After finishing her homework, a 7-year-old girl runs to a room in the back of the hallway. There, she finds the remote to an old box TV that sits in front of a king size bed. Static echoes throughout the room as the TV comes to life. She settles on the light blue bed as an old fat Russian Blue shorthair cat sits next to her.

Turning the TV to channel 225, she smiles as the introduction music from her favorite Disney show, “Hannah Montana,” begins. She stands up on the bed, dancing and lip-syncing along using the remote as a microphone.

* * *

Ever since I watched “Hannah Montana,” I’ve wanted to be just like her. My life dream, at this point, was to be a singer. However, as I grew up, I realized it was an unrealistic dream and started to rethink my future.

Crayons are scattered all over a light brown dining table as a 9-year-old girl draws on printer paper. She finishes the drawing and stands there, thinking about what to draw next.

Heading to her room, she opens up a small box from her closet and dumps it on her floor. Little horse statues pile up on the carpet as she goes through them, picking out two figures. She walks back to the dining table and sets the horses on the surface. She gets down on her knees, picks out some crayons and starts to draw.

After the drawing is complete, she decides to create a sequence of drawings with the figures to make a story. She adds a female stick figure to the drawings, making it seem as if she is taking care of the horses.

She shows her father her finished art and he praises her. She goes to her room and tries to find a spot on her wall, which is covered in artwork, for her new masterpiece. She decides to display the series of four drawings in the corner above her bed, where she can admire it.

*

The now 10-year-old girl stands on her bed in her room, taking down her artwork as instructed by her grandmother. The girl avoids the series she created with the horse figures as she takes down everything around it.

When only the figure drawing is left, tears form in her eyes. She takes her time peeling each drawing off the light pink wall and looks down at her grandmother with pleading eyes, begging her to let her keep them. All she wants is to keep the four drawings she created with the horses, but her grandmother won’t let her.

Sobbing, the girl hands over the drawings and stares at her blank walls. Her heart breaks a little as she follows her grandmother out to the kitchen, where she watches the artwork being thrown away. When her grandmother is gone, however, she opens the trash can lid in an attempt to save the series of artwork she created, but she stops as she realizes there is no point, for they are now considered trash.

The little girl hears her grandmother’s words echo in her mind as she stares at the trash can.

“Your room looks messy with all the paper on the walls.”

“Take them down.”

Closing the lid to the trash can, she walks back to her bare-walled room and shuts the door.

* * *

I loved the feeling of creating my own stories and drawing them on paper. The last story I made was one that ended the artist career. I stopped creating artwork with the passion I had until ninth grade, where the art teacher aided me in finding my love for art again. However, that dream to create art and hope to make a life out of it was too far gone.

A 12-year-old girl sits on her small black laptop looking at pictures of room decor. She tries to picture what her room could look like and gets out some paper and a pencil. She starts to sketch her room with the plan she was creating in her head, using the photos as inspiration.

* * *

In middle school, I fell in love with decorating. Interior design was new to me, but I wanted to look into it more because of how much joy it gave me. I would put all my time in creating houses on the Sims and asked for DS games that had to do with decorating. I even found Texas Tech, a college that has a good program for interior design.

As time passed, I couldn’t see myself working as an interior designer. Planning to have a life in something I did just because I thought it would be fun didn’t seem like it was for me.

So, it was back to the drawing board.

A 14-year-old girl sits at her desk as the teachers teach the new topic. She copies down notes while working on her homework to make sure she won’t have any after school. The boy sitting next to her taps on her shoulder, asking for help. She gladly looks at his work and points out what he did wrong and how he can fix it. Giving him the tricks she came up with on her own, he thanks her.

* * *

When I started my Algebra I class, I didn’t think I would come to enjoy it. I purposely signed up for the all-year class, thinking I would need extra time. But, I was wrong. I excelled in the class and even corrected the teachers from time to time.

After a while, I decided teaching math would be exciting, so I looked into it. I would ask my math teachers how they became teachers and why they chose this career.

I looked for colleges, took AP mathematics and worked hard in my other classes so I could get into a good college. However, I soon realized I would have to take all the mathematics courses to teach math. So, after thinking for a long time, I decided to look for something else.

Sitting on the floor, a 9-year-old girl and her cousin set up toys on the beige carpet. Together, they decide on the scene layout as the 9 year old sets up her mini black laptop so they can film it.

3…

2…

1…

She hits record and the girls go into action.

* * *

Ever since I was young, I have always made little videos with a storyline. As I grew up, I would make videos for my classes and put all my effort into them, making them the best they could be.

This year, I had the task of creating a video with three other students who let me come up with the idea for the project. I obtained the equipment needed and wrote out a script so it would be easier for us to make sure we said all that needed to be said. I edited the video and turned it in after filming during the three-day weekend. After that experience, I realized how exciting filming can be.

The one thing that stayed constant throughout my life was my love for film. Movies fascinated me as well as TV shows. I’ve always wondered how it would feel to direct my own show or movie, and I often thought out storylines. I want to make a change in the world and I hope I will be able to do that through film.