Since I was a young girl, my biggest influence in my life has been my mother, a strong and beautiful immigrant from Guatemala. For as long as I can remember my mother has been my role model because of her awareness, intelligence, independence, and beauty. She taught me how to be hard working, a critical thinker, and best of all creative. She taught me to do what I love and to push forward to accomplish my dreams. Throughout the years I have kept her advice and lessons in mind even after her and I were separated and no longer lived together. Her wise words kept me from becoming "just another standard" and helped me push through every difficult moment during my high school years. Although, I am new to the art field (I began drawing and painting in the eight grade and continued on-and-off until my sophomore year and have been taking art classes since then), as I mentioned earlier my mother taught me to be creative. Whenever I get a burst of unwanted emotion I let my creativity roam and turn that unwanted feeling into a sketch. In a way, drawing my emotions helps me overcome the emotions and feel at peace. In the future, I hope to use my art to help others overcome their emotions or maybe even be aware of their emotions, which is the first step to overcoming them. This may not be an original idea, but my art is very original because it comes straight from my heart and it could produce a unique outcome. Whether you call it a gift or skill, I consider it a skill because it is something one has to practice to get better at like singing or dancing. My artistic skill is constantly developing and is different from others because I put in the most effort and love into my art pieces. Whenever I ever get a commission, I make sure the art piece comes out how the customer wants it to. If the customer is unsatisfied then so am I. Besides my artistic skill I am very patient so if it takes me months to finish an art piece for it to come out then so be it. I take my time with my work so neither I or the customer I am working for are unsatisfied with the outcome. Below I will submit my art which are inspired by my emotions, inspired by present day issues, and inspired by nature's beauty.

I come from a poor and hard-working family; My mother came to the United States from Guatemala at the age of nineteen. My father came to the United States from El Salvador when he was 20. Many many years after my mother migrated, my parents found each other and I was born. Unfortunately, the relationship didn't work out and my father became an alcoholic. Because of this, many incidents took place where I was put in danger. My father got deported when I was four so I never had a father figure around, but my mother tried her best to play that role. My father left my mom with three kids, two that were his own and one who he would never claim as his. Additionally, he never helped my mother pay for our necessities so raising us three was very tough on her. My mother has always been hard-working, confident, passionate, and loving. Many of my personality traits I learned from watching my mother. She was always working to keep a roof over her kids' heads and never let her kids starve. When I was thirteen, I went to Virginia for summer vacation to visit my grandmother; It was time well spent but I was ready to go back home and see my friends and family. It was the day of my flight so my sister and I were making sure everything was ready. We were almost done packing when my grandmother gets a phone call. She got news that my mother had just been detained and was going to be deported. In that moment my world felt like it was collapsing right under me and soon I would be in the deepest depression I have ever experienced. My only role model and parental figure had just been stripped away from me like she was nothing. Although this moment was dreadful and painful to me, it taught me many lessons. This large obstacle in my life changed me in many ways that weren't healthy, but one thing I gained was maturity. I learned to be there for myself and to be independent. I learned to care for my younger sister and be the parental figure she needed. I learned to be compassionate and work hard for what I want and deserve. Trying to be a first generation college student while also having no parents, having to play a parental role, being a female and hispanic was extremely tough. There were many days were I wanted to give up but I thought back to how hard my mother fought to keep my siblings and I happy and healthy and I knew I had to succeed for myself, for my sister, and for my mother. Now I am becoming the first generation college student I always wanted to be and surely I will accomplish all my goals of being a wealthy and independent working woman.

To me, the American Dream is the hope to be able to live the life you have always wanted. For me the life I have always wanted is a peaceful life where I have enough money to live comfortably and do what I love. Since I was a young girl, I only knew poverty and failure. I witnessed it through my mother; no matter how hard she worked she could never make progress. I witnessed it through my brother; he dropped out of high school to help my mother take care of my sister and I. I never thought I would be able to achieve the American Dream. Seeing everything my mother and brother went through to keep me educated and healthy made me want to keep pushing, though. Fast forward a couple of years, I am now graduated and I am making the best out of what I have. I no longer live with my mom or brother. We were separated when I was thirteen because my mother got deported, so I went to go live with my grandmother. Those years leading up to this year were probably the most miserable years of my life, but I knew I had to keep pushing forward for myself, my sister, and my mother. I hope I can make the best out of my college years to learn from my mistakes, learn how to better my skills, and find what I want to do for a living. I am planning on pursuing a career in the Fine Arts field because drawing and painting has been a way for me to cope with everything I have dealt with. Art is something I love to do and is a way for me to express my suppressed feelings. When I finally made the decision to pursue a career in art everyone opposed my decision and told me I wouldn't get anywhere in life. I have tried my best to ignore those thoughts and trust my gut. Once I get my Fine Arts Associates Degree at NOVA community college, I hope to have my plans figured out and I will transfer my credits to a four-year school so I can get a Bachelor's degree in whatever major I think suits me and my future career the best( As of right now that is Fine Arts, but in the future I could end up changing my major). I truly believe this plan will help me achieve my dream of living peacefully, comfortably, and doing what I love.

My favorite book is The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave by Frederick Douglas. Although I am not much of a book reader, this book has stuck with me ever since reading it. I read it in the eleventh grade in my AP English class. I was still virtual this year, so if I really wanted to I could have just looked up all the answers regarding this book, but there was no way I couldn't read it. This book speaks so much truth about our nation's history and brings out the most emotions of a person. I remember when I read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave I was amazed at how Frederick Douglas managed to overcome the many obstacles that were in his way. Nevertheless, he learned to read, write, and became an activist and author. This narrative is my favorite piece because it shows the true colors of slavery, which is sugarcoated and written by former and possibly even current slave owners. It shows that the nation was built on the backs of African American slaves and deeply describes the mental and physical torture that slaves had to endure. The cruelty opened my eyes to the cruel history of our nation and altered many of my beliefs I thought were true. I highly recommend reading this book and high recommend it be read in class to show students the true colors of our nation. In addition, Frederick Douglas did an amazing job speaking for the people who didn't have a voice at the time.

My whole life I have been a sympathetic person. I have always tried to see the good in people and try my best help everyone out. Although I didn't come from money and lived in poverty for my entire childhood, I always tried sparing some money for others who needed it as well. Looking back, I realize I have not changed at all. My goals and ambitions are still centered around giving back to the people who need it most. In the future, I hope to raise enough money through my artwork to give it back to three main groups. I want to donate to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Trevor Project (which is a mental health organization for LGBTQ+), and ACLU (helps defend immigrants' lives). This will take a lot of hard work but I am determined to make my dream come true and help others around me.

As a first generation student and child of an illegal immigrant life was not easy for me. School was never extremely challenging, but it also wasn't a walk in the park. I had to overcome multiple obstacles and mature very early. I was born in January of two thousand four in Houston, Texas where I lived with my mother, my father, and my older brother. When I was four years old my father got deported, leaving my mother alone with myself, my brother, and a newborn baby. My mother made mistakes along the way trying to raise three kids on her own during the recession of 2008, but nonetheless she did as much as she could. My mother was an amazing person who fought for what was right and gave her three children the world. She was a hardworking, independent, intelligent, and righteous woman. She spent day and night working to keep us safe and healthy, but the universe had other plans. In 2017, my mother was deported while my younger sister and I, ages thirteen and nine, were visiting my grandmother in Virginia. This was a slap across the face to me and the most painful situation I had ever been in. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was packing my clothes with my younger sister, Stela. We were so excited to be on our way back home. It had been two months since we had seen our mother and brother and were very excited to go back to school to see our friends! It was around five hours before we had to leave to the airport and then my grandma walked into the room with her phone in her hand. The look on her face spoke a million words, but the words that were about to come out her mouth were not the words I was expecting. She passed the phone to me and said we weren't going to the airport anymore. My heart dropped as I held the phone up to my ear. I heard my mother's shaky voice as she told me what happened. She had been detained and was going to be sent back to her home country, Guatemala. Tears came streaming down my face as she broke the news down to me. Because of this moment I had to become the mother figure I yearned for and had to guide my younger sister, teaching her right from wrong. Having to inherit these motherly duties taught me to be more compassionate and cautious in all situations. In addition, this situation made me realize I had to take advantage of every moment I had with my family and taught me to cherish every moment with them. I believe family is very important and time should not be wasted. Although that memory was very traumatizing and scary, there were good things that came out of it and I am glad I could learn from it.

Since I was a child I have gone out of my way to help others. I have always been compassionate and try my best to be helpful to everyone. I always show respect for others and try to be there for the people I care for. I have also always cared about my communities' wellbeing for as long as I can remember. Although I have never been involved in volunteering groups, I have always tried to keep my surroundings as clean as possible. I never litter when I'm outside and have always looked out for the communities' stray animals such as dogs and cats. My sister and I have actually taken in a couple of strays including two of our dogs Coco and Lazy and our cat Gita. Not only have we taken in strays, but my aunt, whom I currently live with, has helped us take in one of my friends who recently got kicked out of her home. She was 17 when her mother told her to leave and was desperate to find somewhere to live. With the help of my aunt we set up a living space for her in our house and she is doing much better! She has an amazing job and just graduated from high school! None of these actions have anything to do with art, but when I moved to Virginia my 8th grade year I got into the hobby of drawing. At the time I didn't think anything of drawing; it was just something I could do in my free time, but little did I know my creativity held much potential for power and growth. Over the years I continued to practice and sketch and soon I began painting. Once I got the hang of painting I came across digital art apps and began to experiment. I painted images of controversial themes such as pole dancing or recreational drugs. Many people who see my art think I am crazy or out of my mind but I see beauty in my art work because I get to "speak" for those who are too afraid, ashamed, or those who are frequently silenced. Topics such as feminism and women empowerment are very important to me because when I was younger my mother got abused and my aunts told me stories of their abuse stories which are very painful to hear. So one of the art pieces I will be showing today is of a rope dancer which can be seen to many as disgusting or disgraceful, but to many, if not all, rope dancers the dance is therapeutic and a distraction from the problems they are facing. I love rope dancing and pole dancing because it is a sign of women empowerment coming from within. These dancers are putting their blood, sweat, and tears into this hobby and helping others to gain confidence and self-love. For this reason, I love art because I can show a side of a story that not many people like to see and it helps to bring communities together.

I am someone who comes from almost nothing so my whole childhood I had to find the fun in life to enjoy it. At the age of 13, I got separated from my mother and began living with my grandmother. This is when I used my creativity to my advantage. I channeled my anger and sadness into paintings and poetry. Ever since my mother and I got separated I often times had too many thoughts at once or too few thoughts and had no idea how to fix this problem. Over the years, I learned how to cope with my feelings. Instead of suppressing them, I would paint, draw, or write how I feel since I have never been much of a vocal person. I have learned that art is the one thing that keeps me sane and I love doing it so I will continue to do art, helping myself and my relationships with the people around me.