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Caring 4 Carrie (C4C) Kidney Advocacy Scholarship

$500
1 winner$500
Awarded
Application Deadline
Jul 1, 2024
Winners Announced
Jul 31, 2024
Education Level
Any
Recent Bold.org scholarship winners
Eligibility Requirements
Education Level:
High school senior, undergraduate, or graduate student
Background:
Has been affected by kidney disease, personally or by a close friend or relative

The Caring 4 Carrie (C4C) Kidney Advocacy Scholarship continues the beautiful memory of our beloved, Carrie Lee Williams. Also, honor the blossoming life of Carrie Silvania.

In memoriam, for the late Carrie Lee Williams, her precious life was affected by kidney disease; she would succumb to the disease.

In honor of Carrie Silvania, who was affected by a kidney disorder as an infant. Now, she's made a full recovery and a thriving high school athlete & honor roll student. In college, Carrie plans to major in Nursing and receive her BSN degree.

Any high school senior, undergraduate, or graduate student who has been affected by kidney disease, directly or indirectly.

To apply, tell us how being affected by a kidney disorder has impacted your life.

Selection Criteria:
Drive, Ambition
Published November 15, 2023
Essay Topic

How has kidney disease has affected your life or indirectly of a family member or friend?

400–600 words

Winning Application

Amira Barrett
Spelman CollegeCollege Park, GA
“Grandma, tell me that story about how you met Bob Marley” “Tell me about Jamaica in the 80s again” “Grandma, you did what?!” Growing up, the number one way me and my grandmother bonded was by sitting down and listening to her eloquent stories. Through my grandmother’s storytelling, I became enamored with storytelling and wanted to tell my own stories. At the age of fourteen, I decided that I specifically wanted to tell my stories through filmmaking because anything is possible in a cinematic world. Years later, I am now a rising senior and film major at Spelman College. I am in the Spelman College honors program, director of over 15 short films, have been a finalist film director in numerous film festivals, fluent in three languages and I am Cum Laude at Spelman College. My grandmother was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease right before the pandemic. We were told that she would need dialysis for the rest of her life because her body could not handle kidney transplant surgery. Seeing my grandmother constantly in pain, unable to come to family reunions, Thanksgivings, Christmases or my graduation ceremony left a hole in my heart. Very soon the only time I saw her was in hospitals where I always cried at how swollen her body was from the lack of blood flow. My grandmother soon passed away in 2023 and her passing was a devastation for our entire family. I cried every night asking God “Why did she have to leave the earth in so much pain?” While mourning her loss, the Spirit led me to use her passing as fuel to do something positive in someone else’s life. My grandmother was the type of person to give you the clothes on her back when all she had was rags. I decided that I wanted to do something to channel my grandmother's generous and kind spirit after her passing by studying abroad. In 2023, I studied abroad for a semester in Accra, Ghana in Spring 2023 with New York University. At first, I was daunted by this opportunity since I did not have the financial means to fund this trip. Thankfully, my semester abroad experience was fully funded by applying for study abroad scholarships and the Pell Grant for low-income students. While abroad, I continued to tell stories through film and wrote the script for a film about the mass repatriation of Black Americans to Ghana. After this, I directed a movie about University of Ghana dance students triumphing over the challenges of a profession stigmatized in West African society. My grandmother battling kidney disease has taught me that when you are experiencing hardships in life, you can still make a positive difference in others. Even while in the hospital in severe pain, unable to move and fearing when her last day would be, my grandmother always put a smile on my face when I saw her. I want to continue to put a smile on other’s faces with my career in film directing and screenwriting. The Caring for Carrie (C4C) Kidney Advocacy Scholarship will go toward my tuition which will help my journey of spreading awareness of kidney diseases and being a role model in filmmaking for the generation of young girls after me. I plan to tell stories about other families and individuals experiencing kidney-related illness and show their stories and resilience. The honor of receiving The Caring for Carrie (C4C) Kidney Advocacy Scholarship can make it possible for me to help the kidney health community through filmmaking.

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is Jul 1, 2024. Winners will be announced on Jul 31, 2024.

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