I ended up with a concept that was separate from the first round of sketches. With this idea, I hopped over into the digital realm to create it fully, in design and color.
The arrows represent different people, each with different colors and patterns. Their lives (paths of the arrows) are individual and unique, but they are all pointing to and heading in the same direction: upwards.
All moving, all growing, and all learning. At different paces, from different backgrounds, and differences as individuals, but growing and equal nonetheless.