Irene Bashar (12) first discovered her love for art when her parents decided to put a stop to her scribbling on all of their notebooks.

“When I was about 8, I used to scribble on my parents’ notebooks,” she said. “[My parents] were just like, ‘We don’t want you doing that here,’ so they signed me up for art class. I’d just go to art class every weekend, and I was just like ‘this is so much fun!’ It kind of just became a thing that I did every weekend, and then when I started reaching at about the end of eighth grade, I realized that it was something that I actually did like doing a lot. A lot more than just a weekend hobby.”

She began taking school art classes in her freshman year and has been taking them ever since.

“I’ve been doing [art] since I was really little, and it’s kind of just become a part of my life. I feel like it’s the only way I can express my feelings,” she said. “I definitely like drawing, [and] I also like acrylic painting. I also do photography.”

Irene is also a big believer in happiness, and feels that success ensues when you’re happy.

“I think you’re honestly the most successful when you’re the happiest,” she said. “I try to be positive all the time.”

She also believes that confidence is extremely important when it comes to doing well in something.

“Be confident in yourself because when you’re confident, you feel like you can take on anything, and that’s a really important feeling,” she said. “You got this.”

Irene loves the East Coast and lived on her own there for six weeks while taking a summer course.
“[The East Coast] is just such a change of pace, and whenever I go there, it’s just so different from the West Coast.” she said. “It’s kind of like this culture shock, but it’s refreshingly good.”