Cayden

My name is Cayden, and I am 15 years old. In my essay, I talked about the journey of improvement I’ve taken myself on regarding my creative limits and projects. I was willing to push the boundaries farther and farther away to continue to make people happy in this unique way they couldn’t get anywhere else.

I have created many different things in the past, as stated in my essay. My most recent and best form of creativity is my cartoon cutouts. These cutouts have been a way for me to share my talents with people and cope and calm myself down when life gets tough. Even to help calm other people down, by giving them a slice of paradise in the midst of whatever they could be going through when they happened to see my display.

I decided to start these cutouts because I knew from an early age that I wanted to share my talent with everyone I could. For as long as I can remember, I have been watching a show around Christmas time called “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” and on this show, I have seen people with a bunch of different cutouts of cartoons. That’s when I knew I wanted to make them myself for everyone to see. So, when I was 10, I tried creating stuff like that with my sister, and we loved it. Everyone loved it and saw it too, which made us want to continue. So we did. We continued farther than anyone thought a 12-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl (at the time) could.

When I was 12, I finally was bold enough to try the cutout idea. Until then, it seemed so out of reach. But I knew people would love it, so I pushed for it to happen. Conveniently, my mom had a hand saw in the garage, so that was perfect to start us out. Before I started, I was committed to the theme of classic cartoons, because I wanted to make the adults feel like kids again, so it’s something special they can share with their families. I first made Snoopy’s house, which people were very surprised to see. They told me how it was a cool piece, and at the time, that’s all it was. A singular piece. But, that one piece developed into a whole surplus of pieces in just 2 years.

In 2023, we hit a creative renaissance. We got our start from the Peanuts back in 2021, and that later grew into Looney Tunes. And then, inevitably, that turned into Disney. People were eating it up. Everyone loved my sister and I’s work. From 2019 to 2023, the amount we had improved and learned was unreal. But what was even more unreal, was the amount of people who loved seeing it. It was truly special, to be someone who brings joy to so many people in more than just your neighborhood. Because at this point, it wasn’t just a neighborhood display. People had been coming from farther than that to see my work, and it made me feel amazing. It made me feel like I was creating something precious for people. I was making memories for families.

I hit my peak (soon to be overcome) during the Halloween season. This was when I pushed my limits to the sky, or so I thought at the time. By making my giant Scar and my giant Hades, I was only setting the stage for my future successes. I was just seeing how far I could go to create something, and now I know, I can go even farther than I did with those 2 giants. I can reach for the sky with creativity. I am committed to making people feel like kids again.

And that brings me to now. I have temporarily suspended work on my cutouts, due to, well, life happening. I no longer am living in the house where I made my cutouts. But don’t feel bad about that. Because soon, I will be able to utilize a new space to let my creativity flourish. Soon, my family will move into a new house, and the new things I made will be unreal. From an entire facade of “it’s a small world” covering our house, to a Disney Castle, to the Warner Bros. Water Tower, and everything in between, I aim to make a surreal experience for people to enjoy. It’ll feel less like a display, and more like a dream. At least that’s what I hope for. But in the farther future, I’m shooting even higher than a town display. My dream job is a Disney Imagineer. I want to design attractions to make people from all over the world feel like how they felt when they were kids. That’s my goal. And who knows? Maybe one day when you visit Disneyland you’ll ride one of the rides designed by me.