As a child younger than four years old, I had watched Jerry thwart Tom in Tom and Jerry a multitude of times already. It never got old. This was the beginning of my love for animated television shows and movies. I also discovered a joy for drawing during that time period in my life.

I grew up watching an assortment of animated television shows and movies. I was particularly captivated by The Lion King. No matter how many times I watched it, something about it just filled me with happiness. I was also engrossed with the shows Arthur, Pokémon, and Dragon Ball Z. Much of my time was also spent drawing at a table or desk. I also enjoyed walking around with my drawings and creating stories with them.

While many children played in the gym at my afterschool daycare, I preferred to draw or watch animated television shows on the television there. It was not that I was being unsociable. It was just because I loved doing those two activities so much. Of course, I have changed a lot throughout the years, but I have retained my interest in art, creating stories, and watching animated television shows and movies.
As I grew up, those interests developed and matured. I began using more mediums and creating different kinds of artwork. My artwork became more refined. My stories became more mature and well thought out. I watched more animated television shows and movies and became able to understand them more thoroughly. I had also developed an interest in reading manga (Japanese comics).

One manga series I read is called Bakuman. It’s about two middle school students and their dreams of becoming manga artists. I admired their drive and determination to achieve their dreams. I was particularly impacted by the way in which the main character changed from someone who didn’t know what his dreams for the future were and had decided to just take the “normal” path, as he calls it, of getting into a good high school, then a good college, then get a job at a good company, into someone with such motivation to become a manga artist.
Reading Bakuman was part of the reason why I decided I don’t want an occupation that I didn’t like. I want to enjoy doing what I do to make a living. I want an occupation in which I can use my love for art, creating stories, and animated television shows and movies. I also want an occupation in which I can influence people, especially children, positively, giving them joy and spreading values to them, and helping them improve their own lives and the lives of people around them.

At first, I wanted to become a manga artist just like the two characters in Bakuman. However, I had to face the fact that manga just isn’t as popular in the United States as in Japan. Now, as much as I would enjoy being a manga artist, lack of income security isn’t exactly appealing to me. Also, I probably wouldn’t be influencing or helping a lot of people if nobody reads the manga I create. Then, I realized that creating animated television shows and movies would satisfy what I seek in an occupation just as well, if not better, as creating manga. This is how I came to have the goal of becoming an animator and eventually a director and/or producer of animated television shows and movies.