Dimon A. Williams Memorial Scholarship

Single-parent families are commonly perceived as broken homes but I disagree with this perception. My mother refused to let her children lack in any way because of this unforeseen circumstance. She made sure that my siblings and I were always involved in different enrichment activities and extracurriculars. She is our biggest, and loudest, cheerleader for whatever passion we pursue and for that, I am eternally grateful. My mother’s continuous support has encouraged me to be bold enough to try new things but to also be courageous enough to fail and try again. I’ve inherited her love for communications and am pursuing a degree in public relations because it combines a few of my favorite things: writing, community outreach, connection-making, and relationship maintenance. Coming from a single-parent family, my siblings and I are used to working twice as hard as children who come from financially stable two-parent households to succeed. For instance, working as an assistant gymnastics coach to assist my mother with paying for my sister’s competition team participation fees, working as a dance assistant to lower the cost of my dance school tuition, and currently, working a work-study job so that I can afford my bills and groceries. I have always understood the challenges that growing up in a single-parent family presented but that was never an excuse to not strive for excellence in any venture I embark on. My mother received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees while juggling the responsibility of raising 3 children, being a career woman, and being an outreach coordinator in the community as well as a social worker. Her chronic health conditions and frequent hospitalizations didn’t prevent her from continuously showing up for herself and her children daily so observing her strength and perseverance growing up has inspired me to never let adversity prohibit me from chasing my dreams. I am tenacious, compassionate, and organized as a result of my upbringing, and appreciate every adversity that I’ve overcome. My mother instilled the importance of education within me and my siblings from a young age. She’d always say “Get your education first because no one can take that away from you.” Learning as much as I can during my studies at the University of Miami will prepare me for the brilliant career that I aspire to have in communications. As a minority student attending a predominantly white institution, I am typically the only black woman in my classes. It can be discouraging to realize that you’re the only black woman occupying space but all women of color deserve to achieve their dreams even if they’re the only ones in that environment. A dream of mine is to create a black-owned PR agency that is female-led with a focus on elevating BIPOC voices. I am dedicated to creating a space for women of color in the communications industry to thrive. I would love to work with non-profit organizations that advocate for the rights of BIPOC, collaborate with other black-owned companies, represent black influencers and celebrities, and in doing so cultivate a powerful impact within the black community. If my advocacy work can motivate other children of single parents to strive for excellence despite their circumstances and give back to others, then I have succeeded in my life’s mission. Our community will have endless opportunities to advance collectively and many lives will positively change as we collaborate to nurture this vision. The support from the Dimon A. Williams Memorial Scholarship would be a significant investment in my academic progression and in achieving this dream. Thank you for your consideration!