by: Hayley Strahs
Editor in Chief

As her senior year of high school comes to a close, Alina Prostota is jumping further into the art world, specifically within graphic design. Prostota has been an artist ever since she can remember, but decided she wanted to pursue it professionally in her sophomore year, when she used Adobe Illustrator for the first time in Yearbook. Since then, she has expanded her portfolio tenfold while volunteering for the LG Music Boosters. From social media posts to T-shirts, Prostota has been the program’s design expert for the past two years. Along with being a little nervous, Prostota felt proud seeing over 100 marching band members wear the shirts she designed, explaining, “I’m really glad to have a part of myself be in the music program permanently.”

In addition to her professional endeavors, Prostota is active within the arts programs at LGHS. Having taken Art 1 with Thad Smith and Art 2-4 with Mark Yanowsky, Prostota has worked across a wide range of traditional media. She got to use her favorite, oil paint, in her AP Art portfolio centered around religion and the moral teachings of the bible. Moving from Art 1 to more advanced levels was difficult, but rewarding for Prostota. She elaborated that “since [Mr. Yanowsky] knows that you’re not just taking the class for an elective credit, [he takes] your art a lot more seriously, but it’s really nice.” This year, Prostota decided to enroll in Graphic Design 1 to build her portfolio and hone her skills before college. She explained that taking the class “kind of helped me get some of the basics that I might’ve missed when watching YouTube tutorials.”

When she wasn’t behind the canvas this year, Prostota was hard at work for Yearbook. As an editor-in-chief, Prostota spent hours running the class and checking pages for errors. Despite “the stress and struggle to get the book done” in the last few months, Prostota reflected fondly on the class’s community and opportunities. Prostota’s love for art extends beyond just the visual. Prostota recently completed her final season of Winter Guard after starting in the activity in her freshman year. She described leaving as “bittersweet” because of the relationships she forged with her teammates and coaches.

As she prepares to matriculate at Cal Poly SLO in the fall, Prostota is facing a unique challenge: packing and transporting her Garfield paraphernalia. Ever since drawing the feisty feline on the first day of seventh-grade Zoom art class, Prostota has been a Garfield superfan. She will take “whatever fits” of her Garfield collection to college, but her top priority is a year-late birthday gift, a huge crocheted Garfield stuffed animal. With the powers of Garfield and Adobe on her side, Prostota is psyched to open this new chapter of her life. Cal Poly doesn’t know what’s about to hit it.