This is my story.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. Baseball has been my biggest passion ever since I was 5. It consumed my day-to-day life, from training for 5 to 6 days a week in the winter, to practicing and playing every day from the spring season all the way to the end of the fall season. Like every kid that loves baseball, I dreamed of pursuing it after high school that was until I experienced my first torn labrum during my sophomore year of high school. It took nearly a year for me to recover and get back to the game I love, and once I got back on the field I felt where I belonged. Not long after getting back, I suffered another torn labrum. I went through the recovery process all over again and tried to get back to playing, but I never could get back to 100% and knew my life of baseball was over.

That same year, I discovered a new passion when I took an animation and graphic design class and knew from the first project that I wanted to pursue this. I guess I’ve always had an interest in art and design since I was a kid but I never would have guessed it would be something I’m pursuing. The more time I spent designing and making art, the more I fell in love with it just like I did with the sport I love most. Since coming to JMU, my friends and peers have helped influence me to be the best version of myself and the work I create. Come to think of it, getting to the point I’m at right now as an artist and designer is kind of like training 5–6 days a week for baseball. Just as baseball consumed my life before, art consumes my life now. I am constantly working on projects day and night and learning for new ways to improve my craft and artwork. The hard work and countless nights staying up till 4 in the morning to finish a project has shaped me into the artist and designer I am. Now I can’t stop trying to guess the font on everything I see.

During the course of my college career, I found a passion for both digital illustration and advertising. While it can be tedious creating illustrations, which is to be expected, I love starting with a blank canvas and find it satisfying to see how it develops over time to the final product. Seeing advertisements all around me and how they attract consumers with complex or simple designs has always interested me and it’s something I wish to pursue as I move forward with my career. I’m grateful for the life I’m living and how it’s panned out so far and while I don’t know where I will be yet after college, everything happens for a reason.