Once an artist, always an artist

I was once entranced by the strokes of paint that made up beautiful compositions. I remember consuming tales of grandeur depicted by moving images, escaping into fantastical worlds that served as my refuge. I was a child of the arts, and I fell in love with the stories that were told through them. This marked the beginning of my journey as an artist and daydreamer. Many children grew up with heroes and role models, and mine were the characters depicted in the stories I consumed, breathing life into my imagination.

As a daydreamer inspired by artists, imagination alone wasn’t enough. I needed visuals. It was an insatiable craving to see the figments of my imagination come to life. The rest of the story is predictable: I picked up a pencil and began to draw. Hours melted away as I sketched and painted each day, and that continued for years. Looking back, my life at the time felt quite one-dimensional. All I thought about were stories and art. I was shy but never felt a need to branch out to others. After all, why would I need to when my world was complete with just art? In those days, I lived and breathed creativity.

Mother would scream at me to stop drawing and spend my time on other things—I was wasting my efforts and time on something useless. Then, junior year of high school came around. Only about 50% of my friends at my art school actually wanted to pursue art as a career—they didn’t want to be a starving artist. By then, my passion and joy for art had been replaced by a sense of obligation. People say you will never work a day in your life if you love what you do, but in reality, turning my passion into work only made it a chore. It wasn’t a hard choice for me to make to pursue something more practical in college.

The energy of university life hit me like a wave. I’m so happy to be surrounded by so many talented people. Within the first month of college, people were founding startups, launching projects, and chasing ambitious dreams. Everyone is so inspirational. Being in an environment with such talented, driven, and passionate people was a blessing. The entrepreneurial spirit is infectious, and I am irresistibly pulled into a world of pitches and prototypes. I broke out of my shell, prioritizing connections and learning from others’ journeys. After all, why would I not when everyone around me is so inspiring? By then, I had already tucked away my sketchbooks and brushes. All I cared about was building something sustainable and growing with the people around me. These days, I live and breathe innovation.

I recently connected with professors and lab directors working with technology I desperately wanted to incorporate into my ventures. However, their research and work carried an unexpected artistic soul. How nostalgic. Being immersed in their projects has gently awakened my dormant artistic mindset. It wasn’t until an experience with a VR storytelling thesis project that I realized what truly inspires me most. I am an artist at heart. I am inspired by stories told in powerful ways. In the end, I return to my roots finding my way back into the world of artists and daydreamers. While being with my cohort and seeing their dedication to building out their ideas is inspiring, it is storytelling that truly move me. Being in contact with these professors sparked a new idea I desperately want to pursue, with art at its core. Never have I been so in love with an idea before.

I want to treat my artistic side with the same respect and dedication I give to my other entrepreneurial and technological ventures, as I have neglected it for far too long. Perhaps this journal and these daily doodles are my first steps back.