The Powerpuff Girls taking on fun adventures, the horses in My Little Pony talking to each other, and the fluorescent Steven Universe crystals were some of nineteen-year-old Yoselin Rimada’s childhood treasures and inspirations for her caricatures.
Rimada, a student in the Digital Arts strand at MLEC, loved art as a kid. It had always been an outlet to escape the difficult reality she faced every day.
“I use [art] as a way to cope and relieve my anxieties,” Rimada said.
Growing up in a Hispanic household was especially difficult for her because of her sensitive nature. Because of the culture she grew up with, she was taught to think and act a certain way.
“I grew up in a Hispanic family and it’s an unwritten rule that you have to suppress everything,” she said.
She used her art to empower others the way she would have liked to have been throughout her upbringing.
“I would like to create a story and I hope that someone will look at it one day and not feel alone,” Rimada said.
Art brings people together. That was the case for Rimada, who met many of her friends through the Academy of Communications at MLEC.
“I have made many friends because of this passion,” she said.
As the end of the Class of 2022’s senior year approached, many students were encouraged to commit to a college and celebrated for their accomplishments. For Rimada, that period of time was no easy feat.
She had been working on pieces to submit to a certain art school that many of her friends applied to for weeks.
“I figured if we all got in together we’d be golden,” she said.
The news broke that she got rejected by the college she had worked so hard to get into.
“I found out that out of everyone who applied I was the only one that didn’t get in,” she said.
With added pressure from being a first generation student, she now faces an uncertain future.
“I’m still kinda lost on what I wanna do,” Rimada said. “I’m lost on where I wanna go in life. It feels like everyone has a set plan and…like I’m the only one who has nowhere to go,” she continued.
The situation Yoselin Rimada faced is not so uncommon. Many students were in similar positions. The best thing to do, according to Rimada, is to have a support system.
Situations like that are rites of passage for many students. Despite being extremely difficult and discouraging experiences, they don’t happen by accident. They can sometimes lead people to somewhere beautiful.
