My journey into 3D started after the death of my brother Nate. He was one of the people who believed in me the most. He always told me that if anyone could accomplish something, I could. Losing him was incredibly difficult, and I found myself needing to turn that loss into something meaningful.

I began learning 3D, and very quickly I realized I had found something I could pour myself into. The amount of creativity, patience, and dedication that 3D requires challenged me in a way I had never experienced before. Even better, it gave me a way to create some of the ideas and worlds that my brother and I used to dream about as kids.

Before that, I had always been interested in a lot of different things, but nothing ever felt like something I wanted to dedicate my life to. In high school I was on the swim team and in marching band, and I was even voted team captain of the swim team my senior year. I took as many different electives and outside programs as I could, always looking for something that clicked.

Then I found 3D.

Once I got a taste of creating with it, I couldn't stop.

This has been an incredibly difficult year for me. I lost my oldest brother Carlos right at the start, and more recently my path through college was disrupted when my accommodations were denied and I was advised to leave my program.

Instead of letting that stop me, I decided to put my head down and keep creating.

I pushed myself to finish my first video game, Torque Trekkers, and then turned my attention back to animation. I added another 20 minutes to Die of Laughter, bringing the project to more than two hours of animation created by me.

Now I'm focused on the next step: becoming a professional.

My goal is to turn the skills I've spent years developing into a career where I can create, collaborate, solve difficult problems, and continue making the kinds of worlds I have always wanted to build.

I'm still learning. I'm still experimenting. And I still have a lot of things I want to make.

But now, I'm ready to make a career out of it.