I didn't know what passion was until I started creating. I moved schools young and ended up with artistic friends. I wouldn't have ever considered myself an artist. I was painfully shy and watched from the sidelines as my new friends painted, drew, and laughed. I had this preconceived notion that if I did join in my inexperience would cause me to be rejected. While this was entirely wrong, it stuck with me. I took a photography class and it changed my life. I knew it was art, but it wasn't frustrating or embarrassing to me like other mediums were. Finding acceptance in the threshold of the classroom was the first step in my creative career. At the beginning of high school, I joined art classes for the credits and community. The correlation between vulnerability and creating was evident. I found that the more I made, with my hands, computer, or pen added depth to my internal self. I found myself in love with the creative arts suddenly. I could express myself, and be surrounded by like-minded people. This was a way of vulnerability that I could handle. An art class teaches life lessons and can be an outlet for things left unsaid. Through numerous years I have found my favorite subject: digital design and typography. I truly love learning about new techniques and want to shape my adult life around the passion I have for it. My mother was many things before I was anything. She did everything I am learning to do. My most cherished piece of art is her old paint palette. I have none of her finished pieces. Her artistry was proven with thick layers of acrylic and oil paints. While this wasn't intentional, it hangs proudly on my wall. With my preferred medium digital, I don't have the vestige of my labors. The palette is a reminder of the work I do put in, and that my time is well spent if I'm enjoying the process. My goal is to continue to develop my skills as I transition from high school to the workforce. In college, I want to join and create similar communities as I have found in art classes. Creative arts bring out empathy, teamwork, and support from others. Ten years ago I was not an artist, only because I did not enjoy it. Now I have found the way I want to communicate with the world.