I wasn’t always a survivor of abuse. I used to be a happy child in a happy home with a happy family. However, over the years, that slowly changed. My father has always been a drinker, but throughout my life, he has gone from a cheerful man to a hateful alcoholic. We started to worry about his drinking when I was about ten years old. He turned into a completely different person, he would be cheery one minute and enraged the next. At first, he would yell and scream to get his point across. Not long after, it escalated to throwing objects at the walls, my mom, and even me. Although he would say and do these things, since he was constantly drinking, he would never remember any of it the next morning. I tried time and time again to confront him, but it only led to more fighting. Since he couldn’t remember what had happened, he accused me of lying. At first, he would only threaten to hit me, but he eventually started putting his hands on me and my mother. I remember the night of my thirteenth birthday vividly. I had a few friends over to spend the night for my special day. We were in my room and suddenly he busted into my room and started screaming at me. He dragged me out of my room and flung me down the stairs. He then grabbed me by my arm and dragged me, on the floor, the rest of the way to the living room and threw me on the couch in front of my mother. He continued to scream at both of us until finally, I ran back upstairs. When I got there, my friends were still in shock. Not only had he done this to me, but he had done it in front of my friends. He packed a bag that night and left the house and didn't come back until later the next day. However, when he did, he acted like nothing had even happened. Eventually, my mother told him he needed to stop drinking but that only enraged him more. The next day, he told her that he wanted a divorce. I still went to his house every other weekend, but we never had a good relationship again. His drinking only continued to get worse. Just three months ago he put his hands around my neck and choked me. Ever since then, I have not gone back to his house. Not only has he put me through physical abuse, but also mentally and emotionally. He has never supported me and my dreams in the way that a parent should. He does not believe in art as a career. He thinks it’s a great hobby, but not a life path. Personally, art is my calling. I always enjoyed making art, but over the past few years, I have discovered that I can do so much more in my artwork than I could ever do with words. My plan for college is to study business and art so I can learn how to make money off of my artwork and eventually create my own business. However, I need to earn large amounts of scholarship money in order to do so. I want to help people feel seen, heard, and less alone. I don’t want anyone to feel the way I felt. I know I cannot get rid of that feeling, but if I can make that feeling even the slightest bit better for someone else, I have done my job.

I have always had big dreams since I was a child, I always knew I wanted to make a difference. My name is Alexandra Harris and my dream is to become a tattoo artist and open my own chain of tattoo shops around the country. I would also like to incorporate other forms of art such as paintings, clothes, water bottles, and other types of merchandise. Ever since I was little, I loved helping and connecting with people. I wanted to know their story and make them feel comforted and understood. When I was as young as 5 years old I raised money for charity and different fundraising programs such as the Feeding America Backpack Program. However, as I got older, I came to realize that I was able to reach people through my artwork. I was able to make them understand my feelings, but also make them feel less alone in their own personal situation. I started to realize that this is what I was meant to do. Not only am I able to reach people, but I also enjoy making them happy. When someone gets a new tattoo, if it is good, they are happy. They have a big smile on their face and show it to all of their friends. I love seeing that smile. I love seeing people happy with the artwork. Not only are they happy, but they will have that on their body forever, and I have always adored the idea of that. The idea that someone would have my art on their body forever just touches my soul. Not only on their body, but also on their clothes, or in their home. This scholarship will bring me one step closer to my dream. My dream school is Savannah College of Art and Design, but like all schools, it is very expensive. I am trying my best to apply for all scholarships that I am eligible for, in order to enroll there after my last year of high school. However, I will not be able to do that unless I obtain a large amount of scholarship money. I want to strive for the best opportunities that I can achieve, and I believe that this scholarship will help me achieve those opportunities. As I said earlier in this essay, I have always enjoyed helping people, and as a result, I have always tried my best to be involved in the community around me. When I was a child, I had a lemonade stand at my house and raised enough money to pay for about 6 backpacks for hungry families. However, as I got older, I started doing other things in the community. I help with a lot of things throughout Queen Anne's County through the National Art Honors Society at my school. One of which is contributing to fund our county arts program. I made a painting that was auctioned off and all of the proceeds go into our county art program. I have also become involved with the Anne Arundel County Food Bank. I contribute to this program by helping to box food to ship to local food distribution centers around the area. I have always enjoyed helping people in any way that I can, and I plan to continue to do that throughout my life.