I love video games, anime and fantasy type of at. My artist style is different because while it may look like anime that you have seen before, I tend to incorporate details from my own personality, and my friends, and then I add those into the characters that I am drawing. I would love to find a way to combine the things I love and possibly work for a video game company. I want to create a game that does not fit into the same mold of the usual games that I have played. Art has always been an outlet for me. I use art to express how I am feeling. This was helpful while dealing with my mother's alcohol issues. Art gave me an outlet and an escape from the stress of what was happening at home. I would love to find ways to incorporate art into inner city programs. So many of the programs tend to focus on sports and while that is great, there are also kids that were like me growing up. I hated sports but loved learning new art techniques.

I am an eighteen year old young black man who has been raised by a single mother. Some may call it cliche', but my mother has been the biggest influence in my life. My father has always been in my life but he was not the one making the sacrifices to give me more. When I was younger, I attended a predominately black charter school. I did not fit in AT ALL. My mother did the research and found a great private christian school for me. Private school meant tuition, and money was always tight, but my enrolled me nontheless. I attended this private school from 3rd grade until graduation. It was mother's sacrifices that made this happen. She did this while working on finishing her degree and working full-time! My mother has always encouraged any passion that I have had. She never tried to mold me into someone I was not. As I got older, my mother battled alcoholism and it was pretty bad for awhile. She said that was how she handled stress. For years I was convinced that she loved alcohol more than she loved me. She proved me and everyone else wrong! She not only fought to overcome her trials and tribulations, her strength strengthened our bond as well. She is my personal hero. I love video games, anime and fantasy type of at. My artist style is different because while it may look like anime that you have seen before, I tend to incorporate details from my own personality, and my friends, and then I add those into the characters that I am drawing. I would love to find a way to combine the things I love and possibly work for a video game company. I want to create a game that does not fit into the same mold of the usual games that I have played. Art has always been an outlet for me. I use art to express how I am feeling. This was helpful while dealing with my mother's alcohol issues. Art gave me an outlet and an escape from the stress of what was happening at home. I would love to find ways to incorporate art into inner city programs. So many of the programs tend to focus on sports and while that is great, there are also kids that were like me growing up. I hated sports but loved learning new art techniques.

Try to picture this moment: It is February of 2018. I started hearing an odd, gurgling sound coming from my mom's room. I immediately drop what I'm doing and run out of my room to see my mother starting to choke on her blood. I began to shake her body vigorously, but she refused to wake up, so I could only assume she was having a seizure. This wasn't her first time having an attack, but I wasn't there for any previous times. Having no clue what to do, I called 911 while shaking and slapping my mom to snap her back to consciousness. In the middle of my call, her mouth started overflowing with blood. Ignoring the bright lights coming from fire trucks and ambulances, I nearly screamed when I heard loud banging on my front door. I take a deep breath, hanging on to the hope that her condition won't get worse, and sprint towards my door to let the paramedics into our home. I follow them into my mom's room while answering any questions they ask. A female paramedic asked, "has she had any history with alcohol?", but the question falls on deaf ears as I remember seeing a glimpse of glass in her bed when I first ran in. I am already aware of what I saw; I yank back my mom's bed covers and find 3 or 4 empty vodka bottles. My mother has always liked to drink, but this is when it started to get worse. My mother was arrested multiple times for drinking and driving. She went to jail and rehab a handful of times. Every time she promised me she would change and get better, but she kept getting worse. It got to the point that every time something happened and she ended up in jail or the hospital, I would tell our family not to bring her home. I reached a point where I barely even wanted to talk to my mother. I was so angry with her. It seemed like she loved alcohol more than she loved me. While dealing with all of this with my mother, I still had to make sure I did what I was supposed to: maintain good grades. This was stressful because I love my mom, but I missed my real mom! The sober mom. My mom is now sober and has been for over a year. I still worry about her, but I will not let my fear of her relapsing deter my dreams. Both of my parents went to college but eventually had to leave for different reasons. My mom finished her degree later in life via an online college, but I want to be the first to break the cycle in my family. I want to go to college and graduate. I want to obtain my degree and walk across the stage. I will not let my fear of becoming like my parents keep me from this. I have never had alcohol before, and I see no point in even trying it. I have lived with an alcoholic, and I don't want to do anything that may turn me into that person. I will do better than my parents and my family in general. I am going to break the cycle.

Try to picture this moment: It is February of 2018. I started hearing an odd, gurgling sound coming from my mom's room. I immediately drop what I'm doing and run out of my room to see my mother starting to choke on her blood. I began to shake her body vigorously, but she refused to wake up, so I could only assume she was having a seizure. This wasn't her first time having an attack, but I wasn't there for any previous times. Having no clue what to do, I called 911 while shaking and slapping my mom to snap her back to consciousness. Unfortunately, in the middle of my call, her mouth overflowed with blood. Ignoring the bright lights coming from fire trucks and ambulances, I nearly screamed when I heard loud banging on my front door. I take a deep breath, hanging on to the hope that her condition won't get worse, and sprint towards my door to let the paramedics into our home. I follow them into my mom's room while answering any questions they ask. A female paramedic asked, "has she had any history with alcohol?" I yank back my mom's bed covers and find 3 or 4 empty vodka bottles. My mother has always liked to drink, but this is when it started to get worse. My mother was arrested multiple times for drinking and driving. She went to jail and rehab a handful of times. Every time she promised me she would change and get better, but she kept getting worse. My mother is a recovering alcoholic, but there was a time when her drinking and driving impaired ruined our lives. From 2018-to 2020, my mother was arrested three times for driving under the influence. Each time, our bond shattered more and more. I called everyone for rides to save myself from getting in a car with her. Every time we drove somewhere, I was in fear of her killing us or someone else. This went on for years. I was convinced that she loved alcoholic more than me. On September 18, 2020, she was arrested for her third DUI. This was finally the one that woke her up. She has been sober since that day but is still dealing with the aftermath of her legal issues. She cries every time she hears about a drunk driving fatality on television because she knows it could have been her behind the wheel. I still worry about my mother because I know that this is an addiction she will deal with for the rest of her life. I also know that not all stories end this way. I could have lost my mother to her addiction and carelessness. I could have lost my life because I was a child, and there was only so much that I could do to prevent her from getting behind the wheel. These are things that I will remember while obtaining my degree in Graphic Design. I want to learn from the mistakes of those who came before me. My mother is still dealing with the aftermath of her poor choices. Thanks to her poor choices, I will never forget how I felt and what I had to endure. I love my mother, and I am grateful for her progress; however, I will do everything to not follow in her footsteps. My art helped me a lot during that time, and I would help children use a form of art as an outlet if they are dealing with stressful situations at home.

Try to picture this moment: It is February of 2018; I started hearing an odd, gurgling sound coming from my mom’s room. I immediately drop what I’m doing and run out of my room to see my mother starting to choke on her blood. I began to shake her body vigorously, but she refused to wake up, so I could only assume she was having a seizure. This wasn’t her first time having an attack, but I wasn’t there for any previous times. Having no clue what to do, I called 911 while shaking and slapping my mom to snap her back to consciousness. In the middle of my call, her mouth started overflowing with blood. Ignoring the bright lights coming from fire trucks and ambulances, I nearly screamed when I heard loud banging on my front door. I take a deep breath, hanging on to the hope that her condition won't get worse, and sprint towards my door to let the paramedics into our home. I follow them into my mom's room while answering any questions they ask. A female paramedic asked, “has she had any history with alcohol?”, but the question falls on deaf ears as I remember seeing a glimpse of glass in her bed when I first ran in. I am already aware of what I saw; I yank back my mom's bed covers and find 3 or 4 empty vodka bottles. My mother has always liked to drink, but this is when it started to get worse. My mother was arrested multiple times for drinking and driving. She went to jail and rehab a handful of times. Every time she promised me, she would change and get better, but she kept getting worse. It got to the point that every time something happened, and she ended up in jail or the hospital, I would tell our family not to bring her home. I reached a point where I barely even wanted to talk to my mother. I was so angry with her. It seemed like she loved alcohol more than she loved me. While dealing with all of this with my mother, I still had to make sure I did what I was supposed to: maintain good grades. This was stressful because I love my mom, but I missed my real mom! The sober mom. My mom is now sober and has been for over a year. I still worry about her, but I will not let my fear of her relapsing deter my dreams. Both of my parents went to college but eventually had to leave for different reasons. My mom finished her degree later in life via an online college, but I want to be the first to break the cycle in my family. I want to go to college and graduate. I want to obtain my degree and walk across the stage. I will not let my fear of becoming like my parents keep me from this. I have never had alcohol before, and I see no point in even trying it. I have lived with an alcoholic, and I don't want to do anything that may turn me into that person. I am going to do better than my parents and my family in general. I am going to break the cycle. I would love to also work with children who are going through similar struggles. Children whos home life seems stable on the outside but there is a silent battle that they are actually enduring.

Try to picture this moment: It is February of 2018; I started hearing an odd, gurgling sound coming from my mom’s room. I immediately drop what I’m doing and run out of my room to see my mother starting to choke on her blood. I began to shake her body vigorously, but she refused to wake up, so I could only assume she was having a seizure. This wasn’t her first time having an attack. But this is how life was for about three years while my mother battled her alcohol addiction. Art was my escape. It was how I dealt with everything. It kept me grounded. I am a fictional artist. I love taking certain features from different characters in my favorite video games and/or anime novels and combining them into the "ultimate warrior". Whenever someone asks me to draw a character for them, I pull from their personality as inspiration as well. I plan to go to college and major in graphic design. I want to show that I am not a product of my environment. I want to obtain a degree so that I can make a career out of doing what I love the most.

Try to picture this moment: It is February of 2018; I started hearing an odd, gurgling sound coming from my mom’s room. I immediately drop what I’m doing and run out of my room to see my mother starting to choke on her blood. I began to shake her body vigorously, but she refused to wake up, so I could only assume she was having a seizure. This wasn’t her first time having an attack. But this is how life was for about three years while my mother battled her alcohol addiction. Art was my escape. It was how I dealt with everything. It kept me grounded. I am a fictional artist. I love taking certain features from different characters in my favorite video games and/or anime novels and combining them into the "ultimate warrior". Whenever someone asks me to draw a character for them, I pull from their personality as inspiration as well. I plan to go to college and major in graphic design. I want to show that I am not a product of my environment. I want to obtain a degree so that I can make a career out of doing what I love the most.

The type of legacy that I would like to leave on the world is that I want to be remembered as the young man who was a leader and not a follower. I want to be remembered as a talented artist and the first one to break the generational stigmas that my family has lived under. I want to be remembered as the son of Demarco Hawkins & LaToya Dozier, who surpassed his parent's achievements, just like they have always wanted. I am going to be the one who graduates college and possibly goes on to graduate school. I am not going to be a young black man with a criminal record. I come from a family where the majority are high school dropouts and addicts and the minority are high school and college graduates. Because of this, I will be the best in the minority. I refuse to be like the majority of my family. All in all, my legacy will be simple. I want to leave my mark on the world by being the one who broke through all of the stereotypes that I was born into. I want to surpass my parent's goals. I want the village that has helped raise me to be proud of me. I want my future children to want to be like me when they grow up, instead of looking at me with the disgust and disappointment that I have sometimes felt towards my parents and family throughout my life.

My best skills are my artistic skills. I have loved art since I was very young. The few ways that I love to improve my craft are by studying different areas of art. I love finding different ways to bring my vision to life, whether it is on a canvas, paper, or clay. I like to participate in different types of classes to learn new techniques. Drawing by hand is my favorite area of art. I remember when I learned how to shade to give a piece of art more depth or to make it appear as if it is coming off of the paper. That is one of my favorite memories. Throughout my high school career, my art has been displayed a lot. I love it when I receive compliments regarding my artistic skills. That makes me want to work even harder to improve my skills because when it comes to art, there are always ways and areas where a person can improve. This is why I am going to major in Graphic Design in college. I want to learn, grow and improve my skillset so that I can utilize them in a career and to inspire others, especially people of color like me. I want them to know that it is okay to embrace your artistic side. You do not have to be an athlete in order to be successful.

The simple pleasure in life that makes me happy is art. I love to draw so I can find happiness with just a writing utensil and a piece of paper. With those items the possibilities are endless. I can draw a whole new world to escape to. I can create a protector if I need one. I can create a game to pass the time if I am bored. I used pen and paper to write down my life goals. Art is a simple pleasure that has been a constant in my life. It has never failed me. It is a simple pleasure that also served as a distraction whenever things became stressful in my life. I would like to make a career of it so that I can share my talent with others. I would like to use this simple pleasure to obtain a graphic design degree. This simple pleasure is what brings me joy.