I am currently a senior at California Baptist University, with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Marketing. From a young age, I discovered a passion for art. It was like something innate to me. I was constantly doodling with crayons, gifted art sets from relatives, and filling sketchbooks with various pencil drawings of celebrities, friends, and characters. In middle school, I downloaded a digital collaging app and constantly uploaded collages carefully composed with embellished frames, text placements, stickers, and photo edits. However, as much as I loved everything to do with art, I had always heard that it was a career path one couldn't adequately live off of, as I had been old. The "starving artist" mindset pushed me to search for new career possibilities that would also include my need for creativity. I wanted to be able to afford the lifestyle I envisioned for myself. In highschool, I took my first elective graphic communications class, which opened up my world to the field of graphic design. I was fascinated with how practical yet creative graphic design could be. I loved how and so I decided to pursue it as my major in college. Throughout my time in university, I have been blessed to learn from several professors who have inspired me through their work and encouraged me through their applications of faith. With smaller class sizes and thought-provoking class discussions, I have learned so much during my time at CBU. I have gained so many skills and insights into the design field and am eager to put my knowledge to good use in the workplace. That being said, it has been difficult to land summer internships in design, making it difficult to raise funds to lower my financial needs. My family has also been going through a tough year with health issues, two loved ones passing away. I would love to be able to pay for my education without creating stress on my family. This scholarship would help lighten my financial load and allow me to focus my attention on building my skills in school and obtaining the materials needed for classes. I would love to be able to start my career with the confidence that I can support myself and my goals without being held back by the financial burden that higher education should free us from. Thank you for this opportunity!

Ever since I was young, I had such a fascination with animated movies from Disney and Pixar. I visited Disney animation studios and saw how the process was done to create those movies and found myself dreaming about becoming an animator one day. As a college student, I found an interest in graphic design and decided to pursue as my major. I recently took a motion design class where I created a fully conceptualized and animated motion ad for a beauty brand. It was my first time creating an entirely motion designed video and I was so proud of how it turned out. Even though motion design is not exactly the same as what animation for movies entails, I felt like I had started to fulfill my childhood dream. By combining my childhood dream of animation with my current interests in beauty, cosmetics, and design, I was able to create a digital piece that encapsulated who I am today. This past March, I was even honored to receive a silver Addy Award from the American Advertising Federation. Even though an award does not define the impact of a piece, receiving this award cemented this project as one of my favorites, as it reminded me of the vision, effort, and time I poured into creating it.