In 11th grade, college was on everyone’s mind, and the question of what college to attend had a significant impact on everyone. Some of my peers would say things like, "College is not meant for someone like me," while others would be so sure about their College path and how their lives would be. No one in my family attended college except my Aunt’s husband, who went to Medical School. My mom was so happy that I was finishing high school because everyone in her family was a high school dropout. My mom broke that cycle by returning to school and getting her GED and Associate’s Degree. At this time in my life, art school seemed impossible. I was the eldest of three, and how can I attend a school that costs more money than my mother’s yearly salary? The other internal conflict I had was my Art was about dead people and was so heavily affected by the terrible dreams I was still having. As much as I seemed normal, that ugly truth was in the corner, and I didn’t want to face it .

The catalogs my Art teachers showed me contained Art schools and their promise of this bohemian lifestyle. Could I do it? Could I live that life and keep the secret of what I was experiencing? One day in class, I sat at the table looking at what would be my Almer matta catalog. My Art teacher came up to me and was frank as he said, “You have to be the best to go to these schools, and most of the kids take private classes to boost up their portfolio, which was a lot of money.” So, I made a deal with myself that day. If I could boost my portfolio inexpensively, I would apply and attend art school. I didn’t know how I would do it, but that was pack. Then, all of a sudden, it all happened like a cold breeze on a hot summer day. I discovered that the city Museum offered classes, and I started taking inexpensive group classes during my 11th-grade year. In my senior year, I got the Okay to take a figure drawing class,

Figure drawing was utterly life-changing for me. I wasn’t drawing the dead; I was drawing living people. I wanted to preserve the life I was seeing to combat the sadness of death I experienced at night. I wanted their lasting moments be of happiness or joy. I wanted each drawing to be fluid, vibrating and filled with life.