Taryn Geist

I was born In the little California town of Boulder Creek in a tent outside my grandparents house. I've lived in The Valley of Santa Cruz my entire life. I've come to love this town and community as my true home, I truly believe if I were born elsewhere I wouldn't have survived half of the hardships I've endured throughout my life. I wouldn't be the person I am now without the support of my neighbors and peers. Planting my roots here has enabled me to become involved in activism at an early age surrounded by role models who have forever changed my morality and the way I view the world. For this project I will be focusing on my art portfolio which I have spent thousands of hours building throughout high school. Although I have always been artistically inclined, starting with my mother applying for art program scholarships at the same time as food stamps, my time in school nurtured and developed my passions more than I could ever hope. Growing up my mother stayed at home to raise and homeschool me and my sibling teaching us the importance of nature, empathy and creativity. When she died my family grew to a city as more and more people stepped up to provide for me and my sibling in our time of need.​​ This year has been hard creatively too, having so many stressors and responsibilities leaves little free time for anything else. I’ve been working to reconnect with my artistic process for my own sake rather than binding any enjoyment I might get to a finished product or grade. Each artifact I will be using in my essay were made this year but adapted from ideas I had throughout my time in highschool. This will serve to show my cumulative knowledge and improvement in skills and allow me to discuss broader subjects that have been important to me for the duration of highschool. During my four years here I invested in my community every chance I could while trying to cope with trauma after trauma. Dealing with a new (or resurfaced) challenge every year kept me from being the perfectionist straight A student I wanted to be, but it also forced me to learn coping strategies and depend on other people instead of solving everything alone. The opportunities I’ve had at school and in the valley for mutual aid and community involvement have allowed me to do something with my passion to create a better world.