Visual Arts
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West High School
Parents: Joseph and Irina Voitehovich
Salt Lake City
"I came to the United States when I was 9. My parents decided to migrate to the United States from Belarus for many reasons, one of which was to provide a better future for me. We were the classic immigrant tale; we left our lives in Belarus and came here only bearing a suitcase. Since then we've managed to settle quite well. My family and I all learned English here. It was tough for a few years going to school and not knowing the language. The challenges for me were learning the language, assimilating and helping my parents during the first few years. Our transition taught me to be tough and dedicated. This I can relate to art easily; art's not an easy thing. In order to get one perfect print, it may take 10 that aren't perfect, and it's important to stay dedicated to this work that you hate to love.
"I am a blue belt in Okinawan Karate. This is the physical outlet that I have for my energy, love and frustration.I have been practicing it for six years now and it has been tough all the while. Through arduous workouts, fighting, scraping and bruising, I have learned about the karmic effects of hard work; it seems to pay off. In this way I can relate fighting to art. There have been a lot of times when art has been a struggle for me. It has been a battle to fight the creative cramps and personal eccentricities. Art is also a temple, my type of meditation, comfort really. It makes my life sweeter and sometimes keeps me up at night. You can't really win if you don't fight for it."
SCHOLARSHIP: Ranks 17 out of 449; overall GPA is 3.9; 29 composite ACT.
AWARDS AND PROJECTS: AP Scholar Award; National Honor Society; National Arts Honor Society; Key Club; Bend-in-the-River Urban TreeHouse & Green Space planting trees and cleaning up local parks; first place Printmaking Award Salt Lake District; Gallery Choice Award at the pARTnership Gallery; intern at Spy Hop Productions; peer mentor at Spy Hop Productions; IB program.