Hello, my name is Aaron Hall, and I am a junior marketing major at Texas Southern University. I am a transfer student coming from a small predominantly white institution in North Carolina called Montreat College. During my time at Montreat College I experienced a great deal of racism and colorism from teachers, teammates and peers. I was a track and field athlete at Montreat, and I was the only dark-skinned athlete on the team. I would repeatedly hear jokes about my dark skin and simple black "jokes" about me all the time. In class, I would tend to be the only black man in the classroom. When the teacher would assign group projects, I often would not have groups to join, and I was isolated. The racism and colorism that I deal with at Montreat College had a serious effect on my mental health and I started to attend therapy sessions. My goal in school is to be the best student that I can be academically. Even through all the mistreat that I received through my two years at Montreat College, I was able to achieve my goals academically. I transferred from Montreat College, and I left achieving a 3.46 GPA and I was a consistent member of the Dean's List and Presidents List, making the list three out of four years. Back home, over the summer, I interned with the City of DeSoto, in Texas. I interned in the economic development department. My keystone project was to host an event for young professionals in the Dallas- Fort Worth area. I wanted to focus primarily on three topics: career development, quality of life, and housing opportunities. I was successful able to put together a panel of six professionals that were well versed in these topics. Over sixty people attended the young professionals event, and I was able to gather the city manager, mayor, and four out of seven city council members to come and listen to what the young professionals want to see in the city. My project was a huge success, and I was able to bring the community together to speak about what they want to see in the city. As I have transferred to Texas Southern University, I have already hit the ground running. I am on the academic affairs committee, and I plan to advocate for transfer students, like me to receive the resources that we need to be successful at Texas Southern. I do volunteer work with the Houston Urban League and Houston Food Bank, because I want to help out the less fortunate. With my degree, I plan to be a film producer and own my own company. With my company, I want to give the opportunity for marginalized voices to be able to shine and have their talents on full display. Thank you for considering my application for the Kennard C. Brown Memorial Scholarship. It would be an honor to receive this support, and it would allow me to further my education and to help amplify the voices of my community!