Imprint: A Junior Self-Portrait Illustration by Anastasia Garachtchenko (2013)

In my illustration I used the metaphor of shoes from my essay to explain how my life is a collection of all my memories, both the good and the bad. My experiences are shaped by my journey through life and therefore define who I am.

I drew a picture of two shoes, the left shoe to show the challenges of life, and the right to show the good memories and experiences. On the left shoe I drew three humanoid shapes. The blue figure represents personal failure, the orange figure is me trying to overcome the challenges by working hard and the red figure is me when I finally succeed. I believe that all my failures and victories combine to make up who I am. The right shoe shows all the parts of my life that bring me joy, ranging from childhood memories like kite flying, to memories of traveling the world. Lastly the reason I chose shoes is because we carry them around with us everywhere, and they are imprinted and get scratches from where we go and what we do, just like how people are impacted by their experiences.