About Me
My name is Athena Driesen. I am a Freestyle animation student, graduating in 2026. I’m an only child, but I have two dogs, named Sierra and George. I am half Taiwanese, half Belgian. My favorite subject is math. I am part of the mock trial club, and I am a lead set designer for the MVHS theater. I’ve been a part of every show at the theater since my freshman year, through mostly set design but also costume design.
My core values in life are imagination, organization, and dedication to excellence. Through working in the theater and managing production of the sets, I have learned the immense importance of each of these values. To finish the sets in time for the shows, I need to make sure that every single piece is well planned out, and assigned to a responsible and reliable person, which takes tons of organization. The sets also take imagination, since the goal of the sets is to bring to life the world of the story. Each aspect of the set must connect to the story in some way, and imagination is the key to that. Dedication to excellence is what ties it all together, since no one would get anything done if we weren’t all surely invested in the program. Although all of these apply to theater, they are also the values that most influence the rest of my life, including school, and art.
I have been drawing since I was six years old, and taking lessons throughout that time. I like to read, especially science fiction and folklore. I like the creative mechanics of science fiction, and the insight into human thought that folklore reveals. I like listening to music, my favorite artists being MICO, Kesha, CIX, BTS, Daryl Hall & John Oates, and Shaboozey.
At Freestyle Academy, I want to learn how to be more efficient when working on animation projects, and how to be realistic with my plans for said projects. I want to learn to tell more creative stories, and integrate more thoughtful and nuanced details into my characters. I want to learn how to just be generally competent with technology.
The things I value most about Freestyle are the community and the opportunities available to the students. The smaller classes and project based learning are great for my specific learning style, and are also very helpful in creating a collaborative and supportive community. I also value the opportunities for work experience within the creative field. I intend to take advantage of more of those opportunities in the future.