DOWNEY – Warren High School junior Noel Quintero has his heart set on his future – unlike most people his age. Animation is what he has been wanting to build a career around since he was 5 years old and could hold a pencil steadily enough to draw on paper.

Cartoons shape childhoods, which is why Noel wants to be a part of making his drawings come to life and positively affect the television viewing experience for kids. Entertaining people for the purpose of seeing the smile on their faces is what inspires Noel to continue to improve his sketching and turn it into moving pictures that tell a story.

“Animating is what I love to do. I can express my ideas and do what I want,” Noel remarked. “Art, in general, is such a free medium with so many layers of creativity to work with. The possibilities are endless.”

Being part of the animation class offered at Warren High has been very beneficial for Noel on his road to becoming an animator. Teaching the fundamentals he never knew about before, the class offers basic information along with advanced curriculum for students like Noel who are already well into their journey of animating.

The course also provides the freedom artists want when designing while concurrently setting a template for what is expected. The ability to set forth his own creativity and self-expression is what has kept Noel in the class for three years.

Noel has also been an active member of Warren’s Animation Club for three years and is currently treasurer.

Noel has created many works in his life. His most notable is a five-minute music video for the song “Rude” by Magic. This compilation of many moving pictures took Noel over a year to finish, and it has been gaining popularity ever since its release on social media.

The inspiration behind the video was solely based around Noel’s longing to create a lengthy production that showed his own take on the original storyline to the song. His motivation for creating the video was to see the reaction people would have as they watched it and to take joy in their amusement.

“All the hard work and countless hours pay off when I see the smile on people’s faces for something I’ve done. It’s a nice feeling, and I love that,” Noel added.

Warren High School is proud to have students such as Noel Quintero, who strive for greatness in what they do. Noel has incredible potential at becoming an animator for a future profession. He thanks Warren High for showing him the path he must take in order to reach and obtain the goals he has for life.

Valerie Aguilar is a student reporter at Warren High School.

For Noel Quintero, animation is a passion and career choice