Black Scholarship

“I have to finish the hat.” Thanks Sondheim for summing up my entire life. My last name is Usman, a Nigerian name, but I find it funny that it's spelled U.S. Man. It was held by my grandparents in Lagos, Nigeria, who were wealthy, yet gave every cent to the those around them. It is a name held by my father, who raised me to work hard and support as many people as I can. ”You are an Usman”, he’d say to me. ”Usmans were put on this Earth to help people”. That’s been my purpose ever since. So back to the hat. George is a pointillist painter in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sunday in the Park with George. I’ve never connected so much with a character. He's obsessed and determined to “finish the hat” in his painting. Devotion and commitment to excel in your art, that is a feeling I’ve understood since I was a toddler. I love musical theater. My father, however, an immigrant from West Africa, wanted me to be an attorney. He raised me to academically overachieve, and to push myself relentlessly so that I might go to a fancy college and study law. And so, like George, I became obsessed with excelling in what my father picked out for me. Small issue; the thing I love most in the world are the performing arts. The arts have always been my way of connecting with the world around me. Through analyzing the plays and songs I loved, I empathized with people so unlike myself, and with experiences so unimaginable and foreign. I look at people now like little plays: Everyone has their own tragedies, their own brilliant moments of love and joy, and each person holds so much to understand. Through writing my own plays, and through acting and singing, I connect not only with the people in the audience, but something deeper within myself. When I find a social issue that I feel strongly about, I can write about it, research it, and perform in stories that share similar themes. In the case of the original piece that I have attached, I have used the performing arts to speak on social issues that I am passionate about. In the excerpt from my play “Eye of God”, I'm able to express my personal feelings and experiences about gun violence in schools. In the sixth grade, my best friend brought a gun to school with plans to murder my friendgroup. I wrote about the terror of school shootings. How it affects people. I tried to make the characters personable, like people you’d actually know, so that the audience can connect with these kids on stage, and be shocked and moved. Theater has given me eyes to truly see the world around me for what it is, and it has given me a voice larger than myself to speak on issues in a way that I love, and that is comprehensible to others. Through my acting, singing, and writing, I can change minds. When I go to write something, or when I approach a role, I find something that I’m passionate about, or an idea that inspires me. Whether that’s a social issue, or a simple yet profound image. I take what moves me and I pour it into every section of the piece I’m creating. I want every expression on my face, every lyric I write to simply express the soul crushing, gut-wrenching emotion through digestible words. I want every character I play to breathe real air, and cry real tears. Each idea should not only be conveyed to the audience, but should drown the audience. A character only "lives" through the audience's empathy. I haven’t exactly had an idol for my work. I like Sondheim and Peter Schaffer, and performers like Eva Noblezada. However, my biggest “inspiration” would be, in a strange way, my father. He's never encouraged my artform. He's never attended a performance I haven’t dragged him to. He's never cared when I talked about the things that I am working on. And when I told him that I wanted to go to school for theater, it was then I learned how to handle complete disappointment from someone I loved, and the self-resentment that comes with it. My parents and I have never been close, since I was small we've had an almost “business relationship”. They’d talk to me strictly about my career. My entire life revolved around school and being a lawyer. So, I became obsessed with success, desperate to please. I hardly valued myself, treating myself like a robot. I took a ton of AP classes, I tortured myself with work and I never allowed myself a single hour of break, even when it began to affect my health. And in junior, going into senior year, when I was burnt out beyond belief and I could do nothing all day except lay in bed and cry, that is when I turned back to the thing I loved. I had always done theater and choir throughout school, its what I've always wanted to do. My ambition reignited, except now towards the things that I loved. Like friends, relationships, and a career I loved and something I was sure I’d be able to create something new in. Through the mental health hardships I’ve navigated my entire life thus far, I’ve learned strength, and what I value the most in the world. And with the kindness and drive that my parents have raised me to have throughout my life, I know I will go far in my chosen career. They have inspired me, in a hard, but important way. I wouldn’t be the tough person I am without them. I'm going to Cornish because I know studying theater in a place that exposes me to so many different people and ideas will help me flourish as an artist. In Seattle, surrounded by so many interesting personalities, I know that I’ll be able to tell new stories, be inspired by new issues in the world, and take the noise of everyday life and turn it into music. Studying art is so essential because the more new information you’re exposed to, the more “you” your art will be. I’ll learn what I like and don’t like, what I feel strongly about, and pour all that into my art so I'll not only be a good performer, but a unique one. Being in theater, I’ve seen so many talented artists cast their dreams to oblivion for the sake of a living — and honestly I can’t blame them, especially nowadays. I face that same oblivion sometimes. But, what keeps me going every time is my main passion: I want to help other people. I want to put on shows that can educate people about major issues/topics, that present new viewpoints and encourage understanding, and therefore love, in this world. The less money I need to put towards my education, the less I'll rely on my parents; the more I'll put towards putting on these shows, and giving the money I make to as many people I can, while also educating them in an entertaining way. I'll inspire in ways that are accessible to all, not just to those wealthy enough to watch performances in large theaters. I want to help those in all corners of the world. I plan to start my own theatre troupe and travel the world, so I can give to and inspire people all over the Earth. I am going work hard to use theater, both writing and performing, to raise money and resources for those in need. I'm still, like George, desperate to make something new and inspiring. To make something of myself. In some ways, still, I’m obsessed with “finishing the hat”. But I’ve learned the importance of taking my time. Of living every moment. I hope only to help others do the same. “You taught me about concentration. At first I thought that meant just being still, but I was to understand it meant much more. You meant to tell me to be where I was, not some place in the past or future. I worried too much about tomorrow. ” Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George Some performance pieces: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cPV3F4GqY6RT8flryIfJul-h17uqy5zk/view?usp=drivesdk