My mental health has improved tremendously due to Covid19. There’s less stress, no rush, no rat race, lots of time for self improvement, yoga, meditation, reading, quiet time, rest, fresh air, less crime, less driving hassles. I hope we can maintain this quiet life somehow. It’s better for my long term health.Also, all my university courses are online. Attending class and turning in assignments has become easier than ever. All my classes are recorded and put on Blackboard so I can take class whenever I want. Having such a lucid university schedule makes my entire life easier.

When I was a naïve and carefree child I did not understand the societal values placed on physical appearance. At the time, I was taught “don’t judge a book by its cover.” This symbolic phrase conveys that the outward appearance does not denote the value of a person. However, my mindset started to take a horrifying turn when I recognized whispers as I ate food or went shopping for clothes. The murmurs began to grow into thunderous screams resulting in bullying from my peers, feelings of worthlessness, then self-loathing. To ignore the emotional devastation, I would intentionally make fun of myself along with others, laugh off my inadequacy, and eat away the pain because nothing would change; so, I thought. When I entered high school, it appeared to me that intellectual capabilities outweighed physical appearances. The distaining comments about my weight seemed nonexistent as the focus was on academic achievement. However, a former friend of mine intentionally presented me with an unflattering photo of a young girl. I asked my friend, “Who is this person? Why are you showing me this picture?” To my surprise, my friend snidely replied, “Ashley, it’s you.” Instantaneously, I was aghast at how the photo revealed my physical state. Subsequently, I contemplated how I looked and realized the antecedents were my unhealthy habits. After my unhealthy lifestyle was revealed to me, I knew I had to take immediate action. Wanting quick results to achieve the social standard of thinness, I adopted a menu consisting of only protein drinks and excessive exercise. This regime quickly became an anorexic lifestyle. My eating disorder behaviors were done in secrecy, and the disease perpetuated in isolation. I began avoiding social functions and talking with anyone, and ultimately, relationships with loved ones failed, as I became more deeply embedded with my illness. Anorexia became all-consuming, and engulfed me in negative thoughts and behaviors that destroyed the most nourishing of relationships. I assumed that thinness was undeniably equated with glamour. I also anticipated that changing my physical state would change my mental being into unwavering happiness. This opinion was primarily developed through the glorification of anorexia in film and television. During my anguish and disappointment, I captured a new understanding of myself. I realized it is not the end result that is most vital, but the objectives taken to reach one’s goals. More specifically, it was not how I looked that was most significant but the choices I made throughout my weight loss journey. Moreover, I recognized that people are predisposed to make assumptions purely based on their vision. No matter what altering changes I make to my body there will continue to be varying opinions. I knew I did not need to satisfy others, but I needed to start loving myself. After I came to this epiphany, I understood that film and television is so vital to people's interpretations and thus I feel personally responsible to transmit varied points of views. I realized I can make a great social impact toward mental health advocacy through film and television production. People with mental illness can also suffer from overgeneralization in media portrayals. Every person with a specific mental health condition is expected to display the same characteristics or symptoms.For instance, common depictions are that all people with depression are suicidal, and all people with schizophrenia hallucinate. In reality, only between 60% and 80% of people with schizophrenia experience auditory hallucinations. An even smaller number of people experience visual hallucinations.It's also not uncommon for media portrayals to discount the fact that many people with mental illness don’t need to disclose their condition to everyone around them.Instead, mental illness often goes unrecognized (whether by intention or not). The portrayals in the media tend to present situations where everyone in a character's life knows about their mental illness.Perhaps most concerning of all, the media often portrays mental illness as being untreatable or unrecoverable.The media can also trivialize mental illness, either by promoting mental illness as not being severe or being less severe than it really is. The symptoms of mental illness are sometimes portrayed as being beneficial. For example, in the popular television series Monk, the protagonist is a detective who has OCD. The fact that he pays close attention to detail helps him solve crimes and advance his career. My films will tear down these bad mental illness portrayals by accurately showcasing stories about people who struggle with mental illness.

For sustainable development, any progressive nation should take into account critical issues like gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. As evident from statistics, higher female earnings greatly contribute to children’s education and family health, impacting the overall economic growth of a nation. Evidently, achieving women’s economic empowerment is the key to solve issues like gender inequality and poverty and to foster inclusive economic growth as well. Place women as leaders and give them decision making roles. Although many women are now powerful contributors to the economy of some states, gender equality is still a myth in the greater part of the world. Women have actively started participating in the tech industry, food production, natural resource management, domestic wellness, entrepreneurial work, as well as energy and climate change. But, most women still don’t have access to good job opportunities and resources to get a better-paid job. As the focus shifts towards inclusive economic structures, providing women with leadership opportunities and making them a part of decision making can go a long way in achieving women’s empowerment. Despite being significant contributors to social and financial development, women don’t have access to equal job opportunities. Equal rights programs can invest significantly in promoting decent jobs and public policies, advocating growth and development. Additionally, an effective way of tackling gender inequality is entrusting women with entrepreneurial work. The state can take initiatives to train women in business skills for better job opportunities. Looking at the global developments, many developing countries are spending a percentage of annual revenues on women's developments. By investing in women’s education and providing them with entrepreneurial opportunities, the unequal pay gap can be ruled out from the socio-economic scene, encouraging women to increase their participation in the supply chain. One of the biggest concerns about gender inequality is women’s unpaid labor. Many marginalized groups, including rural women and domestic workers, are often deprived of economic independence and many times their labors go unnoticed by society. With empowerment policies striving to raise the incomes of women, resources can be appropriately managed to eradicate the issue. Unpaid labor is a growing concern among many developing countries, and this is primarily associated with rural and low-skilled workers. By controlling the driving factors and protecting women from violence and social abuses, women can be encouraged to explore and utilize their potential. Implementing fancy rules cannot drive away unequal pay gaps and the lack of job opportunities for women. To eliminate the problem from the grass-root levels, gender-sensitive economic policies should be deployed. To help women actualize their entrepreneurial goals and promote them as leaders, mentoring programs should adopt a more holistic approach wherein both personal and the professional aspects are taken care of. Income-making skills are not always successful in building empowering personalities, and empowerment schemes can launch competent mentoring programs to cater to the growing fiduciary demands.

My life has been influenced by the interests my family and I have, including learning about the issues of the world and being able to appreciate art and literature. These interests, as well as my own personal struggles, have led me to books that I have been able to relate to my life. I have been through a period in the last few years in which I have experienced an awakening. This awakening has shown me what I am really passionate about. At the same time, I have recently experienced periods of depression and loneliness. Reading science fiction books have been hobbies that have reinforced my new beliefs and helped me get through hard times. Specific quotations from the book The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin reflect my willingness to share what's on my mind, my recent troubles, and my motivation for the future, respectively. I love the writing of Ursula LeGuin, who crafts amazing fantasy worlds with deep characters in her young adult series. I have become more mature recently, so I have started reading adult science fiction. I picked up and loved her book of that genre called The Dispossessed, and I remembered her words in the book: “No one who will not go as far as I'm willing to go has any right to stop me from going.” This quote is stated by the main character Shevek, who wanted to travel to a planet that was the enemy of his planet. He wanted to travel so he could share radical scientific ideas with leading minds on the other planet. When he eventually left, he was called a traitor by many people in his society. Shevek's willingness to depart from both scientific norms and his planet, as shown in this quote, parallels my willingness to depart from traditional thinking that I have developed in the past year. By researching on the Internet and thinking things through on my own, I have developed ideas about some subjects which everyone else has seemed to make up their minds about. I like to question everything, and I reject dogmatic thinking, whether it comes from the political or religious/atheist spheres. One day, I posted a comment online that stated that religious people and atheists should respect each other, and it sparked a bunch of intolerant arguments. These arguments were the kind that I was trying to prevent with my comment. I also think that the Constitution and the Bible, documents that were written long ago, should be thought of as things that shouldn't be taken literally and should be questioned and reviewed. Also, I think that we as the human race should be open to any credible ideas, even if they seem weird at first. Ideas that don't fit the current thinking should be reviewed with an open mind, in the same way that Shevek's actions and ideas should have been reviewed.

Art is conveying one's emotions through self expression. The medium I use to express myself is filmmaking. Film has the ability to change the world. As a black woman, it is extremely important to me to diversify this predominantly white profession. Oftentimes, film and media focus on the negatives of the black community. That is because negative portrayals capture more attention and as a result, skew society's outlook. For example, there is a saying ‘Black on Black crime’ but there is nothing called ‘white on white crime’. Why? Because historically and presently, the media portrays blacks that commit crimes as ‘thugs,’ but white people who commit crime as ‘mentally unstable’. There are countless movies about slavery, but disproportionate amount about black successes. Why? Because Hollywood deems the black struggle as praiseworthy. Film is so vital to people's interpretations and thus I feel personally responsible to transmit varied point of views. Along with my ethnicity, I also was influenced by a multicultural environment. From preschool to eighth grade I attended Morgan Park Academy, a private independent school located on the South Side of Chicago. For eleven years I was surrounded by a socioeconomically, ethnically and culturally diverse student body. Geographically, my friends came from Australia, Germany, China, Spain, Mexico, Africa, and Pakistan. The relationships I developed with a wide spectrum of people enriched my global perspective. Most importantly, I was taught at MPA that everyone, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation, is equally the same. This lesson is fundamental in the films I want to create. Nowadays, entertainment can distort people’s perception of cultures unknown to them. These misunderstandings develop into racism, prejudice, and even wars. Ugly words spew from the mouths of ignorant people and violent actions create despicable hate crimes simply because they act from what they see. My films will tear down racial barriers by positively showcasing ethnically and culturally diverse people which forces an audience to look through a global lens. As a black filmmaker, I am irritated that black films are continually about physical pain and mental abuse in order to be distinguishable. Hollywood does a horrific job of displaying a diverse outlook of the black community. This frequently occurs because Hollywood is predominantly a white male industry. So of course, black stories, let alone positive ones, will seldom be told. This scholarship will help me pay to finish my Cinema and Media Studies degree at University of Southern California. My education will help me tell stories that broaden the range of black people's humanity, films that reflect our history and current struggles and achievements.

Art is conveying one's emotions through self expression. The medium I use to express myself is filmmaking. Film has the ability to change the world. As a black woman, it is extremely important to me to diversify this predominantly white profession. Oftentimes, film and media focus on the negatives of the black community. That is because negative portrayals capture more attention and as a result, skew society's outlook. For example, there is a saying ‘Black on Black crime’ but there is nothing called ‘white on white crime’. Why? Because historically and presently, the media portrays blacks that commit crimes as ‘thugs,’ but white people who commit crime as ‘mentally unstable’. There are countless movies about slavery, but disproportionate amount about black successes. Why? Because Hollywood deems the black struggle as praiseworthy. Film is so vital to people's interpretations and thus I feel personally responsible to transmit varied point of views. Along with my ethnicity, I also was influenced by a multicultural environment. From preschool to eighth grade I attended Morgan Park Academy, a private independent school located on the South Side of Chicago. For eleven years I was surrounded by a socioeconomically, ethnically and culturally diverse student body. Geographically, my friends came from Australia, Germany, China, Spain, Mexico, Africa, and Pakistan. The relationships I developed with a wide spectrum of people enriched my global perspective. Most importantly, I was taught at MPA that everyone, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation, is equally the same. This lesson is fundamental in the films I want to create. Nowadays, entertainment can distort people’s perception of cultures unknown to them. These misunderstandings develop into racism, prejudice, and even wars. Ugly words spew from the mouths of ignorant people and violent actions create despicable hate crimes simply because they act from what they see. My films will tear down racial barriers by positively showcasing ethnically and culturally diverse people which forces an audience to look through a global lens. As a black filmmaker, I am irritated that black films are continually about physical pain and mental abuse in order to be distinguishable. Hollywood does a horrific job of displaying a diverse outlook of the black community. This frequently occurs because Hollywood is predominantly a white male industry. So of course, black stories, let alone positive ones, will seldom be told. My Cinema and Media Studies degree at University of Southern California will provide me the skills to tell stories that broaden the range of black people's humanity, films that reflect our history and current struggles and achievements.

Art is conveying one's emotions through self expression. The medium I use to express myself is filmmaking. Film has the ability to change the world. As a black woman, it is extremely important to me to diversify this predominantly white profession. Oftentimes, film and media focus on the negatives of the black community. That is because negative portrayals capture more attention and as a result, skew society's outlook. For example, there is a saying ‘Black on Black crime’ but there is nothing called ‘white on white crime’. Why? Because historically and presently, the media portrays blacks that commit crimes as ‘thugs,’ but white people who commit crime as ‘mentally unstable’. There are countless movies about slavery, but disproportionate amount about black successes. Why? Because Hollywood deems the black struggle as praiseworthy. Film is so vital to people's interpretations and thus I feel personally responsible to transmit varied point of views. Along with my ethnicity, I also was influenced by a multicultural environment. The relationships I developed with a wide spectrum of people enriched my global perspective. Most importantly, I was taught that everyone, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation, is equally the same. This lesson is fundamental in the films I want to create. Nowadays, entertainment can distort people’s perception of cultures unknown to them. These misunderstandings develop into racism, prejudice, and even wars. Ugly words spew from the mouths of ignorant people and violent actions create despicable hate crimes simply because they act from what they see. My films will tear down racial barriers by positively showcasing ethnically and culturally diverse people which forces an audience to look through a global lens. As a black filmmaker, I am irritated that black films are continually about physical pain and mental abuse in order to be distinguishable. Hollywood does a horrific job of displaying a diverse outlook of the black community. This frequently occurs because Hollywood is predominantly a white male industry. So of course, black stories, let alone positive ones, will seldom be told. This scholarship will help me pay to finish my Cinema and Media Studies degree at University of Southern California. My education will help me tell stories that broaden the range of black people's humanity, films that reflect our history and current struggles and achievements. Please visit my link to see the films I have created: https://linktr.ee/ASHLEYCLARK2022

Being Black is hard, being a woman is hard, but being a Black Woman is powerful. Us Black women are hated, underrated, and imitated. We are not just underestimated because of our gender but also because of the color of our skin. Although Black Women go through the most, Black women as a whole are the strongest. We carry the pain of everyone else on their shoulders, without showing any weakness. Black women being so strong comes from generations of strength. Because of our strength, we are motivated and ambitious. Being a Black woman in the United States means being constantly judged for “flaws” that are applauded in other women. “She is too dark,” yet our society imitates our skin complexion by tanning and giving compliments about how great the tan is. “She is overweight,” but praise Kim Kardashian for having an injected, voluptuous body. Plastic surgeons make $300,000 a year to recreate a Black woman's body by intensifying the lips, hips, and butts of women to resemble that of a natural Black woman. Black women in our society have worked hard to raise us and establish a foundation for our households, communities, and occupations. Black women in politics, medicine, art, and business fields are not given the same opportunities as other races and gender. We have to work 10 times harder than others in our fields. Additionally, as a Black woman in the media industry I find myself code-switching constantly. This involves embracing the dominant culture or vernacular among certain groups (like co-workers, for example) and switching to a more authentic self when around friends and family. When I speak in my regular vernacular I am judged by my boss and co-workers. This makes me second guess myself and affects my confidence. This creates a huge mental strain associated with trying to live up to a professional ideal originally created to stifle diversity. It is up to us to beat the statistics and continue to work hard despite the competition and haters so we can continue to lay the foundation that will eventually help us continue to boss up as a Black female unit. Although Black women go through body shaming, hate, defamation of character and emotions, and unequal opportunities in the workforce we still rise above. Being aware that I am Black and a woman in this society makes me proud. Also being a Black woman means having the responsibility to support other Black women emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This entails helping and befriending a Black woman employee in the workplace, checking up on each other's mental wellbeing, and buying from black woman businesses.

Being an artist means conveying one's emotions through self expression. The medium I use to express myself is filmmaking. Film has the ability to change the world. As a black woman, it is extremely important to me to diversify this predominantly white profession. Oftentimes, film and media focus on the negatives of the black community. That is because negative portrayals capture more attention and as a result, skew society's outlook. For example, there is a saying ‘Black on Black crime’ but there is nothing called ‘white on white crime’. Why? Because historically and presently, the media portrays blacks that commit crimes as ‘thugs,’ but white people who commit crime as ‘mentally unstable’. There are countless movies about slavery, but disproportionate amount about black successes. Why? Because Hollywood deems the black struggle as praiseworthy. Film is so vital to people's interpretations and thus I feel personally responsible to transmit varied point of views. Along with my ethnicity, I also was influenced by a multicultural environment. From preschool to eighth grade I attended Morgan Park Academy, a private independent school located on the South Side of Chicago. For eleven years I was surrounded by a socioeconomically, ethnically and culturally diverse student body. Geographically, my friends came from Australia, Germany, China, Spain, Mexico, Africa, and Pakistan. The relationships I developed with a wide spectrum of people enriched my global perspective. Most importantly, I was taught at MPA that everyone, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation, is equally the same. This lesson is fundamental in the films I want to create. Nowadays, entertainment can distort people’s perception of cultures unknown to them. These misunderstandings develop into racism, prejudice, and even wars. Ugly words spew from the mouths of ignorant people and violent actions create despicable hate crimes simply because they act from what they see. My films will tear down racial barriers by positively showcasing ethnically and culturally diverse people which forces an audience to look through a global lens. The virtue I uphold and cherish in my life is equality. I value and understand this right as a result of my experiences, principles, and background. In the film industry, the stories told and the messages relayed continue to display unfair representation of the cultures that are filmed. This disparity causes me to contemplate films that center around the brutalization of black people. Yes, it is undeniably important to understand black people’s heinous past, however, the problem is these types of black movies only seem credible. For example, the few films produced by black people that have been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards are about the brutalization of black people. Three being The Color Purple, Django Unchained and 12 Years A Slave are about violence against black people. Selma and Precious focus on black women being emotionally and physically beaten down. Lastly, The Blind Side is about a white woman who adopts a black teen who had an emotionally abusive past and becomes a promising athlete. As a filmmaker, I am irritated that black films are continually about physical pain and mental abuse in order to be distinguishable. Hollywood does a horrific job of displaying a diverse outlook of the black community. This frequently occurs because Hollywood is predominantly a white male industry. So of course, black stories, let alone positive ones, will seldom be told. I want to tell stories that broaden the range of our humanity, films that reflect our history and current struggles and achievements.

When I was a naïve and carefree child I did not understand the societal values placed on physical appearance. At the time, I was taught “don’t judge a book by its cover.” This symbolic phrase conveys that the outward appearance does not denote the value of a person. However, my mindset started to take a horrifying turn when I recognized whispers as I ate food or went shopping for clothes. The murmurs began to grow into thunderous screams resulting in bullying from my peers, feelings of worthlessness, then self-loathing. To ignore the emotional devastation, I would intentionally make fun of myself along with others, laugh off my inadequacy, and eat away the pain because nothing would change; so, I thought. When I entered high school, it appeared to me that intellectual capabilities outweighed physical appearances. The distaining comments about my weight seemed nonexistent as the focus was on academic achievement. However, a former friend of mine intentionally presented me with an unflattering photo of a young girl. I asked my friend, “Who is this person? Why are you showing me this picture?” To my surprise, my friend snidely replied, “Ashley, it’s you.” I was aghast at how the photo revealed my physical state. I contemplated how I looked and realized the antecedents were my unhealthy habits. After my unhealthy lifestyle was revealed to me, I knew I had to take immediate action. Wanting quick results to achieve the social standard of thinness, I adopted a menu consisting of only protein drinks and excessive exercise. This regime quickly became an anorexic lifestyle. Although I rapidly lost forty pounds and received many compliments on my physical appearance, I was not content with myself. While I achieved society’s standard of physique, the internal agony I experienced devoured any of the accolades I received. During my anguish and disappointment, I captured a new understanding of myself. I recognized that people are predisposed to make assumptions purely based on their vision. No matter what altering changes I make to my body there will continue to be varying opinions. I knew I did not need to satisfy others, but I needed to start loving who I was regardless of my body size. I knew I had to make changes that would allow for happiness and a healthy physical state to coexist. Giving my body nutritious and proper sized portions is self love. I understand, appreciate, and love my ever-evolving body that is unapologetically mine. As a lesbian it is very important to me to push lawmakers to protect us in the community. Over the past year more than 80 bills have been passed that have specifically targeted transgender and non-binary young people. I contacted lawmakers, wrote op-eds in local newspapers and submitted testimony. Furthermore, Social media has made it easier than ever to showcase support, whether it's Instagram adding a feature to include pronouns in bios, Apple's Pride flag emoji, or online infographics. Whenever possible I use these lgbtq+ inclusive social media tools.

The most influential person in my life has always been my mother. From the minute I was born she has always been my best friend, guiding me and teaching me, and giving me strength every step of the way. I’m so often inspired by my mother who lives boldly and without any fear. I watch as her warm and kind personality can make any person her new best friend, and how her courage, determination and amazing work ethic can land her anywhere she wants to be. I’ve seen life deal her some of the cruelest cards, yet with every adversary she remains the same loving and brave person she always has been. Currently I am a Cinema and a Media Studies Student at the School of Cinematic Arts at University of Southern California. When I graduate I aspire to become a film and television producer. Succeeding in the entertainment industry is based on collaboration, commitment, and innovation. Through my educational and professional experience I am proficient with these ideals. Working as a marketing employee at UNSUGARCOATED Media, Jennifer’s Talent, and AGG The Film I was tasked with engaging with the online community in a meaningful way to grow our following, managing accounts on social media platforms: FB, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, creating and editing short features and documentary stories. After college, I know how to thrive in a fast paced environment, find new ways to attract social media traffic, and leverage interpersonal skills. I have the skill set to create meaningful and intellectually stimulating content. Additionally, working as an associate producer for USC's campus television station, Trojan Vision, I operated cameras, created graphics, worked with technical operations, and controlled audio and floor-managing for live productions. Whatever film I land on I know I can contribute to the technicalities and artistry of the set. Moreover, I know how to communicate between cast members on set to help assist and identify original approaches to find solutions and generate high quality productions. Finally, my creative thinking skills are enriched through the world-class cinematic program at University of Southern California. My courses solidify my ability to dissect edits, scripts, music, and analyze its content. I have the ability to look at film, social media, genres of visual representation, documentaries, selfies, and much more in a diverse context. I speak boldly and truthfully. In a world full of chaos and the disgruntled people, the truth brings me peace. I guess I learned that from my mother. The films I have created or have been a part of, and the companies I worked for all had something in common: inspiring social change. As a filmmaker, my ultimate goal is to create positive social change—largely through storytelling. Naturally, I am very candid and frank. My personality speaks through my films. My work humanizes others by sharing candid and powerful stories that act as currency for social change. My content invokes a response to end isolation, build community and promote unity.