Art quite literally saved my life, which is fairly significant, I think. When I was younger and even in high school, I struggled a lot mentally. I was extremely depressed, had body dysmorphia, and, for the most part, had extreme anxiety, and sadly, I turned to self-harm. It was so bad, it got to the point where I wasn’t allowed to stay home by myself (during my time in middle school), which I have been doing since I was in elementary school. I eventually started therapy and really discovered my love for art. I have always been attracted to art since I was extremely young. My father, my uncle, and my grandmother have all done art in some sense. So I have always been surrounded by art and those who enjoy the arts. During my younger teenage years, I truly found my calling. I like to use art for therapy purposes to get out all my emotions. Not only is this a healthy coping mechanism, but it has also led to some of my favorite art pieces I’ve made. I've been self-harm-free for about 8ish years. I am actually very proud of myself and how much I have grown, not only as a person but as an artist. Additionally, art brings people together! I love sharing my art with the people in my class or just posing online in a more subtle way. One of my favorite things I’ve done was teach an art class for pretty senior citizens at the Bartlett Reserve in Durham. I taught a group of 6–10 people for a few months during my senior year of high school. My main goal for these sessions was for my “students” to have fun when making their art, rather than worrying about whether it looked right. I still have some of the notes that some of the women wrote for me, expressing their love for the class. It makes me feel very good to bring my love for art to others. I am currently in college, and I’m struggling to pay for my tuition, even after student loans. I plan to work as a graphic designer; however, I plan to do art classes on the side. If I get this scholarship, I am hoping to continue to spread my love for art to everyone. It will definitely help me and my family tremendously in a very big way.

Art quite literally saved my life. When I was younger and even in high school, I struggled a lot mentally. It got to the point where I wasn’t allowed to stay home by myself (in middle school), which I have been doing since I was in elementary school. I eventually started therapy and really discovered my love for art. I have always been attracted to art since I was extremely young, but during my younger teenage years, I truly found my calling. I like to use art as a means of therapy to get out all my emotions. Not only is this a healthy coping mechanism, but it has also led to some of my favorite art pieces I’ve made. Additionally, art brings people together! I love sharing my art with the people in my class or just posing online! One of my favorite things I’ve done was teach an art class for senior citizens at the Bartlett Reserve in Durham. I taught a group of 6–10 peoplefor a few months during my senior year of high school. My main goal for these sessions was for my “students” to have fun when making their art, rather than worrying about whether it looked right. I still have some of the notes that some of the women wrote for me, expressing their love for the class. It really makes me feel good to bring my love for art to others. I am currently in college, and I’m struggling to pay for my tuition, even after student loans. I plan to work as a graphic designer; however, I plan to do art classes on the side! If I get this scholarship, I am hoping to continue to spread my love for art to everyone. It will help me and my family tremendously.

I have been battling with mental health issues since I was a young kid, which was a lot to handle. Being 12, 13 and having suicidal thoughts was extremely hard to get through, let alone talk about with someone. I remember even before middle school, I had issues that went undiagnosed or not talked about. At some time during one of my lowest points, I was put on medicine and went to therapy. I was terrified. Any, and all of my knowledge about therapy or going to a doctor was derived from media; so, going into a big office had me scared out of my mind. After a few visits, I soon found out that I could trust my therapist, and the majority of information I learned from movies and TV shows wasn’t 100% true. Being able to finally talk about my self-harm issues, or my parents who definitely are not helping my situation, helped me get through possibly one of the hardest periods in my life. It has been quite a while since I have been to therapy, and honestly, I need to go back. I don’t know if I have overcome my mental health issues, but I have learned how to live with them, and not let them completely define my life. One thing I can tell people is to go to therapy, it helps so much.

When it comes to creating art, I have always made pieces that carry a meaningful theme. I tend to tackle topics such as: eating disorders, depression and other mental health issues, LGBTQ+ visibility and issues, and social and environmental problems to name a few. Furthermore, to ensure my art is not just portraying one voice, I tend to talk to my peers or individuals in my community to get their opinion. I incorporate their ideas, to the best of my ability, using my visualization of their thoughts. Sometimes, I might misunderstood their ideas, or even just need to slightly alter a piece of my work. Communication is one of my largest principles. Having a community to talk to when it comes to making art has always been a huge blessing in my life. I plan to make art that people can gather around, and be able to talk about their feelings and experiences without feeling troubled, pressured, or scared to do so.