While some students leave behind their passion to pursue a field with more career stability, Diamond Bar High School class of 2018 alumna Hailey Shi has already found success as an artist, sharing her personal story in a motivational video viewed by thousands of students across the nation.

The former DBHS USB president was featured in “It’s my Life,” an episode in a series of videos made by Camfel Productions for its 40-year old motivational school assembly program. These videos feature important messages from high school students who discuss inspirational topics with their personal experiences.

In the video, Shi talks about being in full control of her life and not being constrained by those around her who are not supportive.

Walnut Valley Unified School District’s Public Relations Kelli Gile, who met Shi after she won the 15th Annual National Holocaust Art and Writing Contest in eighth grade, reached out to DBHS Instructional Dean Julie Galindo to involve top artists from DBHS in the video. Galindo reached out to art teachers Coleen Gee and Vianney Hwang, which Gee recommended Shi as “a top artist and an emerging professional artist.”

Camfel Productions later contacted Gee and Shi and filmed Shi periodically about every month from February to May, including several different shoots of her painting at school and five to seven hours of filming at her house as she painted a portrait of Principal Reuben Jones.

“I think there are lots of kids out there in both middle and high school who are pretty uncertain about what they want to do with their art, but I want to show them that it’s possible to continue doing something you love and making it into something that you will enjoy doing forever,” Shi said via email.

Shi has been drawing since she was five years old and now attends Columbia University. She intends to major in visual arts with a special concentration in business management her sophomore year.

Shi decided to participate in the video because she feels a lot of students relate to her journey going down the untraditional route of visual arts.

While a career in the arts can feel risky since it does not guarantee job stability, Shi said that students who wish to pursue the arts should not be afraid of following a path they enjoy, even if other people are not supportive.

Shi hopes that by sharing her story, students will gain confidence in themselves and know they are not alone in choosing a career in the arts since it is a risk worth taking.

“The other students who were also filmed have incredible stories as well, and so I hope that after watching the video, kids will be very inspired to just lead their own path and not have to listen to what other people tell them to do because they learn to take control of their [lives].”