I, as an artist, always want to produce meaningful work. When I write I want to tell a story that in its simplest form, might enact change. A professor once told me that those who want to understand the world, write. This line is what resonates most to me when I write. I have many questions about life and how we as humans exist and find it so interesting that the answers are dependent on the individual and collective experience. There is never one answer to questions about life. It is about perspective and how that might influence you in your own discovery. I know that in my own perspective I have many questions about the aspects of my life that I love to discover in the worlds of my plays. One of my biggest challenges in my early writing was learning what stories I wanted or could write. I was fearful of being labeled and confined to one thing. Part of this was because of my identity. I am technically 75% Latine and 25% White. My great grandparents from one side of the family immigrated from Mexico, and the other from Germany. I am a third and fourth generation American. So this results in people who only see my dark brown hair and eyes, with my first and middle name, Iliana Tomasa (which most usually can’t pronounce, or don’t even try to), or my last name Sharp paired with my pale skin. I got stuck in the in between and writing became difficult. That was until the first complete work that I wrote in college. I was tasked to write about a moment or experience specific to my life growing up. I decided to write about my experience going to funerals. Death was a very normal but intense factor in my life. I wrote a short 5 minute monologue about a character, based on myself, who is dealing with her conflicting feelings about death and what it feels like to go to so many funerals of people that she does not know. We had to direct this piece, and so I cast my friend Andrea, a fellow Latine that I had just met, who happened to be an actor. During the rehearsal process, I made the most wonderful discovery. When discussing this piece with her, she opened up about how much she resonated with the character, because she shared the same experiences. This monologue for me was not specific to someone who was Latine, and yet it was still able to connect with Andrea because of our shared culture. Knowing that another Latine artist could truthfully perform the monologue feeling seen because of their culture was a wonderful feeling. But also knowing that someone else who may have not been Latine could empathize with the experience and play the role opened my eyes. I understood that I was capable of being specific to my own unique experience and still affect people in a universal way. From that point on I went on to write not only what I know but what I as a person wanted to discover, free of labels. With that in mind, I always try to bring truth to the stage. To do that, I stay true to myself and write what I know and what I want to discover. Like I said before, I want to do meaningful work. Sometimes that is as simple as telling a story that might change the mind or heart of one audience member. I have never wanted to force my perspective onto anyone. I do not want to tell anyone what or how they should think. But, if I can write a story where someone might feel seen, then I know I have done my job.