Ultimately I chose UC: Santa Cruz because they offered me essentially what I believed was a full-ride scholarship. Little did I know my immigrant status would cause financial disruption. I would find myself leaving sooner than expected.

Side Quests UCSC
Spoke at at Black Lives Matter Assembly in 2015, with founder Cat Brooks
Prompt was:
"Describe a situation where you have been discriminated against because of who you are"
Model UN
Debated as and represented the country of Russia
American Red Cross Association:
Volunteered for Hurricane Disaster training and deployment.

I would move to Florida in the later half of 2017, and started working for The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention. Made to honor the UF creator of Gatorade & other innovative scientists, The Cade focused on STEAM, acknowledging the value Art had in STEM.

I led several experiments & classes with various age groups from 4-13 typically in both English & Spanish. We would execute physical experiments in the lab or learn about 3D & Laser Printing. My personal favorite was being in the Art Atelier and teaching children the principles of art & the Japanese art of Origami.

It was a heavy heart that I would leave the Cade for a more affluent, career-oriented job. To this day I practice Origami.

Post 2018, I was responsible for 25+ venues personally and over 250 venues collectively along with my fellow Event Coordinators at Eventplicity.

While hectic and unpredictable, the events industry would test my ability to adapt and solute quickly in unexpected situations. I would eventually depart Gainesville for Tallahassee and work the private events sector for the Florida State University Football Stadium in 2019.

The Pandemic saw social distancing & gathering mandates rolled out throughout the US. As the world scurried inside, our economy shifted as socialization became a health hazard.

I was lucky enough to have the relationships with the restaurant venues I did, and I would find myself running to the very industry suffering through some of the worst effects: The restaurant business.

At the time, I had my own LLC, Venice Vibes Studio. Originally established as a way for me to divulge and profit from my abilities in fine & traditional art, 2020 changed this trajectory completely.

It would be during my time at Eventplicity that I would notice patterns across venues. Venues who maintained up-to-date social medias, easy to navigate websites & a clear digital footprint had considerably more inquiries & overall interest.

Even accounting for variables such as location, menu type, store age & local popularity, old-school, non-tech savvy restaurant owners, whose heart was placed on every plate they served, had little to no inquiries.

Luckily the owners of these restaurants would hear my pitch and agree to launch social media campaigns, to-go options integration, catering relationships with local businesses, email campaigns & community engagement to boost sales, offsetting the loss of dine-in capabilities.

This will be a special thank you to those first few. I was a 21 year old with no degree, only a hunch, a lot of free data & a good eye for design. These immigrant, POC owned businesses are what inspired & sparked purpose when times were unprecedented.

Here's to the first clients who fed not only their communities, but me too.

Thank You, Adam
Lemon Pepper - Tallahasse, FL

Thank You, Vicenta and Marisol
American Italian Bistro - Ceres, CA
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In it's mirror image, VVS became AAS. I hope to establish Applied Arts Studios as a non-profit where our mission is summarized as Progressive Creativity.

We are building a new, shared digital reality everyday. This digital reality has impacted humanity in ways we barely comprehend now, but the tools used to build it had been kept out of the average person's hands until only recently.

Often times disclosing my 1997 birth year causes the older generation to scoff, "You were deprived of technology? I had dial-up." Though I spent 6 years in LA, after my father passed, I would move from those sandy, salty beaches to Ceres, CA.

Located in the rural, agricultural heart of central California, Ceres' population is majority hispanic, with over 45% of the population speaking Spanish. I would spend my last high school years on a goat farm.

There was no easy way to access up-to-date technology publicly, or even understand what a computer & the internet was, and what opportunities it held unless...
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A: Your English was advanced
B: Economically, your family could afford monthly Wifi and a modern laptop
C: You had a cellphone with Wifi access

In underfunded communities, it is well known the materials used to teach are decades old. This is even more damning when it comes to technology. At my hometown high school, the library desktops were loaded with Microsoft 2008. I would graduate in 2015.

I would own my first laptop - a $200 blue HP - in 2015 during my first semester in college as a neuroscience major, needing "something to write essays with."

It wasn't until 2016 that I would discover websites are actually designed using a coding language now known as HTML5.
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It wasn't until 2019 that I would discover that Social Media, Marketing & Branding were other payable sectors of digital design. That same year I learned of SEO Optimization.
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In 2022 I would met the owner of Cozy Tech LLC and would learn of UX/UI, another field of digital design. 2022 would be the first year I would use a Mac.

Today, the skills I possess only further integrate tech, art and design.

I would not be here if it were not for the resources I was able to find. I am grateful for the path I took, but it was never clear. Ironically, even as an artist, this was beyond my wildest dreams.
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I recall back in 2017, when my college roommate returned from a family visit. She had returned with another iPad, upset that her mother had "dumped" the older electronic on her. She threw the fully functioning, albeit dated, iPad in the trash. "I don't know what she thinks I can use it for"

This memory only reflects how the lack of free education in digital understanding & creative technology will only add to the systematic obstacles facing POC, non-native speakers, socio-economically disadvantaged, disabled persons. This disparity can not continue. Creatives deserve equity too.

From VVS, AAS was born to prevent digital gatekeeping & equip disadvantaged generations with the skills for financial freedom and career fulfillment. A mission that begins with Progressive Creativity: creators for the progression of humanity.

Our Artists will be Social Designers & Mentors. Using our skills, expertise and network to provide free Digital Literacy, Design & Business classes to underfunded communities. These classes are extended to any age, any person, in any country who wants to be more prepared, aware and informed in the digital age. The heart will be the AAS Creative's Program. We will provide rentable modern laptops (both Mac and PC) with preloaded design programs & classes. Classes also held in person and via zoom in YOUR language. These Basic 101 classes will be uploaded to Youtube for international, free to use.

The AAS Creative's Program will provide nationally & internationally rentable laptops (both Macs & PCs) preloaded with design programs, in-house software tutorial classes for exploration at your own pace, general financial resources & more with subtitles and audio in YOUR language. Classes will also held in person, at AAStudios locations & live via zoom to ensure full accessibility, varying perspectives and collaboration. Basic 101 classes will be uploaded to Youtube for international, free use.

Both technical and creative? See where creatively you fall by sitting in a class, then explore the 102 classes, dip your toes in any and all sectors of Art & Design. Unlike college, this education will be free & unrestrictive. Change tracks at anytime.

For example, UX/UI oriented? Once electing this track, we will match you to our Front End Dev Mentors and UI/UX Mentors, based on personal goals & ideations each student has, to not only teach the necessary skills and softwares, but how one can use these skills to sustain themselves through business strategy, intake & pipeline control, proper tax models, and more, all dependent on the trajectory the student wishes to take.

As the student specializes in either a 2D/3D Digital Design field, 2D/3D Fine Art field or C Level Design in these fields, such as Product Owners, Creative Direction, Non-Profit organization & more, their curriculum will become more tailored to allow full exploration and execution of that track.
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Students who opt for the traditional job search will be matched with a business or non-profit via language and skill set for a paid internship, remotely, hybrid style, or on-site in your country. AAS's network will also include freelancing contracts with small businesses. I hope to be able to partner with immigrant owned businesses to encourage work visa and green card sponsorship in creative fields, so those of all genders overseas are free to pursue their true passion, and not flood into fields because of societal pressure or expectations.

We will offer support groups and resources within our own students and like minded nonprofits & organizations during the students enrollment in the Program. AAS will always be a safe space and will extend as many resources for the struggling student, whether financially, mentally, socially or spiritually.
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Are you an Artist or a Designer?
Art Class will never be the same.

To my current Clientele:

Thank You for allowing me to use my talents and skills to assist your businesses.

As I build the funding to launch the non-profit side, your collaboration and network will only strengthen our credibility. Your work is seen, appreciated, necessary.

Thank You, Anana, a true Multiplier
‍SisterCare Alliance
The Self Care Agency
EVOLVE sis!
Justice & Wellness Center
Salamba Wellness

Thank You, geniuses in your own right, for your technical guidance, inspiration and trust
Tiffany, TruBrand Media
Saif, Cozy Tech Labs LLC
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Thank You,
The Southern Center for Human Rights
National UTB
Restore HER
Out of Isolation: Into Action

Thank You,
Dignify A Diva
The Play District
Team Halo Baseball
Freeze Frame Wellness
Bell & Washington LLP
The Hooker Law Group LLC