Past & Present: From Slytherin to Art ('09)

Q: What do you think of your time at MV?⁣

A: I graduated in 2009 [...] The ironic thing is, the parts that I thought I would remember and that I thought would be more important to me actually ended up not being that important to me. The parts that I thought I wouldn't remember are actually some of my most treasured memories. For example, I was involved in journalism, FBLA and Leadership, and those three organizations were some of my most cherished memories. So I think on the whole, I really enjoyed it. I would definitely do some things differently. If I could talk to my 16 year old self, I would probably say to chill a bit and take time to explore things that I find joy in, as opposed to climbing the ladder for college.⁣

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Q: What are some things your time at MV taught you?⁣

A: I think Monta Vista taught me about community, which is weird, because I think at the time, I honestly wouldn't have felt like community was a strong value in my life, personally. But when I look back on it, journalism was such a bonding experience. I still keep in touch with this really tight group of friends, as well as Ms. Balmeo, who was our advisor. The experience taught me so much about how to work together with a team and create a product that’s published every month, or every day online. ⁣

Q: What’s your favorite memory from your four years at MV?⁣

A: My senior year was when I became editor-in-chief of El Estoque. We had like our head editors group, and it was the four of us. I remember picking up our first issue that we had designed together as head editors, at the end of our junior year. I believe it was issue number eight, and that was a really good feeling of “now we are the ones who are leading and putting together this product, whereas before, we were more like learning how to learn the ropes.”⁣

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Q: What song or artist would describe your time in high school?⁣

A: It would be “Wannnabe” by Spice Girls, because that was the song for my friend group, and whenever it came on during the dances, we would scream and just shout out all the lyrics.

Q: What’s it like running your own business and doing freelance?⁣

A: It's interesting because anyone who is freelance is inherently an entrepreneur of their own practice. I actually really enjoy the business aspect of it because I actually went to college for business. I was really involved in FBLA when I was at MV, so that part just has come really naturally to me. I've found it very empowering to run my own practice, and it kind of feels like you're in control of your destiny more. But also, it's much harder in a lot of ways too.⁣

Q: On your website, it says you want to create work with heart, purpose, and originality. What does that look like?⁣

A: At the beginning of my career, when I was just starting out, I didn't have as many opportunities. I had to hustle a lot more to get my foot in the door, and so for the types of projects that I would take on, a company would say they need an illustration for XYZ purpose [...] So I just appeared and did the work, and I felt like that was more of a design oriented illustration job on the spectrum. In the last few years, I've moved more towards an art oriented illustration approach where I'm really trying to focus on expressing my personal artistic voice. I'm probably not the right person for a company to call if they're like “Oh, we just need an illustrator to create this thing that we already have a very specific plan for.” I'm more of a person who gets involved on the art direction side, setting the vision. More of my heart and my joy are in my work now.⁣

Q: Do you think MV prepared you for the real world?⁣

A: I think in a lot of ways. The extracurriculars that I did really taught me about working in a team, collaborating with others, and even professionalism to an extent. FBLA definitely taught me presentation and communication skills. I studied business in college, so a lot of that really carried over very well into that type of world. MV did teach me to work hard, and I feel like [it] was even harder than UPenn. [...] We always joked at Penn that Wharton is like Slytherin House.⁣

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Q: What do you hope your future will look like?⁣

A: I like to think about it in terms of a garden. There are a lot of different plots, and they represent different fields of art. For a long time, I worked exclusively in the tech field, so that plot is doing well and growing.It sustains a lot of the rest of the garden. In recent years, I've moved more into advertising, murals, and installations, and those plants are growing, but they're not as tall as the tech garden. Editorial illustration, publishing, or fashion illustration, all are fields that I would love to explore eventually, and I've got the seeds in the place, but haven't really watered them too much. So when I look back at my career and on my work, I would love to see a garden that is like bursting with flowers and all these different plots, and that, to me, would be success.⁣

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Q: What advice would you give to current MV students?⁣

A: When I was at MV, it felt like one track, like you go to a good college and focus on things like STEM and business. Pursuing art was not even a thought in my brain because of the values of the culture in our community. I would encourage any high school students to take the time to explore your curiosities and learn. Find what makes what brings you joy. It doesn't have to be something that you drop everything and pursue immediately, but just take the time to really cast a wide net and explore and learn about yourself because I think that that's more important in high school, then pigeonholing yourself into something that you're not as interested in, or other people are telling you you should do.

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Q: What's the biggest inspiration behind your work?⁣

A: I am really inspired by drawing strong female characters, which you can see a lot in my work, as well as this kind of surreal, whimsical element. A lot of my pieces have these fantastical creatures or animals. It's just an expression of my imagination, and I choose my projects based on what I believe is aligned with that vision and aesthetic, as well as what I think will bring me joy. As an artist, it's strange to say this in our capitalist structure, but I do really like to choose projects that I think will enrich me as a person too.