Truly, mental health is the difference between misery and luxury. Mental illness has always been present in my family, running back as far as I'm familiar with. Bipolar, BPD, OCD, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia; these are the diagnoses of my family tree. And as my family has for generations, I have struggled with my mental health my entire life. I have dealt with depression, anxiety, and OCD since the age of 9, and this was only worsened by the trauma I experienced. Abuse and manipulation drove painful narratives into my head, and the violence I experienced made me fearful. As I continued to grow older, my mental health worsened. It turned my day-to-day life into a living hell, as I struggled finding worth in myself, beauty in my appearance, and hope for my dreams. At my lowest, I had more suicide attempts than aspirations and goals for my life. School became incredibly difficult for me, and I turned to harmful coping mechanisms in order to deal with what I was going through. My mental health impacted my relationships, I lost many friends because I never left my home, and I was always pessimistic. I struggled with an eating disorder that absolutely controlled my relationship with my body and food. Eventually, I got out of all of it. Slowly. Painfully. Eventually, I just decided I was tired of being miserable, and maybe I didn't have to be. I met some of the people I love most in the world, including my wonderful partner, and through loving me they taught me to love myself. I reflected in on myself and worked hard every day to rewrite the narratives in my head that told me I was worthless. So much journaling and so many affirmations over so much time slowly changed the way I thought about myself. I started working out, gaining muscle, and finally I feel like I'm starting to adore the body I live in. I focused more in on my health, getting enough sleep, eating enough, taking breaks, and learned to treat myself like a human being rather than a machine. It has been such a long journey, and no, I'm not done. Not even close. But the quality of my life has soared, and I'd finally say that yes, I am happy. I made the decision to leave behind my misery and fight for the life I deserve, a life I once believed I wasn't worthy of. Because of the hell that I've been through, it is one of my life missions to help people who are going through the same thing. I am going to use my passion for theater and the performing arts to create plays, musicals, movies, and music that portrays mental illness in a proper way in order to spread awareness and to raise societal empathy towards the many issues that so many people go experience. I hope one day to use the funds I raise to advocate for better mental health programs in schools, and more resources for those who face physical and sexual abuse and violence. I want to travel the world and fight suffering and mental illness everywhere and make a difference in whatever way I can. No child should have to go through what I did, and I will live my life with that very ideal. Every person should be able to afford the luxury of a healthy, happy mind. That is my mission.

“I have to finish the hat.” Thanks Sondheim for summing up my entire life. My last name is Usman, a Nigerian name, but I find it funny that it's spelled U.S. Man. It was held by my grandparents in Lagos, Nigeria, who were wealthy, yet gave every cent to the those around them. It is a name held by my father, who raised me to work hard and support as many people as I can. ”You are an Usman”, he’d say to me. ”Usmans were put on this Earth to help people”. That’s been my purpose ever since. So back to the hat. George is a pointillist painter in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sunday in the Park with George. I’ve never connected so much with a character. He's obsessed and determined to “finish the hat” in his painting. Devotion and commitment to excel in your art, that is a feeling I’ve understood since I was a toddler. I love musical theater. My father, however, an immigrant from West Africa, wanted me to be an attorney. He raised me to academically overachieve, and to push myself relentlessly so that I might go to a fancy college and study law. And so, like George, I became obsessed with excelling in what my father picked out for me. Small issue; the thing I love most in the world are the performing arts. The arts have always been my way of connecting with the world around me. Through analyzing the plays and songs I loved, I empathized with people so unlike myself, and with experiences so unimaginable and foreign. I look at people now like little plays: Everyone has their own tragedies, their own brilliant moments of love and joy, and each person holds so much to understand. Through writing my own plays, and through acting and singing, I connect not only with the people in the audience, but something deeper within myself. When I find a social issue that I feel strongly about, I can write about it, research it, and perform in stories that share similar themes. In the case of the original piece that I have attached, I have used the performing arts to speak on social issues that I am passionate about. In the excerpt from my play “Eye of God”, I'm able to express my personal feelings and experiences about gun violence in schools. In the sixth grade, my best friend brought a gun to school with plans to murder my friendgroup. I wrote about the terror of school shootings. How it affects people. I tried to make the characters personable, like people you’d actually know, so that the audience can connect with these kids on stage, and be shocked and moved. Theater has given me eyes to truly see the world around me for what it is, and it has given me a voice larger than myself to speak on issues in a way that I love, and that is comprehensible to others. Through my acting, singing, and writing, I can change minds. When I go to write something, or when I approach a role, I find something that I’m passionate about, or an idea that inspires me. Whether that’s a social issue, or a simple yet profound image. I take what moves me and I pour it into every section of the piece I’m creating. I want every expression on my face, every lyric I write to simply express the soul crushing, gut-wrenching emotion through digestible words. I want every character I play to breathe real air, and cry real tears. Each idea should not only be conveyed to the audience, but should drown the audience. A character only "lives" through the audience's empathy. I haven’t exactly had an idol for my work. I like Sondheim and Peter Schaffer, and performers like Eva Noblezada. However, my biggest “inspiration” would be, in a strange way, my father. He's never encouraged my artform. He's never attended a performance I haven’t dragged him to. He's never cared when I talked about the things that I am working on. And when I told him that I wanted to go to school for theater, it was then I learned how to handle complete disappointment from someone I loved, and the self-resentment that comes with it. My parents and I have never been close, since I was small we've had an almost “business relationship”. They’d talk to me strictly about my career. My entire life revolved around school and being a lawyer. So, I became obsessed with success, desperate to please. I hardly valued myself, treating myself like a robot. I took a ton of AP classes, I tortured myself with work and I never allowed myself a single hour of break, even when it began to affect my health. And in junior, going into senior year, when I was burnt out beyond belief and I could do nothing all day except lay in bed and cry, that is when I turned back to the thing I loved. I had always done theater and choir throughout school, its what I've always wanted to do. My ambition reignited, except now towards the things that I loved. Like friends, relationships, and a career I loved and something I was sure I’d be able to create something new in. Through the mental health hardships I’ve navigated my entire life thus far, I’ve learned strength, and what I value the most in the world. And with the kindness and drive that my parents have raised me to have throughout my life, I know I will go far in my chosen career. They have inspired me, in a hard, but important way. I wouldn’t be the tough person I am without them. I'm going to Cornish because I know studying theater in a place that exposes me to so many different people and ideas will help me flourish as an artist. In Seattle, surrounded by so many interesting personalities, I know that I’ll be able to tell new stories, be inspired by new issues in the world, and take the noise of everyday life and turn it into music. Studying art is so essential because the more new information you’re exposed to, the more “you” your art will be. I’ll learn what I like and don’t like, what I feel strongly about, and pour all that into my art so I'll not only be a good performer, but a unique one. Being in theater, I’ve seen so many talented artists cast their dreams to oblivion for the sake of a living — and honestly I can’t blame them, especially nowadays. I face that same oblivion sometimes. But, what keeps me going every time is my main passion: I want to help other people. I want to put on shows that can educate people about major issues/topics, that present new viewpoints and encourage understanding, and therefore love, in this world. The less money I need to put towards my education, the less I'll rely on my parents; the more I'll put towards putting on these shows, and giving the money I make to as many people I can, while also educating them in an entertaining way. I'll inspire in ways that are accessible to all, not just to those wealthy enough to watch performances in large theaters. I want to help those in all corners of the world. I plan to start my own theatre troupe and travel the world, so I can give to and inspire people all over the Earth. I am going work hard to use theater, both writing and performing, to raise money and resources for those in need. I'm still, like George, desperate to make something new and inspiring. To make something of myself. In some ways, still, I’m obsessed with “finishing the hat”. But I’ve learned the importance of taking my time. Of living every moment. I hope only to help others do the same. “You taught me about concentration. At first I thought that meant just being still, but I was to understand it meant much more. You meant to tell me to be where I was, not some place in the past or future. I worried too much about tomorrow. ” Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George Some performance pieces: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cPV3F4GqY6RT8flryIfJul-h17uqy5zk/view?usp=drivesdk

Because theater will change the world. Of course, not to be mistaken, the performing arts are a large industry that has made immense impact on the world today already. I mean, Shakespeare is still taught in classrooms. However, I truly believe the performing arts are essential to the growth and progress of society through its power of demonstration. The thing I adore most about theater and the performing arts is how unique they are from every other thing, in that you are given a looking glass into the soul of another human being. Whether it be through acting, singing, or the playing of the instrument. You can feel the emotions pouring from a person's mind, either spoken in word or spilling from the squeal of an instrument. And through that demonstration of emotion, that performance, people can begin to understand one another. And through understanding and empathizing with one another, we can learn to love one another too. I'm passionate about theater because it changes the world by changing minds and hearts. Nothing in the world has moved me more than seeing a person weep, smile, and wail on stage. Seeing their triumphs and tragedies, and feeling it right alongside them. Theater tells you "I see you, and I love you". I see myself in shows with little girls learning to navigate the world, growing up. I see myself in the black women, like me, standing up for their rights. Fighting against set backs and hardships on stage, and remaining strong regardless. I see my friends and family in all of the lovable characters, seeing their familiar qualities and understanding them all the more. I see the world reflected back to me in musicals and plays, even the crueler aspects of it, and I can better understand the way this Earth turns. Why people fight, lie, and cheat. The way they break down, the way they love. Theater is unique in the way it shows you different perspectives, and teaches you about the other person. A lot of the hate in this world comes from lack of understanding, of fear of what we don't know. If the true life of another persob can be shown to someone, suddenly people become less scary. Suddenly they become just that, people. I'll admit, the performing arts are not the most respected career path. My parents might not look on it fondly. However, it is always the things deemed less important and less respectable that seem to always make a difference in the end. It is by demonstration that people learn. A mother teaches her child by demonstration. A teacher teaches their student by demonstration. It is by the demonstration of character, hardship, and perspective on stage that will teach people how to love and understand. I'm going to be a part of that change. I'm going to write plays, direct shows, sing songs, and act my heart out because it is through these actions we can change minds and therefore change the world. That's why I want to pursue theater. I can't imagine doing anything else.

In most situations in life, it's difficult to see how far you've come, whether that's as a person or in your environment. In Minecraft it's blatantly shown to you, and that's always been my favorite aspect of the game. You load up the server, beginning with nothing but a fist and an empty inventory. But slowly, day by day, you get to watch yourself progress. What was once an agonizingly slow process of punching down trees with nothing but a bare fist soon becomes quick and easy with a diamond axe. Times where I'd hide in a dirt shack to evade creepers, skeletons, and other nasty mobs, soon seem far away when I walk carefree through the night with netherite armor. And horrifying mobs like the Enderdragon, the Wither, and the Warden, which once seemed like impossible foes, become nothing scarier than a regular zombie (Except the Warden, no matter how much you progress, it will always be scary!). There are few things that beat the beautiful feeling of looking back. Looking back and reflecting on each hardship you faced in game, all the effort, and feeling proud of yourself for how far you've come. Throughout the entirety of my childhood, I played Minecraft. I'd take so much pride in assembling new bases, defeating new enemies, and making brand new tools. Too often almost, I recall those sweet memories of sitting on the couch in my old Florida home that I've since moved away from, sitting intently in front of my Xbox screen with the biggest smile on my face for hours at a time. The clicking of a controller in my small hands, the in-game sound effects familiar and soothing. Minecraft is a game that reminds you to keep looking back: That's what resonates with me. It reminds you to take a step back and really just look at how far you've come. By reflecting on all my childhood memories of the game, I can appreciate just how much I've grown since then. By standing back and looking at everything I accomplish in game, I am reminded to stand back and look at everything I've accomplished in real life. As I said before, there are few instances in life where how far you've come is shoved in your face like it is in Minecraft. That's why it's so important to seek it out yourself, to look back and give yourself a pat on the back for all your hard work. Everyone has so much to be proud of. I've realized you can never fully know all the amazing things you're capable of doing until you look at all the amazing things you've done. I thank Minecraft for that revelation!