Discus Award Winner
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Isabela Dos Santos
12th Grade, FL
ATTRIBUTES
Arts
For just two years I've been practicing stop-motion animation on my own time, unrelated to school. This means I spend about 200 hours per two-minute film, taking about 2000 pictures per film. I've found a new love (and level of patience) in animating, and have won international video competitions ('A Town Called Panic' Stop Motion Contest and the Kate Nash YouTube Video competition) as well as been selected for NFFTY 2011 and for a Gold Medal in the Scholastic Art & Writing program. I was also recently picked as a 2011 NFAA YoungArts Cinematic Arts Silver Award winner--and, most significantly, as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Only 1 in 20,000 high school seniors receive this last honor each year. I can't wait to pursue an education and career in animation in college and beyond.
Academics
Although I spend a lot of time on my art and animations outside of school, I still make time for schoolwork because I want to expand my knowledge on all subjects, not just art. I try to take as many honors and Advanced Placement classes as I can manage, from AP Art to AP English to even AP Physics. I have scored 5s on the five AP tests I've taken so far and am currently enrolled in three more AP courses. I have a 2060 combined SAT score and 34 ACT composite score, as well as a weighted 5.0 GPA. I'm ranked in the top 5% of a class of nearly 1,000 students, and, as was stated in the Arts attribute blurb, received the title of U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, which evaluates both top art and academic achievements along with character and community service.
Community Service
As treasurer of the National Art Honor Society in my school, I have worked overtime to promote the arts in the community by volunteering in art festivals, such as the Festival of the Arts in our school, and exposing art to younger kids in events for the city. In turn, I have helped use the arts to benefit the community by decorating for Best Buddies events for students with disabilities, running the Arts booth in the 2010 Relay for Life overnight walk against cancer, and most recently contributing an animation about OCD to the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation's OCD & Creativity showcase to raise awareness about the disorder. I'm now also involved in a project to create an animation advocating the arts as a necessity to everyday life that shouldn't be discouraged.
