I grew up an artist. No matter what I said I wanted to be when I grew up, I was truly an artist. Most of my childhood was spent on my mother's kitchen table; art-ing away. However, as I got older, I became more aspiring; wanting to create the things I wanted to say or see. Soon, all my pieces had meaning or story, and many people would remind me of how good I was. However, I still felt empty; unfulfilled. Throughout my art, I soon learned that art isn't a matter of what art IS but a matter of what art COULD be. I soon learned that art was the act of inspiring others, an expression of oneself, a story to tell, and so much more. Soon, I realized that art doesn't have a single definition and that it is up to each artist to find that for themselves. Thus, my biggest aspiration. I want to pass on my legacy of teaching young artists (or even aspiring artists) how to find this purpose in their creating. By being an Art Teacher and Professor, I will teach students the fundamentals of art, as well as teach them the different meanings behind what art could be. With this scholarship, I would have the boost to pursue this and show the world the true power of art.

"Palace" by Sam Smith is a song that takes me to another world when I listen to it. When I hear it, I'm suddenly in an empty London street only lit by street lamps and their reflection in the puddles nearby. "Palace" has been my favorite song since it has come out. This song is crafted very beautifully where you feel carried and held. I feel like I am singing just by listening to it, I feel like I'm twirling gently without moving, I feel full. I write music more as a hobby, but I do wish to change someone's perspective with music like "Palace" has for me. This song inspires me to create with more soul. "Palace" inspires me to make my songs sound like you are somewhere and someone else. For years this song has held me when I have wished to escape, and I hope that my music can do that for someone else.

I am passionate to become a teacher because I love to teach. Not a lot of people really understand it. There's nothing like seeing a student struggle with something they're learning and soon becoming a master because of your guidance. This fall, I'm going to Southern Utah University In Cedar City, Utah to become a college art professor. This semester, I took a chance and did an internship, shadowing my high school art teacher to learn the ways of being an art teacher. From the beginning, it was difficult. Students weren't comfortable with me being around. Most of them didn't want to listen to me, knowing I was just a senior. However, things started to turn for the better. The real Kickstarter that made me really grow my passion for teaching as a specific student. This student was frustrated with an assignment so bad that she couldn't help but cry. Immediately, I wanted to fix the issue, I wanted her to stop being frustrated and work so that she could actually pass the class. however, I realized what I was about to do, so, I took a deep breath and went into it slowly. Before I even asked her what was going on, I asked her if she would like to step into the hall to breathe. I let her use the restroom to get out of the problem area and breathe. When he returned, she explained her struggles and what she was doing. We took some time to try different ways of going about it, and soon, she was turning it in with an A. After this encounter, I started to realize the reality of a teacher's work. Teachers don't teach lessons so that students can get more knowledge, it's to help them grow and evolve as a person. These can be small things like not being able to draw a good circle to quickly sketch an almost perfect one to draw a face, not being able to wedge clay very well to sculpt bowls, and even not knowing how to mix the right colors of paint to reach for the red because the reference is warm. Seeing the students I work with turn their struggles to now muscle memory is amazing. It's all worth it to see the students grow with their skills and see their grins when they show me their finished pieces. I am also passionate about becoming a teacher for my legacy: helping artists find their meaning and/or purpose in art. A lot of adults as I grew up thought that going into a career in art was a joke. once they realized it was more than just a hobby, they were less supportive of me. I spent my high school years alone supporting myself. A lot of my craft went unseen because I was afraid of what others would say about it. Soon, I realized I wanted to change this. I realized that I could be that supporter to other artists and give them the push they need to achieve higher. So, for my junior and senior years, I didn't hide my craft. In doing this, I won awards, went on big trips to compete, and met so many more artists than I thought there were in my town. Art is important. It's something that should be valued by all. I'm hoping by becoming a teacher, I can show the next artists how important their craft is, and how it can lead them to greater.

In St. George, Utah on Friday the 13th at 4:04 am, 2004, a flood crashed outside of a hospital damaging vehicles and leaving some injured. However, I was also born! My name is Terry Anne Musser and I am my family's chaotic being. As the first grandchild, I gave my family a great headstart in raising children and grandchildren by climbing on fridges, only eating waffles, and soon becoming a leashed child. However, nowadays, I'm way more controlled and well-behaved, and I do very well in school. While I may still be chaotic after a Dr. Pepper, it's under control.

Growing up constantly thinking about my body image was hard. As a child, all the plus-sized people in my life were always the people that made me feel unsafe or scared; therefore my trauma of thinking a bigger body meant being a worse person was created. Since the age of seven, I watched my weight meticulously. I did everything I could to stay under a hundred pounds, and if I saw myself go over, I remember my child-mind thinking, and I quote, "I'll just skip dinner." A child should never think that. A doctor told my mother that I should still be in a car seat before I started middle school. I remember her laughing at the man, and I felt trapped. When I reached middle school, I still heavily watched my weight; keeping under a hundred pounds. Middle school did the opposite of realizing the dangers of it; the dangers of a pubescent kid staying underweight. During lunch, my friends and I would create contests about how slim or light we were. That attention was only fuel to my fire. However, near the end of middle school, I soon started feeling the effects of it all. Some people say that the hardest part of an eating disorder is the whole "not-eating" part. But in reality, it's the recovery. When I realized what I had been doing to myself in middle school, I felt horrified and ashamed that I let my fears control my life. So, I decided to do something about it. When Highschool started, my plan to recover was to do my absolute best to eat three meals a day. However, it was extremely difficult. In the mornings and lunch, it felt like too much work to feed me. During dinner, I would eat a third of my meal and scrape the remains back into the pot when my mother wasn’t looking. During my sophomore year, it got slightly easier. While I couldn’t finish meals, I was doing better on eating. However, that soon would all change. From an unknown source, I had gotten internal bleeding. With this, I could barely eat a cracker, let alone drink water. Everything hurt all the time, and I felt starving and overfilled at the same time. Learning from my past mistakes, I went to a food therapist. In the end, she couldn’t do much for me except to recommend going organic. I remember taking a single bite from an organic meal and feeling its effect in an instant. For the first time in my life, I scarfed down food, and still wanted more. Today, I still eat organic food; feeling its effects every day. While I am still recovering from my eating disorder, I feel the best I have ever felt every day. Every stigma for eating disorders should be demolished. From trauma to bullying, there are endless reasons why people feel the need to change themselves. When I arrive at college, I want to join clubs that aid in destroying these stigmas. If there aren’t any already developed, I hope to develop my own, sharing resources for students to aid them through recovery. Eating disorders can run your life, but there are people willing to help you find an escape. If I can be that person to someone suffering, I would feel fulfilled in my life. However, If I can’t afford college, I’m afraid I will never get the chance to. With this scholarship, I will have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. So, I thank you for reading my application.

Growing up constantly thinking about my body image was hard. As a child, all the plus-sized people in my life were always the people that made me feel unsafe or scared; therefore my trauma of thinking a bigger body meant being a worse person was created. Since the age of seven, I watched my weight meticulously. I did everything I could to stay under a hundred pounds, and if I saw myself go over, I remember my child-mind thinking, and I quote, "I'll just skip dinner." A child should never think that. A doctor told my mother that I should still be in a car seat before I started middle school. I remember her laughing at the man, and I felt trapped. When I reached middle school, I still heavily watched my weight; keeping under a hundred pounds. Middle school did the opposite of realizing the dangers of it; the dangers of a pubescent kid staying underweight. During lunch, my friends and I would create contests about how slim or light we were. That attention was only fuel to my fire. However, near the end of middle school, I soon started feeling the effects of it all. Some people say that the hardest part of an eating disorder is the whole "not-eating" part. But in reality, it's the recovery. When I realized what I had been doing to myself in middle school, I felt horrified and ashamed that I let my fears control my life. So, I decided to do something about it. When Highschool started, my plan to recover was to do my absolute best to eat three meals a day. However, it was extremely difficult. In the mornings and lunch, it felt like too much work to feed me. During dinner, I would eat a third of my meal and scrape the remains back into the pot when my mother wasn’t looking. During my sophomore year, it got slightly easier. While I couldn’t finish meals, I was doing better on eating. However, that soon would all change. From an unknown source, I had gotten internal bleeding. With this, I could barely eat a cracker, let alone drink water. Everything hurt all the time, and I felt starving and overfilled at the same time. Learning from my past mistakes, I went to a food therapist. In the end, she couldn’t do much for me except to recommend going organic. I remember taking a single bite from an organic meal and feeling its effect in an instant. For the first time in my life, I scarfed down food, and still wanted more. Today, I still eat organic food; feeling its effects every day. While I am still recovering from my eating disorder, I feel the best I have ever felt every day. Every stigma for eating disorders should be demolished. From trauma to bullying, there are endless reasons why people feel the need to change themselves. When I arrive at college, I want to join clubs that aid in destroying these stigmas. If there aren’t any already developed, I hope to develop my own, sharing resources for students to aid them through recovery. Eating disorders can run your life, but there are people willing to help you find an escape. If I can be that person to someone suffering, I would feel fulfilled in my life. However, If I can’t afford college, I’m afraid I will never get the chance to. With this scholarship, I will have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. So, I thank you for reading my application.

I do my best to provide for my community. Twice a year, in the winter and summer, I arrange a group to go out and do community service for our small town. By small town, I mean really small town. Roads are potholed (if not dirt), buildings are run-down, a town where a cult leader fled, leaving the members to fend for themselves. Seeing a sour-faced community has driven me and a few others to change how people perceive this town. In winter, we wrap presents, stock shelves, and clean up for our charities so that they may provide for those in need. In the summer, we do yardwork for the disabled or senior citizens who can't bear to work in their yards all day. When our group is formed and together, I send each person to a section I know they will do good in. The organizers stock shelves, the meticulous people wrap presents, and the stronger people lift and move. In a lot of community service groups, most leaders would tell everyone to do the same thing, one project at a time. However, I feel like if everyone does something they're somewhat good at, more will be done efficiently. Being a leader has taught me a lot of things. The biggest thing I learned, however, was how people act/react. When you help a person, they are thankful and grateful. However, you could never realize what truly happens next. They’ll tell their friends about your generosity, tell people how grateful they are, or even start to show their own generosity. The biggest reason why I do community service for my town is to show them all that generosity is possible; that I would do anything to help strengthen our community to change these sour-faced citizens. Over the years, I have seen other people start their own groups and even wave to each other as they drive by. They don’t know who’s behind the wheel. But that simple act of kindness, compared to what this town was before, is inspiring. I want to keep giving back to my community for as long as I live. I want to work at our school after college to aid the younger generation in learning this kindness and generosity. Aside from that, I would love to volunteer for bigger organizations that do bigger things. Knowing this community can grow and blossom into a greater feat of generosity, I would spend the rest of my life making sure it happens, mostly because it makes me feel good too. I hope that my work will inspire others to do the same so that I don’t have to do it alone. From this pace, I know there will be others to stand up too.

My name is Terry Musser. I am an artist who finds meaning in everything I do and see. However, it’s not always easy. There are days where I feel slaved away to schedules and deadlines, but when I’m making art, I feel like a higher being of myself. Most of my childhood was spent on my mother’s kitchen table creating and inventing. Soon, this hobby turned into something I wanted to truly improve on. In 2018, I committed to improving my art, going from Sharpie and Crayola, to Prismacolors. Soon, my cartoony illustrations became realistic, their eyes calling to me. After every piece I made, I could see the immediate growth from so I kept going. But, with all moments of motivation, comes the burn-outs. Soon, my mother was putting me in therapy for the pieces I was making, people were telling me how I should make art, and constantly compared me to others. I felt like my artistic spark was dying. I felt guilty for not creating. Yet, whenever I picked up a utensil, the creative flow wouldn’t come out the way I wished it to. Until one morning when our school visited an art museum. I remember walking in, just feeling the artistic aura of everyone’s pieces they once touched and loved. I walked down the long halls, wanting answers; a meaning to art, but not seeing what I wanted. Soon, I came across a landscape portrait with an elderly couple walking in the corner. At first, I paid no mind to it, until I read the label. On there, the artist explains a story between this couple. How they faced many things but kept moving forward, and that’s when I realized. I read every single one of the painting’s labels and they all had different meanings. Art doesn’t have to be definite. Art can be anything. Art can be a story, an expression, a feeling, or even something that can be unexplainable. After that trip, I ran to my art supplies and created stories, worlds, feelings, expressions, just…art. After some time, I realized that I could’ve never seen those labels. There could've been a consecutive decision to never make the trip. Realizing this, I was horrified. It was a single moment in my life that changed everything, but knowing it could've been taken for granted…I couldn’t imagine. Soon I was spending a lot of thought on it, as well as myself. My senior year was coming up, and I felt unsure of my career pathway. But then, the spark ignited my mind. Maybe I wouldn’t enjoy creating art every day as a way to work. But teaching others how to create, and see the meanings of art, that was it. Thus, creating my legacy. I hope to one day teach the younger generation about art as a professor. I want to be able to aid aspiring artists to find their way of creating, the way I wish I had so long ago. Art is important and should be valued by all. Without art, the world we live in wouldn’t be the same. Imagine living without music, eye-catching ads, colors, paintings, singers, articulately designed furniture, or even the way your food is packaged. Art is important because it makes life worth living. It gives people something to look forward to, it gives people joy, if not fulfillment. To society, it can be taken for granted. However, if we teach the aspiring artists how to share their creativity, and aid them in spreading it with the world, maybe everything we take for granted in life could become even greater.

Generosity is hard to come by in my community; being a small town on state borders controlled by a cult. While the town was run down, roads filled with potholes, weathered buildings, hours from a grocery store; everyone seemed too preoccupied to survive to better it. That’s when my father came along. My father has bone cancer and has been suffering from it since he was born. In 2013 he moved back to this town, hoping seeing me and my brothers more often would aid in his passing. However, when he arrived, he saw the massacre of the cult. Their leader was gone and all he left was a husk of a population to fend for themselves. My dad, being a child of this town felt sick to his stomach. He saw the community's questionable acts and went to city hall demanding a better police force, begging for a change in the mortgage company, asking for a change. His determination turned into him doing the work himself. Soon, he was running a fair, a charity of clothing and food came to be, restaurants and gas stations came into the picture. When people saw his generosity, they started standing up as well. Eventually, the fair was run by city hall, restaurants were family-owned, and we finally got our own grocery store. As I watched my father’s generosity to this town over the years, I got a glimpse of what generosity means, and what it can do. To me, generosity is taking the first step to bettering something. With generosity, you don’t have to expect the other side to give back because all you wish to see is growth and prosperity. Sometimes, after showing generosity, others will want to do the same. All it takes is that first person to inspire hundreds.

My name is Terry Musser. I am a senior and student body president for my school. Something I deeply value in my education is getting the best grades I possibly can so that my records look good and I can have better opportunities for scholarships. I had enough credits to graduate two years ago, however, I value my work and school, so I stayed. Now, I have ten classes, two of which are college classes. I work myself this hard because I want to prove to colleges that I am worth their time. I want to do this so that they can provide better financial support. This is my first step to avoiding college debt. Working as hard as possible so that I have more scholarship opportunities. During my high school classes, I have taken many financial classes to figure out how the real world works. In one of them, I learned of a zero-budget plan. What this means, is basically putting all the money you get from your income, and putting it towards something so that you don't have any money hanging in the air, not knowing what to use it for. I wish to use this for college so that I constantly work for paying my tuition. While I know exactly how loans worked and what ones to choose, I want to avoid paying for interest a much as possible. Having a zero-budget plan will allow me to not only pay for my tuition but also pay for housing and transportation. My final plan to help avoid college debt is to apply for as many scholarship opportunities as possible. I have applied to over 100 scholarships, however only got 1000 dollars out of one of them. I plan on doing as many as possible so that my chances get higher. I have gotten scholarships from the college I have applied for that can pay for a lot of my tuition. However, I'm planning on not having any money left over, so I will do as many scholarships to aid me. No matter how many I won't get into the finals in, I still push myself to do my best. Some small ways I wish to help is by getting a job. I'm still fairly young and lived in a sheltered home where my mother doesn't want me to leave. So it's hard to make money on my own. However, once I get to college, I plan on working on the on-campus jobs they provide. During the summer, I was planning on convincing my mother to let me get a job. It just takes a few extra steps for me. My biggest thing, however, is to stay optimistic. I will get out of college debt-free because I worked for this. Soon, all my work will pay off.

When I was younger, I was an artist. I always had this knack for drawing and always wanted to create. However, growing up, many people thought it was just a hobby or just some quirk I had. My mother was terrified of my drawings and would tell me to stop. When I told my family I wanted to pursue a career in art they all scoffed and laughed at me. Thus, bringing me to my legacy. I want to become a college art professor to share my legacy; an artist is never alone. Being able to give young artists a safe space to create and be heard is all I truly want in life. I never want any young artists to give up on their talents because their family wants them to be a doctor or that they didn't have many supporters. It's extremely normalized in today's world that art is just a hobby and that you can't make yourself something with it. With my legacy, I would teach the younger generation how to go above and beyond to achieve their dreams. Every day, I do my best to achieve this dream. By getting good grades, and doing extensive research, I will do all that I can to get there.

In my second year in High School, I got internal bleeding. However, when I realized this, we were going through our end-of-year testing. I was terrified of being absent from school because I didn't want to do the tests after everyone. So, I still went to school. The pain was unbearable yet, I was too scared to tell my mom because I didn't want her to pull me from school. Instead, I told my step-mom. My stepmother saved my dad from cancer just by committing to going organic. While it was rough for them at the beginning, it saved my father in the end. After that, my stepmother made it a habit to research natural foods to help our health. She became my resource. I told her about my pain and even she didn't know what was truly going on. I finally went to a therapist and she gave me a fruit snack packet and told me to eat it. After eating one gummy, I told her that I was full and it pained me too much to eat anymore. The shock on her face made me realize how much trouble I was in. However, she decided that I was to go organic as my stepmother did. At first, I hated it. Most foods that I loved were mostly chemicals, so I couldn't eat them. However, the next testing day, I finally was able to read the paper without feeling pain. After this experience, I haven't stopped eating organic. I plan to eat it for the rest of my life. I believe the best way to live a long, healthy life is to eat organic. While yes, it is very important to eat healthy in general, it is even more important to eat foods that are all-natural; made for you.

Reading at a young age was hard. When I would read, it would just be words on paper. When our teachers would insist on reading logs, I would lie about my reading. Once I found a book that opened my mind, I wanted more.  For a while, I searched for the book for me, until I came across the "Wings of Fire" series. As a kid, I was obsessed with dragons. I would draw them and write stories about them. So, once I found out there were books about them, I was hooked. I read every book in the series, and I still do today. However, my all-time favorite book will be "Wings of Fire Legends: Darkstalker". "Darkstalker" is about a dragon in a broken home wishing he was king. It's a story where you watch the main character turn into a villain as his girlfriend and his best friend sit there and watch. It starts off calm and gentle, with young dragons in love and figuring out their powers. However, it starts turning until it seems to come to a good stop. The story then flips once more and becomes dark very quickly where many dragons die in the hands of the character we thought was the good guy. This book is my favorite book, mostly because it's a book I can read over, and over again, and still cry. It's an emotional rollercoaster of not knowing who to root for and who to root against. My favorite part about it is that it is split into three perspectives; Darkstalker, his girlfriend, and his best friend. With this, we see their sides of the story and how they feel in situations where you think Darkstalker is going the right thing. In the end, It's up to your judgment.

To many people, Video Games are more of a pastime. They're there to entertain, and not leave too much of an impact. While some Video Games are like this, there is so much more. Video Games, to me, are more like pieces of art. You have concept artists, writers, actors and so much more being put into a story to leave some sort of impact to the player. The wisest words I've ever heard was from a Video Game called Detroit: Become Human. The premise of the game is that androids become sentient, and the world has to decide if robots are okay to live amongst or not. There's a minor character in the game named Carl Manfred. His role is an old painter, who needs assistance from his Android to get around his own house. However, Carl has raised this "nurse" android to be like a son of his. There's a moment where the android watches Carl paint and Carl tells him to try it out. As a robot not knowing expression, he picks an object in the room, and duplicates it onto a canvas. This is where Carl Manfred says this, "That is a perfect copy of reality. But painting is not about replicating the world, it's about interpreting it, improving on it, showing something you see." To this day, I have not forgotten those words. As an artist myself, it has made me reconsider my values of what I create. After hearing this quote, my art career turned around. I started expressing myself in different ways, and eventually, became content with what I was creating. This quote truly changed my perspective on life, and I hope others find a quote that does that same for them.

There have been so many pieces of art in my life that have been deeply connected to me. However, one day I saw the Van Gogh Monument by Zadkine. The statue by Ossip Zadkine stands on the Vincent van Goghplein in Zundert, in front of the Van Gogh Church, not far from where both Van Gogh and his brother were born. The work of art pictures two men holding each other. The one on the left has a gaping hold, while the one on the right is leaning into him. Seemingly holding the man on the right together. There is no detail in the faces, which is something that means a lot to me. It makes the viewer start looking for answers, and you can depict in the body language, a true bond. The man on the left is to be inferred as Vincent Van Gogh, while the one on the right seems fit to be his biggest supporter, Theo Van Gogh- his brother. With their history, we can tell why we could infer the man on the right to be Theo. There's so much compassion in the Theo's body. From the way his hands are wrapped around Vincent, to the way their heads lay on another in familial bond. Seeing this statue, I can hear them say, "It's okay brother. It's okay" This is my favorite piece of art because of the story is takes you on. while you may not know who Theo is, you can still tell on the piece the compassion they have to support one another. It inspires me to do the same in my art. I'll provide a link to the piece. It is quite lovely. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/bc/96/d3/bc96d3dbd3f8d6b41cb23f8dab424225--van-gogh-sculpture.jpg

Every time there’s a day in my life where I wish I could fall asleep and never wake up, I think of the future me. I think of how they have gone through what I have, and grown from that experience. One day, I will become that person, and they will have grown too. This thought that I will get through this all because I know in my gut that the future me is waiting is...comforting. There are so many quotes and writings that say how thinking too much about the past or future makes someone seem to have underlying issues that haven’t been fixed. To me, however, when I think of the future I already know it’s better than what today has brought me. This is my hope. That confidence knowing there’s someone waiting for me on the other side, keeps me going. When looking at our past experiences, we feel like we’re better because we have grown. While your situation today may not be the best, it’s better than what it was. If we put this into perspective with the future, we can believe that the future will be better because the future version of yourself has gone through everything you’re stuck on. This perspective fuels me to be better. Thinking about my future self looking back at me right now makes me want to start on my path to becoming them. Putting it into words is difficult for me. However, I hope to become this better version of myself. Aspiring to be this person reassures me that the future is better because I’ve grown from mistakes. Imagining it, I think of them as a tall silhouette. Like a superhero about to be revealed. To me, it’s not about if the future will be better, it’s about if the person I will be in the future will be better. It's like how Billie Eilish said in her song ‘My Future, “I’m in love with my future, can’t wait to meet her.”

In seventh grade, I was probably attending the worst school in Arizona. I felt like it was normal, due to how the other students reacted to how teachers treating them. So, I never said anything. In my science class, I was the smartest one there. However, because I was a girl, my teacher would preach to the smarter male students and mock anything I did. I got into the mindset, right before my freshmen year, that I would just get through high school, and work at subway until I died. I never missed a class due to how much homework there was per day and I deeply regret not taking days off to breathe. When my brothers started having the same teachers I did, they started telling my mom about what they would do to them. This made my mother furious, and she forced us to transfer to another school. At first, I was extremely mad because I wanted to stay with my friends. A few days into my new school, my best friend transferred as well, so everything felt better little by little. When I transferred, the utmost respect came and I was put in the higher classes because of how smart I was. Every teacher did their best to make sure I was comfortable. Heck, the principal himself would visit me to make sure I was liking the new place. I cannot remember the exact moment, but I feel like, throughout my freshmen year, I started falling in love with the school. Learning became my new favorite thing and I looked forward to it every day. The kid that wanted to speed through school to die was now wishing school could go a little longer. This fall, I will be going into my senior year as student body president. I feel so proud to be a student at my school and I can't wait for this school year. I'm pumped to be a role model to the younger grades and help them grow throughout the school. I want to be able to teach students to love school as I did because it truly changed my whole life. As soon as I loved school, I was suddenly very happy and every class didn't feel like a drag anymore. Even though I want kids to fall in love with education, it's not my legacy. My biggest goal in life is to be a college art professor to share my legacy. Doing art my whole life, no one was truly there for me. If I can help the younger generation of artists feel wanted and loved, I would be able to pass happily. I'm aware that getting a college professor's profession takes time. I would also love to be a high school art teacher at the school I'm attending at this moment. My impact may not be as powerful there. Yet, it's still a start to my dream. In the end, I want to be the role model to those who feel helpless, whether that's at school or not. I hope there can be students who love school as much as me. It could benefit many kids and help them grow.

My name is also Terry! As well as younger Terry Crews, I also passionately love art. My biggest goal in life is to become a college art professor to share my legacy with the younger generation. I want to be a role model and guide to those who feel like art takes them nowhere. I was never supported in my art during my life, and I hope to support new artists so their inner selves can shine. Thank you for allowing me to have this chance. I hope my art is inspiring or impactful to you. :)

Growing up, there was never someone out there for me. I would hear many people say that they had my back or that they supported me. However, that hope was gone when I would see their faces when I would talk about what I wanted to do in life. I was born an artist. I was born to think creatively and be creative. I've done art for as long as I can remember, I've sung and I've danced. It's a piece of me that I cannot ignore. Yet, members of my family have seemed fit to tell me how it will take me nowhere. Honestly, when I sit in front of a canvas, with no idea in mind, I start to believe them. Maybe I should just be a lawyer or a doctor. It'd be easier to follow orders than to think freely...right? Ideas and thoughts like these must change. We can't sit down and tell ourselves it would be easier to do something else. Who wants that? Who wants to work a 9-5 job and be exhausted forever? Thinking about this for years has changed what I think and perceive. While I didn't have anyone's help or guidance, I had my own. I had movies, video games, and books to help me see what I needed to. A quote that really changed me was from a video game called Detroit: Become Human, "That is a perfect copy of reality. But painting is not about replicating the world, it's about interpreting it, improving on it, showing something you see." Hearing this quote changed everything. I didn't want to draw celebrities from photoshoots everyone has seen anymore, I wanted more for myself. I knew there was more to myself. Thus, my legacy was created. Remember that abstract piece of the banana duck taped to a wall? I remember when it was posted and I just went, why? Why on earth is this considered art? Abstract art isn't art at all. However, a few days later, I saw an artist redraw it. They talked about what it meant to them and how it inspired them to do more things and suddenly everything clicked. Art wasn't what looks good, art wasn't someone's heart and soul on a canvas. Art is different for everyone. To one person, art is an expression, to another, it's a way of communication. To me, art is the act of inspiring others and/or yourself. This created my legacy; art is whatever you make it. Whether it's glass on the ground or paint splattered on a canvas, it's yours. Eventually, I was creating more and more. I wanted to show everyone what I could do and what I feel and they all loved it. This inspiration lead me to decide that I wanted to become an art professor. My goal is to become a teacher in the field of art to teach the younger generation what art truly is and what it can be. There was no one there to tell me that art is interpreted, not understood. Being a voice to those who want to go for their dream of art would help me make up for what I never had. In the end, they will be able to know what art is to them and what it could mean to others. Spreading this message could perhaps change everything. Maybe artists will be more appreciated, who knows? Every generation has the potential to change everything. I just hope that I can be a voice of hope that everything has a purpose. As well as spread love through art.

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Practically every day of my childhood was occupied on my kitchen table sketching any idea I could come up with. I would draw dragons, owls and learn how different machines were designed. It was something that kept me going. Seeing what I could come up with made me proud. Being an artist has been my whole purpose. Whether it’s photography, painting, or sculpting, I’m a talented person with creative thinking. I’m someone who is filled to the brim with imaginative ideas and the need to show them to the world. Whenever I think of something that doesn’t exist yet, I get a higher need to produce it. To me, being an artist is what keeps me going. Whenever I’m not creating, I feel abandoned and numb. As it happens when I recognize this, I still feel doubtful and desolate. I have this desire to constantly create. As a result, when I’m not, I feel like an emotional ball of confusion. My whole life, I felt like I possessed a talent for ideas. These ideas aid me to see the world in alternative ways. Producing art causes me to feel safe. It helps me to stop thinking about what’s wrong in life and what is better. I’ve experienced a life of solitude, so when I develop art I feel like it makes up for everything I’ve lost. The most valued part of art to me is receiving reactions from others. Whenever I gain positive feedback, I experience the desire to create more. My perspective on art has evolved over time. In the beginning, I thought art was all about making things perfect. Then, I realized that it was more than that. I used to never interpret abstract art, I’d even say I loathed it. However, presently, I recognize purpose in every piece I look at. Abstract or realism, I can discover a point of view others see. I’ve inevitably had this dream of being an art teacher while doing my own Fine Art. I would absolutely love to teach the younger generation what creativity means and what it can represent to each individual. A life lacking art seems like something no one deserves to live without. Helping others pinpoint their purpose is in art and life could aid so many. Demonstrating my growth in my pieces and telling the stories of how much that I have grown myself could possibly inspire others.

When I was in tenth grade, I was having rib issues (that I learned recently is malformed). I went to my Step-mom and asked for help. When my father had his cancer, she did everything to help and finding organic food did the best. So, her, dad, and my brothers went organic and they have been for many years. However, I never caught on due to me not being able to let go of my junk. Yet, this time I was desperate to help my ribs. She gave me salt and lemon water, which cleanses out the immune system. The catch is that you have to have some charcoal to break it down or else the acid will sit in your stomach. I didn’t know this, and for a month my stomach was in the worst pain imaginable. I couldn’t do anything like eat, sleep or focus. When I told her, we tried seeing health therapists and they didn’t know what was up. That was when I realized it was from the water and started taking charcoal. When that happened, it was INSTANT relief like all my prayers had been answered. After that, my Step-mom made me eat organic to fix my stomach. When I did that, I felt amazing. Eating organic food made me feel better mentally and physically. I’m passionate about healthy foods because of how it makes me feel inside and out. Organic food has practically cured my father’s cancer and has kept my brothers fit and active. There’s some organic food that tastes better than non-organic foods and it’s absolutely insane to me to think of the fact that I used to hate it. My Step-mom does most of the research on what it does to our bodies and presents it all to us. Whenever you need any ailment, she has something in the cupboard that could help. Feeding yourself pills for headaches could hurt you in the long run. Her stash of spices, herbs, and teas to cure practically anything saves you from getting any bad chemicals in the body. We started growing our own gardens to share with our community to help spread the word about organic food and to teach the community what good food really is. I’ve gone from eating cheese quesadillas every day to craving a fruit salad. Good food to me means a good life. I would love to spread this message to many others to help those who aren’t doing well, all because they don’t know what’s in their food.

It’s been a long day. School is climbing up your back as your family expects you to do great. You want to pretend you don’t care but really, you do too much. You pull out your old VHS tapes when your favorite movie screams in joy as you push it into the player. Hearing the static of the tape tells you that it’s safe here and that you can rest. Pirates flood the screen, fighting and pillaging in space. There’s a boy, seeking his own adventure just like you. Eventually, THE line plays… “You got the makings of greatness in you, but you gotta take the helm and chart your own course! Stick to it, no matter the squalls! And when the time comes, you'll get the chance to really test the cut of your sails and show what you're made of! And... well, I hope I'm there, catching some of the light coming off you that day.” Disney’s classic Treasure Planet has been my favorite movie for as long as I remember. We live in a time and age where people never know how to play a VHS, heck, even know what one is. My whole life, I've been keeping mine safe and clean just to play this film. It was during a time where Disney artists had free will. They weren’t scared of budgets or reviews. They just made...art. Watching this movie empowers me to be an artist. The way the movie moves and looks is just a masterpiece. I will even go as far as to say that it is a perfect movie. You understand the flow of characters and development along with comedic relief robots. I grew up in a world where everyone expects you to be great.

Being the oldest child and grandchild in my family has its perks when you’re younger. You get to be first in family games, everyone looks up to you, and all your cousins think you’re super strong and smart. However, soon it takes a turn when you start high school. Now, you’re being asked to go to college, learn to drive, and make money. My family grew up in a super small town where you didn’t live a “normal life”. Most of my uncles say they knew how to drive as soon as they were thirteen, my aunts have been working their whole lives, and the worst of it all, none of them have gone to college. Some of them didn’t even finish highschool. Being a first-generation child has been heavy on my shoulders. My mother expects me to do so much with my education, however, I feel like she doesn’t understand, due to her not even finishing high school. Right now I’m learning how to drive and how to pay for college at the same time and I have no one to ask for help from in my family. I can’t go to my aunt or uncle and ask how they felt when they first learned what I’m learning and they either have no idea what I’m talking about, or they have been doing it their entire life to just tell me it’s easy. In school, it’s easier because I can talk to counselors and older students. Once I became more confident, I have learned more about scholarships, tuition, and resources. However, for a while, I felt so mentally ill and drained because I felt like I had to be the one to teach my whole family how being a kid works. Of course, being mentally ill drags you down physically and soon you feel horrible all the way through. I got to the point in life where I figured out why I wanted to go to college. I used to get straight A’s and perfect attendance to please my mother, however, now I do it for me. Knowing that this is what can get me to my goals has driven me towards betterness. Once I started working for myself, I finally figured out who I was and what I needed in life. I will always love being the oldest child for my family to look up to. Knowing now that I can look up to myself has helped me tremendously and I’m excited to be able to help the younger family.

I’ve always dreamed of being an artist. However, choosing what kind of career field in the arts has always stumped me. So, I decided, why not do all of them? I want to be a freelance artist for sure, I’ve always planned on getting the main job to support me while I create for myself. Creating for myself to show others has just been a part of me I could never get rid of. One thing I want to go to college for is to find what I want to do and who I’ll become. So far, I have the idea of going to college and getting the amount of knowledge needed to graduate and become an art teacher. While being a teacher, I could take higher college classes for higher diplomas that I can’t get locally. For example, I could take classes that are across the country or out of the country. Once I finish that schooling, I quit being a teacher and work for video game designers. Video games have always been a huge part of my life. I want to, one day, be able to change lives as well and design something that could help others. When I get too old, I’ll retire from that and most likely go back to being a teacher; to make sure the younger generation is in shape for shaping the future. This scholarship will give me a push towards my confidence in college. I’m so excited to go to college and getting all the help I can get will change everything in my life for the better.

Music helps me see the parts of me I feel are invisible. My whole life, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to music; specifically singing. Ever since I was younger, I always knew I wasn’t a girl. It was just how I felt about myself. I would tell people I was just a tomboy, started liking ore “masculine” thighs in spite of my mother, and even going as far as fully believing I would grow up a man. When I got older and realized what nonbinary meant or what transitioning was, I felt like I was meant for something. I started transitioning to be nonbinary when I felt like I was ready to start my life. I spent a long time deciding if it was safe or worth it. In the end, I knew that if I was going to live my life, I would live it as myself. However, I felt like it was very invalid and had no sort of validation from anyone. My mother was never accepting of my sexuality so I feared for my safety saying I was transitioning. That was when I saw Sam Smith’s interview, where he claimed to be nonbinary. This moment in my life awakened so much in me. One huge thing I took from it, was that music was for anybody. Music is a soul we all share no matter who you are and where you come from. The role of music in my life is acceptance. I don’t need any human being to tell me that I’m valid or that I’m not. All I need, is the music I hear, telling me that who I am is who I am.

The glorification of turning sixteen and getting your license is absolutely dumb. The idea that as soon as your sixteen, all your dreams become reality was something that I thought existed as a kid. Because of the thought that everyone had of being “grown-up” at sixteen, I never went through my life worrying about things I should have been worrying about. One huge example is my driver’s license. When I was about seven years old, my mom put us in the car to take us to our cousin’s house with me in the front seat. However, not even two minutes from home, my mom was texting and driving, and soon we reached a stoplight. When my mom noticed the cars stopping, she was too busy with her phone that she hit the gas instead of the breaks, causing us to speed right into someone’s car. I remember the crash so vividly, glass shattering everywhere seemingly in slow motion, my brother screaming about their swollen lips and heads, and me trying not to cry to seem tough. The part of this scene that caused me the most trauma, however, was the aftermath. I remember being pulled into my uncle’s car while the victim had a neck brace on crying about her children in the back. I remember driving to his house and watching my mom cry over the phone. It was a scene I don’t think I’ll be able to get over or forget about. The way that my whole life changed too was something that added to the trauma. We soon had a new car, a new house, and everyone acted differently. Now that I’m older, the guilt of getting my license hangs over me. I’m sixteen now and I turn seventeen this year and all I have is a permit with barely any minutes of practicing. The biggest thing I fear is if I get into an accident, everything in my life will change just like it did when my mom crashed. This experience just made me shove away my responsibilities and I just expected to turn sixteen and just have an urge to drive just like everyone else did. My whole life I watched movies and watched kids at school talk about how they're excited to turn sixteen so they can drive. However, once I turned sixteen I didn't know where I was going in life. This made me someone who made it future me’s problem and now that I’m the one dealing with it, I regret it all. I’m still dealing with this trauma inside of me. I want to be able to drive for my family and for myself. My biggest challenger is overthinking. However, I feel like if I just do it and try hard enough, eventually ill laugh about how scared I was ten years ago. This is something I want to get past and if it requires me to tell myself to “man up” then I will. I know this is a barrier I can get over, all it takes is getting myself to start.

Art is something that keeps me whole. Every day I try to connect myself to my artistic abilities and try to connect myself with who I am while doing so. The biggest thing that inspires me to do art is myself. Every time I finish a piece or come up with a cool idea or detail, I feel motivated and feel like I could do anything if I put my mind to it. The art I do is a piece of me I want to show the world and love to express. With this scholarship, I have the opportunity to go to college and connect with myself, even more, to see where I’m going. Going to college is one of my biggest dreams and having the chance to perfect my talents, will help me propel into a life of art. I would broadcast my creations across the country, showing people that it is possible and that anyone can do it. I mostly just want to be an inspiration to those who feel lost and feel like they can’t live up to anything. I would do my absolute best to be there for any aspiring artist and be who they need.

A legacy to me is how I am remembered. A memory to someone that they see when they feel broken and think that everything will be alright. A story people tell so the memory stays intact. To have a legacy, you would do something in your life that was extremely important to where for years after you die, you are remembered and praised. This could be something you did on purpose or something you so happened to have done during your lifetime. There are legacies of people who have changed history, changed hometowns, and changed people’s lives. While there’s the other side of legacies where it can affect a small number of people; like a family tree or family stories. There’s a rare chance where you could leave a legacy on one person, and change their life. It might be small but it could change their whole life to where it affects their future generation. The kind of legacy I want to leave behind is something I think about a lot. I want to leave something that affects many people but at the same time, I would feel fine if I only left a legacy on one individual. I want to be someone who people whisper about to each other, telling the latest thing I have done. I want to leave a legacy where people remember me and feel pride. Maybe I could leave a legacy on myself so I could feel my own pride and know who I am.

"Why do you think I wouldn't like this?" One of my dearest friends said this to me during the COVID quarantine and it changed my life. I knew her for a long time and one day I decided to paint her something for Christmas. I felt too self-conscious, however, and never gave it to her. The painting sat on my dresser for a long time until I decided I was finally just going to give it to her. I shot her a message, but she didn't reply until months later. Every day that she didn't reply reminded me of my overthinking. I constantly felt like I was being too weird or felt like I didn't deserve to give her a gift. Eventually, she replied and we finally met up and I told her I was too scared to give it to her. She then said the words that changed my perspective on life, "Why do you think I wouldn't like this?" For all my life, I have been someone who overthinks everything to where I can't do anything. When I heard these words, that's when I realized I had no reason. I was all just self-practice of fear. Hearing her say it out loud helped me so much. To this day, I don't overthink anymore, I do what feels right when it does. This has inspired me to accomplish my goals because it helps me make decisions without thinking about the negatives. I have even gotten to where when I do see negatives, I know why and do my best to diminish them.

When I was younger, I really wanted to learn chess. There were many opportunities in life for me to be able to. However, I felt like it wasn’t going to be worth it. I learned chess for the first time visiting my chiropractor. In the waiting room, there was a chessboard and I stared at it for a while. When he came out to get me, I asked my chiropractor to teach me. He gladly agreed and gave me an explanation that was simple enough for me to understand and want to play it. He also taught me many beginner tricks to use and told me the more I played, the better I would get at it. As soon as I went home I found my brother’s old chessboard and played it with my family almost every day. Every time I played I felt like I found another part of myself, making me want more. Now, it’s a daily thing for me. Every day I try to get a game of chess in and try to go against different people so I don’t repeat the same strategies. I play it more in a leisurely way; I could never imagine myself playing chess competitively, mostly just to learn something new every day. Chess has taught me many things that I use in my daily life. One thing that it taught me is to look at my decisions. It helps me in real life think through my choices to see why I’m doing something and how I’ll do it. Everything I do has a backup thought of, “Why am I doing this?” or “How will this help me?” The same goes for watching others and asking myself why are they making those moves. My father said chess brings out the person. Are they risk-takers? Defensive? A smart planner? Then you apply it to the real world. If you watch people’s actions, it gives you an idea of what they’re like. The more moves you watch them make, the better you know someone. Chess helps me the most with my future planning. It taught me how to plan and see what could stop me. One of my favorite things in chess is deciding a move I want to do, and figuring out how to do it. I apply this to real-life when I see a future I want. It helps me see how to get there. Every time, I try to imagine what obstacle could be in my way. For every obstacle I imagine, I always decide on a backup plan or some sort of defense for when it comes. Another move in chess I love is baiting. I leave out a piece that seems to be out in the open, but once they take it, I take one of their important pieces. I apply this to the real world by thinking about sacrificing small things in life to get even greater things. I rarely sacrifice, but it can be extremely useful to get the king, or the big goal you desire.

Everyone in life seems to know who they are. Whether you know it or not, there’s a part of you that longs to be who they are. Growing up, I had this feeling of who I was and who I would become. However, it was when I learned more about my father’s mental and physical health things changed. My father was born with a type of cancer that slowly kills his cells. Before now, he would constantly be in pain. When I was born he would smoke and drink profusely, and it would make him worse. My mother divorced him because of his choices, thus making his health degrade dramatically. I never knew of this until I was about six. Once I knew, I forgot about my dreams, my interests, and who I was. All I cared about was if my father would wake up the next day. For years, I looked forward t seeing him in the summers, to be by his side. Whenever I was away, I secluded myself from my family. However, when I did this, my relationship with my family staggered, and I still suffer from it today. The biggest thing that was affected by my dad’s health and my mental health was my relationship with my mother. She knew I was learning about the cruelties of the world but never knew how to tell a small child about the truths. Her stresses of life stressed me out as well, so my childhood consisted of hating her or writing mean things about her. I never understood then. All I knew was that my father was dying and my mom didn’t care anymore. When we moved closer to my dad where I could see him more often, my anxieties for him slowly faded. It would seem I would get back on track with my life and go back to dreaming of who I wanted to be. However, from six to thirteen, I wasn’t myself. So, for seven years I was someone else, making me fall into a pit of despair. When I realized I didn’t know who I was, all my hope for life was gone and I was left to deal with myself. Knowing that I didn’t know who I was, made me have no idea where I was going to go in life. Whenever I imagined my future, I would hate it because I couldn’t see someone I was proud of. I soon became suicidal and pushed all hope away from me. My mental health stopped me from progressing my life. Every day felt the same and I hated every second of it. I had hobbies and aspirations but no hopes to go along with them. That only changed when I started talking to more people who were going through the same thing. When heard about successful people’s struggle stories, some form of change would spark inside me. I would talk to kids my age and connect with them. Everyone I would connect with, made me grow and change. This made me want to talk to more people and soon enough, I became the confident self I am today. I started remembering who I was and who I would become. This gave me the strength to pursue what I love.