Growing up in a Black and Muslim community, it was incredibly hard finding a place where I fit in as a queer kid. At school, I was told over and over that being gay or trans was wrong and sick, and at home I was forced to listen to my parents crack jokes about the "alphabet people" and go on about how gays were trying to brainwash kids. So naturally, when I found out I was bisexual, I was nervous. Would I be accepted in my community? Would my friends and family see me differently? Could I even call myself Muslim anymore? It was around this turbulent time in my adolescence that I got back into art, something I had always enjoyed since my days as a toddler barely out of diapers. Since before I could remember, drawing was a way for me to express myself freely and experiment with new ideas. So of course, when I felt I had nowhere else to turn to, I created. I filled my sketchbooks with pencil and watercolor, letting myself express my identity across the pages and in the cramped margins of chemistry notebooks. And I would convince myself that this was enough for now. Eventually, the time came to apply for colleges. And up until the moment the application was open on my laptop screen, I was sure I wanted to study STEM. But no. What I really wanted to do--my passion, the thing that had kept me afloat for so long--was art. And so I decided on Traditional Animation and Film and Television as my two majors. At Columbia College Chicago--a place that I've found to be accepting of me and all aspects of my identity as a bisexual and gender-fluid person--I hope to learn as much as I can in my two disciplines and use those skills to create content that provides more representation for queer people, especially queer people of color. As a queer person of color myself, it's proven difficult to find content that accurately represents my community. While more and more content depicting us is being made, I find that it's often not made by us. Thus, the way we're represented can be inaccurate or exaggerated, making a caricature of us, our identities, and our culture. In my future career as a filmmaker and animator (and even now), I want to make content that queer POC can not only find entertaining, but also relate to and be proud to see themselves in.

When I was in fifth grade, I wanted to be a fashion designer. I was dead-set on becoming the next Giorgio Armani or Calvin Klein. I knew there couldn't be anything else that was right for me. Until I discovered engineering and computer science. I realized I was wrong before. This is what I wanted to do. I'd go to college and change the field of science forever. And then my second-to-last year of high school happened, and I had to apply for colleges. I realized...I didn't want to work in STEM. I felt lost, like I'd spent all that time in school thinking I'd figured out what I wanted to do, but I was wrong. I sat in front of the open college application on my laptop, staring at the empty "major" box, thoughts muddled. But I didn't panic, because my parents had always made sure, through everything, that I knew that whatever I chose, they would support me. This was always a relief to me. I'd heard of my friends being pressured by their parents to pursue a certain career because it was a "valuable" profession or it made money. Not being able to choose what you do for the rest of your life? That sounded horrible to me, especially now, as an artist pursuing a career in animation and film, a path that many kids' parents would frown upon. But mine never did. Aside from the unconditional support for my art that my parents have always shown me, they've also helped me realize the path that I wanted to take, even if I didn't realize it at the time. My mother, as I found out when I was child, has great artistic ability--a fact which amazed me at the time. I'd always loved drawing as a kid, which I'm sure most young children do. But my mother encouraged this talent in me and my siblings, allowing us to foster a skill which would turn out to be a passion for most of us. In my future career, I want to use this passion to create animated content featuring the types of characters that look like me, the types I rarely got to see growing up. My father, having chosen a career in the film industry, is an avid movie-watcher and cinema buff. From the time I can remember, he was trying to get me and my siblings to watch "the classics." There's nothing to single you out from your peers like being the only one out of a room of middle schoolers to have seen both The Shining and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He always talked about making his own films, something I've come to realize is a passion of mine as well. One day, I'll be able to tell my stories my way, using new and creative techniques that I hope will inspire young filmmakers the same way I was. If it hadn't been for my parents, I don't think I would be where I am now. I probably would have chosen to go to school for STEM, and would most likely eventually end up working at a desk somewhere, writing and rewriting lines of code. Not that it wouldn't have interested me, but art is something I'm incredibly passionate about. I think this is something that makes my art special--it comes from a place of deep love--love that my parents showed me and used to encourage my interests for eighteen years. Art has always been a part of my life, and I'm glad I chose to do it for the rest of it.

As a black kid growing up in a Muslim community, it wasn't often that I saw stories that represented who I was. And when I got older and became aware of my identity as a queer person, it became even more of an issue to find accurate representation. So I made my own characters, and with them, their stories. It became not only a way to express myself creatively, but also a way to explore a potential career path. And eventually, that's what it blossomed into. Currently, I attend Columbia College Chicago and am studying Traditional Animation and Film and Television. Through my art, I want to portray characters from underrepresented and under-appreciated communities, like POC characters who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, or POC neurodivergent characters. During my time at in college, and after I graduate, I aspire to create animation and films featuring characters and stories such as these. I hope that my art reaches other people like me who often don't see themselves in mainstream media and inspires them to tell their stories as well.

Growing up as a mixed black kid in a Muslim community, it was already hard finding a place to fit in in the world outside of my inner circle. But once I discovered my identity as a queer person, it only got harder. Now, I not only had to fear rejection from those outside of my family and community, but also those inside. It took me a long time to feel comfortable in my skin, and even now it's a struggle. Since then, I've gotten to know the world outside the context of my religious community. But even in the mostly-openminded city and academic community I'm currently a part of, you never know how people will judge you based on your background. On top of this insecurity is the struggle I still face with my identity, especially as it pertains to gender--trying to figure out exactly who I am and feeling like I'll never have enough time to do it. Coming from the background that I do, I've made it a goal in my work and my career as an animator and filmmaker to portray characters of diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. I especially want to create queer characters of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds that we don't see in mainstream media too often. Too many people have a narrow and Eurocentric view of what it means to be queer, and I want to help break this mold.

1. When I was a kid, all my teachers told me I was talented. I think that alone is reason enough to give me this scholarship. 2. I honestly just want to find a job that's easy where I don't have to do a lot. 3. I once was ordering Chipotle and they didn't have the salsa I usually order. I was devastated. But I took charge and made a decision: I would get red salsa instead. (The flavor was a bit disappointing though.)

This is one of my favorite pieces I've created. It features a girl sitting among fish and plants in a pond. I'm working to help my community by creating characters of color, like her, specifically Black and/or Indigenous. I am also working to create webcomics (there is one that I am working to publish in the next couple years) that feature POC in leading roles. I also like to include characters of diverse backgrounds unrelated to race or ethnicity, like LGBTQ+ characters, as that is a community I'm also a part of. One of the stories I'm currently working on is about a girl who must end a war between two societies (both of which she has heritage in). In this story, I want to cover themes of genocide, specifically based on race, and show how societies and people with cultures different from what is widely spread /talked about are often vulnerable to having their cultures and people wiped out or taken advantage of. However, I don't just want to create stories about the struggles of minority groups. I often find that stories with predominantly POC casts/characters are only about how hard it is to be in their shoes. That's why I also write stories full of fantasy, action, and adventure unrelated to real life hardships whose leading characters are POC. I want people to see that no matter what the leading character looks like, you can have exciting stories. I hope that this will encourage more people to diversify their main characters and cast of characters as a whole. I think the reason I'm so passionate about and determined to make stories with diverse characters at the helm is because this is something I felt was lacking when I was a kid. Growing up black in a Muslim community, I was hard pressed to find characters and stories that were representative of the kind of life that I, my friends, and my family could relate to. As I got older though, I started to make the kinds of stories and characters I wanted to see. And as more diverse stories and characters entered the mainstream, I was encouraged to continue and would tell my stories to anyone who would listen. Now, I feel confident making characters that represent me and my community. I know that there are others out there who want to see this sort of representation, and no matter how small that audience may be, I want to share my work with them.

When I was five years old, my mother took me and my three siblings to the Chicago Public Library. That week, as she had every week, she told me I could pick out one movie or audiobook. I ventured over to the DVD cart where I saw case with a drawing of a large, fluffy creature. I was instantly convinced I needed to watch this movie. I begged and begged my mother to check out the film until she finally conceded. That night, she slid the disc into the DVD player, and I fell in love. My Neighbor Totoro was the first Studio Ghibli movie I'd ever watched, but it wouldn't be the last. For years to come, Hayao Miyazaki's animated work would inspire me to create draw stories and characters of my own. the His work as an artist has inspired me and led me to be where I am now: pursuing a degree in animation. Aside from Miyazaki, Wes Anderson, a prominent film director, has also inspired me to pursue a future in the film industry. I was first exposed to his work as a child when my parents took me to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. I was familiar with the popular Roald Dahl story, as my older brother would read his books to me and my sister before bed. But I had no idea that that story could look anything like it did on that screen. The witty dialogue and punchy, fast pace of Anderson's movies have always left me amazed and wondering how someone could create a film so perfect that I could watch it again and again. I strive to one day reach a level of expertise comparable to his. So far, in my artistic education at Columbia College Chicago, my favorite experiences would be learning storyboarding and learning how to write scripts. Storytelling is a great passion of mine, and both of these subjects are deeply involved in the art of telling stories. Furthermore, both storyboarding and script writing play a big role in determining the beats and pacing of a film, which is something I have always admired about Wes Anderson's work. As for the storytelling aspect, I'd like to hone my skills in these fields in order to tell stories in the fantastical and inspiring manner in which Hayao Miyazaki does. I also thoroughly enjoy my education in other subjects as well, including animation itself. This is also a favorite subject of mine. It'll never get old to me, spending all day drawing frame after frame of objects and characters and being able to watch them come to life.