Jasper — See Me Because

I admire my mom. She takes care of me. I love her. I have a good memory of when my mom was pregnant and I was a baby. My mom used to sing and dance to the song “Blackbird”. I’ve loved that song since I was a baby, and my mom loves that song so much. My mom also loves Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and we kept singing, “I Love Rock and Roll”. That was her first concert.

I went to see Katy Perry live at the Fiserv Forum. I'm a big fan. I went with my mom and my dad and my brother in 2017. I love Katy Perry because she's so sweet and she’s amazing. Her music makes me feel very happy and uplifted. I felt so magical.

I am very creative. I am passionate about doing theater stuff, like dancing and acting and singing and signing ASL as well. I have done two theater performances. I acted in some plays in the Cafe Club at school and I loved it. Being an actor on stage is like fireworks exploding in my head, booming around me and making me feel emotional like I’m exploding with joy. I love dancing because I have been dancing since I was a baby. When I dance, I feel compassionate and happy. In 2022, I created hours of me dancing in my room. I love making videos a lot. I have been making my own YouTube channel with dance tutorials, and lip sync, and ASL.

I like the latest fashion. Last year I designed a shirt: “Fashion is Power”. It was in my head for a long time. My mom helped me. It means to be a fashionista. It has a pink, long dress on the front. I’m a huge fan of pink. It’s my favorite color. It’s bright, like me. I want people to feel very, very happy, proud and excited and magical.

I describe myself as famous. I’m used to being a celebrity. I describe myself as pretty. I am smart, also I am magical. I am fair. I am responsible. And I’m a good citizen. I am friendly. I love to make friends a lot. My friends love me a lot. I am funny and I make jokes. I have confidence. I keep practicing. I keep loving.

Taking pictures with Sara was amazing. I was very confident and very amazed. It was magical. Having my mom there was so full of joy. My favorite parts about the photoshoot were my three characters, the dancing, and the makeup and music. And I played “Firework” by Katy Perry, just like when Demetria says, “Jasper, you are a firework!”

The setting is on a stage with a galaxy background. It looks like I’m part of a mystical fantasy and I should be winning awards. For my red pose, I’m being very dramatic. I have my bouquet of roses. The cape is very dramatic. It’s like “The Phantom of the Opera”. The yellow pose is joyful, and it’s very happy for me. The long skirt is very silky and it has ruffles like Ariana Grande. My purple pose is very romantic. I love the blue scarf. My jacket is very sparkly with sequins…like a fashionista! The makeup was great, like from Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake” because it’s very dramatic. I’m actually not that perfect.

I'm so happy though, because I used to take pictures a lot. It pushed my comfort zone. I still want to do it again because I love modeling. All I want is to model myself as being me. I love to be me. If you can love yourself or be yourself, whatever you like, you just have to be who you are. Just be you, be yourself. Do the hard work. Let’s go!

Milwaukee, 2023