Many perceive animation and film as nothing more than useless entertainment, but I see something past those boundaries. Storytelling isn't just about amusing the viewer's eye, but it's a vessel of our cultural development. We were raised and nurtured by the content displayed on our screens. Movies and television have brought us together and strengthened our relationships. When we watch these films, we see ourselves through the screen. We relate to these stories and characters and we begin to praise the work for how insightful it is to the human experience, that's the beauty of film. I am driven by the sheer passion of film and animation. I inherited these obsessions from my previous inspirations, James Gunn and Vince Gilligan, two remarkable people who influenced the trajectory of my artistic journey forever. James Gunn is the man who broadened my perspective on the superhero genre with the `Guardians of the Galaxy´ trilogy. He created stories with bittersweet moments and great execution in the development of fictional characters. While Vince Gilligan taught me the importance of visual storytelling and the craft of complex characters, His most notable works were `Breaking Bad´, `Better Call Saul´, and `El Camino´. In my artistic journey, I solely look to inspire people. I aim to go above and beyond with my work, and I hope to meet two of my biggest inspirations along my journey. I want to indulge in my talents to immerse myself in new experiences and to become the man that I always dreamed of being, an auteur for others to look up to, a man who will commit themselves to telling the best stories there are. And most of all, I do this to make my friends and my family proud. As cliche as that sounds, I think that there's a lot I can prove and disprove with these accomplishments. The first is my mental condition, autism, which many in my life see as something that will bring me down in the long run. The second is my teacher's faith in me. I want to show them how far I've come and witness how their hard work has paid off. I want to remind them of how significant they were to my career path, and how much of an impact they made in contributing to my life´s work. For this reason, I wish to study animation so that I can form a reputation for myself. I will kickstart my career and create a business that will help employ small indie artists while helping contribute to larger causes such as adversity or establishing scholarships. Film and animation is a fundamental aspect of the world. Companies often disregard its concept with the growing use of AI. But I hope to change that. I hope to be one of the few who actually cares about artist´s work because there's only so much you can do with their talents. Animation and film shaped our world, our culture, and the infinite outlook of our imagination.

I didn´t see myself standing out much. When I became aware of my condition I began to underestimate my learning capabilities, thinking of myself as someone who was inadequate at learning anything. As if I was a burden to my mother. My mom struggled to take care of me when I was little, she didn´t understand the complexities of the autism spectrum, so she tried everything she could to help me fit in with the rest of the kids. She would put me in therapy sessions and I was even put in a room with a group of other kids who were just like me. My education began in a special education class. When I showed signs of improvement, my school administration transferred me to regular education. The classes that I had transferred to were tiring, and very strange to me at first. While I tried many times to comprehend the subject my mind was drifting elsewhere. I was scared and feared that I was dumber than the rest. I wanted to stay caught up, but my insecurities and lack of understanding pushed me back. However, my IEP teachers helped me understand the material I was taught. They had methods of supporting me in my academic journey. And with the help that I received, those mathematical equations and literary analyses became clearer to me over time. And now, I'm in the pivotal moment of my life, where I get to decide where I have to go from here, and I have to reflect on what I endured these past few years. I probably wouldn't have made it through high school without the study guides that my IEP Instructors handed out. All of those sheets were a beneficial factor to my education. But even then I realized that I needed to learn how to overcome my learning disabilities without the use of cheat sheets. I've realized that things will become difficult over time, so I had to learn how to become independent, and more mature. I cannot help but thank my teachers and IEP counselors for what I've accomplished so far, and my mom for working alongside me in this journey. It was through hard work and perseverance that got me to where I am today. One of those reasons that makes me wanna move on with my education is my family, if anything I want to support them, and I want to make them proud, as well as all those people I met along the way. And they'll see that I made something out of myself.

When I look back at my younger years, I see a reflection of who I was as a person. I was very creative, and full of ideas. Making posters for my elementary school to promote literacy and the opening of the scholastic book fair, and passing out comics to every classroom to share my original stories. I was inspired by the likes of Marvel and Dav Pilkey's works during those years. There also came a time in my life when my catholic faith and my admiration of Scott Cawthon's Charities influenced me to give forth to my community by performing smaller acts such as picking up the litter at my local park or donating a small portion of my college savings to a friend who lost their house to a fire. In some way my life, my god, gave me empathy. And then that's when something struck me. Something bigger, and important to me was at stake. Spending my time on the internet I was aware that there were some animators and artists who seeked employment. And I was surprised to see this because I admire their art and I envied them for it even as someone who was trying to improve. Some of them needed to pay for rent and electricity, and others needed it to cover a loss. They were desperate and unseen. Deep down I felt the need to sympathize with them, to work my way towards sharing my success with them. I wanted to find a way to employ them taking into account how we live in such a large economy with so little space for some artists. It crossed my mind that maybe I can put their talents to use, that I can support them by uniting them into one industry, so that I can cover their expenses. And with that, we can mix diverse ideas and I can share their work all over the country. In addition to that, I will form my own scholarships to fund the education of the next generation of youth artists, and to those who desperately need it the most. I plan to do this by forming an organization, where I can store and donate money whether that's in person or online(I will host events where the contestants will write personal essays in correspondence to the structure of other scholarships, and I will host other events where I will give away money just for fun). Even if I had so much money in my pockets, I wouldn't find happiness to spend it for my own gains. I only look forward to helping these people, and that's all that matters. It will make me happy to see them succeed as I did. That's where I will find true happiness.

I went through a time when I felt an immense struggle in my life. Burdened with the work and obstacles that I am obligated to face, those of which require my attention. I felt hopeless, heck even suicidal. But truly I was just scared of the world. I was scared of growing up. There was a moment in my life, during the pandemic, when I did have a sense of hope. I was reading a children's bible, and there was a specific story about Jesus, who was being tempted into performing these acts(Matthew 4:1-11). He was asked to turn stones into a loaf of bread, he was commanded to jump off a building to prove that god would catch him, and he was asked to bow to satan. But Jesus did neither of those, for he did not fall for his temptations. Soon after, Satan left his presence, and Jesus was in peace. I reflected on what I just read. It enlightened me. I put my suicidal thoughts aside and moved on. Only then have I realized that life itself is putting me to the test, just as the devil was testing Jesus. Throughout my life, I practiced my Catholic traditions. And although I was obligated to, I felt rather grateful for following this path. This faith runs through our family, and it all started in Mexico, where my mother originated from. Some immigrated here, but some of my other family members decided to stay. I grew up in the South side of the country, but we moved to Chicago years later where we spent the rest of our life living. Every Sunday we would attend our local church, Santa Maria Addolorata. And I would sit and listen. I didn't care about it until I started growing up when I began to form a connection with God, where I began to listen to him. God is the reason I am still alive today, and he is the one guiding me into pursuing my passion to become a well-respected business owner and graphic novelist. And to throw away these God-given gifts would be a wasted opportunity. So I plan to use my career as a beacon of hope for all Christians out there, that even if you feel unheard of and dejected, god will enlighten you, and he will follow you every step of the way just so you can succeed. And that is why he gives me the courage to hope, and the strength to put into action my moral duties.