What drives my passion for art? I like to think that my art tells everything that I can’t. I write. I draw. I photograph. Art is an unspoken spoken art form to relate to the people around us. It helps make the unknown known for the rest. When I go outside I see endless possibilities of the art I could do. When I see something that reminds me of memories it makes me want to recreate. Our thoughts in our heads can create endless art. Whether it’s by words. Or by brush. Or even by photographs. In my art I tend to infuse what I’ve gone through to help me navigate what I went through or go through. When I see something online that looks cool I add it to my art in some shape or form. I remember when I was younger I would look at a picture and just draw it. I know it wasn’t perfect but knowing that I could do it pushed me to do better. In conclusion, art is everywhere I look. From pictures in a photo album to photoshopped pictures online. Or outside in the leaves of things to the waves at the lake. Everything around me reinforces my passion to explore my art capabilities. Art is an unspoken spoken art form needing to be shared with the world.

When the world starts piling on our shoulders there are certain things we all like to do, right? For me when that happens I like to listen to music, art, reading, writing, and being outside. When I listen to music it calms my nerves. When the music fills my ear something about the melody or the actual strikes let’s the rest fade away. The music hits more when the lyrics relate to what you are going through. When music doesn’t help I also like to do art. I love to sketch or paint anything that comes to mind. My favorite thing to do recently is draw my family and friends. I have to focus on it so it distracts me from what’s going on in my head. When neither of the first two help I like to switch it up and read. See I used to read a lot when I was younger and it continued on to now. Reading helps me get lost in the book and escape reality. I also enjoy writing. I started getting into writing more when the pandemic hit. It helped me put what I was feeling or thinking on a page without actually having to say it out loud. When I got into writing I switched my major to creative writing at school. It also gives me a chance to be part of our literary journals spring issue, digital and paper coming out in May. And lastly, being outside, when the rest doesn’t help. When I go outside I usually just sit in my driveway and watch cars pass by. Or I go to the lake to clear my head since it’s calming. Sometimes I like to combine what calms me down: the art, the music, writing, and being outside which helps a lot.

I want to make my dad proud. My dad came to this country from Brazil, learning a new language, and has raised three kids on his own. My mom was never in the picture, and my siblings mom died when they were young. My siblings were never the easiest after we moved to Tennessee. They never graduated high school. I’m a first generation high school graduate and college student. When I first started college I was going in as a Psychology major. Then the pandemic happened, and I changed my major to Creative Writing. After I get my degree I plan to publish some of my work. Then work my way up to editor, and then be a publisher. I just want to make my dad proud since he has done so much for me.

My dad is my everything. My dad has been raising three kids on his own for most of my life. I know there were times we struggled but he still made sure that we had what we needed. My dad has been my rock through everything and I'm appreciative of what he's done for his family. My siblings also never made it easy given the fact there was always some mischief that they were getting in. My older sister dropped out for what would be her senior year of high school. Then my older brother dropped out or got expelled leading him to not graduating high school either. My siblings and my dad though they never did anything, they pushed me to being able to graduate high school and go to college. I have an original drawing a drew from a picture that I took when we went on a trip to Chicago back in October last year. but this song not by me also reminds me of my dad.

I think my greatest achievement is actually graduating high school and being a first generation college student. I know to a lot of people that can be so simple, but to me it means everything. My dad wasn't from this country only moving here when he was a grown man and watching him handle raising three kids on his own is inspiring. My mom isn't in my life given that she left my life when I was two years old and showing up every now and then before we moved to Tennessee for my dad's new job transfer. My siblings weren't always the easiest to handle given that they were 'troublemakers' in a sense of making some untraditional decisions. My siblings never graduated high school, my sister was super close but she dropped out, and my brother he got in the wrong crowd leading him to being expelled. At a young age watching them act the way they did it taught me to not be like them and actually graduate high school. I want to make my dad and the rest of my family proud with saying I have the chance to graduate college too. When I graduated high school, I was ready for the next chapter in my life even though it was going to be stressful and exciting at the same time. Being a high school graduate taught me that I can be anything if I stay focused on my goals and work hard. Now being in college I'm trying to do the same so I can once again make my family proud. I'm currently majoring in creative writing at Cumberland University in Tennessee where I plan to use my degree to become a journalist alongside being a photographer. This has always been something I want to even if I got sidestepped going into the wrong major at first. I was gifted being part of Tennessee Promise my first two years and now going into the next couple I'm being smart and applying for scholarships to help me reach my goal in life. Being in college thus far has taught me that we all have our goals and struggles while easily hiding it somedays and not so well the others. We can see that some students have it all figured out on the inside but they could really be struggling on the inside feeling lost like the rest of us. We want to check the box of being able to say that we graduated and that we have the rest of our lives figured out. I've learned that life is what we make of it, and to not let life drag me down. College is teaching me to be an adult and I didn't even realize it.