Collaboration means being able to learn from others, share ideas, and growing together through our creative journeys. I am a Studio Art major at Oklahoma State University, since this is my first year attending classes in person, collaboration is something that I am still learning the importance of and getting used to. I completed all of my high school education online as well as some of college, so I never really had the opportunity to work with classmates or experience a classroom environment where everyone is creating art together until now. It is nice to not be alone through my creative endeavors, I believe now that collaboration is an important part of becoming an artist because everyone has their own way of thinking, creating, and expressing themselves. So far, most of my experience this year in collaboration has come from my drawing class. I am now in person, in a classroom, with so many other students who are also just as interested in art as I am. It is an exciting new experience that I did not realize I genuinely needed. Every week I look forward to getting to come together, follow the instructions from our professor, and we all work hard on our art but in the same space. What I have noticed, even though we are all given the same assignment instructions to follow, everyone's drawings turn out differently but with the same core concepts. We touch base on each other's art pieces and get to experience a connection through hard work and care for what we are creating. Being able to visually see how my classmates approach the same assignment helps me think about ways I can improve my own work. Another thing I have come to appreciate is being able to learn directly from my classmates and professor. When I was taking online classes, I was mostly working independently and figuring things out on my own, which is the way I assumed I preferred. Turns out now that I have the opportunity to listen to instructions in person, ask questions, observing and having interactions in person, I feel I have grown and learned so much. The root is, other people, hearing their thoughts have helped me think deeper than I would have done alone. This experience feels surreal sometimes, I spent a lot of my learning isolated, I feel more connected with myself, my art, and my class than ever before. Since I am still new to learning in person, I know and hope for a lot more chances to experience when it comes to collaboration. I am learning to become more comfortable sharing my ideas, receiving feedback, and working with other artists. I think being around other people who have similar interests, but different approaches and artistic styles is helping me become more confident and open-minded with my own art. I am so lucky to have chosen this experience for myself, it has shown me how valuable it is to connect with others and not only grow as a person outside my comfort zone but grow as an artist. If you took the time to read thus, thank you, I am a very shy yet optimistic person and writing this helped me realize how much I have grown this year.

I created this acrylic painting after visiting a local park. I witnessed two swans swimming together, meanwhile the sky was showing signs of a storm. Here two swans are happily together in this body of water, it was almost as if they were synchronized in the way they complimented one another while swimming. The sun was almost completely covered by the clouds, yet the brightness of the sun was piercing through the clouds in the dark sky. The sky was a shade of dark grey and blue with a layer of orange and yellow reflecting onto the body of water, and onto the swans. The swans were flickering ripples of water into a circle as they danced around each other. I felt so lucky. It inspired me, so I went home and painted what I saw. I felt the inspiration spewing out of me as I created this painting. My paintbrush flowing against my canvas, carefully yet messily articulating each stroke, as if it knew exactly what I was aiming to create. Typically, I paint within periods of time. I will come back and start where I left off, but not this night, I just kept painting. I stayed up very late into the night with no thought of time, painting until the art piece was complete. I know my inspiration was struck so deeply because of my human desire for a similar connection. To find someone that choses to synchronize through this life. Displaying affection and love outwardly. Continuing to choose each other through every storm for the rest of our lifetime. I have always adored how elegant swans are, how they are one of the few animals that have a monogamous bond that last a lifetime. I think it is beautiful and encouraging. So, I recreated what I witnessed and the beauty of it all, captured into a painting. I later on had made the decision to place a tattoo of swans facing each other. I made it to what I saw that evening, two swans creating a heart to show love and the unbreakable bond that is shared in this connection. Any time I am asked about this tattoo, I become giddy. I will overly explain my admiration for swans and their symbol of unconditional love for one another. I admire the love that these birds have, and I will one day find that connection for myself.

When I was younger, right at the start of high school, my gallbladder failed and at the same time I got pancreatitis. I was in the hospital for around a month. During my time there, a lady visited me, she was an art therapist. She brought me a canvas, acrylic paint, paintbrushes, and a ceramic owl to paint. I fell in love with painting, as a bonus I found it gave me something to focus on. I used this as a way to cope. The next day the art therapist brought me multiple canvas and inspired me to create more. I painted my feelings, people, sunsets, animals. Post-surgery, the first thing I asked my mom to do while leaving the hospital was to take me to Hobby Lobby. I had a fair understanding of color theory, so I grabbed what was necessary- yellow, red, blue, black and white paint. When we arrived home, I remember having the want to be outside. I asked my mom if I could paint in the greenhouse, she said yes. I stayed out there until it was dark, I loved creating in a place where I was surrounded by nature and fresh air. I think the hardships that you go through in this world will inspire and push you to become who you are meant to be. There is so much love in life from an artist's perspective, everything has potential to be taken and created into something beautiful. Below I will share some of my acrylic pieces I have made. Thank you for your time reading my essay and providing students like me with opportunities such as this scholarship, it would provide financial relief and motivation to keep pursuing what I love most.

Growing up I had always turned to creative outlets as a way to express myself, I had a rough upbringing and spent a lot of time with my grandmother. My grandmother was an artist who encouraged me to create, especially as a way to express my emotions. At age fourteen I began to develop gastrointestinal issues. I had pancreatitis and my gallbladder fail at the same time. I spent a month in the hospital on bed rest and nothing by mouth, and extremely bored. This time alone really kickstarted my spark to truly express myself and I was able to keep myself occupied, through my art. I would draw exactly as I felt. Sometimes I would draw who I craved to be and the places I would love to see. I got to know myself really well during this time, I was able to withstand hardships of pain through getting lost in my little worlds I would create through my drawings. Later on, my doctors released me once I was healed enough and the pancreatitis went away. I still was not feeling too well. I returned to the hospital shortly after being released with pain still, turns out I had developed kidney stones. My kidney stones were stuck; I had to undergo another surgery to have them removed. After my surgery, a series of unfortunate events took place, again. I had a kidney infection, and my liver levels were elevated dangerously high. I was unable to keep food down. I remember drawing myself lovely foods I wish to eat when I felt better. At this point, my doctors got to know me pretty well. I had been diagnosed with GERD, IBS, and sphincter of oddi dysfunction. One day, my doctor told me she had a surprise for me. I was nervous it was a new medication to try, but instead, she introduced me to an art therapist. The art therapist had brought me paint, brushes, and canvas'. She sat with me and asked me to paint how I was feeling. I painted myself, with bugs crawling out of my stomach. She gave me a new canvas, then told me to draw what I want to do once I feel better. I painted myself in a cafe eating pastries and drinking coffee. She told me I could keep the paint, the brushes, and the canvases. I never wanted to stop painting. I went through all the canvases in a few days, so the art therapist brought me more. Once I was released from the hospital, I had a new plan for the first thing I wanted to do once I felt better. I wanted to go to hobby lobby and find more canvases. I found so much comfort in being able to express myself, I would get lost in the paint and ignore all other issues. I am now twenty-three, I have my gastrointestinal issues under control, but I still use painting and my other forms of art as an outlet.

My pie in the sky dream is to use recycled goods to create art. I want to help reduce the amount of waste in the economy and show the world what beautiful art can be produced from what is viewed as trash. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” I live by this timeless proverb. My favorite craft is glass art. I go thrift for stained glass cups, bowls, plates and any other types of glass I find can be reused. I will break the glass and then create stained glass art such as birds, flowers, pastures, butterflies, and I plan to create many more. I used solder to hold together my work. Another favorite art of mine is sewing. I will find old clothes that I currently have or the people in my circle plan on giving away, and up-cycle the fabric into fashion that I will wear. I love to create fashion by this technique because it helps me save money as a college student and feel inspired to create more out of what I already have. I also enjoy that I can wear my art to show others what can be made out of an old article of clothing. My ultimate goal is to create notebooks and books out of recycled paper. I deeply enjoy writing and reading. If I can use old scraps of paper, break it down and press the scraps into new sheets of paper. This would be useful for the day when I produce the book of poetry I have been creating. This way through the works of my words I can also share the beauty of recycled art. I would also use things such as old fabric or leather scraps to press for the cover of these notebooks and poem book. None will be the same, individually unique to each person but all shared with the same love. Hopefully inspiring others to reduce and reuse as well. I know my goals will eventually work out because I care deeply about the art that I create. If it does not, I do have a back up plan. My back up plan includes cooking with whole foods. I really enjoy providing my body with nourishment and not with just salads either. I can make lovely meals that are delicious and nutrient rich, this is another form of art for me. I would open a restaurant that is nourishment based and show off my cooking and art through meals. Thank you for reading my dreams, I have a few as you may have realized by this point. I am very optimistic! I have a lot of love to give and hopefully will be able to share with the world. This scholarship would push me towards my educational goals and future dreams, thank you.

I was diagnosed on the autism spectrum a couple of years ago. I genuinely thought when I received this news that it was a joke, due to the stigmatization that was placed onto autism in my family. Looking back to my childhood-I struggled with not being able to focus in class, yet hyper focusing when I was alone at home. In a school setting I felt overstimulated and overlooked by my peers. I was very lonesome in my own little world. I asked too many questions to my teachers and didn’t understand how to get along with kids my age, I did not mind because I enjoyed my alone time but I did feel different. I loved to learn alone at home, I hated attending school. The classroom was often too bright, the children in my class were too loud, I was bullied for speaking so proper at young ages, I was different and I did not understand how nor why. I am now an adult who has gone through years of therapy to cope and learn socializing skills. When highschool came around I began to devolved stomach problems such as IBS, bile gastritis & sphincter of oddi dysfunction, which led me to attending online school instead. I thrived doing my school work at home despite my medical state. I believe a lot of my stomach problems were caused due to anxiety and my particular eating habits. Attending online for the rest of highschool was the best decision I could have made for myself. I am currently enrolled in online classes again and I am making straight A’s my first semester of college because I have perfectly orchestrated a schedule that fits my needs. I am now twenty-two years old back in school and after living much of my life I realize how many difficulties I faced because I could not focus due to my personal needs that were not met. Now that I am an adult I get to chose an education that caters to my needs and abilities as well as a career path, which for me is my stained glass art. I wake up every day and try very hard to accomplish my goals of school and work as well as my desires in life such as art. All being said, a scholarship would benefit me greatly. I will work hard and be relieved of some financial burdens I am currently facing. Thank you for the time and opportunity.

Have you ever been told that something is too expensive to try? I have a family that has built in beliefs that we are poor. I did not think I was deserving of making expensive art because of how I grew up. I developed those same beliefs until recently. I realized I get to choose how I want life to work out if I work hard and stay on the path towards my goals. I began saving money and recycling / up-cycling, so I can afford the crafts I want to pursue. I stay mindful of my goals and things I want to create, I try to be financially smart so I can pursue my crafts and education. I love to draw and write so I keep notebooks on me in case I get an idea or need an outlet. Since I was a little girl I have admired stained glass. We had six huge stained glass windows in the church I went to group up. I would day dream about one day being wealthy enough to make my own stained glass art. After years of saving I have purchased all necessary items to pursue working with glass and enrolled into college courses for art. The stained glass flower is symbolic of growth and the pink symbols love I have for my sister. The girl in the club painting was an expression of seeing a past partner in a public setting for the first time since breaking apart. I named it “sad in the club”. The woman with darkness going in one ear and colors spilling out of the other is a symbol of what I do, I take all negativity in my life and use it as fuel to create my art. I named her “Agetha”. craft.

I was eight when I began going to doctors to see what was wrong with me. Usually during these visits I was told to complete activities after taking a medication. I did not understand what was wrong with me, why I felt such big emotions. Little did I know at the time, I was a test subject for medication. I took certain medications then visited doctors and did reports on my daily life. My mother was receiving compensation for my mental health being at stake. All of my childhood feels like a blur, I remember random moments. When I became a teenager, I was more aware and stopped taking medications around age sixteen, social media was my way out. Social media creates a world catered to you. The moment you realize everyone is in their own little world online makes you see being online isn’t about you and how it can provide you happiness but rather how you can pour into the community around you through an easily accessible source, the internet! This mindset improved my perception of self, I am much more than what meets the eye and often times have to remind myself of so, due to these technological advances. I spent many years trying to formulate a label for myself only to come to the final conclusion, I am not a product therefore I cannot be labeled. There is a distinct difference in my mindset that helped improve my online presence and thought process of the use of social media, I can choose to be a part of products that are labeled to help cater to my community. I was creating a negative label for myself by not following my aspiration but rather following what was trending. I aim to create a new positive label for myself in a way where I am connected to a product that I create to benefit the world. I create art from old recycled materials, I want to give back using my creative innovations. I cut up brown paper sacks and sew together to form a journal, I create the covers from cardboard and old fabric that I have lying around so I can make each one unique. I assumed based off my life goals that education may not be the smartest route for me. As I evolved my mindset around perception, this outlook on education also changed for me. I am writing this essay to you to not only share my personal experiences on consumerism and labels but in hopes to be relieved of the financial burdens of educational costs. By pursuing my education, I am eager to learn more and hope to connect with other great artist who want to impact the world in similar ways, meanwhile pushing my business idea into the world. I am taking a leap towards my fullest potential by successfully aiming for my goals despite societal standards placed in my generation of artist. Education is necessary for my next steps; I greatly appreciate the time you have taken to read my work and consider my application.

I was ten years old at home with my younger siblings, taking care of them, waiting for our mother to arrive home. She often times came home very late but that night I felt something was wrong. A police man and my aunt knocked on our door, I was hesitant to answer but since the police officer was with family, I opened the door. My heart fell to the floor as they told me my mother had been arrested. I was very angry and persistent to know what had happened, I was told to not ask questions and pack our things. We had gone to stay with our aunt for the night. She was not able to take care of us, we ended up going to random home. Here in this home we were questioned about our lives, I told only bits and pieces in order to protect my mother. I was young but I did understand what would lead to more trouble or not. We would sit at this table with random adults as they questioned each one of us children about our past. We were given food, clothes and a home to stay in. I never felt so fancy in my life. Everything was set up so perfectly. I learned how to be a lady here. Yet even though comfortable to an extent, everything there felt forbidden and not ours. It was very difficult going back to school after this. Everyone in our small town knew what had happened. After a long while our grandmother offered to take us in so we could maintain going to the same school. We stayed with our grandmother for some time until my mother was released from jail. When my mother was released we had to rebuild our relationship again. I did not trust anyone based off the circumstances that have taken place. I also now knew everything that happened I just did not understand why it happened to us. My mother tried very hard to gain us children’s trust back by attempting to become a better version of herself. I forgave my mother as she became better and healthy. She quit abusing substances and joined recovery programs, meanwhile showing up to court. She was a felon for most of our lives which made it difficult for her to maintain a well paying job. We got by as best as we could and once I was of age to get a job, I helped my family financially as best as I could. I always wondered what I would be like if I came from a different life, but I know these events shaped me into the woman I am today.