Liberty Hill High School Senior Joshua Burgos Rivera is blending creativity and passion to bring his goals to life—one frame at a time.

Joshua has been quite busy exploring different areas of interest as a member of the UIL digital animation team, tennis team, and National Honor Society, and he plans to pursue a career in animation. Now, he’s set his sights on Texas A&M University’s visualization program, a path inspired by a journey that began with simple stick-figure comics in middle school.

“When my sister was eight years old and I was 10, we used to draw stick-figure comics to recap movies, and then she created her own original story,” said Joshua. “We ended up publishing a six-book comic series called Penelope’s Adventure Club as an eBook, and that sparked my dream of inspiring others through storytelling.” 

After moving from Florida to Texas his junior year, Burgos Rivera discovered Liberty Hill High School’s animation program, which solidified his decision to pursue animation as a career.

Recently, he showcased his skills in the “Take Care of Texas” video contest, creating a fully animated 30-second clip about water conservation. “I wanted to use my animation skills to make something compelling,” he said. “The statistics I learned, like how much water is wasted by leaving the faucet on while brushing your teeth, really put things into perspective.”

Joshua drew inspiration from hybrid animation styles like those in the Spider-Verse series, blending 2D and 3D techniques. His ultimate goal is to work with major studios to create compelling stories that inspire others, just as he was inspired by animators he admired on YouTube.

He is very appreciative for the support he's received from his parents, teachers and coaches, and encourages others to chase their dreams, saying, “If you visualize a goal and put in the work, you can achieve it; but if you don’t act on it, you won’t get there.”

Check out Joshua’s animated video and place your vote in the “Take Care of Texas” contest before Friday!