My name is Denisse Hernandez, and I am about to transfer to Cal State Long Beach for Fall 2019 with a Studio Arts AA-T Degree. I have always considered myself an artist and a visual storyteller. I work in multiple media, primary making drawings, paintings, digital illustrations, and web comics, but my ultimate passion is animation. I was born and raised in Mexico, where the industry of animation is not very developed and most universities do not have animation as a major. Such lack of opportunities and the determination to pursue my desired career were what brought me to the US. I came in 2014 with the goal of getting a bachelor’s degree in Animation, but being unfamiliar with the education system in this country and speaking no English made my path to college long and difficult. After taking English classes at an adult school, getting my high school diploma, and a certificate in multimedia design for video production, I finally enrolled in East Los Angeles College, where I have attended since 2016, keeping a GPA of 4.0 and a place in the Dean’s Honor List every semester.
This scholarship means a lot to me because ever since I moved to the US, money has been the biggest obstacle that has prevented me from moving forward on my education; I have had to give up great school opportunities and postpone my transferring only because of the lack of economic resources. I am very grateful to Honor Society for choosing me as a recipient of this award, which I plan to use to pay for the tuition of my first semester at university.
