Ever since I was a child, I loved to draw anything I could see or imagine. My grandma (whom I call my Lola Grace) gave me a small digital camcorder when I was around 6 or 7 years old, and I would film different things around me all the time. I love movies, growing continuously obsessed with cartoons and animation as a growing kid, and I developed more knowledge for how those were made by watching tons of behind-the-scenes on the DVDs and Blu-Rays of those movies. At age 10, I started developing my first sketchbook that I got thanks to my brother, and that really helped me develop my love for drawing whatever, whenever, and wherever I went.

By age 12, I discovered my interest in music production by playing around in GarageBand on my iPhone. This was before I had my own computer, so I would end up using either my phone speakers (not ideal) or my earbuds. When Covid hit the United States, I dove as deep as I could into the realm of music production. It started with a 2011 MacBook Air and a pair of Beats headphones, then I got an Akai MPK Mini controller when I was just 13. Occasionally, I would learn to use a portable BRAVEN Bluetooth speaker as a reference monitor on the go, and I would use a Logitech USB microphone as a way to use my voice and mostly sample my record and cassette collection. Then, on my 14th birthday, I got a pair of Mackie 3" Studio Monitors and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface that I still use to this very day. I got heavy on buying new equipment that would fit my setup even more, as I looked up more tutorials on music production online from YouTube during the pandemic and got interested and influenced by J Dilla, Madlib, Flying Lotus, Knxwledge, and Kaytranada.

Meanwhile, I was discovering all the ways I could try digital art out using a Wacom Cintiq tablet from 2009 and Autodesk Sketchbook software. Everything seemed like it was coming together, as I could now see myself wanting to learn and pursue a career in both Animation and Music Production.

When I began high school, instead of drawing as often as I was going to the open mic events and participating in them. It made me realize when I was taking my Art 1 class that I wanted to focus more on the musical side of my life and get some more formal training with it, and hoped to be able to graduate with a concentration in music.

Now, I might not have gained my certificate in music, but I've gained a whole lot of experience and training throughout my time in high school and work life. During the beginning of my sophomore year, I started my first job working as a baseball coach at Lil' Sluggers Chicago. Their main goal is to teach little kids ages 2-8 the basic fundamentals of baseball, and I've enjoyed watching and playing baseball all of my life, so this job was fitting for me. Throughout all of my 3 years I've worked there, I've learned leadership, being able to explain instructions on an adaptive, step-by-step basis, and learned the importance of teamwork and collaboration with one another. As a baseball coach there, I worked with my other coleagues and helped set up equipment as long as 1-2 hours early before opening, and learned to cater to certain situations, even language barriers. My ability to work with all kinds of clients from all different backgrounds helped diversify my audience and made everyone meet one common goal.

During the summer after my junior year, I decided to gain some more experience with animation by attending a 2-week summer Pre-College Program at the Cleveland Institute of Art. With this shortened course, I was very invested in making my own short film and test my animations, and I ended up making 4 different short animated exercises and a 1-minute short film titled "Serotonin" with 3 other group collaborators, all on Adobe Animate software. This experience was extremely helpful because of how consistently productive I was being in the studio every day of the week, and it helped me form many new meaningful connections and friends around me.

I'm looking forward to all the rest of my possible projects, connections, and skills I will be able to experience with the combination of moving artwork and sound!