Before taking graphic design seriously, I had loved creating art since I was little. I loved cartoons, and I was inspired to draw because of them. I used to draw all over my parents' books, whiteboards, and printer papers; every surface that I could draw on, I would draw on it. I started taking art seriously when I was around nine years old, and I’ve been developing my skills ever since. I knew I wanted to pursue something art-related, something that my family strongly supported. My passion for graphic design, however, was a different story. I was in my third year of high school and enrolled in an arts program. One of my assignments in my project design class was to design a logo for an imaginary client and do a video presentation on our design process. We’d spent weeks working on the project; we had to turn in thumbnails, give each other feedback, and much more. I, however, was terrified to complete the project. I had done a couple of design projects before, but nothing as big as this. I worried about multiple possibilities. What if my teacher notices a glaring flaw I never considered? What if my video was completely corrupted during the rendering process, and all my progress was deleted? What if my design got mocked and laughed at by my peers? The possibilities, in my mind, were endless. And I was afraid of all of them. The night the assignment was due, I stayed up late editing the video and was anxious about whether my project was good enough. A couple of days went by, and we got feedback. I almost couldn’t open the file where my feedback was. However, to my surprise, I got the opposite response I expected. My teacher gave me a glowing review and suggested I pursue graphic design, and I have been passionate about it ever since. Thanks to senior projects and multiple work-based learning opportunities, I expanded my knowledge and explored my passions further. I got hired to do a couple of logo designs for family and friends and have continued taking art and design commissions since then. In the meantime, I am taking graphic design courses at Santa Rosa Junior College and hope to graduate with my AA by 2026 and further my education afterward. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities I have had in recent years and the capabilities to do what I do. Graphic design is the love of my life, and I would love nothing more than to keep working in this field for as long as possible. Thank you for reading and for this scholarship opportunity.

"And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night. Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us." (Fitzgerald, 180) This quote summarizes Gatsby's whole life and what he tried to achieve. Gatsby has spent five years going after this dream because he was ignorant that the past was already behind him and could do nothing about it. This quote also relates to the American dream, a concept that F. Scott Fitzgerald aims to criticize through "The Great Gatsby." "The Great Gatsby" was set during the Jazz Age/Roaring Twenties after WWI. This era presented many challenges for people who wanted to move up to the top of the social ladder. At this time, the main goal of the American Dream was centered around beating capitalism and needing to ensure a good life for not only the individual but the entire population of America (Cultural History Of The United States, "The American Dream In The 1920s & 30s"). It challenged political corruption and implored the government to regulate things like food. However, all of this would change with World War I. The World War I era was a time of strict moral codes and produced enormous economic success, surging an economy of mass consumerism that would inspire the Roaring Twenties. For the first time, more Americans lived in the city rather than on a farm, and the nation's wealth doubled between 1920 and 1929. This allowed Americans to spend money on whatever they wanted, including clothing and automobiles (History.com, The Roaring Twenties). However, while freedoms were expanded, others were curtailed. For example, The 18th Amendment (ratified in 1919) banned the manufacture of "intoxicating liquors," which would close every tavern, bar, and saloon in the U.S. To many middle-class White Americans, prohibition was a way to control the "unruly" immigrants crowding the nation (History.com, The Roaring Twenties). Immigrants were not the only social targets of the 1920s. The Great Migration of Black people from the South to more Northern cities was meant to give Black people a place where they would have the opportunity to earn money. This migration increased the visibility of Black culture, such as Jazz and Blues music and Black literature. This visibility would later be named The Harlem (or Black) Renaissance. This era for Black people discomforted many White Americans, who formed and joined the Ku Klux Klan in retaliation. By the middle of the decade, the KKK had over two million members, who made it difficult for Black people to get the employment opportunities they originally dreamed of (History.com, The Harlem Renaissance). People during the Roaring Twenties/Harlem Renaissance had one goal: economic success. Black people and Immigrants were so close to this, but that dream failed because of racism, and acceptance of them and their culture was missing from their goal. While there were many incredible attempts to take that power back, there was always something wrong, evident by racism still being incredibly prevalent today. The American Dream of White people also failed. While they had all the economic success they could have wanted, there was always something missing, and in this case, it was alcohol. Jay Gatsby's dream was to achieve economic success, and while that did work out for him - albeit through illegal activity - his dream failed because he didn't have Daisy. Daisy was a rich woman who was married and had a daughter, but she wasn't happy because she felt something was missing. This shows that the American dream had failed both of them and even if they were to get together, it would hold no substance in the end because something would always be wrong. This quote also relates to the American dream. Gatsby dreams of getting his "golden girl," which will climb him up the social ladder regarding money since Daisy already has so much. This is pretty common with the ideal American dream many want to achieve: getting rich, having the perfect partner/family, and being extremely successful. While Gatsby has accomplished a good chunk of this, in the end, the dream fails as it is a hollow illusion he created for his self-fulfillment. The tragic love story of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan encapsulates the American dream that hypothetically could have been achieved but, in the end, was just a broken shell of what it could have been. It brings up the point that Fitzgerald wanted to accomplish in this novel: money can't buy happiness, and no matter what kind of American dream you may have, something will always be missing. This is evident in Daisy's broken marriage, which became even more broken after Gatsby started visiting, and in Gatsby's death. No matter how much Gatsby tried to impress Daisy and win her back, there was always something missing or something that went wrong, and so the dream failed both Jay and Daisy in the end, much like how the people around them did during the Roaring Twenties.

My sophomore year of high school was when I met my friend Leti. She was a talented musician and actress in every play the theater class would offer. She was one of the funniest people I knew, making me and our other friends laugh constantly and create new inside jokes thanks to her incredible humor. Leti and I had big goals and we would talk to each other about them all the time; she wanted to be a singer/songwriter and I wanted to be a graphic designer mainly working in activism and visual art. We were each other’s biggest cheerleaders. Me, her, and all of our other friends were unstoppable together. When we lost Leti in August 2022 to suicide, I didn’t know what to do. I had just started the fall semester of college with thirteen units - although I was having quite a bit of trouble due to time management and mental health - and got my first job. But after I received the phone call from my friend Cody that she was no longer with us, I felt like everything in my life had fallen apart. I wanted nothing else in my life, not even the things that usually make me happy; I just wanted Leti back, and the fact that I could never get her back hurt me the most. I was in a pit of depression for weeks. I struggled to complete my assignments and projects, wasn’t getting enough sleep, and wasn’t eating enough. I felt anxious, lonely, and guilty. I began to spiral, asking myself; what if I’d said something? Did I not talk to her enough? Was I a good enough friend? Was I a bad friend for not noticing anything was wrong? My mom had me withdraw for the semester and come back in the Spring because there was no use in fighting a battle I was already losing. I needed to step back and mourn. And while I was grieving, I wondered if my future and career were worth it. How could I ever accomplish my goals if she didn’t even get a chance to do so herself? How could I even dream of a bright future if she didn’t even get a chance to accomplish hers? I began thinking and spending more time with my loved ones. I held my friends as we grieved together. My mom gave me her ears and allowed me to spill my emotions. I felt love from people like no other, created from togetherness, friendship, and the memories Leti left behind. I was able to bond with these people in ways I never could before. And when we would bond, it was almost like she was there with us, laughing with us and feeling that energy. The abundance of love led me to realize that even if Leti couldn’t accomplish her own goals, I should still fight for my own. I want to be able to do something that’s important to me, something that will make people happy, and something that I will thrive from. I want to be happy like Leti would have been with her music. I want to live the life I’ve always wanted so that Leti can live in it with me while looking out for me from the afterlife. I want to make her proud of me, and I want to honor her by accomplishing my goals. And in the meantime, I would be with my friends for every second of it, because their love for each other and for me is something that I will carry with me forever. Now, I’m back in school working my job, working hard every day to accomplish my goals as a future graphic designer and researcher. I'm taking on research projects, picking up extra shifts at work, practicing my design skills with commissions, and am hoping to move on to San Diego State University to complete my schooling as soon as I transfer from the SRJC. I’m eternally grateful to my friends, my family, my co-workers, and my educators for being so understanding and supportive. This grieving process has been challenging, I feel better knowing that I have people on my side to support me through all of it. While it may take a long time for me to accomplish my dreams, I will fight for them every second I get. I will push forward for myself, my future, my career, and most of all, for Leti.

I have loved theater and acting since I was a little kid. I would build a set with my stuffed animals and perform songs and scenes from Veggitales. I was always found dancing to the Wiggles and participated in every play. I fell out of love with theater during middle school due to anxiety about school and mental health, and I just as quickly fell back in love with it in high school. I applied to be in the theater curriculum at Windsor High School, named NUEVA, during my Junior and Senior years of high school, and I was in my high school’s theater group at the same time. I participated in seven shows during my Junior and Senior years, acting in five of them. I was the narrator for CLUE: Digital Edition, Ernie Mac, Harry Potter, and Miss Babble in PUFFS, the Devil and the Evil Queen in The Grimms Brother’s Spectaculathon, Little John in Marian Or The True Tale Of Robin Hood, and murderer in the student-written play GHOSTS. Outside of school, I have voice acted as a side role in the upcoming BLOODLINES auditory podcast and am used as a voice extra. I am not currently participating in theater at my college because I want to pursue a degree in graphic design; however, I plan on doing community theater, most likely focusing on comedy and singing. I am also actively looking for voice roles either for auditory podcasts or animations. One of my other future goals is to star in a short film or horror film because I’m an avid horror fan and love helping small filmmakers. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

A finance lesson I found to be important is how to manage my money through sorting it into different categories. I had a serious problem when it came to over spending to the point where I had no money for anything else like school. Nowadays, I've learned to physically sort out my money into separate envelopes in a binder, label said envelopes (these can be labeled as rent, groceries, birthday gifts, car payments, etc.) and sort out my money from there. With this, I have been able to learn how to manage my money without over spending, and to reach my personal goals much faster. I've also learned to treat myself every once in a while. While I love sorting my money, I also get stressed easily and I'm afraid of not reaching my goals. I've learned to treat myself to something every once in a while once I realize I've worked hard, which has personally helped me manage the stress.

I have always been exceptionally passionate about what I do as an artist and actress. I love invoking emotion in people with my art, and I love all the positive emotions I feel when creating and putting myself out there. Growing up as a shy little kid, I found a lot of comfort in being able to express emotion in my drawings and in the characters I portray on stage. In theater, I could be any person I wanted to be, let my emotions out in any way I pleased, and do the craziest stunts without being judged for it. In drawing, I could let my emotions out in the most abstract ways, draw things outside of a normal person's understanding, and still have everything make sense in the end. For the longest time, I've been envisioning the ways my art could impact people. With acting, I could give people a character they could relate to, or a character to laugh at, cry to, etc. as much as they pleased. With drawing, I could help a person through their confusing emotions and make them realize they are not alone on this crazy ride called life. I want to give people comfort in the loudness of life, give them something to look forward to, and to inspire one to create for themselves no matter what sense it makes. I'll be starting college in the summer of 2022, and during my time, I will be studying for a Graphic Design major while also continuing my studies in theater and art. I'm working out on how, since my first couple years will be packed. I'm hoping to study art on my own outside of school, and attend community theater wherever local, but I will have to see what the future holds. Thank you for reading and I hope you will take me into consideration for the WCEJ Thorton Foundation Music And Art Scholarship.