Vanessa’s First Year: Growth, Art, and Community
Vanessa Cisco, our 2024 ABF Scholarship recipients, just wrapped up her first year of college—and it’s been a year of growth, exploration, and stepping into her creative path.
This spring, Vanessa officially declared her major in art with a focus on painting, diving into courses in printmaking, Western European art history, and even physics. Her commitment to exploring different disciplines is a testament to the creative curiosity we aim to nurture through the Archer Beeman Foundation.
Outside of the classroom, Vanessa has found community by joining the University of Washington’s Japanese Student Association, where she now serves as an officer. As part of JSA’s outreach team, she helps host Kaiwa Table (“talking table”) every Wednesday, where she teaches students who want to practice Japanese, as well as Japanese students who want to practice English. Her dedication to building connections across cultures reflects the values of compassion and inclusion we hold dear at ABF.
To help with college expenses, Vanessa has taken on a part-time job at a restaurant off campus. She also makes time to return to Whidbey Island about once a month to recharge and spend time with her family—something she deeply appreciates about attending college close to home.
Reflecting on her first year, Vanessa shared:
“College has been a learning process and a place where I feel like I’ve been able to grow as a person. It is a strange and bittersweet feeling knowing it’s about to hit one year of graduating from high school.”
We are so proud of Vanessa for embracing her creativity and stepping into this next chapter with curiosity and courage. Her journey is a reminder of why we do this work: to ensure young artists like Vanessa have the support they need to grow, create, and find their place in the world.
Thank you to our donors for making scholarships like Vanessa’s possible. Your generosity helps young artists find their voices and build a future filled with purpose and creativity.
