Grace and Growth Scholarship

My name is Ari Brown, a member of the Class of 2025, and I am applying for the Grace and Growth Scholarship for the fall semester of 2025. As the eldest daughter of two supportive parents with Bachelor’s degrees in Criminal Justice, I have always been encouraged to pursue my educational and career goals. From a young age, I have been passionate about studying the mental competency of individuals convicted of crimes to understand the reasons behind their actions. I believe that by addressing these underlying factors, we can work towards preventing such crimes. My educational goal is to graduate in 2029 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, complemented by a minor in Criminal Justice. Following graduation, I plan to pursue a career as a forensic psychologist. This degree will allow me to follow my passion and advance my career. Community service is a key focus of mine. As President of the Archonette Club of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, I oversee meetings and facilitate discussions to ensure everyone has an opportunity to contribute. Through our community outreach initiatives, including creating Christmas trees for residents in assisted living homes, donating toiletries, and organizing other events, I strive to make a positive impact. Additionally, as the Community Partnership Committee Chair for Top Teens of America, I have coordinated food donations for the Hilda Barg Homeless Shelter and organized trash pickup initiatives. I am also an active member of the Black Student Union and Health Occupations Students of America. My outreach efforts include organizing food and clothing drives, preparing care packages for women’s and children’s shelters, and participating in highway cleanup activities. While community service is vital to me, academics are also a top priority. Throughout high school, I have maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.9. In addition to my standard courses, I have completed one Advanced Placement course, one dual enrollment course, and three honors courses, earning a grade of B or better in each. The unwavering support of my family has enabled me to achieve significant academic, social, and personal accomplishments. However, balancing self-support with academic and community service commitments has become increasingly challenging in these tough economic times. Receiving this scholarship would greatly assist me in reaching my academic goals. I am dedicated to continuing my education and believe that my future work as a forensic psychologist will make a valuable contribution to our community. Thank you for considering my application for the Grace and Growth Scholarship. I am honored to apply and look forward to the announcement of the winners.

My purpose in life is to help others. I discovered my purpose in the dawn of the pandemic in 2020. As a seventh grader suddenly thrust into online school, I became lonely. I struggled to find joy in my mundane and isolated routine. This is when I first learned of the Michigan Animal Rescue League (MARL), a non-profit animal shelter in my community. With so much time on my hands, I looked into the shelter more. I learned that during Covid-19, MARL was facing a cut in funding and could barely support their animals. I knew I had to do something. I refused to just continue to sit in my room when I knew that there were kittens with no food to eat, dogs without beds to sleep on. So, I started Apparel by Sienna Rae, my tie-dye clothing brand in which 100% of my profits go to the Michigan Animal Rescue League. I researched extensively on how to start my own business, made a business plan, built my website and began networking in order to spread the word about my work. Once I began to make a profit, I immediately reached out to MARL to tell them about my business and drop off my first donation. The manager personally invited me to visit with the kittens and discuss the future of our partnership. I grew my business, began shipping internationally, and became an official donor for MARL on their website, right next to Kroger and Chewy. I realized that I had spent so long feeling sorry for myself, while there were animals actually suffering and in desperate need of help. These animals and the people of MARL have changed my life forever. They have shown me what true strength and perseverance is. I used to think that as a young girl, I wouldn’t be able to change the world until I was an adult. It was through my business and volunteering with MARL that I have found my purpose, my life’s mission, to help others and spread love. The Grace and Growth Scholarship will enable me to pursue Business Administration with a minor in Entrepreneurship in college in order to prepare myself to become an Entrepreneur. With my Apparel by Sienna Rae experience, I know that I want to build a company that helps others in their lives. My dream is to have a pharmaceutical equipment company in which I can help people in hospitals. Besides my love for animals, I am passionate about medicine because in the beginning of 2024, my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Seeing his hardworking nurses and doctors made me see that I, too, wanted to help those with injuries and health needs. Unfortunately, my dad’s illness has also cost my family most of my college savings, due to expensive surges and appointments his insurance does not cover. But I refuse to stop seeing the good in my situations. I am so blessed in every way, and I wish to spread my blessings. I plan to produce and distribute pharmaceutical equipment to hospitals world-wide. If it wasn’t for this innovative equipment and technology, we may have never found out my dad had cancer. I want to help other families gain the same opportunity my family was given—a chance to fight. Of course, I will remain a donor to MARL throughout my career. I no longer live for myself, for my own desires and aspirations. Now, because of MARL, I live for my family, my community, and those in need. I will help others, one person (or cat) at a time.