I am not unfamiliar with sacrifices. Growing up I was raised in a single parent household and had to pitch in at a pretty early age. This helped me learn how to gain a great work ethic. In middle school I knew I wanted to be a lawyer and, despite others not seeing this being an obtainable goal, I can be stubborn and I knew this was something I was going to accomplish if I had to sacrifice here and there. As of now, I am currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Social Work. I wish to graduate with this as well as a minor in Criminal Justice, and certificates in Legal Studies and Trauma Informed Care. My academic goal is to attend law school, more specifically at the University of Texas at Austin. Both of my parents attended different UTs, my mother attending the Arlington campus and my father attending the Tyler campus. To have said I have graduated from the same university but their law schools mean very much to me. I chose my undergrad degree to better equip myself for the tragedies I will see as an attorney who will be practicing Criminal and Family law. My career goal is to become a Criminal and Family attorney. As a Black woman, once I become an attorney I will join the current population of roughly 3% of Black female lawyers currently in America. As a lawyer I know I will be able to help them as a client but I want to know I can better someone's life. People will come to me during some of their lowest points and I want to provide resources and comfort to them to get through this rough point. I am currently self-sufficient and financially responsible for myself. My father has not been in a stable condition to be of any aid to me during this time. My mother has decided to remove herself from my life and took her financial assistance with her. To combat this I have taken up a second job to help provide for myself. I am now working two jobs to sustain myself for necessities such as rent and hoping to grasp something together to keep my tuition payments going. As I will enter my junior year this fall, I have yet to be granted any scholarship money to put towards lowering my tuition. Obtaining this scholarship would help me be one step closer to this dream becoming an amazing reality. I would know that my sacrifices wouldn’t be a waste.

I might be the most Type A person you could probably meet. My senior year of high school I planned my college experience down to the smallest detail when applying to schools. My family and I decided the University of North Texas would be the best fit for me academically and financially. As I've always been very engaged and on top of my information my family left everything up to me once I was accepted. Once it came time to pay for school my mom and grandparents were ready and prepared. Unfortunately, I received no aid or scholarships. However, I am blessed and grateful that mom has a good job and my grandparents have created a college fund for me. My first semester began and everything was set. My mom paid the down payment for my payment plan and my grandparents were set to pay the first payment. October came and there was a hiccup. Somehow I misinterpreted the financial aspect and we had to pay a lot more than we originally anticipated. As a result my college fund was quickly drained dry as the dessert. I lost it all my first year of college. My mom was stretched thin but managed to help me complete my payment plans. For my second year of college I was determined for things to be different. My goal after undergrad is to attend law school. To accomplish this I knew I needed to take on some extra extra circulars. Overall, I will always be appreciative of how much my family has helped me but I know they are not always able and I wanted to become more self-sufficient. Over the summer I became more productive. I was able to gain an internship with a judge in Tarrant County. While completing this I got myself a job and began taking some classes at the local community college as a cheaper alternative. I was able to pay for the classes myself. As my sophomore year creeped up it became time to pay for school again. Sadly I still haven't been the recipient of any scholarships but as a result of my father not having a job I was granted some aid. I paid for my down payment and took out a loan to help cover other costs with the help of my mother paying as well. As far as school I immediately became more involved. I joined the National Black Lawyers Association and the Social Work Student Association as an officer. This was great for me as I'm a Pre-Social Work major with a Criminal Justice minor with a certificate in each field. As my father still was unable to help me financially and my grandparents help went more towards him I decided to get a second job. Eighteen semester hours, clubs, and two jobs is not for the weak hearted. Which honestly is me most of the time. Days feel shorter and shorter as I feel my to do list grow longer and longer. To get through this I know I needed to change my mindset. The only person capable of preventing me from obtaining my goals is me. I have to be the one to wake up earlier some days to get some homework done. I have to be the one to pick up extra shifts for work when I’d rather be anywhere else. But as this school year has gone on I became extremely proud of myself. I want future me to look back and be appreciative of the sacrifices made and I definitely think I will be.

I am a woman of excellence because I was raised in an environment where I was surrounded with them. Growing up most of my life I was raised by a single mother. At an early age I remember noticing the strength my mother had in going back to school in order to better provide for my brother and I despite the obstacles she faced. My mother always made sure that I was embraced with strong Black women, whether it be family or her close friends. Now as I enter adulthood I like to say I took her perseverance and the confidence to be a strong, confident Black woman. In middle school I was in Dallas staying with my dad for some time in the summer and was attending a summer camp while I was there. One night I remember there being a 'Black Lives Matter' protest that was broadcasted on the news. The next day at camp they gathered all of the older kids, including myself, into a room to give us the talk. Not the ‘birds and the bees’ talk, rather the ‘ how to interact with a cop as a Black person’ talk. In following weeks I saw more instances of Black people losing their lives at the hands of those who were hired to protect them. It was at this moment I knew I wanted to practice law as a Criminal Defense Attorney and be of aid to those who need me in our unjust criminal justice system. My grandmother instilled being active and giving back in their community at a young age, despite them needing help themselves. As a result, my mother instilled this in me as well. Beginning my senior year of high school I began my career of volunteering. I found a community center near me by the connection of a close friend and I have continued to volunteer with this company ever since. While I have moved away from home for school I still come back every summer to proceed with this experience. I learned to involve as many people as I can in giving back. Most people don't volunteer because they aren't aware of the opportunities around them. Each time I went back I introduced a new friend or family member to the center and it made me happy to know more people are willing to give back to our community. I would say my greatest accomplishment has to be learning to rely on myself. My freshman year of college I struggled, mentally. Unfortunately this led over into my grades and my involvement on campus. I knew at this point the only person who could get me out of this rut was myself. It took a lot of self reflection and acceptance of my mistakes to get this point but here I am. Now I am taking 18 hours this semester, working two jobs, and being involved with the National Black Lawyers Association and an officer of the Social Work Students Association. I look forward to the future I am creating for myself.

For as long as I can remember when people ask me what I want to pursue as my career I reply with becoming a lawyer. It pretty much became second nature. This answer was first formed in 2016. It was the first set of Black Lives Matter protests and my 12-year-old self became more worried about my dad, brothers and cousins overnight. As time went on I began to examine these situations from a legal standpoint. I knew then that getting involved with the law was going to be my contribution to helping others. Criminal law became my new passion. Through the years I gained more information on how to make this passion into a career, the first realization was law school. Learning I had to go to school a second time, that's if I’m accepted by the school. This definitely dimmed by light and had me trying to find an alternative career path. In 2018, as an avid ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ watcher I watched and got interested as Kim Kardashian helped pardon Ms.Alice Johnson under President Trump. I read her case and saw this was her first offense, non-violent at that. However, somehow she got sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and had spent the last 20 years away from her family. As a result of this, I was able to humanize the people suffering every day and better understand just how unfair our criminal justice system is. With this new insight, it only helped solidify the career I knew I needed to do. Now I understand that life is not going to be similar or a complete reflection of what we view online, especially social media. Despite this, I greatly began to admire Kim Kardashian's active participation in prison reform. Seeing the countless amount of cases that she received and the massive amount of effort she puts into each and every one of them. This led to my desire to work towards giving people a better chance to receive the aid they need during their trying times. It is also the reason I decided to minor in Social Work. Having an empathetic background when going into an emotional and difficult environment was important to me. Giving back to others and our community is the best way to improve the world around us. That being the case, I hope to have the opportunity to be a part of the ‘Innocence Project’ one day. I also would love to be in the position to work pro bono. The financial gain of becoming a lawyer is not the end goal for me, waking up every day knowing I’m improving someone's life is what I most look forward to after graduating from law school.