I have always been infatuated with photography. When I was young I would do small work around my apartment complex to save money to buy disposable cameras. I would stack them up in a basket and once we had a few my mom would take me to get them developed. I remember the excitement and anticipation I would feel every time I rolled the clip back and clicked one of the 28 photos. I also remember the disappointment I felt when my sister would waste photos on blank walls and her stuffed animals. She clearly, as most little sisters do, lacked an artistic eye. This manifested into much more as I got older and ultimately led me to the career path I’m on. I am currently pursuing a double major in business administration and communications with a marketing concentration. My intention with these degrees is to start a local marketing firm. With this, I would employ local artists and utilize my talents to help create art for local clients. I intend to focus my efforts on small local businesses in competition with large corporations. This is important to me so I can help build value in my community. I would do this by helping create more jobs and doing my part to keep new business owners or mom-and-pop shops stay open. It is also important to me that once established I volunteer my services for local domestic violence shelters. Unfortunately, my mom, grandma, great-grandma, the list goes on were all victims of domestic violence. My mom and grandma both ran shelters for victims and made a point to teach my sisters and me about the dangers so we could break the generational cycles. Neither of them is with us anymore but I have made a point to carry on their legacy. I want to make a difference the way I watched them do. The current plan is to start this business after finishing my schooling by taking out a small business loan. With the initial loan, I would start an LLC, then get branded cards and emails, and create a website. After the legal entity of my business is created I would start canvassing local companies by emailing, cold calling, and stopping by to meet owners in person. This would be to get my business out there and to start creating relationships. Ideally, I would book my first clients through local connections too. Once lightly established in the community I would start an online marketing plan to create a larger customer base. Although I would like to plan further it is impossible to know how the first section of the plan is going to go so I will leave it at that. As any entrepreneur or business owner knows, a strong foundation is nonnegotiable. That is what I am trying to build to create a flourishing business in my community.

I have always been infatuated with photography. When I was young I would do small work around my apartment complex to save money to buy disposable cameras. I would stack them up in a basket and once we had a few my mom would take me to get them developed. I remember the excitement and anticipation I would feel every time I rolled the clip back and clicked one of the 28 photos. I also remember the disappointment I felt when my sister would waste photos on blank walls and her stuffed animals. She clearly, as most little sisters do, lacked an artistic eye. As I got to be a freshman in high school I enrolled in a visual communications class. This class required you to check a Nikon D3600 from the library. I was shocked. Not only did I get to use the nicest camera I had ever touched but I also HAD to bring it home. A dream come true. This manifested into much more as I got older and ultimately led me to the career path I’m on. I am currently pursuing a double major in business administration and communications with a marketing concentration. My intention with these degrees is to start a local marketing firm. With this, I will employ local artists and utilize my talents to help create art for local clients. I intend to focus my efforts on small local businesses in competition with large corporations. This is important to me so I can help build value in my community. It is also important to me that once established I volunteer my services for local domestic violence shelters. Unfortunately, my mom, grandma, great-grandma, the list goes on were all victims of domestic violence. My mom and grandma both ran shelters for victims and made a point to teach my sisters and me about the dangers so we could break the generational cycles. Neither of them is with us anymore but I have made a point to carry on their legacy. I want to make a difference the way I watched them do. I want to help bring up artists. To support local businesses and organizations. I want to be a pillar of my community. To provide opportunities for others that I had to create for myself. My excitement for marketing was initially sparked by a love for art but will continue through a passion for people.

I have always been infatuated with photography. When I was young I would do small work around my apartment complex to save money to buy disposable cameras. I would stack them up in a basket and once we had a few my mom would take me to get them developed. I remember the excitement and anticipation I would feel every time I rolled the clip back and clicked one of the 28 photos. I also remember the disappointment I felt when my sister would waste photos on blank walls and her stuffed animals. She clearly, as most little sisters do, lacked an artistic eye. As I got to be a freshman in high school I enrolled in a visual communications class. This class required you to check a Nikon D3600 from the library. I was shocked. Not only did I get to use the nicest camera I had ever touched but I also HAD to bring it home. A dream come true. This manifested into much more as I got older and ultimately led me to the career path I’m on. I am currently pursuing a double major in business administration and communications with a marketing concentration. My intention with these degrees is to start a local marketing firm. With this, I want to employ local artists and utilize my talents to help create art for my local clients. It is important to me too that once established I volunteer my services for local domestic violence shelters. Unfortunately, my mom, grandma, great-grandma, the list goes on were all victims of domestic violence. My mom and grandma both ran shelters for victims and made a point to teach my sisters and me about the dangers so we could break the generational cycles. Neither of them is with us anymore but I have made a point to carry on their legacy. I want to make a difference the way I watched them do. With my mom passing away I ended up with two of my siblings. I am extremely grateful to have been able to keep us together and provide for them but it does mean that I had to sacrifice things for myself. For example, I had to delay my schooling and I wasn’t able to save money to pay for my education. Receiving your scholarship would ensure I have enough to finish the rest of my transfer degree at my local community college before transferring to a four-year university. You could help me get a large leap closer to my goal. Thank you for your time and consideration. I realize you have a multitude of applications to read. Hope you enjoy some art along the way!

In the future, I will be happy, fulfilled, educated, and free to chase my never-ending dreams.

I, like many people in this world, have faced a multitude of challenges in my life. Though the biggest challenge I have faced is losing my mom. In July 2018, my mom had a heart attack trying to quit drinking cold turkey. This caused her to go into a medically induced coma. She never recovered. She had fallen deep into her addiction into my teens after leaving an abusive relationship of twelve years. During the last few years of her life, she was unrecognizable to me. She wasn’t the mom I knew. Because of her addiction, both of my siblings moved in with me after I turned eighteen. Despite watching her downfall me and my siblings remained hopeful she would “get better” up until the day she passed. Being a guardian to my siblings added another layer to the grief. I had to be strong and create space for them to grieve while I was struggling. During this time I used a lot of creative outlets as coping mechanisms. I even published a poetry book with a friend full of original poems and artwork by us both. My contribution focused primarily on grief. Finishing that book was a healing experience. It felt like the closing of that chapter of my life. Additionally, I reminded myself daily how my siblings must be feeling. This helped me become more forgiving with their words and actions. The whole experience taught me that I am a resilient and patient person. I grew up as a welfare kid. Raised in public housing on food banks, W.I.C., and church donation programs. Growing up I idolized women with degrees. I remember being a kid, feeling like coming from the life I was living that further education would never be an option for me. Luckily, I know better now. Now I have goals of achieving a double master's in communications and business administration with a marketing concentration. Receiving a scholarship means I can focus on school without the added stress of loans or finances. Scholarships are especially helpful since I have no active parents in my life to help bear the burden of my education as some students can. Outside of school and work, I have a bunch of hobbies. I love skateboarding, hiking, traveling, paddle boarding, and outdoor-related activities. My current job and school require me to be on screens more than I’d like. This has encouraged my love of the outdoors. It’s nice to be able to disconnect from a screen and reconnect with the world. Besides those, I enjoy being creative in multiple facets. My main creative outlet is photography. I have been interested in photography my whole life. Starting when I was young I would save my allowance to buy and develop disposable cameras. That was just the beginning of my photography-related shenanigans.

I’ve always loved the idea of business. When I was young I would make my siblings play games with me that entailed me running a business and them buying from it. As I got a little bit older I started my entrepreneurial business ventures. At the age of ten, my mom got me stickers and business cards for my birthday to support my biggest venture so far. I was selling my homemade baked goods and paying my friends to deliver them by bike. After a year or so I grew tired of baking while my friends got to bike neighborhoods so I closed my business. Since then I have chased what seems like a million business ideas. I’m excited to soon have the education to put behind my enthusiasm. For my education, I’m starting with some associate degrees at my local community college. After completion, I intend to transfer to a 4-year university for a double bachelor's in communications and business administration with a marketing concentration. If I’m able to receive enough funding the next step will be a double master's in those fields. With those degrees, I would like to work in the marketing field as well as run my own business on the side. In my career, I would like to be able to help build small eco-friendly businesses. I believe if we support more small businesses vs large corporations we can make a major impact on our environment and way of living. Small businesses make big differences in their local economies, employees' lives, and the environment. Typically they use less harmful means of running their businesses, as well as create better working environments for their workers. In my experience, they generally have better practices. Unfortunately, a lot of small business owners don’t have access to the same marketing knowledge as large corporations. I intend to try to help even the playing field by sharing well-educated information. As well as donate my services to companies that I believe would help make a positive impact on their communities. I want to be a helpful tool to others. Later down the line, I would like to use some of the earnings from my career to open a domestic violence shelter. My mom and grandma both ran domestic violence shelters throughout my childhood. I grew up volunteering and seeing the difference they made. Despite being victims themselves they made a point to help others escape. They taught me what it means to make an impact and a true change in someone’s life. Sadly they both lost their lives in 2018. I want to honor them by carrying on their mission and passion. I believe my degrees and career path will benefit this cause. Domestic violence shelters are constantly closing due to a lack of funding despite domestic abuse statistics staying shockingly high. I would use my career and education to draw awareness to the cause and bring funding in for the organization. All in all, I want to pursue a field that is interesting to me and find as many ways as I can to apply it helpfully. I think sometimes the idea of “doing good” in a career setting can be limiting. Typically you think of medical and philanthropy careers but I believe any degree can be used to benefit the world if you have the right intentions.

Community service to me means providing and sharing with individuals and communities. Bringing each other up when we are able by providing something someone else needs even if it’s as simple as a smile. For my education, I’m starting with some associate degrees at my local community college. Beginning with associates in communications and business administration. After completion, I intend to transfer to a 4-year university for a double bachelor's in communications and business administration with a marketing concentration. If I’m able to receive enough funding the next step will be a double master's in those fields. With those degrees, I would like to work in the marketing field as well as run my own business on the side. In my career, I would like to be able to help build small eco-friendly businesses. I believe if we support more small businesses vs large corporations we can make a major impact on our environment and way of living. Small businesses make big differences in their local economies, employees' lives, and the environment. Typically they use less harmful means of running their businesses, as well as create better working environments for their workers. In my experience, they generally have better practices. Unfortunately, a lot of small business owners don’t have access to the same marketing knowledge as large corporations. I intend to try to help even the playing field by sharing well-educated information. As well as donate my services to companies that I believe would help make a positive impact on their communities. I want to be a helpful tool to others. Later down the line, I would like to use some of the earnings from my career to open a domestic violence shelter. My mom and grandma both ran domestic violence shelters throughout my childhood. I grew up volunteering and seeing the difference they made. Despite being victims themselves they made a point to help others escape. They taught me what it means to make an impact and a true change in someone’s life. Sadly they both lost their lives in 2018. I want to honor them by carrying on their mission and passion. I believe my degrees and career path will benefit this cause. Domestic violence shelters are constantly closing due to a lack of funding despite domestic abuse statistics staying shockingly high. I would use my career and education to draw awareness to the cause and bring funding in for the organization. All in all, I want to pursue a field that is interesting to me and find as many ways as I can to apply it helpfully. I think sometimes the idea of “doing good” in a career setting can be limiting. Typically you think of medical and philanthropy careers but I believe any degree can be used to benefit the world if you have the right intentions.

One of my coworkers at a past job once spent her day walking around asking all of us to list three words to describe ourselves. “Just say the first three that come to mind,” she said. I responded with “creative, goofy, and resilient”. For this essay, I’m going to talk about resilience. Even since I was young, I’ve always had a get-backup attitude. This made me very persistent about my goals. For instance, we grew up in public housing on welfare so when I wanted something I had to figure it out. Typically I didn’t want things I wanted experiences. My mom supported me in these ventures by driving us or coordinating as long as I came up with the funds. One summer I made a deal with my mom to take us to the water park if I could make the money for myself, my friend, and my siblings to go. As an eleven-year-old with no job coming up with $160 was no small feat. I babysat, washed cars, ran lemonade stands, sold homemade jerky, and sold baked goods. Living in the neighborhood I did, eventually, I exhausted all my neighbor's savings and had to regroup. So, I started selling cups of soda and candy to the neighborhood kids instead before having to expand to different neighborhoods. After all my hard work I made enough money for us to go to the water park that summer. This characteristic has helped me through many more things since this water park debacle. Unfortunately, not all of the things I’ve shown resilience through have been as lighthearted as taking the neighborhood kids' piggy bank money. I lived in an abusive home, lost my mom, lost my grandparents, and raised my siblings. These are just the tip of the iceberg. I've appreciated my resilience because it’s helped me get up when others around me no longer have the strength to. This characteristic has already proven to help me through my life journey. I’ve lived through things a lot of people don’t want to imagine and yet, came out a happy-go-lucky person. I’ve been in the gutters and came out good multiple times in my life. I know that this will continue in the future. Additionally, I have proven to myself time and time again that if I want to do something I will figure out how to do it. It doesn’t matter how many tries it takes. I think this will particularly help me on my journey of education considering I am working full-time while going to school. To graduate, I’m going to have to channel my resilience.

This last year has been a big year of growth and changes for me. I cut out toxic relationships, moved states, and started prioritizing my life. The biggest thing I’ve learned is to put myself first. I’ve always been a provider and giver. I gave everything to the people I love and left nothing left for myself. I focused on helping everyone achieve their goals, chase their dreams, and create support systems for them. This left no room in my life for my goals, wants, and needs, let alone self-care. My mom passed away years ago leaving me the guardian of one of my siblings. Raising them emphasized my giving nature. By taking them in I accepted an obligation to put myself second. I was in a guardianship role and had to provide. Luckily this last year they turned 18 and moved out. They’re out starting their own life and providing for themself. During this transition of them moving out, I stopped drinking and started recognizing unhealthy behaviors in some of my platonic relationships. I had a lot of people in my life who demanded or expected things from me but weren’t willing to contribute any energy toward me in any capacity. A lot of them were unwilling to help themselves either but expected me to. Due to this, I started separating myself from people who didn’t treat me the way I deserved. Because of these changes, I had way fewer people around me. This gave me time to reevaluate my priorities and goals. Immediately I noticed how light I felt. I had so much time and energy on my hands I dove back into hobbies I loved, started connecting on a deeper level with positive people, and started creating a new frame for my day-to-day life. The biggest change this made in me is valuing myself the way I do others. I still encourage others and support people around me but make a point of doing the same for myself. I’ve realized I deserve all the same things I work to help other people achieve. Because of this I now respect my boundaries. I say no when I don’t have the energy, I don’t give more energy to people than they are willing to give to others. I put my needs first because I’ve learned that if I don’t take care of myself I can’t help others to my full ability. This growth has been extremely empowering for me. Sometimes people make it seem like you’re selfish for not giving 100% to everyone else but I’ve learned otherwise.

When you grow up with a parent that's an addict you experience loss before they're even gone. My mom was once a young and ambitious woman fighting every day to get us into a better situation. Unfortunately, she got trapped in an abusive relationship for many years leaving her with severe PTSD. I saw her fade from being a vibrant loud loving person to an empty shell. By the time I was sixteen, she had finally built up the courage to leave him. We expected him to retaliate like he always threatened but he never followed through. I think my mom, realizing they were empty threats, and everything we had endured was for nothing, broke her. She fell deeper into her alcoholism. It was once used as a way to unwind but had become the only way she could get through the day. We became more and more distant before she kicked me out. As her addiction progressed my siblings moved in with me. Every time we would go back and visit she looked less and less familiar. Nevertheless, we continued and tried to better ourselves hoping she would wake up and quit. If you know anything about addicts you know there’s nothing you can do to stop them but wait patiently. In July 2018, I got a call from my mom's number. I answered to an unfamiliar voice. There was a strange man on the other end saying my mom was in a medically induced coma from a heart attack. Our grandpa had died years prior, our grandma had a stroke the same day ending up in a medically induced coma as well. All these strokes of bad luck had left me the medical decider for our mom. After weeks of tests, the doctors informed us she wasn’t showing any signs of brain activity so my siblings and I made a unanimous decision to take her off life support. After spending weeks in the hospital before she passed away, we eventually went back home. Having to raise the youngest sibling, work full time, and make room for us both to grieve was the hardest thing I think I’ve ever done. We had lost all the family members who raised us. There was no one to call to reminisce about childhood antics or ask about your favorite recipes. There was just me and my siblings. I spent a long time going through the motions trying to keep a positive front while feeling empty. It’s weird that losing someone you love still hurts even when it didn’t feel like they were ever there, to begin with. I think some of it is pity for yourself and some of it is grieving the life you wanted. Anyone who’s lost a person dear knows that when you lose someone you hyperfocus on their life experiences. Their goals, accomplishments, failures, and jokes. When thinking about my moms I thought about her dreams to pursue further education, start her own business, and travel. I reminisced on how hard it must have been to go to trade school full-time, work and raise 3 kids at a young age. I was reminded of all the ways she inspired me in the past. Part of the fight is not letting the good get lost in the bad. She passed away four years ago now. As of May 2022, both of my siblings have graduated. We all moved to different states seeking different things from our strange few years on this planet. Finally, at twenty-four years old, I am in a position to put myself and my goals first. I moved to Colorado and now am going back to school like I wanted to when I was young. I intend to work to receive a double masters in communications and business administration. I would like to utilize these degrees to pursue a marketing career. I’m going to use these degrees to provide a better future for myself and my siblings. I want us to have the life my mom fought toward. To break the generational cycles the women in our family have endured for centuries. All while finding ways to help women in my local community get the help they need and find the courage to leave. I’m fighting to make a lasting impact. To achieve this I intend to open a marketing firm catering to small businesses. I will volunteer my services to local organizations as well focusing on domestic violence shelters. I have fought my whole life. Fighting through grief was just one of the many hurdles. I fought to survive, fought to grow, and now am fighting for the future I want. I have learned from my losses and am excited about my future.

Before you talk about how; I believe it’s important to first identify the why. This way you have a constant motivator to remind you why you’re taking the time to educate yourself and others. Personally, my why is to break out of generational cycles. As Robert Kiyosaki talks about in his book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, financial literacy is typically taught at home. This leads to generations of people teaching each other poor financial literacy thus causing phenomena such as generational poverty. I, myself, come from a lower-income family line. I was taught habits and financial skills that in my early adulthood led me down similar paths to my elders. I was introduced to the concept of financial literacy in my early twenties. I immediately started reading articles, watching YouTube videos, and listening to audiobooks. The more I educated myself the more I realized the importance of these teachings. Learning the gravity of this type of education has continued to be my reason why. In starting to teach others about financial literacy I tend to stress my why and then encourage them to find theirs. I share the knowledge I’ve learned and the influential educators who have impacted my growth. As well as I steer them toward the financial literacy and entrepreneurship classics that everyone tends to start with. By doing this I’ve built and continue to build friends, colleagues, and family who have similar goals and interests in this field as myself. The more of us who start our journey the more information we have to share. To ensure I constantly have new knowledge to share I pursue the same learning paths I did when I initially started. I am subscribed to numerous finance newsletters, magazines, blogs, and podcasts. I listen to audiobooks and YouTube videos while I’m driving and cleaning. Additionally, I am enrolled in finance-type classes throughout my degree. I intend on getting a double master's in communications and business administration. The business degree requires a multitude of economics, accounting, and statistics classes that will help push my financial literacy to a higher level. Ultimately to achieve a lifetime of learning I am focusing my time on people who also strive to be lifetime learners. With being around these types of people I will feel constantly compelled to continue my learning so I can help benefit those around me as well as myself. I will build time to learn into my daily life by incorporating it into tasks I already do daily.

Schools aren’t set up to teach you financial literacy. That is learned from home. Unless you go out of your way to educate yourself you’re bound to repeat generational financial patterns. This was the best financial advice I’ve ever received. When I started learning financial literacy this concept was doubled down while reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. When I learned this is when I started putting my time and energy towards changing my finances. I started reading iconic finance books, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, and following blogs about the subject. It wasn’t until I started this education that I was able to start positively working on my finances. Until this point, it was always a taboo subject in my life. I was raised in a poor welfare-supported family. When you’re raised in houses like that you’re taught that it’s rude to talk about people’s finances. The only time it is typically brought up is to talk about how broke we are. This meant my generational financial cycles were leading me towards having absolutely no financial education. I have since helped educate my family as I’ve learned. I now make more responsible financial decisions. I understand my credit score and how to positively affect it and other people. I am learning crypto and stocks so I can make smart investments. I prioritize passive income to create a more stable future. I have learned how to manage debt. All of these things were unheard of to me and my family before receiving this advice. In my time of learning, I have found a love for financial education. Every chance I get I bring it up and love talking about it with others. Particularly in an entrepreneurial aspect. I love bantering about investments and financial growth and the people that it has helped me connect with. It has helped me meet and befriend people who have similar financial goals. We all share knowledge amongst ourselves and desire for all of us to succeed. This advice has gifted me with more than just better finances. It has changed my life. The way I interact with our capitalistic world, and make decisions in my personal life and the quality of my life. I’m still relatively new to the financial world but I’m grateful for the change that has been made so far. As well as the prospects it’ll bring in the future.

My goals for the future have been interrupted by a multitude of hardships yet I am still finding a way. I have big goals. I intend on receiving three associate degrees at my local community college to start. Communications, business administration, and psychology. The first two listed are to work towards my dream career. The third is just for the fun of education and learning. After achieving those I want to transfer to a four-year university to pursue a double bachelor's in communications and business administration with a concentration in marketing. The next step would be pursuing a double master's in those two fields before heading on to my career. In those regards, I want to work as a marketing manager for small businesses as well as run my own company on the side. Once I have the experience I would move full-time into running my own company. During this, I would volunteer my marketing experience to local businesses that are making an impact on their communities. Ultimately I want to work for myself in a field I find interesting and help my community as well as other entrepreneurs at the same time. I’ve wanted this since I was a teenager. Throughout high school, I had plans of going to college to pursue these degrees but ended up having to put my wants on the back burner. Due to a slew of reasons including addiction, domestic violence, etc. I was kicked out at sixteen before having to take in my younger siblings at eighteen. My mom and grandma who had raised us passed away 3 months apart from each other. We were raised around a very little family, to begin with. By the time I took them in we had little to no support system left. I was forced to refocus my priorities for a time. My siblings have now graduated and moved out on their own. Finally, I am in a place again where I can put my energy toward my dreams. To achieve these I know I am going to have to fight to earn them. Despite this, I’m excited about the obstacles to come. Having very few people to rely on in my life means that I’m going to have to work harder than some students. I have no parents to fall back on. To stay with me, pay for my school, answer my questions or help me with my homework. This is something I will have to do myself. Outside of that, I have decided that I will not be accepting any student loans. It is common knowledge today that these loans trap people in debt during an economy that leaves few people with an escape. That means I have to focus my time on scholarships, maintaining good grades, and picking up extra hours at work to make this happen. I recognize this is going to be difficult to maintain throughout my school years. Alas, I know that I am capable and I will prevail.

Title- The Cycle of Love You’ve never done anything wrong You whisper me sweet nothings Wait on me hand and foot Support every aspect of my life But It’s not you It’s me There’s a loaded gun Ready to pop off In case I’m ready to run I think sometimes I’m scared you’ll leave me Hurting me oh so very deeply So I’ll dodge a bullet And leave you behind I worry that if I stay I’ll never be free That my past will repeat and you will be in control of me I know you’re different I know there’s no chance But I can’t risk having another ring on my hand I’m terrified if I get attached something will happen The grim reaper will snatch you away to thy heavens Leaving me shattered and alone Broken and undone I’m petrified there’s no happy endings Just a cycle of romance Lust, love, despair, rinse, repeat I don’t want to break you But you can’t be the one to break me I’ve been through far too much For one man to be the end My life can not be contingent on you I realize this is absurd That I should give love a try That you truly do care You tell no lie Deception is not in your dance Domination is not in your dance Disappearing is not in your dance So maybe you will be the one who finally gets a chance

I have big ambitions with my schooling and career goals. I’m starting with some associate degrees at my local community college. Beginning with associates in communications, business administration, and psychology. After completion, I intend to transfer to a 4-year university for a double bachelor's in communications and business administration with a marketing concentration. If I’m able to receive enough funding the next step will be a double master's in those fields. With those degrees, I would like to work in the marketing field as well as run my own business on the side. In my career, I would like to be able to help build small eco-friendly businesses. I believe if we support more small businesses vs large corporations we can make a major impact on our environment and way of living. Small businesses make big differences in their local economies, employees' lives, and the environment. Typically they use less harmful means of running their businesses, as well as create better working environments for their workers. In my experience, they generally have better practices. Unfortunately, a lot of small business owners don’t have access to the same marketing knowledge as large corporations. I intend to try to help even the playing field by sharing well-educated information. As well as donate my services to companies that I believe would help make a positive impact on their communities. I want to be a helpful tool to others. Later down the line, I would like to use some of the earnings from my career to open a domestic violence shelter. My mom and grandma both ran domestic violence shelters throughout my childhood. I grew up volunteering and seeing the difference they made. Despite being victims themselves they made a point to help others escape. They taught me what it means to make an impact and a true change in someone’s life. Sadly they both lost their lives in 2018. I want to honor them by carrying on their mission and passion. I believe my degrees and career path will benefit this cause. Domestic violence shelters are constantly closing due to lack of funding despite domestic abuse statistics staying shockingly high. I would use my career and education to draw awareness to the cause and bring funding in for the organization. All in all, I want to pursue a field that is interesting to me and find as many ways as I can to apply it helpfully. I think sometimes the idea of “doing good” in a career setting can be limiting. Typically you think of medical and philanthropy careers but I believe any degree can be used to benefit the world if you have the right intentions.

My mom and grandma ran domestic violence shelters for the majority of my life. Starting around the age of 5 my grandma would bring me with her to welcome new clients and their kids to the shelters. It was my job to give the tours and introduce them to the others. During the holidays I would pass out the gifts and lead the holiday festivities. At the time I just enjoyed hanging out but I have since realized my grandma used me as a way to bring youthful joy to a dark place for many. As I got older my job duties had grown. By age 7 I was also responsible for some aspects of the thrift store that funded my grandma's shelter. This included sifting through donations to pick clothes and toys for the incoming kids, “working the register” and helping clean up. By 12 I had taken on much more responsibility in the domestic violence organization my mom worked at. I was volunteering at almost every event. My responsibilities at these varied from leading volunteer teams to handing out pamphlets. During the summers I was more hands-on. My mom would regularly take me with her to work for days at a time. This continued until I was 16. Around this time we had a lot of life changes that included the closing of Womencare shelter the location my mom ran. As well as my grandma having to quit her job and move in with us. Growing up this way has given me a different perspective. It was a huge pillar of my childhood and shaped me into who I am. Because of this, I have pursued volunteer opportunities outside of those shelters. I volunteered through my schools throughout upper elementary school-high school in a variety of things. That included time in pre-k and kindergarten classes and environmental work. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I had to take in my siblings and raise them myself causing me to take a break from volunteering. During that period although I didn’t have time to volunteer I did find other ways to make a difference. My siblings and I regularly helped out homeless people in our community by providing resources and donating to as many causes as we could. Now that my siblings have graduated and moved out I intend to start volunteering my time again. On top of that in my current job search, I have 2 deciding factors. They are companies willing to work with my school schedule and positions that have paid volunteer days. This way I can pay for my school while giving back. I know that balancing work and school full-time with volunteering will be a lot but it’s important to me to keep helping others as a priority. I believe that what you put out in the world comes back to you. Do good and receive good. Long term I eventually want to open a domestic violence shelter in honor of my mom and grandma. They have both passed on but in their lives, we’re not only advocates but survivors of domestic violence as well. Statistically, about 1 in 3 women will experience domestic violence in their life. Despite this domestic violence services and shelters are closing due to a lack of funding. I believe this is a cause worth fighting for and am willing to put in the work to do so. I hope to not only do well by them and their memories but make a positive impact on others as well.

I’ve always been one who had big dreams. As a kid, I didn’t have typical career aspirations. While my fellow students wanted to be princesses, rockstars, and astronauts I dreamed of being a biochemist, a business owner, and a FedEx driver. As goofy as it sounds I desperately wanted to be a FedEx driver because my five-year-old self was under the impression they traveled the world. I thought people got assigned packages and brought them to their destinations. Meaning if I got assigned a package going to France I would be delivering this package to France myself. As you can imagine after my FedEx dreams were crushed I found new dreams. From middle school on I knew I wanted to double major in communications and some marketing-related degree. I wanted to either work as a marketing manager of a Fortune 500 company or own a marketing firm. I worked hard through school doing tons of extracurriculars and advanced classes to get an edge for college applications. Chamber choir, choir program vice president, ASL club president, track, AP, and honor classes. If you look at my transcript through high school you can see when I fell off. Despite working hard to get to college I was struggling outside of school. Behind the scenes, I had lived with my alcoholic mom and her abusive boyfriend. He was mentally, verbally, physically, and sexually absuive to my mom, siblings, and myself for years. My mom drank to cope leaving me to be strong and watch out for my siblings. We would constantly be kept up late to endure abuse or watch our mom endure the same. Living in a tumultuous household and then going to school the next day like nothing was wrong was obscenely hard. Despite the hardships at home I kept to my studies and continued to do well in school until I was sixteen. By this point, my mom had built up the courage to leave her toxic boyfriend. Once he was gone she was left with severe PTSD. This caused her to dive deeper into her alcoholism. She and I started fighting more frequently until I was kicked out at sixteen. This is when I fell off in school. I was lucky enough to have some friends and parents who were willing to let me in but I couldn’t get myself to be as driven as I’d been in the past. After I graduated my younger siblings moved in with me. My mom had lost her house and was unable to take care of them anymore. With having to now raise two kids and work full time I dropped my dreams of going to school. Raising kids on your own is no simple task as is let alone when you’re a teenager yourself. I took care of them and did the best I could while putting my dreams aside. As of this year, the youngest has graduated, turned eighteen, and moved out. I’m now twenty-four and for the first time in my life, I’m in a position to put myself and my priorities first. I decided my career aspirations are still important and it’s never too late to start. I’m starting now to work towards my goal of achieving a double major in communications and business administration with a marketing concentration. I want to use this degree the way I wanted to when I was young. I am taking the steps to reach the career I’ve always wanted.

For myself, I would say “Love and war in your twenties” by Jordy Searcy has an important message. This song is about slowing down and enjoying your youth and prioritizing relationships in life. To me, this doesn’t necessarily pertain to only romantic relationships but the feeling of being loved and appreciated in any facet. A lot of us myself included put so much pressure on ourselves to have everything figured out, and rush to success. In doing so we sometimes lose touch with what’s important. We focus on our school, work, etc leaving no room for life itself. “This world makes me dizzy how’d we get so busy no one tries to take the time it takes to turn your love into a love or friends into a family” This song is a reminder that in a world full of endless opportunities results mean nothing without people to share them with. It’s an homage to the whirlwind it is to be in your twenties. This message benefits everyone despite their age. We all could be more mindful of our priorities in life. You’ll only live this day once. Might as well be with some people you love doing one of the endless possibilities life has for us.