Stars, stories and strategy: Graduating student Alex Lara brings the universe to life through animation (opens in new tab)

It started with a cartoon. In middle school, Alex Lara was sitting at home drawing while watching “Gravity Falls” on Disney XD when the realization hit: They could do that too. They could create worlds, build characters and bring stories to life. From that moment on, Lara said, they became “obsessed with learning animation.”“The power of animation," Lara said, “lies in its ability to bring stories to life and enrich our world with art.”