Who would’ve thought cartoons could change my life? 

Ever since I was a toddler, I’d scramble to the TV and pop in whatever DVD was lying around my room. I watched movies like Cinderella, The Princess and the Frog, and Brave. I was always enamored by how gracefully a character moved, making the transition from one hand-drawn picture to another flow like butter. The scenes that had a minimal purpose in the story always caught my attention. when Cinderella wakes up and sings “A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes” while her animal friends grab a flowy ribbon and help clean her clothes with feathers. The colorful movies drew me in, hook, line, and sinker. I wanted to make cartoons like that. I dreamed of being an animator.  

As I started middle school, being interested in cartoons was seen as “weird ''. Peers would stare at my doodles and say, “Why are you drawing that? The eyes and head are so big and ugly!” But, I wasn’t bullied out of my love of cartoons. It was timing. I was in a hard place during middle school, because of the death of my mom, because I grieved at an age where most kids couldn’t imagine what I went through. I was strange, and lonely in a room full of people. To cope, I’d hog the TV, and play whatever show caught my eye. I didn’t want gritty, “mature” shows about scandals, drama, and breakups. I needed a show where the characters fought a bad guy with their magical powers and saved innocent bystanders in harrowing, unrealistic ways. 

In 8th grade, I liked a boy and started talking to him again. He listened to me and reassured me that I was prettier and smarter than I thought I was. We’d only hang out at his house for our “dates.” After our first kiss, we hit a rough spot. The magical feeling I was promised as a child, adorned with singing animals, was nowhere to be found. Those reassuring texts and cute flirts disappeared, replaced with one-word replies. My boyfriend was ghosting me. By the time the dance rolled around, I wanted to talk and dance with him, believing it was enough to fix our relationship. I waited for the right time, but it never came. In the dark gym, he didn’t look me in the eye once. I felt delusional thinking that my life could play out like a Disney movie. I went home, defeated, and cried. Despite feeling betrayed by my childhood influences, I watched She-Ra to forget my pain. Curled in a ball, still in my tear-stained dress. I needed to see a girl overcoming her obstacles and saving the world from the villain with the other princesses she met along the way. 

As I kept watching She-Ra, it became my wake-up call. I wanted what Adora had. I wanted friends who cared about me. If Adora was in my situation, she would’ve made the harder choice. She found people who love her and treat her with respect. Following freshman year, I tried to make new friends, leaving middle school behind. If I had ignored what interested me, and watched shows I thought other people would want me to watch, then I would’ve stayed lonely. I learned a valuable lesson from a source many dismissed. Keeping an open mind and following my interests saved me, both in the short term and long term. I want to create animation for the same reason, to get an audience to reflect on themselves, and enjoy a piece I made. I dream of influencing someone’s life through my art, and I’ll learn how to utilize my art skills in college. I thank cartoons for changing my life for the better.