All my life, art has been the one thing to lead me through difficult situations and help me make lasting connections. Whether it be painting, drawing, animating or any art form, I always found comfort in creating what I saw in my mind. As a daughter in a family of immigrants from Honduras and Chicanos from Glendale i’ve seen the influence of art in the culture but Ive also seen so much potential wasted due to a lack of resources and avenues to explore it further. Growing up in phoenix seeing varying levels of poverty with kids who are forced to follow wrong paths because no one is there to help them find their strengths always shattered me. I’ve had the privilege of being able to pursue further education in art and my only dream is to create communities for hispanic kids all over the west coast and even in Latin America. Because my father was one of those kids with an imagination that went down a dark path, I want to take the sadness from that situation and pour it into the lives of kids who are just like he was. As I continue to study Fine Arts and Illustration, I want to use my creativity as an outlet for children struggling with poverty by continuing to volunteer in my community and finding a career in that. Thank you.