to go to college after high school. To tell the stories of my culture and help others do the same. However, as the daughter of Mexican migrants, college was not an option for me and I joined the workforce in hopes of someday saving enough for college. I worked in many labor roles and continued to save all the money possible to go to school. I worked with different migrant populations and learned many felt even in the workforce that representation was missing. One of my previous roles was as a bilingual recruiter working with the Latinx population of Northern Colorado. It was in this role, that I learned I could use my artistic skills to support my community and created flyers, handbooks, handouts, banners, online adverts, and instructional manuals for the Spanish-speaking community to have higher success rates going into the workforce. Through this experience, I learned that lack of representation was not just present in stories but also the workforce and other social spaces. Like many, I wanted to see others supported and uplifted by sharing our own experiences, culture, and struggles. It was then that I realized that to have more representation, there needed to be more diverse storytelling and I could be a part of that. In 2021 after years of saving, I enrolled in community college. Now in my thirties, I may be a non-traditional student, but my goal has grown. I plan to continue my educational journey until I receive my Masters so that I may become an Art Director. I aspire to create a space for all artist to come and be able to create and inspire using their own experiences and see themselves represented on paper and screen. As an Art Director, I will help them find opportunities with different companies and organizations so that their stories can vee seen worldwide. I want to allow future generations to see the incredible diversity around us and to see themselves as the heroes of their futures.

"Mija, someday you'll be a great artist." My abuelita said to me at the age of five as I presented her with a crudely done drawing of her chickens. A woman raised in a small rural town in Mexico, my grandmother only received a middle school education, yet she was always a voracious learner. We would sit in her living room talking about history, mythology and art. She would take me to church on Sundays and she would walk with me admiring the wooden carvings on the walls. We would drink hot atole and dream of the day I would be an artist and buy her a house with running water. She was always my biggest supporter and encouraged me to keep going. She would always say " no matter what, go to college, so you can help your community." I would hear it but not understand, how could my art help my community? Then at the age of eight my parent immigrated to the U.S, my grandmother stayed in Mexico and I would not know that I would not see her again as my undocumented status prevented me from leaving the country. As I grew up in the U.S I began to understand, life would be different. Doors began to close for me simply because of my status. My goal was always to attend college after high school however, I learned supporting my family came first so after graduating I joined the workforce, taking any job that could put me closer to my goal. In 2012 I was given the opportunity to apply for D.A.C.A and jumped right in. Lawyer and application fees restricted me from saving money but I knew this was a necessary step. In 2021 I received U.S residency after twelve long years. The first thing I did was enroll in college. Now in my thirties, I am on track to complete my Associates in Art and will continue forward until I receive my Masters. My goal with my degree is to become an Art Director and help others in my community to be given a chance to thrive in art and create an inclusive and diverse environment for those whose voices have been silent for so long. It is in this way that I honor my grandmother and even if I was not able to say goodbye, I can still hear her each day "Mija, someday, you will be a great artist."

"Mija, someday you'll be a great artist." My abuelita said to me at the age of five as I presented her with a crudely done drawing of her chickens. A woman raised in a small rural town in Mexico, my grandmother only received a middle school education, yet she was always a voracious learner. We would sit in her living room talking about history, mythology and art. She would take me to church on Sundays and she would walk with me admiring the wooden carvings on the walls. We would drink hot atole and dream of the day I would be an artist and buy her a house with running water. She was always my biggest supporter and encouraged me to keep going. She would always say " no matter what, go to college, so you can help your community." I would hear it but not understand, how could my art help my community? Then at the age of eight my parent immigrated to the U.S, my grandmother stayed in Mexico and I would not know that I would not see her again as my undocumented status prevented me from leaving the country. As I grew up in the U.S I began to understand, life would be different. Doors began to close for me simply because of my status. My goal was always to attend college after high school however, I learned supporting my family came first so after graduating I joined the workforce, taking any job that could put me closer to my goal. In 2012 I was given the opportunity to apply for D.A.C.A and jumped right in. Lawyer and application fees restricted me from saving money but I knew this was a necessary step. In 2021 I received U.S residency after twelve long years. The first thing I did was enroll in college. Now in my thirties, I am on track to complete my Associates in Art and will continue forward until I receive my Masters. My goal with my degree is to become an Art Director and help others in my community to be given a chance to thrive in art and create an inclusive and diverse environment for those whose voices have been silent for so long. It is in this way that I honor my grandmother and even if I was not able to say goodbye, I can still hear her each day "Mija, someday, you will be a great artist."

Growing up my most valuable possession was my sketchbook. I would carry it everywhere, my escape from the world and the different microaggressions I faced as a young, queer, Latina. My sketchbook was also my way of giving happiness to those around me. I would draw silly characters to cheer up classmates, drew detailed birthday and Christmas cards for those I cared about and even strangers weren't denied a drawing if I deemed they need it a quick cheering up. Art was how I gave my heart to the world. As an adult, I joined the workforce and kept creating art. I collaborated with a small board game company called Ugly Frog Games and designed a family-friendly zombie card game while working full-time as a Bilingual recruiter. It was during my role as a recruiter, I became more aware of the lack of representation my own community faced. I was given the opportunity to work closely with the Latinx community of Northern Colorado and quickly noticed a disparity in the way Latinx workers were portrayed( or should I say were not portrayed.) The graphics, photos, and art used to present these roles never depicted Latinx workers. Employers refused to create training documents for Spanish-speaking workers and although it was hidden behind corporate wording, blatant discrimination, was not uncommon. So I took matters into my own hands and created step-by-step picture guides for Spanish-speaking workers whose companies did not provide training in their language. I spent hours creating graphics that helped them navigate systems. I worked closely with training teams to ensure they provided support to these individuals and assisted them in building their resumes as well as created graphics in both English and Spanish so that those in the Latinx community knew and had equal opportunities to apply for jobs in the area. Through this experience, I learned I could combine my passion for art and provide a platform for those who otherwise would be dismissed. My goal in my academic journey is to go on to receive my Masters and become an Art Director. In this role I would be able to give a platform to other Latinx artists to present their art and stories to the world as well as work with organizations in building graphics and advertisement that is inclusive to all communities and that properly represents the workforce. This scholarship would allow me to continue my academic journey in pursuit of creating spaces for marginalized identities to be not only heard but seen.

If you asked me back in High School if I planned to go to college, my answer was always "Yes" with resounding determination however, as a queer, undocumented Latina I knew that the path to higher education would be different than that of other classmates. While other Seniors planned on applying for colleges and Universities, I worked two jobs just to help pay the bills, there was no room to save for college, I knew that although it would take longer, I would one day be the first in my family to attend college. In 2012 I was part of the first wave of Dreamers to receive D.A.C.A and my goal towards higher education was closer than before so I began to work harder moving from fast food to manufacturing and then into recruiting. Each job not only allowed me to develop further and learn new skills but helped me get financially closer to my goal, yet at the same time I was paying for lawyer fees, and renewal fees for D.A.C.A every two years and when the Trump administration began to threaten the D.A.C.A program the fear of losing not just my goal but my entire life if I were to be deported made me fear and question everything. I felt that I was running out of time, now in my 30s I began to doubt that I would ever be able to achieve my dream. It was through the support of my incredible wife and family who encouraged me to apply for U.S Recidency and continue to move forward that finally in 2020 mid-pandemic I was approved for U.S permanent residency. That June I left for Mexico to complete the process and it was the first time I had set foot in my country of birth since arriving here at the age of eight. It was not the return home I had imagined as I spent most of it in a small hotel close to the U.S. Embassy waiting to hear if I could stay in the U.S. or if I would have to uproot everything and go back to a country I barely knew. The day I was approved I couldn't believe it. It had taken over eight years, thousands of dollars, and hundreds of forms. It was real and I cried like I never had before. As soon as I arrived in the U.S. my wife and I decided it was time for me to finally begin the process of getting me back in school and since then I have not stopped. I plan to continue moving forward, pushing boundaries, and making my goal of being the first in my family to attend college a reality. I began by working full-time and taking some courses, today I am a full-time student working on my Associates. Through all of my trials and obstacles, art was always my escape and it has always been my goal to have a career in art. I aspire to go on to receive my Masters and become an Art Director, to help other artists like myself to create and put forward stories that allow for those of us who have been marginalized to have a voice. Stories that the world would otherwise never know. It is my way of proving to those kids in my community that aspires to grow and build, but that a broken immigration system keeps them from reaching their full potential that it is never too late to keep trying, never too late to continue growing, and never too late to reach your goal.