The clock ticks past midnight as she strains her eyes, struggling to keep them open on four hours of sleep.

The homework seems endless, piling up more and more each hour.

But once junior Sophia Pulido gets a moment for herself, she begins to sketch in her worn-out sketchbook, her stress and anxiety replaced by a calming sense of self-expression.

“I struggle the most with stress,” Pulido said. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh no, what if I don’t pass this?’ or ‘What if my grades start dropping? What if? What if?’ I always ask those questions, but none of that has happened yet. Automatically placing that negative mindset [in my head] is definitely a struggle.”

During days of stress, Pulido turns to art as a way to relieve her worries and release some of her emotions, finding a break.

“It’s very therapeutic for me,” Pulido said. “A lot of stress might be pent up throughout the week, [so] when I get a chance, I can portray those emotions I’m feeling onto a piece of paper and it kind of revives my mind in that way.”

For Pulido, art has never been a topic to question: it came naturally to her.

“I don’t think anybody introduced it to me,” Pulido said. “I just found that passion. At my house, before I took classes in elementary, I enjoyed drawing and making paintings. I thought that was something fun for me, a way to express myself.”

Pulido began taking art classes as electives in elementary and middle school, exploring her interests by experimenting with different mediums, including watercolor and ceramics.

“Drawing is my favorite [medium],” Pulido said. “Because I’m able to use a pencil that you can use all the time, it’s easy for me to sketch anything that’s on my mind and portray my emotions.”

During the summer before Pulido’s sophomore year, she made the switch from Sharpstown International to Bellaire after initially getting waitlisted from Bellaire when she applied before her freshman year.

“The transition was very hard for me,” Pulido said. “It was definitely scary, [and] this was a big school compared to my last one. So when I walked into the building, I was kind of overwhelmed.”

As an IB student, Pulido struggled adjusting to Bellaire’s environment in her first semester, spending many late nights and sleepless hours.

“I remember doing my homework and getting four to five hours of sleep per night,” Pulido said. “It was really harsh because I hadn’t done that in my school before. I was asking myself, ‘Is this normal?’ I remember specifically going to Mrs. Linsely’s office and asking her for advice, because I felt as though there was so much pressure and stress on me.”

Despite the difficulties, Pulido found comfort in her first-period class: Pre-AP art with former art teacher Meridith Donahoe.

“It was very relaxing,” Pulido said. “It just gave me more confidence, and the freedom in that class helped in that aspect.”

Even before Pulido’s sophomore year, Donahoe’s class allowed her to explore art from a new perspective and served as her first introduction to Bellaire.

“I had to do a summer project [before sophomore year] that involved me going to the museum to look at art pieces and critique them,” Pulido said. “I was able to go to the Natural Arts Museum, [and] it was very interesting because there [were] so many different topics and artists [who] painted very differently.”

Once her sophomore year started, Pulido continued to learn new skills from Donahoe, finding peace in her classroom amidst the new environment.

“[She] really allowed us to explore different mediums and different tools in creating art,” Pulido said. “Through using colored pencils, paint, watercolor or acrylics and oil pastels, I feel like it was interesting seeing my growth.”

Halfway through the year, Pulido created her favorite piece.

“It was an abstract using charcoal,” Pulido said. “We were assigned to place real-life objects on a blank background, and we put light so it created shadows as you took the picture. It was really interesting because I was able to replicate it and get exactly where the light spaces were. You could see the highlights on the painting, and I was really proud of that painting.”

Pulido continues to do art in her free time, finding a passion for drawing people, specifically their faces, using different tools.

“It’s very realistic to do that,” Pulido said. “I like making the details of people’s facial features and being able to show them. Last year, during Mrs. Donahoe’s class, we used oil pastels and some colored pencils to make someone in a realistic way. And when I showed my friend, she was like, ‘Oh my goodness, that looks exactly like me.’”

Pulido enjoys the freedom that comes from creating art.

“It’s a break from school,” Pulido said. “Whenever I get a moment in which I can take time to create something instead of something that I have to do, that helps my mental health, because I don’t consider art as an oblique, obligatory thing.”

Pulido’s love for art is shared by her close friends and family, including her sister, sophomore Zoe Pulido, who shares a similar love for drawing people. The bond Pulido made with Zoe started when Zoe was in elementary school.

“When I was eight, we were coloring this kid’s Christmas coloring book,” Zoe said. “We were all in the living room, and this show was playing on TV.”

The time Zoe spent coloring with Pulido continued, leading to a bond that still remains. The sisters often draw together, spending time sketching and listening to music while comparing art.

“During the summer, we both made similar pieces of art and wanted to see how different they were,” Zoe said. “We both drew scenery, but there were different types. Art brings us closer together, [and] she inspires me to try things I wouldn’t.”

Pulido’s interest in art also led her to friends, including junior Amy Lee. Lee, who has a passion for fashion, has spent up to two hours with Pulido at a time, discussing fashion and art together.

“I’ve known [Pulido] since middle school,” Lee said. “She has a lot of interest in fashion too, and sometimes we just go and talk about fashion for an hour. We’ll just be like, ‘Oh, what do you think about this?’”

The perspective Pulido has about art is equally shared with Lee.

“It’s a form of expression and helps with my emotions,” Lee said. “Whenever I have free time, I [will] go search for different types of fashion.”

In the future, Pulido hopes to continue practicing by herself and creating art with others, just as she does now.

“Art is limitless,” Pulido said. “It can be visual art, fine art, music, but it’s honestly a form of expression. And I feel like that’s the best way I express my emotions, what I’m feeling and my personal values.”