The effects of ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder on my life were quiet, yet significant. On the surface, I appeared completely normal, having strong academics and a well-mannered personality. Yet this all covered up my incredible difficulties in retaining information, anxiety in engaging with others, and constant dissociation into my imagination. With ADHD, my mind was always racing. Compulsively drifting into vivid daydreams during class always required me to teach myself all the material again at home, spend hours on assignments that only took my peers 15 minutes, and constantly struggle with time limits during exams. These symptoms were heightened by my anxiety, making me afraid of speaking up, persistently self-doubting, and incredibly avoidant of any social situation. Every academic task felt overwhelmingly difficult, unfamiliar activities were relentlessly stress-inducing, and friendships felt unobtainable from nonstop anxiety and dissociation. I used my imagination as an escape from all of this, building characters that gave me comfort when the world around me didn’t. I didn’t realize this was maladaptive daydreaming - a symptom of ADHD - at the time, but the security this gave me encouraged me to bring my imagination to life through art. This quickly became ingrained in every part of my life. Whether it was dissociating during class, sitting alone at lunch, or distracting myself from family hardships, I drew. Constantly enhancing this skill slowly developed my distinctive creative style, gave me confidence in my art and ability to improve, and eventually, motivated me to incorporate my real-life struggles and emotions into my work. This was crucial in helping me make sense of my experiences and eventually, begin to heal from them. Art thus became my source of self-confidence, my tool for healing, and the bridge between my internal conflicts and reality. In finally starting to gain esteem in who I was, I began pushing myself in different ways. I began seeking connection with my Korean heritage, experimenting with new hobbies and extracurriculars, but most importantly, engaging with those around me. Through shared stories, openness, and understanding, I was able to meet people who experienced life the same way I did and for the first time, feel truly seen. I learned to stop seeing my challenges as reflections of personal flaws but rather, as outcomes of conditions that required medication and the right support. I finally found acceptance within myself. And that acceptance emboldens me to pursue graphic design at university, where I aim to use design to help those struggling alone feel seen and supported. I plan to create design work for nonprofits, implement creative therapy in health centers, and launch community art projects that spread education on mental health and learning disabilities, foster communities of shared struggle and understanding, build confidence and esteem through self-expression, and promote wide-spread accessibility to treatment. I now realize that my learning disabilities have formed both my greatest accomplishments and most difficult hardships. The maladaptive daydreaming from my ADHD has fueled my creativity and artistic drive, and my anxiety has fostered my understanding and incredible empathy for others. Yet because of the lack of widespread education on these disorders, particularly in women, I spent most of my life undiagnosed, unmedicated, and believing that I was fundamentally flawed for my challenges. Nobody deserves to feel this way about themselves. I’m therefore determined to combine visual storytelling with impact, helping others feel understood for their conditions and inspired to preserve in spite of them. This is why I know I’m a good candidate for this scholarship: college isn’t just a degree to me, it's an opportunity to transform hardship into impact.

The piece that resonates with me the most is my illustration “Youth’s Solace,” capturing my childhood hardships, and my source of resilience in overcoming them. For most of my life, I felt disconnected from everything - my peers, my culture, and even my own identity. Yet entering high school was what pushed me to challenge myself: to engage with those around me, to connect with my Korean heritage, and to become someone I could be proud of. And through that journey of uncertainty and fear, my bunny became my rock. He was my only constant source of comfort, support, and resilience, and I wanted to showcase that in “Youth’s Solace.” Yet the resonance of this illustration isn’t just its visualization of my own story, but its ability to encapsulate the different stories of others as well. For some, it encapsulates the comfort and fondness of their carefree youth. For others, it encapsulates the loneliness and struggle of their childhood adversity. Yet this illustration embodies both experiences, all conveyed under the name “Youth’s Solace.” This is why I am pursuing a graphic design degree: to expand my ability to unite the diversity of our journeys under one illustration. Being an independent student funding my entire tuition, receiving this scholarship would give me the necessary funds to explore my work’s full potential for positive change. I am determined to become someone who finds solidarity in differences, fosters resilience in hardship, and designs a world of community, compassion, and creativity.

My drive to create a positive impact through design began with McLean ArtPals, my non-profit dedicated to creating art opportunities for students with special needs. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life: when handed a brush or marker, I witnessed children who had trouble communicating light up, expressing their happiness and creativity in ways that words couldn't portray. Art became a source of confidence, introverted students now emboldened to share their work with us, self-doubting students now overjoyed when admiring their finished illustrations. I gained a newfound fulfillment in helping these students find the same self-empowerment through art that I had, and this fulfillment is what inspires me to pursue a graphic design degree at the University of Florida. At university, I am determined to create designs that build self-confidence, foster community, and catalyze social change. I am eager to understand visual storytelling, study user-centered design, master all digital tools, and expand my skill set across multiple industries. Yet most importantly, I am eager to fulfill my purpose: to help others feel truly seen and supported through design. I therefore envision myself pursuing information design, creating campaigns and infographics that support social justice initiatives, uplift marginalized voices, and expand access to mental health resources, education, and community engagement. I see myself pursuing product design, enhancing interfaces and designing websites that spread education on mental health practices, create accessible wellness content for youth, and build online communities of shared stories and emotional support. I see myself pursuing art therapy, creating group therapy sessions in low-income communities that facilitate resilience through trauma, a strong support-system, and self discovery and acceptance through creative expression. I even see myself expanding McLean ArtPals, broadening our impact through expanding the marginalized communities we work with, the areas we go to, and the creative opportunities we provide. Being an independent student funding my entire tuition, receiving this scholarship would give me the necessary funds to make this aspiration a reality. I know my art can positively change the world in a way that transcends any specific field, and I am determined to develop my full potential at university. I therefore look at this next chapter of my life with a profound sense of optimism, ready to design a world where people can feel truly seen through community, compassion, and creativity.

"You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction." - The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 47: In Chapter 2, Verse 47 of the sacred Hindu text “The Bhagavad Gita,” the protagonist Arjuna is paralyzed by the agony of fighting his loved ones in the opposing army of the battle of Kurukshetra. In being torn between his moral duty to uphold justice and his emotional attachment to his loved ones, he searches for counsel from his charioteer and guide, Krishna. Through warning Arjuna of the dangers of seeking control over the outcomes of the battle, Krishna highlights the importance of tying the ego to righteous motive over results, redefining human freedom as disciplined action without expectation. This teaching strikes at the core of Arjuna’s internal conflict: his fixation on outcome. Krishna’s use of the word “right” in describing Arjuna’s ability to work emphasizes his notion that Arjuna only has control over his actions and motives, and therefore, only has the “right” to feel conflicted over the intentions for what he does rather than its result. On a surface level, this may seem absurd - how can one act with righteousness without considering the consequences? However Krishna’s insight is not a call to act with recklessness, but rather, reframes the obsession with consequence as both a repression of personal freedom and barrier to preserving morality. Therefore by separating action from result, Arjuna can liberate himself from the tyranny of anticipated guilt and instead, intentionally pursue what is right. Krishna separates this fixation on outcome into two distinct facets: acting in vain, and avoiding action altogether. Krishna firstly warns Arjuna of “acting for the sake of reward”: letting the expectation of personal gain dominate his actions. This is meant to directly challenge the human impulse of bolstering the ego through praise or success, further trapping human will in a detrimental cycle of expectation and disappointment. This results in seeking gratification solely through self-serving rewards, allowing greed to obstruct the true fulfillment gained from acting with integrity. This warning therefore reinforces Arjuna’s noble motives in order to encourage him to preserve through the upcoming battle, reminding him that the battle isn’t for shallow personal gain, but to reclaim justice, uphold moral order, and discover true fulfillment. Krishna furthermore warns Arjuna against the opposite extreme: “nor should you long for inaction.” Here, Krishna highlights the destructiveness of inaction from the expectation of results, something just as dangerous as acting in vain. This passivity prevents one from pursuing what is right out of fear of failure or negative outcome, resulting in preserving personal comfort over upholding ethical duties. Krishna therefore creates an important distinction between detachment and disengagement: acting detached from selfish motivation does not entail lack of action altogether. This serves to urge Arjuna to rise above his impulse of avoiding emotional distress, as his inaction directly prevents him from upholding his moral responsibility to fight against injustice. One is therefore not free when seeking authority over all variables, but rather, when ceasing to be limited by them. Krishna’s guidance showcases that highest spiritual discipline is reached by fully engaging with life without attachment to outcome, both through selfless actions and avoiding passivity. This is crucial to obtaining personal freedom: the soul becomes immune to both anticipation and fear, and can be guided solely by integrity and righteousness. Krishna therefore offers a paradox that liberates human will: in surrendering ownership of results, we find not loss, but the highest form of virtuous mastery.

I am determined to pursue a degree in graphic design because of art’s fundamental role in shaping who I am today and my purpose in the world. Many people’s identities are shaped by a specific person, but I never felt like I had this. My entire adolescence was completely isolated and controlled by insecurity: I was insecure of my personality so I never talked to anyone, I was insecure of my grades so I never challenged myself, I was insecure of my Korean identity, so I never learned Korean. I didn’t have any friends to share this with and instead used my imagination to cope, creating characters that accompanied me and embodied the traits I wish I had. I never felt like I had a sense of self, and therefore never thought I could be anything beyond my imagination. But pursuing art in 6th grade changed everything for me. My ability to grow as an artist was the first thing that proved to me that I was in control of who I was: if I was capable of improving myself in graphic design, I could prove my worth in other aspects of my life as well. As I entered high school, I began to challenge myself socially, initiating conversations and further developing friendships with my peers. I became diligent in academics, pursuing new extracurriculars and APs in subjects that I struggled in. I sought to discover myself culturally, pushing to learn Korean and the intricacies of my culture. As I continued to develop my life in these other areas, I gained the confidence to send my art to different organizations in need of design assistance. By doing so, I became the designer of the school and art logo for Queens Valley School of the Arts, an underprivileged art school in New York. Shortly after, I became a mentor for a performing arts organization called ArtStream, where I assisted adults with disabilities in rehearsing their lines and performance on stage. I then served as a student ambassador for a North Korean human rights nonprofit called No Chain, where I created advocacy artwork to be sent directly into North Korea, as well as spread awareness of North Korean issues at my high school. The diverse yet powerful impact I was able to have on these communities inspired me to eventually co-found McLean ArtPals, my non-profit dedicated to creating art opportunities for students with special needs. Me and my co-founder Logan Sumida led an outreach to the special education departments of schools throughout Northern Virginia, designing art prompts spreading awareness of current events and then working directly with the students in guiding them through the corresponding artwork. This experience solidified my desire to pursue graphic design at university, and continue to explore the different ways my art can create positive impact. I am therefore committed to pursuing a Graphic Design degree at the University of Florida, my dream school that perfectly aligns with my career and interpersonal aspirations. From a career standpoint, pursuing a BFA degree in Graphic Design will cultivate my skills in design process, critical thinking, and creative investigation, expanding my ability to use design to address modern day issues across a multitude of industries. The UF graphic design curriculum’s emphasis on community involvement furthermore will create a collaborative environment with other designers, allowing us to learn from each other's distinctive ideas and styles, as well as connect with the rest of the UF student body through our artwork. As I continue to diversify and expand my portfolio, I plan on utilizing UF’s dedicated studio spaces and extensive internship opportunities in order to gain crucial work experience and forge strong connections with various organizations. By the time I graduate, I will have the sufficient internship experience and portfolio to begin working at graphic design agencies across countless specific industries. I will furthermore have the key interpersonal skills to forge strong relationships with all these agencies and facilitate collaborative and efficient work environments. I therefore envision myself traveling the world and working with a multitude of organizations of diverse missions, people, and cultures post graduation. I see myself pursuing information design, creating campaigns that spread awareness of issues in underrepresented communities. I see myself pursuing product design, enhancing the inclusivity of digital tools for users of all cognitive abilities and language backgrounds. I see myself pursuing fashion design, traveling to South Korea and designing clothes that break rigid social norms and promote body diversity. Because graphic design is ever present in all industries and has a unique power to transcend individual differences in cognitive abilities, languages, and experiences, my potential for positive impact through graphic design is both distinctive and boundless. From an interpersonal standpoint, UF’s vast and diverse student body will give me the opportunity to connect with countless other students of all majors and backgrounds. I plan to join clubs, attend all social events, and work on-campus jobs in order to meet and build strong, long lasting relationships with my peers. I am ecstatic to be able to meet people that I both share common interests with and still differ from in distinct ways, allowing us to connect in important aspects while still constantly learning and growing from each other. I am therefore committed to both meaningfully contribute to the diverse student body at UF, as well as gain important perspective from it. These invaluable friendships I will build at UF will further develop my ability to create a positive impact on an intimate, personal level. While graphic design is my outlet to connect with others in a widespread way, I aspire to become a source of support, acceptance, and optimism for those close to me. My close relationships with my peers and the communities I volunteered with throughout high school were fundamental in developing my deep love for connecting with and helping others. My desire to utilize my art as a tool for positive change is therefore rooted in my ability to positively influence those I know in my personal life. I want to continue to meet and foster connections with new people, working together to build environments where we can share, learn, and grow from each other. I want to become someone meaningful, not just because of my art, but because of the personal impact I have on those who truly know me. Whether it's something big like my art being showcased on billboards advocating for social change, or something smaller like writing a personal birthday card for my friend, facilitating positive change is possible in so many distinctive yet powerful ways. I therefore know I deserve to receive this scholarship because of my determination to become a source of positive change both through my art and my personal relationships. This scholarship is furthermore vital in making it financially possible for me to attend university. Due to several drastic household financial concerns, I have abruptly become responsible for funding the entirety of my own tuition without assistance from my family. I have diligently worked my way up to a full-time shift leader position at my current job, always trying to stay past my shifts, cover my coworkers, and work at other locations when I’m needed. I’ve been especially proactive in applying for scholarships, contacting my financial aid office, and seeking part time employment once I move to Gainesville, yet it still falls short in being able to financially cover everything. However despite all of this, I’m still choosing to remain optimistic. I know I will make a positive impact on student life at UF, uphold its academic integrity, and proactively utilize all of its opportunities and connections, and am therefore determined to make this critical next chapter of my life financially possible. UF’s graphic design department would open the door to explore a multitude of careers, work with and learn from countless communities and perspectives, and develop my art’s ability to have a wide-scale, tangible impact. I don’t want this to just remain an aspiration; I want this to become my reality. Art is my way of leaving a permanent mark in the world as a source of light and inspiration, and I am determined to make a positive impact in any way possible. This scholarship is more than just getting through college for me: it’s making it possible for me to become the change I want to see.