I don't feel. I can not tell the difference between my inner feelings and what is real. Going through the motions without feelings. Like there is nothing for me. The sensation is nonexistent. Numb maybe? Then when I do feel, I drown in an unknown sadness, and I can not deal. My heart weighs heavy and my thoughts are roaring in my head. Should I cry? I will not even try. Tears are disgusting. My heart, I should not be trusting. My laughter is mirthless. My brain, hatred is earning. I am in pain. This sounds insane... This sampling you have read is my own. I suffer and struggle with mental illness on a daily basis. Everyday feels like a challenge. Mental health is something that has been belittled and undermined for far too long. People struggle with mental health issues and do not even realize it. Everyday we are desensitized to the traumas we see around us. We see abuse, neglect, violence, and do not understand the lasting impact it has on our psyche. We are taught that going to therapy is "not cool" and makes you "crazy," but I am the one who begs to differ. People desperately need to communicate their inner issues and work out ways to solve them with therapy. We can create personalized schedules to accommodate everyone's lifestyle. The therapists should be non bias and really dedicated to helping their patients. This should be a voluntary act because trying to enforce it will only get negative feedback from most people. There should be activities and a sense of unity amongst the hue-mans so it is a welcoming environment for any and everyone. Negativity and dismissive terminology are strictly forbidden. This will only push people away. Everyone's concerns and problems matter no matter how small.

High-school was extremely difficult for me. Academically, I was superb. 4.5 GPA, straight A's, honors, college, and AP courses. My problems were socially. After coming out of my self imposed shell, I thought I would be okay. I couldn't have been more incorrect. I am a bold person who speaks my mind in every situation and is admired for it. I am a caring person with a big heart that has only brought me pain. I was way too trusting with people and cared too much for people who treated reciprocity as a foreign concept. I was bullied everyday. People consistently called me a boy. One day while sitting in class, I had a person I really liked text the class asking if they thought I was really a girl. In the moment I ignored it, but when I went home, I cried. I had people I thought were my friends gossip about me behind my back, spread rumors about me, told all my secrets, and even started acting differently for their new friends. The pain was excruciating because I would never do that to anyone . I once cried in front of my class trying to get them to understand me and no one showed even a modicum of interest. They were all just on their phones or talking amongst themselves. When they were in a bad place, I helped them but it did not matter when it came to me. I was and currently still struggle with mental health issues as well. My home life was no better. I am the middle child and my parents are really hard on me. Not understanding why at the time, I thought they both hated me. I couldn't confide in my siblings either. Everyone could count on me, but didn't care about me. I was ready to give up on everything. In a last ditch effort to convey my emotions to myself, because I had no one else, I decided to write a song because I couldn't draw at the moment. I started writing in a new book and poured all my feelings into it. My sense of inadequacy, my self hate, my misunderstood actions, my anger, and everything I had endured in my life. It started with one complete song, a partial song, and a poem. Now I have written on every page in two journals and in the pursuit of finding another to divulge all my feelings into. It has become my therapy, my confidant, my best friend, and lover. I do not wish to be on the cover of every magazine or treading every red carpet or feature on every talk show. I want somebody to stumble across my music and it actually helps them. I want somebody to find a voice through my music and gain a sense of comfort in knowing they are not going through this alone. I want to join the effort of bringing real music back. I have and will always stay true to myself and my ideals and hope to teach my audience that it's okay to be yourself. If you are not yourself, how will you fill that void in your heart and soul? I want to show people it is okay to be a person. To make mistakes and fail. That you do not have to paint your face everyday and sew and glue hair extensions to feel beautiful. That beauty resides inside you and once stop being a copy, only then will your true authentic beauty be seen and appreciated. Gratitude for your time.

If I were to put my artistic self in a sentence, it would be fire on a spider web. Set ablaze in the magnificent orange and raging red hues with the hyper yellow lighting the available web on fire. Nevertheless, it's all connected. Throughout my life, art has been my solace. My only saving grace when the weight of the world became too heavy to even stand. I am both academic and artistic which comes as a surprise to everyone I share this with. My art forms include painting, sketching, photography, singing, rapping, poetry, dance choreographing, composing music, spoken word, fashion designing, jewelry making, and modeling. It's alot I know, but without these forms of art, I doubt my existence on this plane would still be a thing to mention. My biggest dream would be me being able to share my many forms of art with the world. Being able to help someone like me who is going through something that is suffocating and can not find comfort in anything around them or in the people shown everyday on television and social media. Those who can't relate to everyone and find themselves to be an outcast in a public environment like I did. Often times it was the music and art I stumbled across from someone everyone does not know that has helped me the most. I want my art to help people and give the silenced ones a voice. Being able to teach a dance class, choreograph dances for celebrities, perform my dances, write songs for celebrities, sing my original songs, show my photography with the world, perform my spoken words, sell my jewelry, model my fashion, and have people buy and enjoy my various forms of art would be a dream come true. Again I say, I know it's a lot, but I am more than capable of completing them all and intend to do so until my very last breath. If I were to win this scholarship, I would invest this into my first career in order to make profits to support my other various careers. I need the first career to build a finacial backing and support so I can make the rest of my dreams come true. That way if one of pursuits fail, I always have a back up plan to ensure my bills get paid on time, I can support my family still, and continue the pursuits that are succeeding without having to "rob Peter to pay Paul. " I give appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity and the experience and below I have shared several links to my art and photography. I am working on uploading my other forms of art on various platforms. When I successfully do this, I will share them with you guys regardless of what happens! Due to complications with sharing the link, I am unable to share my works with you. I will list my email below and if you are interested in viewing my works, I will share them via email. Akashabryant0@gmail.com

It's not something I shout from the rooftops. It's not something I always openly accept and if suggested of having by another person, I would be aggrevated. It's a silent snare. It encloses you when you are at your weakest point with a tight noose around your neck. Like an extremely toxic and abusive relationship. It will amplify all of your short comings and failures in your head with a megaphone. It will make you feel worthless and an unnecessary burden on the planet. A waste of space. I would often put myself in a box and it lied all my self imposed limitations. Although I was considered popular, I still felt like a loner internally. I was hard pressed to have a conversation with anyone because finding a like minded individual was a rarity. Dealing with mental illness is like playing Russian roulette with your emotions and once receiving the lethal turn, it drowns you in a vast, desolate ocean to which reaching the top seems impossible. If you're someone like me, you'll desperately need help, but won't ask for it. Whether it be by betrayal or part of your character, you will keep things to yourself. Both instances are me, and with this, I can recognize when someone is suffering like I am. Being as though I went through the same trials and tribulations, people confide in me. People say I am extremely trustworthy and knows all their secrets are safe with me. I do not spout anyone's business no matter what we go through. I know what it's like to need somebody and have no one, so I try to help and be there for those who need it. I help people like me everyday including my friends and family with whatever they are going through. The time of day does not matter to me. I help people out of the dark, desolate ocean that I have become so acquainted with. Helping them in turn helps me. I have been my own therapist for a long time, but knowing I'm not the only is comforting.

Grand rising. My name is Akasha R. Bryant and I am currently a senior attending Coppin Academy. After I graduate, I want to attend Coppin State University in honor of both my parents and myself. My schools have ways been affiliated with Coppin State University and completing my academic journey as a full member of the Coppin community feels right to me. In my elementary and middle school years, I was nominated for their Celebrating Student Excellence Ceremony every year. We would have the honor of being a part of a college graduation ceremony and seeing the graduates earning and being awarded their glass eagle plaques would leave me speechless. It was so inspiring to me. I wanted to walk across that same stage presenting my plaque for both my mother and father because neither one of them could complete college. My mother had to give up her college dreams to raise my siblings and I and my father had to stop due to finacial issues. I want to complete college for the both of them and give them appreciation and gratitude for helping me all along the way. When the times got hard and for when the times of glory were upon me. For my career, I must attain a bachelor's degree in substance and alcohol abuse. I am very passionate about becoming a substance and alcohol abuse counselor to help those close to me and others who are struggling with substance abuse. If I were to put my artistic self in a sentence, it would be fire on a spider web. Set ablaze in the magnificent orange and raging red hues with the hyper yellow lighting the available web on fire. Nevertheless, it's all connected. Throughout my life, art has been my solace. My only saving grace when the weight of the world became too heavy to even stand. I am both academic and artistic which comes to a surprise to everyone I share this with. My art forms include painting, sketching, photography, singing, rapping, poetry, dance choreographing, composing music, spoken word, fashion designing, jewelry making, and modeling. It's alot I know but without these forms of art, I doubt my existence on this plane would still be a thing to mention. My biggest dream would be me being able to share my many forms of art with the world. That would entail teaching a dance class, choreographing dances for celebrities, performing my dances, writing songs for celebrities, singing my original songs, showing my photography with the world performing my spoken words, selling my jewelry, modeling my fashion, and having people buy various forms of art. I have always been interested in STEM, but have not been able to get involved with it. I have always admired from the side lines and always wished I could be part of that community. Once I learned that STEM stood for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, I felt compelled to try this. It coincided with many of my interests and felt like something I could really enjoy. The STEM program at my school ran after hours, so I could not participate in it. I help care for my ill mother and five sibling after school. With my arm load of homework, studying, and chores I had to do everyday on top of this, STEM drifted further and further away from me. I would love the opportunity to join a STEM program. I believe that if I could master STEM, I could incorporate it into my art and evolve it into something I could only dream of before. I could build programs, apps, or even do a higher grade of digital art. As a person who genuinely loves the components of STEM, just the knowledge I could aquire from it would be a true blessing. I would be content on furthering my knowledge of these components and sharing everything I learn with my family, friends, and future children. This could be a way for me to enrich others by gaining this information. I want to give appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity and the knowledge of STEAM that I have acquired today.

Good afternoon, my name is Akasha R. Bryant and I have a background in athletics and the arts. Throughout my life, I have played a variety of sports ranging from basketball and track to badminton. Anything that peaked my interest, I had to try and as a result, I acquired an athletic build that has been a source of my bullying from my peers and even friends. It has been difficult to ignore due to its frequency and it has had a detrimental affect on my self esteem. People even questioned my gender because of my physique. I would like to help other young females who are enduring the stigma of an athletic build while being surrounded by imbeciles. Just because you are built differently does not give someone the right to judge and humiliate you. It can be really difficult to overcome this when you believe you are alone, so I would like to start a program called "External Love" to support and promote loving how look no matter what. If you want to improve how you look, we can create a healthy plan to help you support your goals. Society has already morphed everyone's ideology of beauty. It has made people believe you have to be extremely busty, with a large buttocks, a face full of make up, half dressed and a colored hair extension to be beautiful. I would like to promote authentic self love and destroy societal norms of beauty. Throughout my life, art has been my solace. My only saving grace when the weight of the world became too heavy to even stand. My art forms include painting, sketching, photography, singing, rapping, poetry, dance choreographing, composing music, spoken word, fashion designing, jewelry making, and modeling. It's alot I know, but without these forms of art, I doubt my existence on this plane would still be a thing to mention. My biggest dream would be me being able to share my many forms of art with the world. Being able to help someone like me who is going through something that is suffocating and can not find comfort in anything around them or in the people shown everyday on television and social media. Those who can't relate to everyone and find themselves to be an outcast in a public environment like I did. Often times it was the music and art I stumbled across from someone everyone does not know that has helped me the most. I want my art to help people and give the silenced ones a voice. Being able to teach a dance class, choreograph dances for celebrities, perform my dances, write songs for celebrities, sing my original songs, show my photography with the world, perform my spoken words, sell my jewelry, model my fashion, and have people buy and enjoy my various forms of art would be a dream come true. Again I say, I know it's a lot, but I am more than capable of completing them all and intend to do so until my very last breath.

According to Onlinelibrary.wiley.com, intersectionality is defined as the theoretical framework which maintains that elements such as race and ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, and sexuality map onto strata within social hierarchies where they interact and intertwine, resulting in unique identities within, and outcomes for, individuals. As a young woman of color, I can expect to not only be undermined because of my gender, but also my race. I can expect sneers as I walk pass and negative comments when they believe I can not hear them. Instead of succumbing to their ideologies and stooping so far down to their level, I can hold my head high and walk with pride. I can improve my skills and work even harder to show them that not only are my skills better than theirs, but my mentality is better as well. I will bask ambiance of unbotheredness and show them their actions are unbecoming. I will make their futility painstakingly clear as I strive on to be the best possible version of myself I can be. It will not be always be easy to keep this mentality. People's actions can be a great sense of annoyance at times and can make you act out of character. Instead of lashing out, you can simply find their boss and inform them of their employee's actions and share your deepest concerns for the image of the company if this is not addressed. You can tell them how you have been ignoring all of their actions and share exactly what those actions were by keeping a log of all the negative actions and comments. If you receive nasty emails or messages via text or through social media, I would share them as well. There are ways to solve these kinds of issues. You do not play ball in their court, but instead play ball with their boss. Any company worth their salts knows that such a negative light being casted upon their company will not only be detrimental to their sales, but will also result in losses of partnerships and sponsor because they do not look kindly upon such discrimination. In this day and age of social media and technology, everyone will know of what transpired within hours of a one simple post. Simply sharing this information with their boss will get you results. You must play smart and keep a cool head when dealing with such ignorance for reflecting the same negativity will only result in them getting exactly what they want and you losing your job. If they hate you because of your employment in "their" establishment, simply make the despise your success in "their" establishment. The high road is not an easy one to tread, but my oh my is it rewarding once you reach your destination.

High-school was extremely difficult for me. Academically, I was superb. 4.5 GPA, straight A's, honors, college, and AP courses. My problems were socially. After coming out of my self imposed shell, I thought I would be okay. I couldn't have been more incorrect. I am a bold person who speaks my mind in every situation and is admired for it. In addition to this, I am a caring person with a big heart that has only brought me pain. I was way too trusting with people and cared too much for people who treated reciprocity as a foreign concept. I was bullied everyday about my apparel, my hair, and even my gender. People consistently called me a boy. One day while sitting in class, I had a person I really liked text the class asking if they thought I was really a girl. In the moment I ignored it, but when I went home, I cried. I had people I thought were my friends gossip about me behind my back, spread rumors about me, told all my secrets, and even started acting differently for their new friends. The pain was excruciating because I would never do that to anyone . I once cried in front of my class trying to get them to understand me and no one showed even a modicum of interest. They were all just on their phones or talking amongst themselves. When they were in a bad place, I helped them but it did not matter when it came to me. I was and currently still struggle with mental health issues as well. I decided to stop associating myself with everyone and relied solely on my childhood best friend until she became pregnant and hid it from me. We told each other everything, so her hiding it really hurt. She stopped coming to school due to it, so I was by myself. I could not trust anyone but everyone could trust me. My home life was no better. I am the middle child and my parents are really hard on me. Not understanding why at the time, I thought they both hated me. I couldn't confide in my siblings either. Everyone could count on me, but didn't care about me. With two heartbreaks from betrayal under my belt, I could not find a valid reason for living. I was ready to give up on everything. In a last ditch effort to convey my emotions to myself, because I had no one else, I decided to write a song because I couldn't draw at the moment. I had written songs before, but lost my book. A little discouraged by this fact, I started writing in a new book and poured all my feelings into it. My sense of inadequacy, my self hate, my misunderstood actions, my anger, and everything I had endured in my life. It started with one complete song, a partial song, and a poem. Now I have written on every page in two journals and in the pursuit of finding another to divulge all my feelings into. It has become my therapy, my confidant, my best friend, and lover. I do not wish to be on the cover of every magazine or treading every red carpet or feature on every talk show. I want somebody to stumble across my music and it actually helps them. I want somebody to find a voice through my music and gain a sense of comfort in knowing they are not going through this alone. I want to join the effort of bringing real music back. I have and will always stay true to myself and my ideals and hope to teach my audience that it's okay to be yourself. If you are not yourself, how will you fill that void in your heart and soul? I want to show people it is okay to be a person. To make mistakes and fail. That you do not have to paint your face everyday and sew and glue hair extensions to feel beautiful. That beauty resides inside you and once stop being a copy, only then will your true authentic beauty be seen and appreciated. Gratitude for your time.

Discrimination on any level is wrong. Just because someone is born differently shouldn't define their social groups and life plans. I personally despise discrimination especially against those who can't help their circumstances. My friend's brother has autism and my second cousin on my mother side has autism and I will be the first to say that they are some of the nicest people I ever had the privilege of meeting. They should have just as much of a fair chance to have a great social life as the next person. Even if I do not win this scholarship, I would like to help raise awareness to this discrimination because it genuinely disgusts me that people can be that shallow. Everyone deserves a chance of equality and being loved no matter what.

One of the many things I am passionate about is substance abuse. Substance abuse is something that is so easy to succumb to, but extremely difficult to overcome. I know many people who have struggled or still struggling with this. I feel like this career chose me before I chose it. I was once in a relationship with someone who struggled with substance abuse. After learning about it, I asked him to discontinue it, not thinking about the difficulty behind it. One day it seemed like he was trying to push me away and said he was still doing it. My initial reaction was anger, but then I calmed down and had a real conversation with him about it. I told him about my fear of his continued usage and told him he did not have to depend on that substance anymore, that he could depend on me. After that he made a hard effort to stop using the substance and came to a point where he ultimately stopped. I also had someone else I was really close to confide in me about their addiction problems. They had been struggling with this for such a long time and had not divulged any of the details to anyone before me. They trusted me enough to tell me and explained why they did it and we are working on a away for them to quit because they are losing everything due to their addiction. My own parents struggled with substance abuse at a young age that followed them well into their adulthood. I want to be able to help someone overcome substance abuse and help those close to me better. High-school was a difficult time for me. Even after coming out of my shell, I still faced adversity. I was bullied everyday about my apparel, my hair, and even my gender. People consistently called me a boy. One day while sitting in class, I had a person I really liked text the class asking if they thought I was really a girl. In the moment I ignored it, but when I went home, I cried. I am a really open and honest person with a big heart that has brought me nothing but pain. I had people I thought were my friends gossip about me behind my back, spread rumors about me, told all my secrets, and even started acting differently for their new friends. It hurt because I would never do that to anyone . I once cried in front of my class trying to talk to them and no one cared. They were all too just on their phones or talking amongst themselves. When they were in a bad place, I helped them but it did not matter when it came to me. I was and currently still struggle with mental health issues as well. I decided to stop associating myself with everyone and relied solely on my childhood best friend until she became pregnant and hid it from me. We told each other everything, so her hiding it really hurt. She stopped coming to school due to it, so I was by myself. I could not trust anyone but everyone could trust me. My home life was no better. I am the middle child and my parents are really hard on me. Not understanding why at the time, I thought they both hated me. I couldn't confide in my siblings either. Everyone could count on me, but didn't care about me. Despite this, I had no grade lower than 97 in my honor and college courses and 4.5 gpa.

Dedication is her middle name. Persistent her last, and ambitious her first. Ambitious Dedication Persistent a.k.a. Marion Ryan Anderson is my mother's name. Throughout her scholastic career, she strove to be the best she could possibly be. With many awards and accolades, including a signed award from Bill Clinton under her belt, she was heading straight to college to fulfill her late father's dying wish. With a full ride to Georgia Tech accompanying her, her fire could not be stomped out. That was until she was date raped and became pregnant. After the school learned of this, they told her that in order for her to keep her scholarship, she would have to get an abortion. My mother did not want to abort the child because granted the way the baby came about was brutal, the child had no faults in the matter and deserved a chance at life. She lost the scholarship because of this. "A young mother is not the ideal look for our school." Ambitious Dedicated Persistent did not let that kill her dreams. Three children later carrying a fourth, she was taking her midterms in her freshman college year online when her water broke and she started going into labor. She still did not let that stop her. After a successful delivery, carrying her seventh child, enduring one miscarriage, she was still determined to fulfill her late father's wish. She started attending Coppin State University, but had to stop once more because the people she left in charge to babysit her children were doing a horrible job and leaving her children in danger. She could not return to school after this. My mother always pushed me to do my best and work hard. She told me of her accomplishments and her short comings as a warning to not fall into the same pitfalls she had. I have always been academically inclined, but without my mother's help, I would not be the scholar I am today. She once made me rewrite my English paper repeatedly until I got it completely accurate. I was writing in pen and could not use any white out! At the time I hated it, but reaching this point in my life, I now understand the lesson behind that simple act. She used to mark my writing assignments up so much, it could have been a tiger. As my writing progressed, and my vocabulary improved with her help, the tiger slowly but surely faded back to a college ruled paper. I want to go to college to fulfill the dream my mother could not. I refuse to let anything stop me and when I graduate, I want to be able to honor her by walking across that stage with my cap and gown. Seeing her work so hard to complete her goals with every kind of monkey wrench thrown in her path gave me no type of excuse to fall on. I do not intend on depe ding on excuses as I go further into my scholastic career either. I will make my mother proud and carry on her name sake, Ambitious Dedicated Persistent.

I do not feel. I can not tell the difference between my inner feelings and what is real. Going through the motions without feelings. Like there is nothing for me. The sensation is nonexistent. Numb maybe? Then when I do feel, I drown in an unknown sadness, and I can not deal. My heart weighs heavy and my thoughts are roaring in my head. Should I cry? I will not even try. Tears are disgusting. My heart, I should not be trusting. My laughter is mirthless. My brain, hatred is earning. I am in pain. This sounds insane. I feel nothing, but I am still drained. I feel sad. Like I need a hug, but will not ask. Like I need to cry, but will not even try. Tears are disgusting because they always had alterior means. Then I look back at things, and feel pathetic... This piece you have read is my own. I suffer and struggle with mental illness on a daily basis. Everyday feels like a challenge. Trying to remember your worth and that you have relevance. Mental health is something that has yet to be paid it's full respect. It is something that has been belittled and undermined for far too long. People struggle with mental health issues and do not even realize it. Especially the people of hue (hue-mans). Everyday we are desensitized to the traumas we see around us in our schools, neighborhoods, and even our own homes. We see abuse, neglect, violence, and do not understand the lasting impact it has on our psyche. We are taught that going to therapy is "not cool" and makes you "crazy," but I am the one who begs to differ. The people of the hue community desperately need to communicate their inner issues and work out ways to solve them with therapy. We can create personalized schedules to accommodate everyone's lifestyle. The therapists should be non bias and really dedicated to helping their patients. This should be a voluntary act because trying to enforce it will only get negative feedback from most people. There should be activities and a sense of unity amongst the hue-mans so it is a welcoming environment for any and everyone. Negativity and dismissive terminology are strictly forbidden. This will only push people away. Everyone's concerns and problems matter no matter how small. If the hue-man community were able to get their mental health healthy, they could convey their emotions properly. By being able to do this, when there are protests and social rights movements, they can come together as a united front and civilly protest these injustices that are taking place today. We could pose a real threat if we took this approach because it's a group of colored people who can articulate their demands and will not accept anything less. This could also bring the crime rates down. By being able to convey what is going on internally, they will not be so angry anymore. Anger is caused by a frustration that you do not know how to fix. So having an answer as to why you feel a particular way and knowing how to carry yourself when you do feel that particular way will cut violence down tremendously. We can repaint the vivid image of hue-mans in everyone's mind and show them that we are upstanding members of the community who are in tuned with our emotions and care for our fellow brothers and sisters. Mental health is a crucial part in healing the hue-man community and we should do everything in our power to help our community succeed.