All of my life I have been known as the “art kid”. I was always drawing on my assignment papers while in class, being constantly asked to help someone draw something if they didn’t know how, and I was always receiving sketchbooks and art supplies as gifts. For this reason, for more than half of my life I believed I was going to go to college and major in art. To this day, some people are still surprised when I tell them that I am majoring in criminal justice. As artsy as I was and still is, I always loved playing a detective when I was younger. I often did this when one of my family members lost something and I “looked for clues” and asked them questions in order to locate the missing item. Little did I know I would grow up to actually want to be in the criminal justice field. It was not until my sophomore year in high school that I started considering a career in criminal justice. That year I completed two projects: one for a journalism class and one for the International Baccalaureate personal project. In both projects I explored the issue of mass incarceration. The more research I did, the more I became deeply invested in the topic. In turn, this solidified my decision to major in criminal justice. As a result, I took a criminal investigations class my junior year as well as a forensics class my senior year to get more insight on the field. At this point in time I no longer want to “play detective”, instead I want to actually be one. From the research I have conducted and crime documentaries I have watched, I have seen many cases that have not been solved because of the mishandling of evidence or the victim’s cases are simply overlooked. Additionally, I am still concerned about the issue of mass incarceration and therefore want to assist in prison reform. With more advanced technology in today’s society, I hope to make a change by striving for the truth in criminal cases rather than letting them go cold. I also want to assist prisoners, especially the wrongly convicted, transition back into society because the whole objective of the criminal justice system is to rehabilitate. Knowing that the criminal justice system doesn’t offer true rehabilitation because of the stigma that being incarcerated brings, it serves as my motivation to advocate for extending help to people even with the preconceived notion society may have about them.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve grown to realize that life is like a book. There are different chapters in which people come and go, but when it’s completed it’s done. You can reflect on it, but you can’t return to it because it has already been read. This particular chapter in my life is about my uncle and I. I was born to a mother who is an only child. However, to let her tell it I have two uncles. In reality the brothers that she speaks of are her cousins, but because of how close-knit our family is you would never be able to tell. Though she loves both of them, she was especially close with the youngest of the two which is who my story focuses on. I didn’t love my uncle because he was family and I felt obligated to, I loved him because of who he was as a person. He would crack jokes, he would always be willing to play games with me, and he would lend a helping hand no matter what the favor was. When I was younger, it was routine for me to visit my great aunt and run to the back of her house just to check if he was there. As time passed and time got closer for me to go to college, I did not see him as often as I did before. Thankfully, he came to see me a month before I left and all was well. I never had any anxiety about going to an out of state college but my biggest fear was something happening to one of my family members while I was away. Despite me having to get adjusted to a new environment, I managed to make it through the first semester successfully. Once the beginning of second semester came around, life was coming down on me hard. From unexpected school fees, to social stressors, I was ready to wrap the year up. To make matters worse, my mother informed me that she had not heard from my uncle in a while. This was out of the ordinary for him because he always made sure to reach out to us. When she told me this of course I was worried, but I never resorted to the negative and thought something bad had happened to him. When spring break rolls around, I was happy to be returning home because I needed to reset before finals. Unfortunately, my happiness was short-lived. My mom came into my room a day after I returned and said, “They found him.” Those three words broke me instantly. My body didn’t even have time to build up a cry because my tears came out automatically as soon as she made that statement. My mother told me she waited to break the news because she didn’t want to interfere with my focus for midterms. I understood where she was coming from but that made me feel even worse because I was left in the dark about it. At that point, I didn’t even want to return to campus because I didn’t want to interact with anybody. I had to tell myself “it’s just a couple of more weeks” just to mentally prepare myself to go back because my biggest fear had come true. Upon my return to campus I was completely shut out. I was already introverted before, but this unexpected loss exacerbated it. When it comes to college sometimes you feel as if you have to put your emotions aside because you still have to get your assignment turned in before the clock strikes twelve. However, I made time for my emotions and completed my work even with tears in my eyes. I started journaling, I started praying, I started working even harder in my classes. During that time, I thought I was just “doing what I was supposed to do” by putting in more effort to everything I did. However, now that I’m looking back on it, I realized that that was my fight. Sometimes you have to feel like you are broken to come out better than you were before. I was displaying my best performance academically without even realizing it. No matter the adversity faced, I am not leaving my university without a degree. My fight is for my education and I have come too far to give up on it. Though that period of my life hurt me, I've learned that you never see the full picture until you have completed the chapter. That particular chapter of my life has been completed so now it's time to turn the page. I lost a character physically but he is still with me in my new story, even if I can no longer see him.

Being creative and inquisitive are traits that I have always displayed, and thus for the longest I believed that my career path was going to lead me on a journey to becoming an artist. However, the future that I see as of now is a career in criminal justice. As I entered young adulthood, learning about the criminal justice system piqued my interest. How could investigators more effectively collect information to solve cases? In what ways can activism help prison reform? These questions needed answers and I wanted to be the one to solve them. I aspire to be a crime scene investigator but I also have an interest in law in order to figure out how to assist in reforming prisons. Considering the fact that the criminal justice system disproportionately affects African Americans through high incarceration rates which in turn creates racial disparities in jails, I want to aid in creating a system that actually helps people instead of hindering. To me, being Black is the epitome of resilience. For so long the Black community has been denied. Being told “no” to civil rights, being told “no” to having an education, being told “no” to even being considered human. In spite of it all, a culture has been cultivated in America, the very place that did the denying, that is undeniably the most influential. Whether it be from fashion trends, music, or hairstyles, the Black community is often imitated but never duplicated. Despite the adversity, Black people still stand.

Usually when someone mentions their “go-to” they may be referring to their favorite snack or even an outfit. However, in my case, my go-to is my mother. Whether it’s something as trivial as telling her any minor inconvenience of mine or me having my dramatic moments where I feel like my life is falling apart, she is always there to listen. Though I like to think of her as solely being my go-to, I know she has other people in her life who depend on her in the same way that I do. Due to her heavily valuing being family oriented, she is always quick to help my brother and I as well as other members of my family. She tries her best to make sure everyone is taken care of, but all the while she is making these things possible on her own. Despite being in a single parent household, the motivation for me to continue my education has not been stopped nor has my mother’s support been diminished. Whatever I went through emotionally, physically, or financially getting through my first year of college, she was there to help me even when she was a state away. There was a point in time where it seemed like school fees kept appearing out of nowhere which put me in a tough position. Though my mother never complained about offering a helping hand, I know that the money that goes towards funding my education has taken a hefty amount away from what she has earned and/or had saved up. However, my mom always tells me “I would do it all again if I have to”. Even still she encourages me to continue furthering my education and find employment in a field that I genuinely love. With that in mind, my goals for the future are to graduate with my degree in criminal justice. I am passionate about many aspects within the criminal justice system including both investigations and learning the law. Therefore, I hope to either pursue a career as an investigator or go to law school. In the meantime I will be searching for internships and other opportunities that align with my career interests. I acknowledge how hard my mother works and know that she not only carries her own burdens but takes on other people’s burdens as well. I can't thank her enough for all that she has done for me and a part of that appreciation is feeling the need to lessen the load on her by finding additional ways to cover the costs of school. By receiving this scholarship I will not only reduce the concerns of paying for my time spent in college but also use it as my driving force to keep going. Receiving this scholarship means that someone saw something in me, thus I hold a certain level of responsibility to prove that the money is not going to waste.

Why are you sad if you never knew them? This is a question to contemplate. Though a question can’t be answered with another question, to that I still say why can’t I be? Oftentimes when people pass away, expressing condolences can be deemed as showing “fake love”. Despite the notion of fake love being true in certain situations, many fail to realize that death is an unsettling topic. Whether it is a family member or someone that is seen on the news, death has a way of affecting people even if they are not directly involved. As a society, people are becoming more accustomed to having no regard for another human life. Throughout my high school career, I have gotten to bear witness to things both good and bad. Thankfully, I was never at the center of the negative aspects and had various activities to do that kept me occupied. Due to my love for drawing, I was inducted into the National Art Honors Society in ninth grade. As a result of the pandemic, there were limited things to do during my sophomore year, nonetheless, I was still invited to become a part of Beta Club. Upon my return to my junior year, I became an inductee for the National Honors Society. Additionally, I enrolled in the Atlanta College and Career Academy to study criminal investigations. During my senior year, I joined the Black Student Union and Future Business Leaders of America. By this time I had been involved in these clubs for a while and got to hold leadership positions in which I painted a fire pit for my school garden, assisted in the process of inducting new members to both Beta Club and the National Honors Society and researching facts on behalf of the Black Student Union to share on the announcements during Black History Month. On the other hand, my school community has suffered losses each year because of gun violence. Not only at my school but in the school district as well. Though these individuals were not in my immediate friend group, I have seen people that I am close with mourn. Not only do I feel for my friends, but I feel for the families of the deceased. I am thankful for where I am today because many of my peers didn’t get a chance to even see graduation. It is sad to think about how someone’s life can end so abruptly. These kids didn’t get to reach adulthood nor got to experience the real world outside of school. It is unfair and they were undeserving of it. Yes, time moves on but accepting reality does not remove the hurt that death leaves. I have been living in Atlanta all of my life but in recent years I have noticed the increased gun violence in the city. It is upsetting to see that the ones in my age group are dying from the gun. As I further my education, I plan to major in criminal justice. Using this knowledge I strive to be a crime scene investigator as well as studying criminology to explore where the issue of gun violence stems from. I hope in the near future people see the bigger picture where “Why are you sad?” turns into “Why are you not sad?” To answer the question, I am sad because kids deserve to grow up. I am sad because it could’ve been me. I am sad because the people I see are a part of my community. Sympathy no longer suffices; empathy is needed in this day in age.

Who wouldn’t want to be in an environment where they are the priority instead of an obligation? There are places where individuals go when they are trying to navigate their way through the world and leave knowing their purpose. These places are HBCUs. In today’s climate where history seems like it is repeating itself, I want to remain in a space that I know was created for me. Many of the universities that are considered “prestigious” initially did not want people who look like me on their campuses. Black students are used as a photo opportunity to show diversity when a quota is trying to be met. For this reason, I’m choosing to make an HBCU my home because I am more than a poster child and a number in a classroom. There was never a dull moment when I visited an HBCU campus or even from the interactions I’ve had with people who have attended one. Not too long ago I was approached by a woman in the store who attended Spelman. She noticed I had on a Clark Atlanta sweatshirt and asked if I attended. When I told her I was in the process of applying, she talked about her experience and how she hopes I will consider going. A man passing by overheard and exclaimed, “HBCU love! I went to TSU!” From that moment alone, I felt embraced by strangers. They didn’t hesitate to uplift someone they didn’t even know. The sense of community and others pouring into me is vital. No one attends an HBCU and comes out the same person. These schools mold leaders and introduce them to the world to create change in various aspects. That being so, an HBCU will forever be my first choice and not a last resort.

What would you do if tomorrow you lost it all? Think about it. Have you ever contemplated that question? If not, you’re most likely leading a successful life or have not been in a predicament to make you feel the need to have to ask that question. Many do not attempt to put themselves in the position to even consider that question. No, it is not solely based on the inability to put yourself in someone’s shoes, however some become so high on life that it simply never crosses their mind. Yet, what people fail to realize is that just because you’re in a successful position currently does not mean you’re going to stay there. Since a young age I have been taught to help people in need. Not because I expected something in return but because the actions of assisting someone is from the goodness of my heart. It never was an issue for me to help someone because I was fortunate enough to always have somebody who was willing to help me. Not until I reached the first grade, that I became invested in philanthropy. One project changed my whole outlook on the welfare of others. Though I do not remember specifically what the prompt for the project was, I do remember vividly what I built. With help from my father, I created a house made of popsicle sticks that was inspired by Habitat for Humanity. Since Habitat for Humanity is an organization that improves housing environments, I was excited to present it to the class. I was always deemed as quiet (I’d like to call it observant) so once I finally got the opportunity to speak I ran with it. After awhile I stopped reading from the script and spoke on my own account to why I felt like it was important to help people in need. I went on for so long my teacher said she hated to cut me off, however we had to give the other students a turn. She pulled me to the side and expressed how proud she was of me for coming out of my shell. From that point on, I became dedicated to find ways to benefit the life of others. According to Google, pay it forward means “respond to a person's kindness to oneself by being kind to someone else”. But what happens when no one is kind to you? Does that obligate you to stop being kind to someone else? To me, paying something forward does not have to be in response to someone else’s kindness. If no one has displayed compassion to me, it is not going to change the way I treat people. Seeing how I can influence another life for the better is the goal. Not for the likes on social media or a pat on the back. In my life, my mother has inspired me to live life without seeking for an award. She was the one who taught me to do good even when no one is watching. It is not necessary to be recognized for every little good deed due to the fact that all attention is not good attention. Living by those words have driven me to want to improve my community. Not only from a local standpoint but on a wider scale as well. I hope to educate people on my views and push for everyone to strive to do good without looking for a congratulations. By doing so, I strongly believe this will improve the interconnectedness within the nation that it has been so desperately needing since the time of its “founding”. I want to tackle issues such as homelessness, racial injustice, and educational attainment (or lack thereof) in marginalized communities. I want to speak on behalf of underserved people because they deserve success just as much as the next person. Environments or financial status should not discourage somebody from pursuing what they want to do in life. I want to be able to find ways to prevent homelessness by finding housing spaces to get them off the streets. I also propose to develop extracurricular activities and/or programs for adolescents to keep them engaged and out of trouble. In the words of my mother, “remain humble because your life can change in an instant”. I believe everybody can learn something from these words. Not just because my mother is a smart woman but because it ties back to the phrase of “pay it forward”. Being humble does not always have to mean being unassertive, but being wise enough to put your pride aside. Doing so can enable you to help someone without trying to protect a certain “image”. Therefore, off of the strength of my integrity I will continue to assist people in anyway I can.