Rep the Pep Scholarship

I will be studying performance theatre in college and earn my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. I plan to later earn my Master of Fine Arts degree and become a theatre instructor. The first thing I ever said I wanted to be was an actor, and my passion for it only grew as I learned what it truly entailed. Acting is a chance to take a character off of a page and transform them on stage and screen to tell their story. Many characters that I've watched and played have inspired me and helped me grow throughout my life. From Annie (1982) I got my very first dream role. From Cinderella (1997), I learned that I can be beautiful in my own skin with my own hair, and playing Katherine Plumber in Newsies taught me that I should not be afraid to dream for the impossible or fight for what’s right. Recalling the impact these characters had on me is a reminder of how important the people who bring these characters to life really are. My main goal as an actress is not to be the center of attention, but to reach someone’s heart and mind the way some of my favorite actors have reached mine. I also grew up in a small town where it’s extremely difficult to gain access to resources to train as a fine artist. I always wanted more opportunities and experiences to grow my craft, but either couldn’t access them, or couldn't afford them. Since I didn't have this access to training outside of public school, it was much harder to get into selective programs where I could receive it. The most disheartening part of it all is that I know there are people who have less opportunities than I do. Though I don't have many training opportunities outside of school, I do attend a high school with hard-working staff that put effort into producing shows for their students. There are many schools that do not produce shows, or even have fine arts classes. I used to say I would never want to be a teacher. This was before I worked with the amazing educators at my school that showed me that a teacher’s hard work can have a significant impact on their students’ lives. My choir and drama teachers have helped me grow my understanding of the arts, while also creating a safe space in their classrooms and providing a listening ear when I needed it. Though it’s hard to find opportunities, most of the non- school related performance and training opportunities that I’ve had were ones that they told me about or helped me prepare for. Everyone deserves a chance to thrive in what they love to do, no matter where they are from. It's important to me that I help others, even if it’s a small number of people, get that chance. With the education and training I receive, I want to help others like me access the resources they need that may seem out of reach.

Black women’s mental well-being is consistently being underappreciated and discarded. Lack of support from people within our own community, combined with hundreds of years of stereotypes degrading Black women, makes today’s society a society that overlooks the Black woman. As a Black woman, it doesn't take long to notice how differently you get treated. Coming out of the womb seems like a threat to people because of the color of my skin. Getting treated like you're not capable of being able to think on your own because I'm a woman. Years of this torment are detrimental to my mind. Feeling like you never fit in anywhere breaks you, but when you try to get help for that mental instability, people look at you like you're insane. This is the life of a Black woman. Constantly, doctors and nurses overlook depression and internal problems in Black women. Black women are 3 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women; Black women's suicide rates are rapidly rising each year. These problems happen because our voices are silenced. No one understands Black women like a Black woman. I want to reclaim the lives we have lost due to us being silenced by our voices. My passion is to become a nurse specializing in behavioral health, to heal my Black sisters, and break the negative connotations people have of the Black woman. In 2017 I was hit with a tsunami of emotions. At the time, I was in the 6th grade and just starting puberty. Like many people during that period of their life, bullying in my school was at an all time high. What made it worse for me was that I was shy and quiet, so I would take the bullying and not tell anyone. The build up of torment from school, then going home and having to take emotional abuse from my dad, was exhausting. One day my mind broke and thoughts of suicide flooded my braid until i felt like that was the only escape. I reported my thoughts and thought i would be saved from these evil thoughts, but i was wrong. As soon as i reported what happened, i got yelled at by my parents because “i dont know what depression is”. I knew after that, that i couldn’t let anyone know how i felt; After that the suicidal thoughts got worse until it was too late. The rapid decline of my mental health lasted for years and i even had to go to the hospital. These trials and tribulations were a fight, but i overcame them and even developed a love for mental health/creating better environments for mental health development in the process. When i was going through my mental crisis, I loved when people helped me and made me feel like I belonged. This love kept progressing and i realized that i would like to help people that were in my same situation. This is the reason i would like to become a behavioral health nurse, so that u can be there for people in emergency situations and maybe even change their mindset. I want to continue my nursing career by pursuing higher education after my bachelors and become a nurse practitioner afterwards. I never felt like i had a voice in the world, especially when i was going through a crisis. Many black women feel the same way i felt or even worse. When i become a nurse practioner, i will give black women their voices back.