I grew up surrounded by negativity. In those moments where everything seemed too much, like it was all moving far too quickly and it felt like the world was against me, there were two things that were always a grounding point: art and nature. I may have grown up surrounded by negativity, but I was born with a spark deep in my chest that bloomed into a creativity that kept me hopeful, kept me grounded, and kept me safe. The natural world was a sanctuary similar to my creations where I could see the beauty in existence, where I was reminded that the world kept turning regardless, and that things would come to pass like the seasons change. I was raised in the forest, and whenever I would become overwhelmed by the weight of the world, I would retreat to the creek near my house, shaded by the pale green leaves with dappled sunlight pouring through, making it feel ethereal. It was a place I found my peace; I spent lots of my childhood sitting by that creek, watching the leaves dance in the breeze and listening to the water run over the rocks, carving its way through the ground. That creek instilled in me a great appreciation for the world we live in, and that came to flow out of me through my art. As I developed my artistic style throughout my childhood, I came to truly enjoy pen sketching. My favorite subjects were people, at the start, but then through my experiences in art classes I gained a deep enjoyment of sketching the nature around me. Plants, rocks, rivers, trees, just about whatever I could see. It is something that keeps me moving, keeps me aware, and reminds me that this world is full of life, full of love, and full of good. You can never be alone when the world is teeming with movement, after all. Since I was young, art has been such a foundational part of my life. It was how I expressed things I could not verbally articulate, and how I came to understand myself and the world around me. It was crucial to my development, and healed me in some of the darkest places of my life. My art was a lifeline when everything seemed hopeless, something that always gave me just enough light to keep going. Creating art feels so fundamental to me as a person, as it has been for centuries in humanity. Art is human, and to be human is to create; those most aware of this are the artists, the poets, and the writers. I want to connect my artistic ability with my love for our natural world, and it is a large part of why I intend to get a bachelors in studio art and go into architecture beyond that. I want to protect our world in all its sacred beauty, and bringing the life back into architecture while combining it with sustainability to protect our nature is something I would absolutely love to have the influence and skills to achieve. Children in the future deserve to find that sense of peace in natural environments that may very well save them like it did for me. It is so important to respect the world around us, honor its sanctity, and appreciate its beauty. Nobody knows that better than someone who was cradled by its peace when everything was too much.