I enjoyed the film12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose. I watched this in 8th grade and never fully understood the concept, yet it still resonated with me. As I grew older, I dived back into it and realized how insightful it is. I was always attached to Juror #8 because I admired his bravery to vote the leading not guilty verdict and was enchanted with all the evidence he brought up that I never noticed. When they said that the murder weapon was unique, I wanted to applaud for Juror #8 when he slammed an identical knife on the table, proving that anyone could have bought the weapon. I also admired Juror #9, an elderly man who was the second person to vote not guilty, allowing Juror #8 the chance to keep pushing for the boy's innocence. There were also problematic Jurors, like Juror #3, who hasn’t spoken to his son for years and is letting this bias sway his guilty verdict. Overall, I enjoyed this book because I see myself rewatching a few times in the future due to the diverse characters, captivating points about the trial, and satisfying ending of saving a boy from the electric chair.

“I’m handing out a rubric outlining what you have to do for the Landform Pamphlet project.” I sighed as my 5th grade teacher walked around the room. Every year was identical. All the assignments were calculations or paragraphs, with each score determining my self-worth. As I counted the seconds go by, the rubric was placed on my table. My heart stopped as I picked it up. Something was different. Where’s the word limit? The structure format? How do I cite my sources? Confusion filled my head as my eyes darted across the page. I glanced at the blank pamphlet, panicking at the thought of a project without guidelines. I started with the minimum of choosing a landform. What now? In my mind, I already failed. Accepting my fate, I picked up my pen to write “Amazon Rainforest”. I hesitated. A pen seemed bland. I pulled out unused markers from my schoolbag. I held the green marker above the paper. I paused again. Would the title fit? I ended up sketching the tree-shaped words in pencil. With fine lining to indicate wood and a bumpy border to indicate leaves, I used my pen to outline and markers to color. I gazed in awe at the drawing. The association between my value and grades disappeared. My body bounced as I assigned components of the rainforest to each page. My eyes sparkled as I color-coded each paragraph. My heart raced as I filled in the negative space with plants and animals. I received a 100 for that project and for once, I enjoyed the process more than the outcome. That was the first, but not the last, time I felt infatuated with art. In the coming years, I had similar creative assignments throughout middle school. Heading into 9th grade, I downloaded an app called Stick Nodes. I spent hours developing stick figure animations. Every frame was exhilarating to produce and made me fall in love with animation. I was the person who controlled everything; I fabricated something out of nothingness. However, I still felt restricted by Stick Nodes’ inability to convey facial expression and dynamic poses. After downloading the app Flipaclip, I jumped up as I got invested in hand drawing each frame. It felt refreshing to be able to project emotions using a character’s face and body language. Day by day, as my visual storytelling strengthened, I grew more ecstatic. Moving forward, my excitement about animating only multiplied. On my 15th birthday, I upgraded to a computer animation program and received a tablet. My shoulders relaxed as my hands instinctively moved to each keyboard short-cut. My body leaned forward as my eyes focused on the dozens of layers and timelines. Joy overflowed me as I used the tablet pen to make swift and precise movements. My high school years have been satisfying because, not only did my perseverance in animation transfer over to my schoolwork, but I also gained a following of 77,000 subscribers by posting animations on YouTube. Yet, it was the comments that caught my attention. Delight filled me as I read how entertained people were. I was also captivated by the criticism. I hung onto every word, knowing this was a glimpse of the path to sharpening my skills. I aspire for those trees I drew years ago to be animated with rustling leaves and swaying branches as the sound of air whispers through the rainforest.

Heading into 9th grade, I downloaded an app called Stick Nodes. I spent hours developing stick figure animations. Every frame was exhilarating to produce and made me fall in love with animation. I was the person who controlled everything; I fabricated something out of nothingness. However, I still felt restricted by Stick Nodes’ inability to convey facial expression and dynamic poses. After downloading the app Flipaclip, I jumped up as I got invested in hand drawing each frame. It felt refreshing to be able to project emotions using a character’s face and body language. Day by day, as my visual storytelling strengthened, I grew more ecstatic. Moving forward, my excitement about animating only multiplied. On my 15th birthday, I upgraded to a computer animation program and received a tablet. My shoulders relaxed as my hands instinctively moved to each keyboard short-cut. My body leaned forward as my eyes focused on the dozens of layers and timelines. Joy overflowed me as I used the tablet pen to make swift and precise movements. My high school years have been satisfying because, not only did my perseverance in animation transfer over to my schoolwork, but I also gained a following of 77,000 subscribers by posting animations on YouTube. Yet, it was the comments that caught my attention. Delight filled me as I read how entertained people were. I was also captivated by the criticism. I hung onto every word, knowing this was a glimpse of the path to sharpening my skills. Reflecting on my experiences, I realized that I’ve always had a clear goal in mind. I don’t just want to create videos, I crave to be challenged to improve the way I animate and inspire the people who watch me. I’m confident that I will thrive in the field of animation in college and I will be using this scholarship for that goal. Regardless of where I’ll study or work, I will be rendering films that I pour my heart into, enriching each video with all the techniques I’ve cultivated over the years and I know this scholarship will help me in that goal.