I am aiming at pursuing my Art Major at USC during the upcoming admissions period. Art has been an integral part in my life for as long as I can remember, and it has played a defining role in making me the person who I am today. The time from my birth to now has been a complex amalgam of troubling events and positive influences, and the artistic medium has been the lens that I have used to perceive the world around me.

My parents hail from Baghdad, Iraq, a place with strong connotations. Due to the reasons that I am not aware of, they got divorced when I was 7 years old. After that separation, my mother became my primary caregiver; however, my sister was the person who raised me. 

The main reason for that was that my mother spent all her time trying to make ends meet and ensure that I had the resources to live my life the way I wanted to. She recognized my interest in art at an early age and did all she could to allow me to stay connected to it.

At an early age, my mother enrolled me in art lessons. Later in life, I used this occupation as a coping mechanism to overcome different problems and difficulties. Depression and anxiety were the inner conflicts that I had to cope with for a hefty portion of my life, but I feel that I have become stronger due to this situation. I am sure that all the incidents in my life have muddled together to find release on paper when I practice my craft.

I was highly involved in Middle Eastern culture until the age of seven, but began detaching myself from it after my parents divorced. I paid attention to more modern mediums such as animation and began involving myself in the areas such as women’s rights, activism, and the rights for females of color. Among the mediums from different parts of the world that I considered interesting, I preferred Japanese culture and its anime.

I realized the power of art at various points in my life, and these reasons have only strengthened my resolve in pursuing it as a career for my future. It helped me not only overcome most testing periods but also become a youth leader in my local church. I noticed that it had the power to move and nourish people of all sects and classes. Most importantly, I want to practice art/animation in order to spread the feeling of sheer contentment I feel every time I indulge in my favorite works. I realized that nothing would bring me more joy than being that very source of contentment in people’s life when they needed to smile the most.

Source: Advancedwriters.com