Alexa Chloe Villavicencio is a 20-year-old student from Goose Creek.

Here is Alexa Chloe's video application:

Here is Alexa Chloe's current situation:

Hi! My name is Alexa Chloe Villavicencio. I am currently following my love and desire to improve my photography/design craft. I am a student at the University of South Carolina where I major in Studio Art, minor in Business, and specialize in thrift store shopping/bargain hunting/getting free stuff. Within the past few years I have enjoyed doing freelance photography and graphic design.

The opportunity to become the Young and Free SC spokesperson is one that I could not pass up. I am excited to see how my creativity, thinking outside of the box, and appreciation of art and ideas can be used in the future for this position. My goal is to be a voice for our young adult generation; to better inform people through imaginative and expressive means.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know a little bit more about Alexa Chloe. I'm stoked to see what lies ahead for you and for me!

Here is Alexa Chloe's blog post:

Gratitude.

No, not gratuity. Gratuity is that stuff you leave behind for the waiter at the restaurant. That is, of course, if they brought you your bread rolls and drink refills all in a timely manner while managing to put on a smile as your Uncle Ray tells them his corny jokes, am I right?

Gratitude is the quality of being thankful. I know it is because I Googled it.

Gratitude is the feeling you feel when you acknowledge that you appreciate something. For me, it often requires me to get to a humbling state to realize that I have a lot of things to have gratitude for.

Just recently, one morning as I am preparing to leave my home in Goose Creek to drive back to Columbia, my father comes downstairs to find me and a half dozen drawings laid out across the floor. I am preparing my art portfolio to turn in within less than two hours, and my dad stands over me and watches. All of a sudden I am quite startled as I hear my dad yell for my mom "Portiaaaaa!! Portia, get down here!" My mother frantically runs down the stairs worried that perhaps my baby cousin has gotten his fingers stuck in the treadmill (again). With a huge grin on his face my dad says to my mom "Look at what your daughter has done! Are these your drawings, Alexa Chloe?? Can I have them? Will you save them for me so I can frame them?"

Wow. Color me shocked. If you were there, you would see amateur sketches of messy lines and boxes. But, my dad - my dad saw his daughter's artwork. He saw those 18" by 24" pieces of paper and thought "Masterpieces!"

Now, if I may speak candidly for a moment, I have struggled with insecurities and self-confidence issues for most of my life. If at times I come across as the most confident person, it is not without trying, and definitely not without the encouragement and support of the people in my life. With that said, I have so much gratitude for those little comments and almost silly questions my dad asked me that one morning. He will never know how much that meant to me (until he reads this). And even then I don't think my appreciation can ever be fully expressed.

There a lot more things I have gratitude for. I could go on and on, but you would probably eventually tell me to be quiet.

But what about you? What do you have gratitude for? Are there little things that you are suddenly realizing just at this very moment that mean the world to you? Is there a certain person or a few people that you could not imagine never having met?

Think about it.

And when you come up with an answer, make sure you hold on to those little things and those people and let them know that you have gratitude for them.

You'll thank me for it.

Alexa Chloe