production of this photo!
(I hope)
Welcome to my page! My name is Lucy, and I love life! I enjoy open activities that provide space to create art – or new ideas – like photography, ink pen sketching, and playing music. I like to try new things, but I can be hesitant when it involves speaking in front of a large group, or sharing personal ideas. I value dedication, teamwork, and effort, and I also understand the importance of caring about others and taking time to care for myself.
In 2021-23, I explored writing, animation, and other digital media as a junior and senior at Freestyle Academy.
I’ve enjoyed drawing and crafting since I was a tiny 3-year-old. However, before I became part of Freestyle, I had never dabbled with digital art or media platforms. Learning through the Academy to create original content using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, InDesign, Dreamweaver, and audio-synthesis applications such as Pro Tools opened windows large for me. In particular, the design-your-unique-project philosophy at Freestyle was also invaluable. At the end of my journey with Freestyle, I felt that no skill is impossible to be learned, especially if we are able to navigate the resources across the Internet and the work of professionals in the fields.
Creating work for projects across English, Animation, and Digital Media that are tied by theme, I learned to pay attention to crossroads between technology, language, and science fields. I am on a path to grow as an interdisciplinary artist. Certain skills that I learned through Freestyle will be practical for any career: elements of design, how to code using jQuery/CCS/HTML, and how to edit audio or produce music through virtual instruments.
One of the changes that I was most grateful for was that I’d grown courage in expressing my ideas through my personal creative style. Here’s a funny anecdote: one of the junior year projects that had me stressed out the most was our flash fiction narrative, particularly the aspect of performing it through my personal voice. At that point, I found it unbearably embarrassing to listen to my voice on recording or watch myself on video. For this project, I spent many hours listening to myself, trying to choose the best take out of multiple takes for one segment, for many segments. I liked to tell my friends and parents that this experience got me to become “immune” to these fears. I learned to bypass judging myself in order to best express the ideas I thought were important.
After I graduated from Freestyle Academy and Mountain View High School, my next step was to begin my freshman year at UC Santa Barbara with an intended major in Biology. In addition to my interest in science, I had passion for the media arts, as Freestyle taught me to pay attention to how I can use my skills in digital media to tell stories.