Pool Family LGBT+ Scholarship

As an African American, first-generation college attending, homosexual woman, I have faced diversity in many ways. Growing up I had a rough childhood due to a previously absent father and a mother who was facing addiction. As a child, I moved around quite a bit and struggled to stay caught up in school. Despite being advanced in some classes due to natural intelligence, I struggled in other classes due to my absence from class and rough home life. I was bullied for having a drug addict mother, an absent father, and for being African American in a town that was primarily Caucasian. At a young age, I constantly heard rumors about not only my mother but my siblings and myself as well. I struggled to try to fit in and remain happy in such a complicated situation. I was placed into foster care when I was 9 years old and remained in foster care until my father gained custody when I was almost 12 years old. When I entered sixth grade, my sexuality seemed to be less certain, and I came out to my friends as bisexual. Later that same year, I began experiencing bullying that lasted until eighth grade. I was picked on for my sexuality quite a bit. Once I entered high school, I came out to my friends as a lesbian but still hadn't come out to my parents. I didn't come out to my parents until Valentine's Day of 2021. While it wasn't a positive experience, I don't regret it. I slowly came out to more and more people in my family that same year. I've surrounded myself with people who make me feel confident with my differences. People that taught me that the characteristics that define me, shouldn't be hidden but worn with pride. I've worked so incredibly hard to get to where I am. I joined my school's leadership cadre and LGBTQ club. The next year I became an officer of the LGBTQ club. I took summer classes to get ahead, so I only had 1-2 classes my senior year and had more time to work to save up for my car. Life was even more complicated due to not having a physical copy of my birth certificate, a social security card, or even an ID. I had to wait until I turned 18 to get my birth certificate by myself and then turn around and get my permit at the end of March 2022. Towards the beginning of May 2022, my step-grandpa started teaching me how to drive and I passed my driver's test within a couple of weeks and purchased my first used car by myself not too long later. A week later, I drove myself to my graduation where I got to represent the class of 2022 and gave a speech. I am now attending college as a first generation college attendee. Despite all the uncertainty and obstacles I've had to face, I know that as long as I keep pressing forward and staying positive, I can get through it.

I spent the majority of my life posing as a heterosexual, cisgender woman out of fear. When I could no longer take the pain of living a life that did not fit me, I came out as a transgender man in the summer of 2016. I had made a life for myself in small town Pennsylvania, which promptly fell apart once I revealed my authentic self. I experienced transphobia in the workplace, in my friendships, and the 12 step fellowship that helped me get sober in 2011. I ultimately moved back home to Philadelphia after only a few months of living as male and on hormone replacement therapy. When I arrived home, I was embraced by an LGBTQ community that I didn't know existed and that I had never allowed myself to be immersed in. I continued to stay sober, and put my life back together again. I got into therapy where I set goals and reached them. I experienced my first ever Pride parade, and was able to undergo top surgery. Going back to school was the next goal on my list. I enrolled in the Community College of Philadelphia in the fall of 2021, and have been able to maintain a 4.0 GPA. My journey back to higher education has been a long one and not without obstacles and I still experience transphobia at times, but here I am. Had it not been for a queer community who believed in me and stepped up to love and support me, I might not have made it. Because of this, I feel compelled to give back to my community in any way that I can. As a future registered nurse, I'll have the opportunity to raise awareness of LGBTQ issues, dismantle stigma, and provide compassionate, trauma-informed care to a vulnerable community that lifted me up when I needed help. I am most interested in working with communities who are frequently underserved and overlooked in the healthcare system. These individuals consequently do not get the quality of care that they deserve. I look forward to working with LGBTQ at risk youth and emerging adults, those who struggle with mental health issues, people who are or have been incarcerated, low-income and underinsured individuals, and individuals experiencing homelessness. The LGBTQ community gave me the courage to be myself. I currently work in a hospital in the Philadelphia area where I am very open about my identity as a transgender man. I am the first transgender person that most of my coworkers have ever met. I believe that my experience as a member of the LGBTQ community gives me a unique perspective and makes me an asset to the healthcare profession. I am immensely proud of how far I have come in life, and I believe that I already bring a lot to the table. However, with higher education, I could contribute even more. There are simply not enough transgender healthcare providers, and the ones who do exist are so few and far between that they are often overbooked and understaffed. We need more of us to be able to better meet the needs of our community, and I am hoping to be able to be part of that.

I am an 18-year-old high school senior also graduating with my Associate in Science degree at the same time as my high school diploma. At a young age, my parents instilled the value of hard work and perseverance in me, never knowing how important those two words would become to me as a middle schooler. I learned how fulfilling community service work can be at a very young age as well. My parents allowed me to start volunteering on my own when I was 13 years old. My very first activity was to volunteer weekends (8 hours per day) at our local animal sanctuary called Summerfield Zoo. I would spend Spring and Summer weekends there doing various duties throughout the zoo. From running the petting zoo to feeding the animals, cleaning stalls, to helping in the nursery, it was a wonderful way to give back to our local animal rescue. Although I have been doing a wide variety of community service and volunteer work for over 5 years, I feel that the biggest leadership role within my community is when I am volunteering with local children and teens who have been bullied. As a severe bullying survivor, I spent most of my middle school and high school years being bullied just because I have two moms. I was hit, had things thrown at me, thrown into lockers, tormented, and cyberbullied. I felt alone and no one at school would help me. There were many times that I felt like my only option would be to just not be on this earth any longer. I did finally turn to my parents for help, but I was lucky that they understood my situation. Many LGBTQ+ youth and teens do not have that kind of support system at home or anywhere else. I feel that I can connect with them and create a positive environment for them to feel safe. My goal is to create a nurturing environment where they trust me and we can find positive ways to help them regain their self-esteem and self-worth. Creating empowering activities that help them protect themselves when necessary and enable them to seek the help required to overcome the psychological damage caused to them by being bullied. I know that being bullied myself is exactly what made me decide to do two things. One, test in for my high school’s dual enrollment program so that I could escape the bullies that never stopped tormenting me in school. And two, made me want to go into the healthcare field. I want to be able to help others, possibly when there is nowhere else to turn. I have always had a love for science, and I think I can combine my two passions and have a fulfilling career. I know that my real-life experiences will allow me the strength and compassion needed to be successful in helping others. I am hoping to receive as many scholarships as possible to help me fulfill my dreams of finishing my Bachelor’s degree and applying to Medical School. That is my dream thanks to hard work and perseverance.