First-Gen Flourishing Scholarship

The sirens and the light blinded my eyes and my mind as well. People passed, lights flashed, and so much noise. I heard voices. They were drowned out by all the commotion in my head. My mother and brother had been shot, and I, just nine years old, had to get help. Though I acted as quickly as I could, I lost them both that terrible night. Working through my grief changed me radically, but I also discovered an inner strength I didn’t know I had. Overcoming this devastating obstacle made me realize there was nothing I couldn’t triumph over. If you can think of the “world’s greatest mom,” mine was the greatest. When my mom found out she was pregnant with me, she started crying. At forty, she did not know what to do with a baby, and my brother was about to graduate from high school. One night I awoke to darkness in my room and the sound of someone groaning as if in pain. I found my mother by the stairs leading to the attic. She had been shot–so much blood stained her chest black. I called 911 and I told my Aunt to pick me up as my mom painfully instructed me. Meanwhile, I put clothes in a bookbag and put on my shoes. 911 services arrived. They put my mom on a stretcher, but I did not see her because the police pulled me aside to ask questions. At the police station, even more questions were asked. The room was so bright, full of fluorescent lights. My mind flooded with everything that had happened so fast. I was praying, hoping, and making deals with God. I promised that if she lived, I would do anything. Then, the call came. My mom died at the hospital, and my brother died upstairs at home. Tears flooded out. My Aunt, who was also crying, embraced me. It is heart-wrenching to see people my color and age with so much potential and purpose succumb to the criminal justice system. But what do you do when you have had no role models or second chances in life? This is where the criminal justice system needs to fix its disparities. I believe that the system needs to be reworked to fit in minorities who have been beaten down for too long. Despite this painful night, I have decided that I will turn my trauma and pain into a passion to help others. I realized how brief life is and that I should not take it for granted. From this, I learned to be resilient and take all the trauma to turn it into an impact to help the underrepresented and unheard. I plan to become a lawyer and speak up to help children and others like me who need to be advocated for, protected, and represented. They deserve a chance to be heard and seen as human. I intend to combat the criminal “injustice” system and serve those who have been silenced and oppressed.