My name is Autumn Rayne Farrell, I live in a small town in Idaho and work at a coffee shop. I struggle with Anxiety, Bi Polar disorder, Lupus, and Hypothyroidism. I want to be an author. My writing is as special to me as literature is to the world. Without it the world would feel void of imagination. Without my writing I am only half a person. With my writing I hope to give other people who feel void...their spark. Much like Cassandra Clare's "City of Bones" did for me in 8th grade. I want to capture people's hearts the way F. Scott Fitzgerald did with "The Great Gatsby". I want to inspire people with my work the way the biography of Emily Dickinson inspired me. Literature has always saved me from my dark spaces that I could disappear to much too often. I constantly lost myself in darkness and the only light was finding a new world. These new worlds brought me back to my life. Writing made my life enjoyable. I wish only to share those significant feelings with others, especially those who disappear into dark places just as I used to. In the future I hope to have published books, a fantasy series I have been working on for quite a long time, a memoir that will inspire others to keep going even when they feel like they'll never make it, poems that inspire and incite deep emotion. This is what I want. I want to help those who struggle realize that they are not alone and inspire them to keep working for what they dream of.

Since I was young I have always loved learning new things, I would listen to my teachers attentively which is why I can recite many facts across various subjects.Education has opened up so many opportunities for me, I was a part of national honor society with a 4.0 GPA because of my passion for learning, and I continue to love learning about new things, so much so that it bleeds over into my dream career. I want to be an author, I have a novel I have been working on for quite a while now and I love researching the culture as well as the quirks of my characters, for example I have a greek mythology book, the Iliad, and a book on autism all in my bag as I write this for research purposes of my novel. Without education my passion for writing never would have formed. I wouldn’t be as thorough of a thinker and I wouldn’t want to ensure my writing is culturally and characteristically accurate. Education opened my eyes to the world around me and allowed me to see things as beautiful the way they are. Education showed me how to take the good with the bad and create something good out of every situation. It has influenced my writing as well as my daily life and without education I would not even be a fraction of the person I am today. Without education I would have no passion and I view passion as the most important aspect in life. All of us find one thing that makes us feel a spark, writing is my spark. I would not have that spark without education. As I sit here at work writing this essay I can only think of one thing, education has made me into the person I am, someone I am proud to be. I will always love learning new things and I will always continue to feel passionate about writing. All because of education. My life without education is one that would doom me to working a mediocre job that makes me unhappy, my worldview would be negative instead of positive and my life would be subpar at best. I am immensely grateful for all of the harrowing tasks I have completed in school over the years and am immensely grateful for the opportunity to do more and continue better my life and my future.

Ever since I was a young girl I have been passionate about creative writing. My father used to read my siblings and me a story of his own creation. Although I cannot remember the name of his story I can remember this, it was beautiful, raw, fantastical, and never-ending. It was inspiring. Since then I have loved creating alternate worlds to daydream of. I would create characters based on songs and events and feelings. I connect my fantasy worlds to my reality and it never stops bringing me joy. Throughout my life, I have had several struggles with writing. The most common is that I am easily discouraged. I had people telling me that I was not good enough, I was wrong to believe them. I rose above the harshness of strangers. I threw myself into writing and research, I did everything I could to better my writing. It was a hard feat to accomplish and although I’ve grown in my skills I still have some learning to do. When diagnosed with Lupus and Hypothyroidism I thought I would settle for a career that I would not love. Believing the workload of college would be too much for me was the hardest obstacle for me to overcome. A late-night conversation on the kitchen floor with someone who cared about me is how I realized I am worth more than my disorders. I had more potential than what I was putting into my life. I apply for this scholarship in hopes that you will see my potential and my passion for creative writing. I intend to use the money I may receive from this scholarship to pay off my student loans. With my degree I will become a fantasy author. By going to school I am looking to increase my research skills and become a better writer. My goals are simple, to organize and research and write my novel. I want nothing more than to have my work published. My genre of fantasy is closer to dark psychological sci-fi; I am aware that this is a very interesting crossover. I intend to use my entertaining work for the benefits of others. The purpose of my work is to raise awareness of emotional disorders. To show those who suffer that they can achieve anything they set their minds to. This purpose is an important one. As someone who struggles with bipolar 2 and anxiety I know that reaching such ambitious goals is difficult. It is difficult to stay motivated and hopeful, some days are worse than others. Most give up. I hope those who are struggling read my work and feel empowered to rise above their own expectations.