My father has been incarcerated for almost all of my life. Going through life without another parent present has made change the way I feel about life. School events like "daddy/daughter dance" and "dad day" made me feel left out and different. My mother struggled heavily with bills and having to work 16 hour shifts and 2 jobs everyday means no time to go to school events, so I also did not have a parent for other non father events which left me always feeling like and outsider. I used to feel like I did something wrong, or that my family was not a real family, it took me a long time to come to terms with my family structure and the absence of my father. Not having a second parent present and contributing to our family has left us impoverished and struggling with lots of everyday things. Not having money to get nice shoes or better school clothes, made me a target for bullying. I had to learn how to deal with things not going a planned, and changing the situation to something better. My fathers absence has affected all of my family on an individual level but learning not to mope about the losses makes you overcome the problem. Learning not to mope has had a incredible impact on how me and my family carries ourselves. I knew from the beginning I was going to be something in life. My mother has told me since I was a kid to be whatever I want and I plan to do exactly that. I feel that if I had a father in my life and a stable family income from him, I would not have the motivation from my experiences to do what I truly want to do in life. I might have only did what I needed to make money and I would have throw away my dream like a lot of my older family members had to do. In a sad way my father's absence has given me motivation to peruse my dreams and has allowed me to change the way I perceive a bad situation. I don't need to look at the statistics to tell me I wont be anything. I know I will accomplish great things in my life no matter how hard getting there will be.

I am gong to school to pursue biology and become a biologist. I want to focus more in microbiology than other fields. I have chosen my field of interest because I always would get really excited and have butterflies whenever I had to do anything science related in school so I knew it was the best choice for me. I would like to achieve a lot of things and make lots of impact on the world, but one I really want to achieve is helping to diagnose different infections and trace the spread of diseases. going to school for biology also gets me a head start in other field I might want to do later on. I want a better life for myself and family, along with also doing what I love. I don't want to have to compromise on my dream in order to better my life doing a job I know I would hate. I am determined to make my dream work and I refuse to trade off my happiness for money. The job I want and dream of, can only be obtained by me and I will achieve it some way, I don't want to live like I am along with the rest of my family. I want better for myself and I want to get them out of impoverishment while also doing what I want and not give upon my dreams like so many of them had to do.

I am motivated to be the first in my entire family to finish collage. No one has completed or even gone to collage. We are well under the poverty line, so collage just seemed like a luxury thing to just get up and do. My mother tried to do collage but could do more than a semester because of transportation, money, or just having to see about me and my siblings. She has always wanted us to go to collage and get a better life. None of my sibling have gone to collage, some not even having the thought. I want to break away from the poverty and challenges that come along with it. I had doubts about what I wanted to do in my life, I was unsure even after I stared my first semester, wondering if this is really what I wanted to do with my life. I knew the answer when I started having dreams about biology. That gave me the answer that I needed, I love biology and it is exactly what I wanted to do with my life. i'm going to pursue a field in biology, specifically microbiology. I always loved microscopes and seeing people make cultures of bacteria and fungi either in some kind of Science textbook or educational videos made my breathing and heart speed up, and when I found out that I could do that for a career I knew that it was for me. I have always had a interest in Science. When I was younger all of my dream careers had something to do with science and S.T.E.M, when I was in middle school, while the other students had trouble with a subject, I always understood and would almost show off because I knew all of the answers about what we where learning. Ever since I was in elementary school all of my best grades and state test where always Science and English related. I like learning how things work and the most complex thing to learn is how we are able to survive and how we work. I knew about plants and animals from every day life, but when I found out about organism so tiny that no one could see them with their eyes, my interest was peaked. It is so interesting to me how living organisms exist and live. I wanted to know everything about them. How they worked, why they where so small, how they could live and strive being so tiny, and how their microscopic bodies worked. I am the most excited about what i can do and accomplish in the future pursuing this career i love.

The Met gala in 1974 is the most iconic for look that are out of the norm of the time. The theme for the 1974 Met gala fundraiser was Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design. My favorite Met gala look of that year is Cher's 1974 Old Hollywood look. Cher was only 28 when she attended the Met with the absolutely stunning look designed by Bob Mackie. The way the dress fall on her is absolutely beautiful. Even though it was considered "dirty" and inappropriate during the more conservative time, it was and is still absolutely gorgeous. Her seemingly nude look made outrage across the whole nation and it gave young girls and women empowerment and confidence in their own skin. Che'rs look really embodied the theme and made a lasting print in Met gala history. With Cher's history of beautiful look, this was nothing out of the ordinary. Cher's look made her look ethereal and matched the theme perfectly. The feathers made the dress interesting and the fabric used for the body of the dress made Cher sparkle. The person who I feel missed the mark would be Bianca Jagger with her dress designed by Halston. I would have to say Bianca Jagger's look was one of my least favorite of the year although it is not the worst of the attendants at the Met gala that year. Bianca was only 29 when she attended the 1974 met. Her usual style is something I really adore, but I feel as though her look for the years Met was too plain and rather cheap looking. It felt disappointing for the Met considering Bianca's iconic looks throughout the years. This was a complete step down from her usual look and style. Compared to her other extraordinary looks, the 1974 Met look was very underwhelming especially since I know she has a good and iconic fashion sense. The colors clash with her and the sequins covering her dress felt a little too cheap at least in present day's standards. It was too much red with the dress, beret and jacket all in the same shade of red along with them being covered completely in red sequins. The weird look from the plain waistline fabric stood out in a bad way considering the entire outfit consisted of red sequin fabric. Her look could have been elevated with a different shade of red with the original color or a unique texture to balance the uniform texture of the sequins. Although I still think there was potentially much worse outfits, hers was the most disappointing taking into account Bianca's past outfits for other non fashion events.

I have been watching anime for almost six years as of this year. i have watch hundreds of anime over those years and one anime stood out. For me personally, the series i cant stop watching over and over would have to be "Library War." I think the plot is so original that it makes me keep watching over and over again. Almost all of the anime I watch are completely different in every way from library war, but i love how the anime has a very playfully and comedic take on the serious problem of censorship while disguising it as comedy, romance series. it as so captivating to me because the creativeness in the main character and how she battles her own problems throughout the episodes was a reason it stood out to me, her character growth made me want to keep watching and the hardships all of the characters face and overcome. The anime is based on real events that happened in the 50'-70's, with japans censorship of any media felt to be harmful. The adaptation of the manga helped bring to light some of japans forgotten history. The series is so vastly different form mainstream anime and so underrated it kind of make me upset. When the second season came out i was so exited, i ended up binging the whole series over again from the first episode. Although it is far less popular and known than animes like "Attack on Titan" or "Naruto", it is still one of, if not my favorite anime to watch.

i have always been poor. From the time i was born, to current day me. living below the poverty line has always been apart of who i was and my upbringing. Although i am not ashamed of one part of my situation, certain things do make me feel embarrassed. when i was growing up living from shelter to shelter and house to house i was always behind in one subject, and only one. Math. When the class was almost over learning multiplication i had just arrived. I learned for a little bit but never got to other kinds of mathematics. when the class started a new math subject in the middle we had to move. and when i arrived at the new school the same thing happened all over again. i was in more than 11 schools throughout my elementary learning. and each of them i fell behind in, math. When i was at the schools i felt embarrassed abut me not knowing simple math problems or fully grasping the lessons. i managed to just barely pass state testing and class in order not to fail. Those years in my life are still making me unable to learn math in general. I feel i am always going to be left behind and my fears are coming true each class i take in collage. A scholarship will help me achieve my dreams by allowing to take more remedial collage math classes and possibly make the load easier in order for me to focus on my dreams and studies. My dream is to make people's lives better through vaccines, treatment and creating life saving medicine for poverty stricken communities everywhere around the world. Growing up poor there is things that seem like a luxury that are common practice to others. Living in poverty stricken communities my whole life i seen first hand, people dying or refusing medical help because lack of money and transportation . Going to the hospital in an ambulance or going to get minor test and surgeries done would put them even more in debt and impoverished. It happened to me countless times. My mother would gash open her arms or legs on old houses we lived in and would not go to the doctor no matter how much she was hurt of we begged her to go to the hospital. My neighbors where not able to afford asthma pumps and medicine for their kids. I want people to get help and having to decide between getting life saving medicine and help because of their financial situation.

My views on faith are very split. on one side i do believe there is the possibility of god, or some godlike creator, but on the other my doubts and religious trauma has ruined all beliefs to the point where i don't know what to believe. years of doubt and religious trauma has split my beliefs in halve. i grew up in a christian household, my mother believed in Christianity with some of her own personal beliefs, interpretations, and doubts about the bible, nonetheless she is a believer. My mother never forced us to believe in god or anything like that she has always wanted us to believe in what we think is right. My grandmother on the other hand is a "Jesus freak," everything she does sees and think is Jesus and god. when we would spend the summers with her we always went to bible study and church every Sunday and Wednesday. her beliefs in god go beyond the bible, her interpretations of the bible are what actually made me loose all of the little faith i had. When i was with my grandma it was always forced down my throat, i couldn't do things i wanted to because of my grandmothers religion i couldn't say what i grew up saying without her scolding and fusing at me for it, she didn't like me saying things like "oh my god" so i changed it to "oh my gosh" and she would fuss at me about the word change still meaning god because of the original saying, and therefore i was being blasphemous. She has a "mission" she has had since i told her about my religious stance, it was before she dies she wants me to believe in god. It is a lot put onto me at a young age. It made me feel i had to believe in order for my grandmother to be happy with passing, like i needed to change my ways just so i don't feel guilty when she passes. I was not fond of her guilt tripping me into believing in her god. When she took us bible study, the preachers would get upset if you questioned the bible, or cross examined the information written in any way. the stories don't make sense or the words being different in other bibles, if your interpretations where not the same as theirs they would tell you you where wrong and try to make you think you where not good enough of a Christian if you didn't think like them. For me, i lost most of my faith when i asked her if god is all powerful and capable of anything why would he let babies and small children keep dying of illness, hunger and murder? She told me that it was because they are either sinner or god is punishing their parents for their sins through their child. When my grandmother told me that i knew that if her god would do and allow those atrocities then i did not want to take part in that religion, and my doubts of Christianity, kept increasing since those words were told to me years ago. Everything in the universe is to old and too vast for me to even think about it, in all honesty i want too believe in a god of some kind, for closure of the uncertainty of death. But a part of me understands and is constantly pushing that there is also the possibility of no god period. Without any physical or spiritual proof experienced by me, i will never know for sure.

My name is Alisha. I am eighteen years old. I have a love for reading fantasy and fiction books. I love drawing and painting. I am a first generation college student with an obsession for microscopes and fungi. I am a recent freshman of Mcneese State University. Motivation comes from a lot of things near me. Seeing my family face the harsh reality of being in a poverty stricken household, seeing my mother struggle and not being able to do anything to help ease some of the stress and responsibility of caring for our family. Watching my mother be forced to quit college and give up on her dreams, caring for five children without any help,and wants makes me want better for her and myself. Although it might be overused and overplayed, my mother motivates me in everything I do, from solving a simple problems, to the little voice in the back of my head guiding me through obstacles like I'm still a small child learning how to do things for the first time. My mother will always be my motivation. the hurtful things people have said to me motivates me. Being told that I should be a mother at home with a husband working for the family. People tell me that my choice of study is for men and I should work in childcare or be a teacher instead of such a ridiculous field. I am motivated to prove those people wrong and be an example to my family and others around me that breaking out of the box put on you is possible with perseverance and desire. STEM is such a demanding field to be in, the excitement I get because of STEM makes butterflies in my stomach. From looking at bacteria under the microscope to obsessing over satellites in space. The most exciting thing about stem for me, is how they seem so different but they all end up connecting to each other in some way or another. Like how technology and science seem like they have nothing in common, but are both fundamental for each different field, how they all correlate with each other and each field can help the other in some way. Unless you see it for yourself, a lot of people might not see how exactly they are so connected and important to each other. If I could do anything in life it would be to pursue my middle school ambitions of working in a lab and making people's lives better through vaccines, treatment and creating life saving medicine for poverty stricken communities everywhere around the world. Informational technology is important and critual in every field of STEM. Scientists need it in making advancements using information gathered, engineers need it for communication and robotics, even math needs technology for things like statistics and quick problem solving. Although my major is not informational technology I feel I could make a positive impact on the world by using the job to gather larger sets of data in order to use my training to the maximum and help more people with the broader set of data I would be able to collect I feel I would be able to make better procedures and decisions with the simulations and time I would have using computers and different technologies from the job. Overcoming the weight of not amounting to anything is the greatest challenge I have ever had to overcome, in my entire life. Over the years, shelter to shelter, people look at you differently. Whether it be the students and teachers in your school, or the people in your own community. Someone has a label on you, and has put you in a box. It is hard to overcome the label put on you by other people. From me being a person of color and a woman below the poverty line, labels have been pushed on me since I was a kid. And I have been put into more boxes than most other people my age. Getting out of that situation without anything is a hard thing to do, learning new ways to benefit myself and using every opportunity I could get. Graduating early from high school and staying up studying is how I was able to get past it. My grandmother and mother both sacrificed their own personal dreams and abandoned their ambitions, in order for me and my sibling to have a better life. I aspire to not make their sacrifices equate to nothing. I want to make them proud and make them feel like all their work paid off. I do not intend to become another statistic. I intend to break over the boundaries of what a woman is meant to do, I want to persevere in my studies and I am going to pursue my dream any way I can.