I like to think that before you can answer a “why” question, you need to know the “who.” Before I get to explaining why I need this scholarship, I’d like you to get to know me, where I come from, and why I do things. Just for good measure, I will begin by introducing my hometown. If you open up a map of California and trace your finger along the west coast until you reach the south, right in-between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles County there exists a small, but special city named Oxnard. I’ve grown up here for most of my life and these streets, the space between the fields and the beach are so special to me. The fact that Oxnard isn’t put on maps is almost symbolic of the way our community is treated. This city is home to a lot of talented students and minorities who make Oxnard what it is. I, like a lot of my community, am a first-generation Mexican-American college student, and I’m pursuing a degree in graphic design. Art and design are my biggest passions, I live to create. I’ve always felt as though I was put on this Earth to make things. Everything I make is a cultivation of my life, my culture, and my experiences. Apart from just being passionate about art, my biggest passion in life is the accessibility of art and creative careers in low-income communities. Apart from just being passionate about art, my biggest passion in life is the accessibility of art and creative careers in low-income communities. A harsh reality I’ve encountered growing up in a low-income community is the lack of resources for creative studies. I’ve met so many talented students in my community and it’s disheartening seeing the way our communities never get the funding they deserve. I want to learn everything I can and go back to my home and show other artists that they can do it too. That we deserve to have dreams and take up space in creative environments. The best way I can impact society is by starting in my own community. I need this scholarship because I need someone to believe in me before I can go back and help my people. I want to graduate as a first-generation college student and this scholarship would help get me closer to where I want to be. Minorities belong in creative environments. I want to pursue my passion and help others pursue theirs. I would like to end this by saying thank you, India, for creating this scholarship. Thank you for believing in our passions and giving us the space to express them. If I can one day help other artists in the same shoes as me, I will have achieved more than I could’ve dreamed of. This isn’t just for me, but for all the artists of Oxnard, California who've been told we aren’t allowed to dream, together we will.

Artist is an umbrella term for a lot of different people. We're all artists in the sense that we create things everyday. Being an artist can be like every other job, it can be the same as being a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, it’s just a title. I believe the true power and magic comes with what you do with this title. Who do you influence? Who did you make think and feel a certain way? What mountains did you move, what nooks and crannies did you explore with your work? What did you learn about yourself through your work? What did you teach? These are the questions I hope to answer one day through my work and the lessons I learn along the way. Being an artist is such a privilege. It’s a path full of passion, hard work, dedication, connections, and color. Being an artist has made me who I am, it’s allowed me to express all the human parts of me, all of my noisy emotions and ideas. Art is the reason I wake up everyday. It has connected me to my culture, my community, my identity, and it has challenged me to grow. My passion for art gives me a motive and helps me think outside of myself. It allows me to connect with others and lets me envision and create the life I’ve dreamed about. I feel connected to my art because it’s an extension of my thoughts, history, upbringing, culture, and experiences. It’s an outlook unique to me. No one else can create the same experiences my work can and vice versa. Just like I can’t create the same art as other artists around me. It's an experience and it can be just as personal as it is relatable to other people. Art and design are all about communication, the reason I make things is to communicate ideas and to make people feel or think a certain way. Apart from just art, one of my biggest passions in life is the accessibility of art and creative careers. I want minorities and low income students of color in creative spaces. Minorities and underprivileged artists deserve the space to express themselves and have an audience. I hope to be able to help other students that are in the shoes I once was. Students deserve the resources to pursue their passions. I hope to open up my own scholarship and fund other students like me. Once I finish my degree, I hope that I’ll be able to show everything I’ve learned online and make it much more accessible. I want to show students how to put together a portfolio, how to approach a job interview, how to create a resume, and what a typical day as a designer looks like, everything I wish I had. For the rest of my life I want to be able to create things that make others feel things. I want to create art unique to my experiences. To show others like me community and to help other artists from similar backgrounds. Everything I do is for other young students who think they don’t belong in creative spaces. With all that being said, to conclude, I would like to thank you, Marcus Reynolds, for giving students like me resources and scholarship opportunities. I hope to one day be able to open up my own scholarship and help fund other students with the same passions and backgrounds. If I can one day help other artists in the same shoes as me, I will have achieved more than I could’ve dreamed of.

I used to feel like I walked around with an invisible layer all over me. It almost felt like I was walking around with a stain on my character. For a long time, I resented who I was and felt like there was something wrong with me for having the capacity to love so many different people. Throughout my life I have experienced many people invalidating my sexuality and I’ve even had religious mentors tell me that my sexuality is a mistake and something to hide. Now, I’m happy to say that I can look back on these dark times in my life and accept who I was and who I am now. I’m a queer Mexican-American woman and there’s nothing in this world that can take this away from me. Representation was what finally helped me accept myself and my sexuality. Specifically musician and singer Raveena. The first time I felt unconditional love for every part of myself was the first time I listened to the song Temptation by Raveena. Her songs are about gentle experiences between queer women and her music makes me feel safe and lovable in my sexuality. I used to feel a lot of internalized biphobia and guilt, but her music has shown me the beauty in a queer relationship. Her music healed a lot of the internalized biphobic issues I had developed. I feel safe and empowered in my own skin.This is why I believe representation and media is crucial to LGBTQ+ awareness and positivity. I come from a conservative Mexican family so I was never exposed to any gay media. It was through artists like Raveena that I was able to see how different love can look for everyone. Love is gentle, it’s caring, it’s a relationship that can develop between anyone. Having positive representation felt like I was able to wash off this layer of guilt that I carried. Queer representation is something I hope to take part in myself one day. I am currently a design student and I want to use my passion for art and design to create art for other queer Latinx youth. I want them to know that they have nothing to fear or feel ashamed about. I want to make art that depicts queer love in the beautiful light it deserves. I hope through my art I am able to create loving and nurturing spaces like Raveena once did for me. To conclude, I would like to say thank you, Peterson Wellford, for creating this scholarship, giving me the opportunity to apply, and for uplifting LGBTQ+ youth. Thank you for supporting a queer girl from Southern California and believing in me, my art, and my capacity for love. It’s through the environments people like you and Raveena create that I am able to finish off this essay by saying that I, Karen Barrera, am a queer Mexica-American woman, and I love every part of me. There is finally no dirty feeling left!

My mother said a line to me that has remained with me through my educational career for years. She said, “Tienes que defender tus suenos”, or “You have to defend your dreams.” This quote sums up what it’s like to be a first-generation college student pursuing your passions. My name is Karen Barrera and I am currently a Mexican-American college student pursuing a degree in graphic design. Growing up, you’re told that you can accomplish anything you want, but when you come from an underprivileged community, you don’t always have the resources to do so. A harsh reality I encountered when applying to colleges was that I wouldn’t be able to attend any of the colleges I had worked so hard to get into because I couldn't afford any of them. I believe this experience changed me, my mindset, and brought out a passion for the accessibility of art and education. In high school, I tried to earn the best grades possible, took extra college classes, ran for my high school’s varsity cross-country and track team, and took leadership roles in the programs I cared about. But now that the time had come, it felt like it had all been for nothing. I decided that community college would be the best decision for me, but I will admit that it was disheartening seeing all my peers attend the schools of their dreams while I had to postpone mine for reasons outside of my control. I am extremely passionate about art and design, I live to create things. A more recent passion of mine has become the accessibility of art and creative careers in low-income communities. I’ve met so many talented students in my community and it’s disheartening seeing the way we never get the funding we deserve. I believe in making creative careers and resources for other artists more accessible. I believe that minorities deserve the space, the audience, and the resources to pursue their passions regardless of where they’re from.For this reason, I want to continue to pursue graphic design and take up space in the industry. I want to learn everything I can and help other passionate students pursue their passions too. I want to make education and resources accessible and free for kids like me. To make my dreams a reality, I’ve done a variety of extracurriculars, from volunteering at my local Boys and Girls Club Art Center to teaching myself different editing and design software for projects. During my time at the Boys and Girls Club I learned a lot about the importance of art. I led several group art projects for kids ages 8-12 and got to know the kids and their interests. It was here that I realized just how impactful creativity and giving kids the space to create was. I’ve also done community service work with my local church and C.A.U.S.E. which is an organization committed to social, economic, and environmental justice for working-class and immigrant communities. Everything I do is based around my love for my community, my identity, and art. With all that being said, to conclude, I would like to thank you, Abran, for giving students like me this scholarship opportunity. I hope to one day be able to open up my own scholarship and help fund other students with the same passions and backgrounds. Over time, I’ve realized that college degrees for first-generation students aren’t just for the student, they’re benefiting a whole community. If I can one day help other artists in the same shoes as me, I will have achieved more than I could’ve dreamed of.

If you open up a map of California and trace your finger along the west coast until you reach the south, right in-between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles there exists a small, but special city named Oxnard. I’ve grown up here for most of my life and these streets, the space between the fields and the beach are so special to me. The fact that Oxnard isn’t put on maps is almost symbolic of the way our community is treated. This city is home to a lot of very talented students and minorities who make Oxnard what it is. I, like a lot of my community, am a first-generation Mexican-American college student, and I’m pursuing a degree in graphic design. My biggest passion in life is art and design, I live to create things. A more recent passion of mine has become the accessibility of art and creative careers in low-income communities. A harsh reality I’ve encountered growing up in a low-income community is the lack of resources for creative studies. I’ve met so many talented students in my community and it’s disheartening seeing the way our communities never get the funding they deserve. I believe in making creative careers and resources for other artists more accessible. Minorities belong in creative environments. The design industry is currently centered around white, cisgender men. I believe that minorities deserve the space, the audience, and the resources to pursue their passions regardless of where they’re from. While I was applying to colleges, I realized how few resources there were for students like me, with interests in creative careers. For this reason, I want to continue to pursue graphic design and take up space in the industry. I want to learn everything I can and help other passionate students pursue their passions too. I want to make education and resources accessible and free for kids like me. To help make my dreams a reality, during my free time I’ve done a variety of extracurriculars, from volunteering at my local Boys and Girls Club Art Center to teaching myself different editing and design software for projects. During my time at my local Boys and Girls Club, I learned a lot about the importance of art. I led several group art projects for kids ages 8-12 and got to know the kids and their interests. It was here that I realized just how impactful creativity and giving kids the space to create was. I don’t think I would be as passionate about the accessibility of art and design if it wasn’t for this experience. I’ve also done community service work with my local church and C.A.U.S.E. which is an organization committed to social, economic, and environmental justice for working-class and immigrant communities. Everything I do is based around my love for my community, my identity, and art. With all that being said, to conclude, I would like to thank you, Youssef, for giving students like me resources and scholarship opportunities. I hope to one day be able to open up my own scholarship and help support other students with the same passions and backgrounds as me. Over time, I’ve realized that college degrees for first-generation students aren’t just for the student, they’re benefiting a whole community. If I can one day help other artists in the same shoes as me, I will have achieved more than I could’ve dreamed of. This isn’t just for me, but for all the artists of Oxnard, California who have been told we aren’t allowed to dream, to take up space, to make art a career, together we will.