"I want Bill to know that since he's been gone we have been a real family. Everyone was hurt in a different way, but we are stronger because of it. ... I want him to know that we don't need him, and I will survive and thrive without him. I let him control me for too long, and I am not going to let him prevent me from living my life." Those words were written by a 14 year-old girl to be read to her father in court. She was scared, and broken. She was trying to convince herself to believe the words she had written. That girl was strong, and brave, and would go on to be so much more than her father ever would. Flash forward 4 years and she is starting college as a Music Education major. She has participated in All-State choirs for 6 years, and she is no longer bound by what her father did. It is definitely not easy. When people ask me about my dad, I normally just say I don't have one. It is a whole lot easier than telling them he is in prison for 25 years. Then they want to know why, and you have explain that he was charged with 2 counts of 1st degree rape and 8 counts of child sexual abuse. And after you reveal that you are the victim, people just look at you differently. So no answer is definitely better than the real answer. To make it even more difficult to avoid being a spectacle, the story of my father's arrest was aired on a local Oklahoma news channel. Luckily my name was never disclosed, but anyone who watched the news would know what my father did. And it didn't help that he was well known and liked within our community. It took a lot of work and therapy to get to where I am today. I am still healing, but now I know how to talk about and work through my trauma. I can use coping mechanisms, and redirect my thoughts. And I can use what I have experienced to help others. I have helped at camps for young girls who have been sexually abused, and it is so rewarding to use what was meant to break me to help another girl heal. I get to be the light at the end of the tunnel and proof that healing is possible. In conclusion, yes, it is difficult to live without a father. Yes, I have struggled and will continue to struggle. Yes, I was hurt. But also, No, I will not be shaken. No, he did not defeat me. No, I won't be stopped. I can follow my dreams because now I have nothing holding me back.

I show leadership in my life through my actions. Sure, I still lead projects and activities, but actions speak louder than words. A good leader must possess strong communication skills, empathy, and a willingness to listen to others. As a leader, it is important to set and maintain goals as well as listen to the voice of others. I show leadership by helping plan events for school organizations or being a section leader in my school choirs. However, leadership by example is much more impactful. I show leadership by allowing others to lead. By stepping back and respecting another person’s vision, I will encourage my peers to do the same. I show leadership by being vulnerable. By sharing my testimony and story with others with similar experiences, I help give them the confidence to speak up for themselves. I will always be open about my struggles with mental health because needing help does not make you weak, for it is seeking help that shows courage and strength. I want to encourage people to feel their emotions and be themselves, and they will never do that if I am not doing the same. Empowering those around me to reach their full potential and achieve success together is my ultimate goal. At my high school, our show choir partners with the special education department, and every semester we put on a musical. Every choir member is paired up with a special needs buddy to help them learn lines, dance with them, and just be their friend. I get to see the growth in both the choir members and the special needs buddies throughout the year, and it is incredible. They are taught basic social skills, public speaking, and self-confidence all while having fun with their friends. But perhaps the most growth isn't in the special needs students, but in the choir members themselves. When we are with our buddies, we aren't worried about what we look like or what others think. We only care about having fun with them. I want to see every high school in America have a program like this. I know that any choir I end up directing will. Winning this scholarship would not only allow me to pursue my dreams of becoming a choir director, but it would also allow me to direct musicals that give students with disabilities the chance to grow. I want to give them the opportunity to be treated like any other student.

Throughout my life, I have always been an avid reader. As a young girl, I would sit and read for hours. My mother used to say that a bomb could go off, and I wouldn't notice. I was completely consumed by the book I was reading. The books I have read have played a significant role in shaping my goals. The most important lesson I have learned from the books is that knowledge is power. The more I read, the more I realize how little I know, and this realization has been a driving force behind my pursuit of higher education. I have read books on a wide range of topics, from history and science to philosophy and literature. Each book has taught me something new and expanded my worldview. I can be transported across the world through a single page. I learn about different cultures, people who have different backgrounds, and even about politics. They have helped to build my beliefs, and sometimes they make me question them. I am often seeing things from a perspective that I didn't even know existed. I can see the world through the eyes of a slave in the 1800s, a young girl taken from her home and placed in a concentration camp during World War II, or even a teenage boy who struggles with his body image. Even though a character may be fictional, I can still walk a mile in their shoes. I can feel how they feel, and that makes me more compassionate towards other people. The books I have read have also taught me the importance of perseverance and hard work. Many of the characters in the books I have read have faced adversity and overcome it through sheer determination and grit. As someone who has faced much adversity in their life, I am encouraged by their redemption stories. These stories have inspired me to never allow the situation I am in keep me from chasing my dreams. In conclusion, the books I have read have had a profound impact on my life and have played a pivotal role in shaping my goals. They have taught me the value of knowledge, the importance of peace and diplomacy, and the significance of hard work and perseverance. I am grateful for the opportunity to have read such incredible books, and I am eager to continue my pursuit of knowledge and personal growth.

My mother has been an incredible source of inspiration in my life. If not solely because she chose to adopt my brother and me. She chose to open up her home to two children, both with trauma, and myself being neurodivergent. She has been my rock, providing me with guidance and support whenever I needed it. My mom has always pushed me to chase my dreams. She is my biggest supporter, and she stands behind any crazy thing I decide I want to pursue. But I didn't always have that kind of support. When she got custody of my brother and me, my mom thought that it was important that we find an activity to use as an outlet. For me, that outlet was music. I was put into voice lessons when I was 7, and that was the start of my love for music. My mom has encouraged me through it all. She has driven me to countless voice and piano lessons. She has sat through hours of recitals and concerts. She has paid fees for All-State auditions for the past 5 years, and driven to Tulsa to support me at the concerts when I made it. To have that kind of support makes you feel like you can do anything you set your mind to. Her love and dedication have helped me overcome some of the most difficult challenges in my life. She has always given me the resources I need to be successful and heal from trauma. She can understand everything I have experienced through her own life experiences. Through her actions, she has taught me the importance of hard work, perseverance, honesty, and kindness. I strive to embody these values every day, and I know that without her, I would not be the person I am today. I am blessed to have her in my life.

If some people see the world through rose-colored glasses, then I see it through musical ones. If I seem to have disappeared, you can normally find me hiding behind a piano letting the keys do the talking for me. My friends occasionally find it annoying that I am always singing or playing an instrument, but they have learned that it is how I make sense of the crazy world we live in. Often, when my world has fallen apart, a melody is the only thing I can make out in the rubble. I will sing that melody over, and slowly individual words will come to mind. The words will grow and evolve into full sentences and verses. The lyrics paint pictures of my anger and grief for the fragments of my life scattered around my feet. Usually, by the time I have finished one verse, I have emptied myself of those emotions. I pour all of my pain and sorrow into the notes, and they hold it for me. My heart doesn't have room for it anymore. Clearing out all of the bitterness makes room for light, and eventually, I will start to see my situation from a different perspective. I will start picking the pieces out of the dirt and dust them off. One shard at a time I will collect them all. As I gather what remains of my shattered world, my brain starts to throw out more lyrics. However, I am no longer resentful of my circumstances, and these words seem to be a bit more hopeful. The words, in time, become the chorus. Once I have all of the pieces of my life gathered, I have to do something with them. A task that, starting out felt utterly impossible, now seems a bit less daunting. A second verse comes to mind easily as I start building from the ground up. These lyrics portray hope and determination to build a life that was even better than before. In the end, there is a story of resilience and a song telling my journey to get there. What started out as the end of my world turned into the beginning of a whole new one. And the song will serve as a reminder that all hope isn't lost. When my life feels like it is crumbling down, I can just pick up the pieces and put them back together.

The future me will be helping to unite the world by making beautiful music with others.