A Part of A Mold

Submitted By: Yisheng Pan

Location: Boston, USA

We spend our adolescent lives being the recipients of influence. We are shaped like clay by the numerous hands of society. As objects that are being nurtured and molded, rare is it that we have the opportunity or power to exert our own influence on the world.

Since I can remember I have always liked to create. Art was my childhood fascination because it was a medium through which my imagination could come to life. It was however something that I seldom shared, as the adults around me did not pay much notice. It wasn’t until Adobe Youth Voices that an adult asked me how I felt about the world and what there was that I could do to show it. I picked an issue very dear to me and through digital media I expressed it.

I didn’t expect for my creation to garner the attention that it did. I was proud enough to just have made it. It was nominated for an Adobe Youth Aspire Award and suddenly it had become larger than I had ever anticipated. I was happier though to hear from people, my peers, and adults tell me how moved they were or how inspired they were from my art. It was the most empowering experience of my youth. For the first time in my life, I really started believing in myself, that I could be somebody, that I could impact the world. I wish all our children were taught this. I have hope.