Andrea N. Santore Scholarship

My name is Braelin Grant and I am very excited to start this new chapter of my life in college. I plan to study and major in dance and counseling so I can one day open a dance studio in the Middle East. This sounds like a very specific and far out plan but it stems from the unique experiences that I have been privileged to be a part of. Through mission trips to several Middle Eastern countries, I have been able to see that people, though differentiated by culture and language, are not as different as they seem. In Morocco, I was drawn to a woman holding a baby in the streets. After speaking with her, she invited me to her home and introduced me to her family. There we sang and danced together for hours. They taught me traditional Moroccan dances and I taught them dances that I learned back home. Through dancing, we exchanged life stories, and I realized that her family was very similar to mine. Although her mom was married, in many ways she had to provide for her family as if she was a single mother. Her husband was an alcoholic who would spend all of their money in a single sitting, leaving her to care for the kids with what was left. She had built up so much resentment and bitterness towards her husband and her situation that she broke down in tears as she spoke. She opened up to me, a stranger, as if I were her counselor, and through her tears, I realized that this might be the only consolation she would receive. It was a moment to express the pain and the toil that she had endured. I shared hope and faith with her that day, through a few hours of dancing and a simple yet vulnerable conversation. This experience captured me, and I realized I could use my passion for dance to help more people. One day, I hope to open a non-profit dance studio in the Middle East as a space for women and children who are struggling emotionally and financially to receive free consolation through therapy and dance. As I study dance in college, I don't want to learn simply for myself, but I hope to develop a unique knowledge and experience in dance that will allow me to one day teach it to others; providing them with a quality dance education that could lead them to a potential career. This way they can get emotional and financial freedom. I want to share the beauty of the people of the Middle East with others; their stories, and their struggles. I also believe we must normalize the culture of receiving help, not only in the Middle East but also in America where this idea is still stigmatized. I also hope to bring these conversations to the dance community in college to mobilize others to have this same heart for their communities.