One day, ten years ago, she fumbled with the eye patch she had used to play pirates with her brothers. When she had both eyes open, the world looked the same. But when she covered one of them, she realized it was different.Now at age 17, CHS senior  Jess Maronen still sees this way.

Her right eye sees details. The lines are sharp and clear. Drawing architecture is a simple task. But the colors are muted. Not black and white, but pastel shades.Lines are blurry in her left eye. She can’t see the outline of buildings, windows or walls. Words on pages are unclear. But her left eye adjusts quickly to light and sees colors very vividly. So vividly, that in the pitch dark she sees the green sofa and brown table in the room.

“I feel like a superhero saying night vision,” she laughs.

Since kindergarten, she’s known that she wanted to become an artist and a writer. Her passion is Japanese manga comic books. Hundreds of them cover the walls of her room.“Everybody has a certain place they want to go and it’s almost rooted inside you,” she says.

She dreams of visiting Japan.

She wants to draw from experience.

Her future plans include attending art school, learning the ropes as a comic book designer and ultimately, publishing her own manga novel.

She doesn’t care if it doesn’t sell and if it’s not popular. She just wants one to call her own.

She is thankful for her perspectiveespecially on sunny days. Because while everyone else squints their eyes as the sun glares at them, Jess Maronen closes only her right, because the sun’s glare doesn’t bother her left.