Cherry Yan

Ever since I was a child, I loved to draw and paint. I painted at kindergarten, and I drew at home. I painted on paper, and I drew on the wall. In fact, our apartment wall was covered with my "artwork." My father believed that drawing and painting were good ways to develop creativity, so he encouraged me. In elementary school, middle school and high school, I was always one of the art teacher's favorite students.

I developed an interest in the Japanese art forms of manga and anime in middle school, and I thought I would definitely go to an art school after high school to study and eventually get a job in animation production. However, my mother was strongly opposed to it. "I'm okay with you doing art," she said, "as long as you keep it as nothing more than an interest.” She didn’t see a bright future in an art career, so she didn’t want me to be a professional artist.

My parents' opinions always had a significant influence on me. At this point, my mother's words were like a cold shower pouring on my hot head, and crushed out my passion for art. After graduating from high school in Canada, I flew to Japan on my own, and went to a Japanese university to study liberal arts. I spent the next several years living in three different countries: Japan, Canada, and China.

After having worked at random jobs for a year, I realized that I still wanted to do things I loved like animation or gaming as my job. I told my mother about my feelings on the subject. I learned that she had already changed her mind about my passion and career plan after a few years of seeing me wandering the world. Finally, she showed support and told me about a program offered by a school in San Jose, which she had heard about from a friend.

And so here I am, studying Digital Arts at ITU and working towards my dream. Even though it's been a winding road, I've had precious experiences and especially appreciate my parents for being supportive about my choices.