I have always been interested in art and most things associated with it. Growing up in an all-Nigerian household, I had the opportunity to learn about the tribe and culture when I and my family moved from the US to Nigeria for a while. While I was there I learned my family is from the Benin tribe and the language spoken is called Edo which would later be given to both the State(Edo State) and the capital city(Benin City). Both my grandfathers were chiefs and my mom's grandfather was an advisor to the Oba of Benin which is what was considered the king of the nations making me, my mother, and younger brothers princes and princesses and would have a chance to sit on the throne. The Benin tribe is mainly known for their stone mask creations, their musical talents, flashy dances, and their love for our people. Even though I never learned any of the dances, I did learn about some of the different drums we had and how to play some of the different drums we had. The one I learned to play was called the talking drum and a bit of the history I remember about the drum is that it was a gift from god given to a soldier during a war that had happened in the Benin kingdom and it had the ability to speak to whoever was playing it. I don’t 100% believe the story but I have always believed that music is a way of communicating with one another. I also learned how to create different fashion styles using tie and dye. Even though it was a school assignment at the time, it was still an enjoyable experience. I even made two more different designs and had the chance to enter the Alliance for Juvenile Art Reformation in Africa or AJARA arts competition and was able to have one of my materials bought by someone. After experiencing my culture for 6 years, I came back to the States with my dad at first it felt odd being back and finding out that a lot had changed in the time I was gone but the best part about it was the fact that I could learn things I either forgot or didn’t know about exited me. I then learned about animation and photography from my middle school teacher and after attempting to make my own stop motion film and ending up with the same feeling of accomplishment I felt when I made my own tie and dye pattern filled me with a familiar amount of joy and this started my road to dive more into the world of arts. After trying out my hand in animation, film production, camera work, and photography I finally decided that I would pursue a career in film and photography. Towards the start of high school, I started to learn about video editing and learned that due to my prior experience with music, I could visualize what I wanted to make while listening to music. Now I am a senior and I’m still following my path to film and photography and now with the blessing of my parents and some assistance from a few friends and family, I am slowly getting chances to get more experience in filming, photography and editing.

My dad's been dishing out a mixed bag of advice for as long as I can remember. On one hand, he's all about shooting for perfection every day, and on the flip side, he says, "Hey, nothing's ever perfect, just give it your best shot." This ongoing tug-of-war has made me think. There's this quote from Mayuri Kurotsuchi, a character in the Bleach anime that captures my dilemma: "If something is perfect, then there is nothing left. There is no room for imagination. No place left for a person to gain additional knowledge or abilities." As they're saying, striving for perfection might cramp your style, stifling creativity and personal growth. The whole idea of perfection is kind of like chasing a rainbow-colored unicorn, right? It's elusive and can drive you nuts, making you feel like you're running in circles. Instead, I've come to embrace this idea of always trying to do your absolute best, which leaves room for creativity and ongoing learning. It's pretty enjoyable when you realize that there's always more to explore and improve on. In conclusion, my dad's mixed advice has taught me the value of striking a balance between the pursuit of perfection and embracing our imperfections. In those hiccups and bloopers, we find stepping stones to grow and learn. These moments serve as the secret sauce for becoming better at what we do and sparking our creativity . That is why rather than fixating on being perfect, I remember to give it my all to discover room for imagination and endless improvement along the way.

I had my switch for about 2 years now and even if I don't play a lot of games on it. My favorite is Smash Ultimate. Originally I got it so me and my cousin could 1v1 each other when I was staying at his house for some months and we would honestly just spend hours battling it out with all the different types of characters the game had to offer. Somehow we racked up about 500+ hours on the game and it may seem like an unhealthy amount of time to spend on a game but I honestly wouldn't ask for anything better. Even before I got my switch I had some prior experience playing Smash with my friends and had picked Zero Suit Samus as my main character. Then after bullying my cousin who according to him had a lot more experience playing Smash than I did in the game, I switched over to trying to learn Villager and Cloud. They are both cool and fun to play with and I have been doing my best to learn them even though I can't wrap my head around all the technical combos and absurd movements I'm still doing my best. Even after leaving my cousin's house I still played it with my friends and brother. My friend Deigo likes to main hero and I would have had a lot more wins on him if I didn't always fall for the kamikaze attack. I won't lie that's annoying having someone blow you up to avoid losing and when you're just having fun you sometimes forget that your opponent still has two more stocks left. I also have a huge disdain for Jigglypuff and Ness due to my cousin bullying me with both characters. I have also met a lot of different people mainly because they had a switch and also had Smash Ultimate for example there was this kind in my history class last year that I've honestly never really spoken to at all and then towards the end of the year I found out that he had a switch and was playing smash that day and since I happen to have my switch with me I played against him and his friend. since I was able to use both my joy cons since he had a pro controller I was able to do a lot of the more basic combos with less effort. I pretty much have the spot dodge mechanic somewhat mastered thanks to months of playing against my cousin who has over 1000+ hours on Brawlhala and yes I questioned where he found the time when I barely have time to play games even on the weekends. Anyway, I honestly could go on ranting about all the different things I've learned but it would be a pain to write it all so instead I would like to just say that this game has given me opportunities to make friends with people I normally would not interact with and I am thankful for that.