When I was two months old, my parents brought me to Hawaii, where I grew up surrounded by diverse cultures. One of my favorite childhood memories is helping kindergarteners at my elementary school with my friends, playing with them until their parents arrived to pick them up. I vividly remember some children waiting until the evening, long after most others had gone. These moments have stayed with me and shaped my understanding of others’ experiences. As a child of a freelance designer mother, I had the privilege of flexibility, being able to stay if I wanted to be with my friends or come home immediately after school if I wanted. I also often hosted sleepovers with friends whose parents worked late, and my mom usually made delicious food for us. However, as I got older, I began to understand the sacrifices of those parents who worked late to provide for their families. This realization deepened during my summers in Japan. I often spent time with the children of my mother’s friends, many of whom were in similar circumstances. One of her friends had started a cafe and worked long hours to run the cafe, while another worked as a nurse with demanding shifts. Now, living in New York City for college, I’ve continued to observe these cases. My mother’s friend frequently asks me to babysit her young daughter, sometimes as late as 7 p.m., due to her work schedule. I’ve seen how much it pains her to miss her daughter’s events, like school performances, moments she cherishes but sacrifices to ensure her family’s well-being. Each experience has reinforced my empathy for these hardworking parents and their children, inspiring me to think about how to contribute meaningfully to their lives through my art. Although my mother’s freelance work allowed her to work from home during my early childhood, it eventually required frequent business trips that sometimes lasted a week or even a month. As an only child, my house felt silent when my parents weren’t home, and I thought I would feel lonely while I waited. However, my mom prioritized spending quality time with me when she was home, creating a strong bond and sense of security that made those quieter times more manageable. When she was away, I turned to anime and manga, and had the house all to myself to enjoy. During these times, I also spent a lot of time drawing, being inspired by these fascinating stories and characters, which deepened my passion for illustration. These experiences have shaped my dream of creating stories that provide comfort and inspiration, especially for children. I want to craft imaginative worlds where they feel understood and encouraged to dream beyond their circumstances. Through visual storytelling, I hope to offer them the same connection and comfort that anime and manga gave me as a child. This scholarship would allow me to continue my education at Parsons School of Design, refine my artistic skills, and learn new techniques to bring these worlds to life, inspiring a new generation to dream big.

One of my favorite creations is Jyuunin Toiro, a digital illustration from my AP 2D Art portfolio. The title, which translates to "ten people, ten colors," reflects the idea that everyone has unique preferences and perspectives. Inspired by this Japanese motto, I created a visual story celebrating individuality, equality, and acceptance. The piece depicts a museum where each artwork symbolizes a person with a distinct career, with their uniqueness emphasized through complementary colors. At the center, I included myself as a painter holding a vibrant palette, representing the beauty of embracing diversity. For example, I depicted a man feeding a baby to challenge the stereotype that child-rearing is only a woman’s responsibility. I also portrayed a person of color as a prima ballerina, breaking conventional norms. The setting embodies my dream museum, where people can relax on the tatami mat and appreciate the displayed artworks. “Jyuunin Toiro” originated from I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki. Inspired by the novel’s title, I wrote Wagahai wa neko dearu in the sky, as glowing stars. Additionally, because the narrator of this story is a cat that observes the human world from a unique perspective, I added a curious cat peeking into the museum from above. This piece resonates with me because it embodies my artistic values of creating imaginative worlds that celebrate individuality. Receiving the Natalie Jude Women in the Arts Scholarship will enable me to explore meaningful storytelling in my illustrations further and refine my skills at Parsons School of Design.

Art has always had a special place in my heart, becoming a way to express my feelings and connect with others. Growing up, I watched my mother transform ideas into creations that brought joy to others, sparking my belief in the power of art to make a difference. As a designer, she often spoke about her desire to help people by creating designs that spread the culture of hawaii or developing beauty products for sensitive skin like hers. Her dedication inspired me to see creativity as a tool to impact the world positively. Following in her footsteps, I developed a passion for 2D illustration. My art focuses on spreading messages of hope and acceptance. One of my favorite pieces, "United in Diversity," embodies this vision. The artwork features five figures, each with a head of a dish representing a different culture, walking together in harmony. This piece symbolizes how food, a universal experience, can serve as a bridge between cultures, celebrating the beauty of our differences. Additionally, I have created multiple pieces inspired by Japanese mottos. One of these works, titled “Customer is God,” illustrates various gods eating and drinking together, conveying a message of accepting different religions. Another piece, “Jyuunin Toiro,” reflects the idea that everyone has unique preferences and perspectives. To represent this, I drew multiple people from diverse careers using complementary colors, showing how various personalities color the world. My ultimate goal is to create illustrations that resonate with people and inspire them to embrace diversity and kindness. Just as my mother uses her creativity to bring smiles and comfort to others, I aim to use my illustrations to spark empathy and unity. With this scholarship's support, I can continue my education at Parsons School of Design, refine my craft, and create art that leaves a positive message to the world.

Even though I'm not a bookworm, I was influenced by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. When I took dual enrollment for English 100, one of my assignments was to write a literary analysis about “The Second Bakery Attack " by Murakami. This assignment puzzled me initially, but my professor told me there was no standard for determining whether this essay was right or wrong and that taking whatever message I took from the story was okay. When I spoke to my professor privately, she advised me that since Murakami is Japanese, writing an essay that takes advantage of your Japanese identity might be interesting. I interpreted this story as conveying the need for people to understand and be honest about their feelings through the story of a newlywed couple attacking a bakery. And I got the message that we can ultimately work toward a common goal by understanding and accepting each other's differences. When I thought of his Japanese identity, elements like the clear water and the volcano felt like they significantly impacted the message. In the analysis, I stated that the volcano represents the frustration of hiding their secrets from their partner. For the husband, he was hiding his hunger to satisfy his wish, while the wife was hiding her dark past. I described that the clear water symbolized zen because Japanese people tend to suppress or hide their emotions and don't aggressively express their feelings. Before becoming emotional, they calm their minds like clear water and analyze it. Therefore, the experience of interpreting what the elements of a story meant sparked the idea for my AP art project. I decided to do a sustained investigation of transforming Japanese moto into visual art with messages. For one of my projects, I chose “Customer is God.” This motto is said to be made from a conversation between an Enka singer, Minami Haruo, and a stand-up comedian, Miyao Takashi, and it was created by wanting to make the customers happy with the songs and performances. I drew Buddha and Jesus drinking together and Zeus and Amaterasu drinking together and having fun. I wanted to show that people accept and respect other religions in modern Japanese culture. I also chose to show Zeus pouring sake for Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun in Japan, and I wanted to illustrate gender equality because, in Japan, women were usually expected to pour for men in the past, but to show that it is a new generation, I switched it up. Lastly, I also expressed the meaninglessness of discriminating against people based on skin color by illustrating the red and blue demons in Japanese folklore. In this way, my art contains messages about social issues and systems that make an effort to cause change, but my art is open to interpretation. For example, I drew a red and a blue demon, and some may interpret this as saying that even two people with opposite personalities can form a wonderful friendship. I would like to think of various ways for people to use their imagination and have fun with my art.

Even though I'm not a bookworm, I was influenced by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. When I took dual enrollment for English 100, one of my assignments was to write a literary analysis about “The Second Bakery Attack " by Murakami. This assignment puzzled me initially, but my professor told me there was no standard for determining whether this essay was right or wrong and that taking whatever message I took from the story was okay. When I spoke to my professor privately, she advised me that since Haruki is Japanese, writing an essay that takes advantage of your Japanese identity might be interesting. I interpreted this story as conveying the need for people to understand and be honest about their feelings through the story of a newlywed couple attacking a bakery. And I got the message that we can ultimately work toward a common goal by understanding and accepting each other's differences. When I thought of his Japanese identity, elements like the clear water and the volcano felt like they significantly impacted the message. In the analysis, I stated that the volcano represents the frustration of hiding their secrets from their partner. For the husband, he was hiding his hunger to satisfy his wish, while the wife was hiding her dark past. I described that the clear water symbolized zen because Japanese people tend to suppress or hide their emotions and don't aggressively express their feelings. Before becoming emotional, they calm their minds like clear water and analyze it. Therefore, the experience of analyzing what the elements of a story meant sparked the idea for my AP art project. I decided to do a sustained investigation of transforming Japanese moto into visual art with messages. For one of my projects, I chose “Customer is God.” This motto was created by the feeling of wanting to make the customers happy with the songs and performances. I drew Buddha, Jesus, Zeus, and Amaterasu, drinking and having fun together. I wanted to show that people accept and respect other religions in modern Japanese culture. I also chose to show Zeus pouring sake for Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun in Japan, and I wanted to illustrate gender equality because, in Japan, women were usually expected to pour for men in the past. Lastly, I also expressed the meaninglessness of discriminating against people based on skin color by illustrating the red and blue demons in Japanese folklore. In this way, my art contains messages about social issues and systems that make an effort to cause change, but my art is open to interpretation. For example, I drew a red and a blue demon, and some may interpret this as saying that even two people with opposite personalities can form a wonderful friendship. I would like to explore various ideas for people to use their imagination and have fun with my art.

Even though I'm not a bookworm, I was influenced by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. When I took dual enrollment for English 100, one of my assignments was to write a literary analysis about “The Second Bakery Attack " by Murakami. This assignment puzzled me initially, but my professor told me there was no standard for determining whether this essay was right or wrong and that taking whatever message I took from the story was okay. When I spoke to my professor privately, she advised me that since Haruki is Japanese, writing an essay that takes advantage of your Japanese identity might be interesting. I interpreted this story as conveying the need for people to understand and be honest about their feelings through the story of a newlywed couple attacking a bakery. And I got the message that we can ultimately work toward a common goal by understanding and accepting each other's differences. When I thought of his Japanese identity, elements like the clear water and the volcano felt like they significantly impacted the message. In the analysis, I stated that the volcano represents the frustration of hiding their secrets from their partner. For the husband, he was hiding his hunger to satisfy his wish, while the wife was hiding her dark past. I described that the clear water symbolized zen because Japanese people tend to suppress or hide their emotions and don't aggressively express their feelings. Before becoming emotional, they calm their minds like clear water and analyze it. Therefore, the experience of analyzing what the elements of a story meant sparked the idea for my AP art project. I decided to do a sustained investigation of transforming Japanese moto into visual art with messages. For one of my projects, I chose “Customer is God.” This motto was created by the feeling of wanting to make the customers happy with the songs and performances. I drew Buddha, Jesus, Zeus, and Amaterasu, drinking and having fun together. I wanted to show that people accept and respect other religions in modern Japanese culture. I also chose to show Zeus pouring sake for Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun in Japan, and I wanted to illustrate gender equality because, in Japan, women were usually expected to pour for men in the past. Lastly, I also expressed the meaninglessness of discriminating against people based on skin color by illustrating the red and blue demons in Japanese folklore. In this way, my art contains messages about social issues and systems that attempt to cause change but are open to interpretation. For example, I drew a red and a blue demon, and some may interpret this as saying that even two people with opposite personalities can form a wonderful friendship. I would like to explore various ideas so people can use their imagination and enjoy my art.

My legs feel like jelly as my week of working from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily is finally over. This was my second time, and even though I was determined never to experience such exhausting work again, I ended up coming to this place again this summer. It's like an unstoppable love. At 9:30 a.m., my work starts by cleaning the booth. This booth is a pop-up shop opened by my boss (mom), the owner and designer of a Hawaiian brand, at the Hawaii Fair held at Hankyu Umeda, a Japanese department store. This popular fair attracts huge waves of customers. My boss's most selling products were her bags, and for the customers to enjoy, we had a table with rows of Hawaiian fabric ribbons that they could match the bags with. Although I had to run around the booth, attending waves of customers, I felt proud of working at a crowded booth. However, this wave of customers changes, getting bigger and smaller. When the wave gets smaller, that is, when I can no longer see the customers around us, I become anxious. I couldn't help but whisper, “It’s not selling at all.” Then, my boss firmly said, “When the wave of customers is receding, use this time to prepare for the next big wave. We need to improve the booth layout and demonstrate how to attach Hawaiian fabric handle ribbons to bags. This will bring back even bigger waves of customers.” And it happened. The wave of customers reached our booth again. My boss used to say that tough times bring opportunity, and this experience was the first time I truly understood what that meant. However, although this was a good learning experience, I wouldn't have come here again if that was all it was. To be honest, I was wondering why my boss kept trying even though international shipping is expensive and challenging to make a profit, but I finally understood why. With the fair almost over and tiredness at peak, they came. They were like a sun between the clouds after a storm. Misaki was a shy girl who came to our booth last year. Misaki's mother told me that Misaki admired my Hawaiian-style clothes the previous year, so she bought similar clothes. She also told me she dreams of going to Hawaii with those clothes and the bags they bought at our booth when Misaki’s heart surgery succeeds. This experience taught me that Hawaiian culture and design in my daily life can become hopes and dreams. Somewhere in my heart, I believed only talented people could become artists. And the pressure of always making a fascinating design was eating me. However, I learned that I need to step toward my dream before giving up and getting my thoughts clouded by negativity. That is why I chose to take my first step by applying to art college, learning more techniques, and broadening my perspective to create my unique art.