The art piece that inspires me the most is an original oil painting that I painted which showcases the two things which mentally and physically healed me during a dark time in my life. During my freshman year of college, I was entirely alone due to COVID-19. I had no roommates, completely virtual classes, and as an out-of-state student— my family wasn't around to support me. The isolation took a toll and the mild eating disorder I had in High School consumed me. After deciding I had enough, I embarked on a journey of self-improvement. I ate healthier and began weightlifting in the gym. Overtime, my passion in the gym grew and inspired me to pursue a scientific career in fitness (kinesiology). In addition, I’m competing in powerlifting this May seeking to surpass the deadlift state record for females (320lbs). In addition to replacing toxic habits with good ones, I decided to end a toxic relationship. Last year, while I was recovering from my eating disorder, my boyfriend was in the army and only visited once a week. Despite being absent, he was controlling. He didn’t want me to exercise, be with friends, and I couldn’t bring my cat to my apartment because he was “allergic”. However, I caught him cheating and ended the relationship. With all toxicity removed, I decided to bring my cat, Coco, to the apartment. Even though she’s my pet, we take care of each other. When I'm depressed or anxious, and she'll comfort me by curling up next to me in bed. A few weeks ago, she was sitting in my lifting belt. At that moment, the two things that healed me from my mental and physical ailments were together– I knew I had to capture the moment and that is what my painting illustrates.

The art piece that inspires me the most is an original oil painting that I painted which showcases the two things which mentally and physically healed me during a dark time in my life. During my freshman year of college, I was entirely alone due to COVID-19. I had no roommates, completely virtual classes, and as an out-of-state student— my family wasn't around to support me. The isolation took a toll and the mild eating disorder I had in High School consumed me. After deciding I had enough, I embarked on a journey of self-improvement. I ate healthier and began weightlifting in the gym. Overtime, my passion in the gym grew and inspired me to pursue a scientific career in fitness (kinesiology). In addition, I’m competing in powerlifting this May seeking to surpass the deadlift state record for females (320lbs). In addition to replacing toxic habits with good ones, I decided to end a toxic relationship. Last year, while I was recovering from my eating disorder, my boyfriend was in the army and only visited once a week. Despite being absent, he was controlling. He didn’t want me to exercise, be with friends, and I couldn’t bring my cat to my apartment because he was “allergic”. However, I caught him cheating and ended the relationship. With all toxicity removed, I decided to bring my cat, Coco, to the apartment. Even though she’s my pet, we take care of each other. When I'm depressed or anxious, and she'll comfort me by curling up next to me in bed. A few weeks ago, she was sitting in my lifting belt. At that moment, the two things that healed me from my mental and physical ailments were together– I knew I had to capture the moment and that is what my painting illustrates.

This original, oil-based painting showcases the two things I love the most, my cat and powerlifting. During my freshman year of college, I was entirely alone due to COVID-19. I had no roommates, completely virtual classes, and as an out-of-state student— my family wasn't around to support me. The isolation took a toll on my mental and physical health. A mild eating disorder I had in High School wrapped its claws around my neck and consumed me. After deciding I had enough of wallowing in turmoil of my own doing, I embarked on a journey of recovery and self-improvement. I began eating healthier and going to the gym. After dropping my toxic habits, I decided to drop my toxic relationship. During that time, I was in a toxic relationship with a guy who only visited a few times a week due to the army. Despite being mostly absent in my life, he was extremely controlling. He didn’t want me to exercise, hang out with friends, and I couldn’t even bring my cat to my college apartment because he was “allergic”. However after a 3 year relationship, I caught him cheating. After this incident, I was enlightened to his toxicity and ended the relationship. With all the toxicity out of my life, I asked my parents to bring my cat, Coco. They did, and having Coco around has been healing. She cuddles with next me at night and sits on my lap when I study. I even cook her food (chicken and sweet potatoes). Even though she’s my pet, we take care of each other. There have been times when Coco senses that my mental strength has weakened, and she'll comfort me by rubbing against my leg and purring. She reminds me to keep going on my road to recovery whenever I get close to slipping back into the vicious eating disorder mindset. She’s my best friend. A few weeks ago I caught her sitting in the weight training belt which I decorated– with the ‘squat, bench, deadlift’ sloan–. In that moment, the two things I love most were together. Throughout this past year, on top of having Coco around, going to weightlifting at the gym has given me a purpose. Now, I’m so passionate about the gym that I hope to pursue a scientific career in fitness. I’ve applied to transfer into Kinesiology (the scientific study of exercise) and to showcase my hard work of this past year, I’m competing this May– on my birthday– at a powerlifting competition. I hope to break the state record in Michigan with my deadlift of 320 lbs at my bodyweight of 125lbs. Ultimately, this painting illustrates the two things which have healed me from the isolation and toxicity that I’ve encountered this past year.

When I was 3, I remember lying belly-down on a large sheet of cardboard in my mom's office, drawing or painting complex cyborg dragons, crossbred creatures and mystical scenes. I doodled my daydreams to remain blissfully ignorant to the aggressive quarrels between either my parents as they strained to work together, or my parents and uncooperative coworkers. Going into middle school, I'd isolate myself from my bullies by delving into the pages within my 5"x10" sketchbook in the cafeteria restroom. I'd sketch my favorite foods, animals, and places as I ate my pre-packed lunch. This continued into Highschool, where I majored in fine arts and spent every drop of free time that I had in the art studio– painting away the seconds, letting it slip down the canvas like excess linseed oil. Overall, throughout my childhood, art has always been my way to escape a troubled reality, allowing the time to serenely slip away like a calligraphy brush sliding ink across Chinese Shuan paper. As I go into college, my outlook on life has matured. I no longer want to use my art to escape reality, but to improve my reality. Subsequently, I chose to major in biology and minor in art, with the end goal of becoming a medical illustrator. As a medical illustrator, I'll be able to use my art to help others as my art has helped me overcome difficult times in my life. I'll collaborate with scientists, professors, and medical professionals to help them efficiently and effectively communicate to broad audiences– students and public alike– with captivating visuals. In addition to collaborating with other scientific/medical professionals, I'll be able to conduct my own studies as a scientist and communicate my findings through my artwork. As a scientist, I'll also direct my focus towards making reality better. Currently, I'm majoring in biology, however, as I pivot towards graduate studies, I want to specify my field of research towards human biology. Ever since I was little, I was fascinated by the human body, its condition, and how to improve that condition. I began dancing at the Alvin Ailey dance theater when I was 4, and continued for 12 years. However, as I danced into my pre-teen years, the instructors began focusing on staying thin which induced an eating disorder. As a result, I started transitioning into Taekwondo which focused on strength and discipline instead of staying thin. Over the 8 years I spent in Taekwondo, I pushed my limits and won enough tournaments to attend the Taekwondo 2019 Nationals. Along with attending nationals, I developed a passion for improving the human body and optimizing its physical abilities. I'd experimented with pre-and-post tournament diet and training, trying to be the best fighter I could be. Overall, this is what inspired me to pursue biology– specifically, human biology, in the field of kinesiology to improving our mental and physical condition through exercise. Ultimately, between art and science, I hope to make my reality healthier and brighter. The same reality which I initially escaped through my art, and the same reality that caused the turmoil I experienced through family quarrels, excessive bullying, and severe bulimia. However, instead of trying to avoid the obstacles in life, I now want to pursue them and fix them for the better. I hope I'm granted the opportunity to pursue my dreams, and with the money from this scholarship, I'll be able to afford the higher education that I need to do so.