Shanell:

In the high school I attended, the wardrobe was the biggest issue. If you weren't dressed like the others' you would be considered "lame" or an outcast. No one would talk to you, want to sit next to you, or even work in the same group with you. I went through a time period in high school where I was in the position of being a "lame". Though it was very hard to get my parents to understand why it meant so much to me for them to buy me new shoes every week, I still survived through the name calling and dirty looks. In my sophomore year, I was growing and not physically but mentally and emotionally. Before high school I always had this "I don't care" mentality. I was called many names and always judged. I was one of the people in that school that everyone had seen and known for long hair and great basketball skills. I had a best friend that was of Caucasian descent and she was very popular seeing as though, we lived in a predominantly African American neighborhood. She knew me very well outside of school, we had sleep over’s and outings with our families. She knew almost everything about me except my sexuality. She even found out something that she then spread around the entire school, that my family had a tremendous amount of money. She thought that since my uncle was an actor, my grandma had been teaching for over 20years, my granny was a nurse, my mother being a CNA and my father being a computer engineer that we had money to give away. Her family was living in poverty so she kept me close because we always went out places.

I saw myself holding on to her also when we entered high school together. She was the only person I could claim as a true friend. I found popularity because of the amount of my money my family was supposed to have and the fact that I always had costume made shoes for basketball and soccer season. This close friendship grew apart as she and I started dating. We we're into completely different guys. I liked the typical blond with hair and she liked anything with a dark skin tone. In Take the Cannoli, my narrator goes through issues with fitting in also. She has a passion for music and tries out for band. She felt like an outcast and like she was alone. I felt this way for almost all my years being in school. The one thing that kept me above the line of popularity or not was: money and a nonchalant attitude. I think that my narrator also had to have had a nonchalant attitude to get by.

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When I was younger I always told my parents I would be an FBI agent or a veterinarian when I got older. As I got older it changed a little bit, I no longer wanted to be an FBI agent but a veterinarian or a game designer. Then, a game designer and entrepreneur were my choices. I was then all about art as I am today. I stuck with the idea of entrepreneur and game designer but added to it. I am now looking forward to be a graphic designer.

I found my passion for art around the ages of twelve and thirteen years old. I had been given so many compliments for my work on school projects that I thought about taking art more serious. I was then told by my art teacher that I should consider going into the art field. I took on her advice and soon fell in love with art. I entered high school and found graphic design. A speaker from a school called The Art Institute of Chicago gave a very detailed presentation on graphic and game design; at least those are the only areas I actually listened to.

My journey officially began when I hit my junior year. I had taken a graphic design course over the summer at the Art Institute in downtown Chicago. It opened my eyes to so many new areas of art that I had considered bringing into my style of drawing and thinking. I stayed on this path and very proud of my choice of what college to attend to further my education and design skills.