My faith in God is the foundation of my life and the reason I have the strength and direction I do today. From the moment I was born, I believe God has been present with me, even in times when I was not fully living in alignment with Him. Looking back, I can see His hand protecting and sustaining me through every season, especially in moments when I felt lost or overwhelmed. There have been times in my life when I struggled deeply with my thoughts and emotions, including periods of self-destructive thinking. In those moments, it was not my own strength that carried me through, but God’s grace and presence. He met me in my lowest places and began a process of healing and transformation in my life. Through prayer, growing in my relationship with Him, and learning to trust Him, I have experienced a freedom that I know did not come from myself. My life is a testimony of His mercy, and I recognize that I am still here because of Him. Because of what God has done in my life, my perspective has shifted from simply wanting success to desiring to live with purpose. I want my life to reflect His love, His truth, and His ability to restore and transform. I believe that true and lasting change comes through Him, and that His love has the power to reach people in ways nothing else can. This understanding has shaped not only who I am, but also the direction I want to go in life. As I pursue my career, I see my faith as something that will guide both my character and my impact. In any environment I am placed in, I want to reflect integrity, compassion, and humility. I want to be someone who uplifts others, creates a sense of peace, and brings encouragement to those around me. Rather than separating my faith from my work, I want it to be the foundation of how I treat people, how I handle challenges, and how I use my gifts. I also hope to use my career as a way to positively influence others. Whether through creative expression, relationships, or opportunities to serve, I want to be a light in the spaces I enter. My main goal is not to achieve personal success, but to make an impact that goes beyond myself by pointing others toward hope, purpose, and healing for the Lord's glory, not my own. Ultimately, my faith gives me a sense of identity and direction that is not dependent on circumstances. It reminds me that I am not walking through life alone and that there is a greater purpose being worked out through my experiences. I trust that as I continue to follow God, He will guide my path and use my life, including my career, to make a meaningful difference in the world.

I am a dance major with a deep desire to use movement as a way to communicate truth, healing, and connection. Dance has always been more than just a skill for me; it is a language that allows me to express emotions, tell stories, and create environments where people feel seen and understood. As I continue my education, I want to grow not only in technical excellence but also in purpose, using my gifts to impact others in meaningful ways. Since I was young, I was not able to pursue proper dance training because of my sick mom and fewer opportunities to be able to get to the locations. But now that I have an opportunity, I want to make sure I graduate from Oral Roberts University. My faith plays a central role in how I view my future and my influence. I believe that making a positive impact does not always require being the loudest person in the room, but rather being intentional, compassionate, and consistent. Whether I am performing, teaching, or simply interacting with others, I want to create spaces where people feel safe, valued, and encouraged. I have been told that I bring a sense of peace to those around me, and I hope to continue cultivating that through both my artistry and my character. Through my chosen major, I plan to make a positive impact by using dance as a tool for connection and outreach. I want to show that dance can be both expressive and uplifting, and that it can reach people in ways words sometimes cannot. I have seen the powerful impact of dance more than one time and would love to continue being a part of transformation through dance. If awarded this scholarship, it would significantly support my educational journey by helping cover essential expenses related to my training, such as dancewear, performance attire, and tuition, to even be able to finish my degree. These resources are not optional but necessary for me to fully participate and grow in my field. Receiving this support would allow me to focus more on developing my skills and less on financial stress, enabling me to take full advantage of the opportunities my education provides. Ultimately, my goal is to use what I am learning not just for personal success, but to positively influence others—through creativity, encouragement, and a genuine desire to make people feel seen and valued. In doing so, I want to make an impact on the world. In all, I desire to bring glory to God's name and help people with whatever hardships they are going through.

Kim Beneschott Creative Arts Scholarship My name is Daeyuana A. Walker, I am 22 years old. I have received my B.A. in Psychology From California State University East Bay in May 2024. I come from a single mother household. Most of my life has been marked by seeing my mom gradually making her way in a wheelchair while being raised by my grandma and sister to a large extent. I grew up having to take on a lot of emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental weight for the most part, alone. Because of my childhood and high sensitivity I struggled a lot with mental health as well. I had no adult in my life to teach me how to healthily handle my emotions or mental health, because those types of things can’t just be automatically applied to your life. I struggld alot with anxiety, depression, tripaphobia that caused mental torment, suicidal thoughts, and self-hate. Despite these trials and struggles I do not regret going through them because they have grown me in ways I would have never guessed. My eyes could not see and my ears could not hear how far God would take me into boldness and resilience. It's no doubt I still struggle with some of these things but where I am in my life now, I have never felt more free and stronger. The only thing that got me through my struggles is my faith in God. The enormous thing my life has been filled with is performing arts. Despite not being able to take formal dance classes when younger because of my mom I always made a way to dance where I could in my house. Those late night just dance sessions were my favorite in middle school. God slowly and surely started putting little steps of dance in my life through elementary school performances, parades, church praise dance, and finally formal dance classes. These steps have made the way for me to make the biggest decision of my life, which is going to ORU to be a dance major, while also being in the drama program. It's something I would never have thought of doing because as I humbly shared I have always struggled with anxiety. Doing things that were emotionally, socially and financially uncomfortable was something I would love to avoid and would avoid. But now there is strength inside me that refuses to let anxiety take over anymore. I want to use my love for my artistic pursuits to move someone emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally. I want to be positive in a world that is so dark sometimes through movement. I have dreams of changing lives through movements, of living in Japan for a while and moving lives through movement there as well. Another beautiful thing I feel connected to in artistic pursuits is graphic design. I have just always liked putting graphics together. Rather it be a young girl making thumbnails for her youtube videos, making flyers, cultural appreciation flyers or even wallpapers to share. It was all so exciting and fun for me to do. I love to see how even though I have been through so much, the arctic girl inside of me never died. Graphic design is my way to use videos, images, graphics, etc… to touch someone's heart deeply. Words and pictures coming together can cause beautiful things. In all, I have a deep love for a lot of artistic pursuits aside from the biggest ones in my life which are dance and graphic design. I also have a fondness for singing, drama and drawing. Being in the drama program despite my very deep nervousness is a desire that has grown in me over time. This desire only grew when I took my first acting class through a talent agency I was in for about a month. So in all, I want to motivate healing, bring encouragement, Glorify God through beauty and excellence, have cross-cultural connections, create inclusive artistic spaces, Teach and Mentor the Next Generation and most of all Design creative works with purpose.

From the beginning of college, I am very fortunate to be able to have financial aid and the Oakland Promise scholarship. Then you might be wondering why I would need more funds, and I will explain. I will first introduce myself, My name is Daeyuana Arlene Walker, I am a first-year at California State University East Bay. Throughout the years I have had a growing love for things relating to mental health and cognition, which is why I am majoring in Psychology. I plan to obtain internships and volunteer opportunities while in college to not only build my network but to learn and gain new experiences as well. Aiding me to grow more comfortable with communicating with others especially after being separated from people so long during Covid-19. I want to be able to build my communication skills and get out of my comfort zone even if it's uncomfortable at first. Furthermore, I want to be able to experience working with different people with different life stories and backgrounds, so I can learn how to help people according to their needs. I plan to finish college with B.A. in psychology and work in a counseling-related job, which of course can change over time. The obstacle that I have right now that is the hardest for me is having a disabled mom, because of that, the need for me to be more independent is high. This means that sometimes my grandma can't drive me because she has to stay at home with my mom while my sister is about to move, has a job, and about to get married so she only has minimal time to drive me places or hang out with me throughout the week. For me, I want to be able to save up money for resources to make it easier for my family and myself. that means saving up for resources Like a car, insurance, high-priced gas, and daily/monthly essentials. If I can drive myself and support myself more financially, I think it will be a load off my mom and grandma. During these hardships, what has encouraged me most is God and my sister who keeps on going despite life being really hard. She always wants to keep moving forward and getting back up despite the trials and tribulations that come her way. My life and my sister's life remind me of the verse “For a righteous man falleth seven times and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16). I am blessed to be financially stable but I want to be able to support myself now that I am becoming more and more independent with having to pay for things myself. Even though my family is willing and I am happy/grateful to receive their help, I would want them to focus more on paying bills and buying other essential things for themselves. If I have this scholarship or any scholarship I'll make sure to use it for good and put it towards something that not only can help me but my family and others as well. I am a very hard worker who through anything will be resilient, and will not waste the resources people have gifted me with. So in all, I would love to use my resiliency to help those who are often overlooked to the point their voice has become almost silent in such a chaotic world. I hope to be that support that will listen to them and be by their side when no other human will. Showing them Love when no other person would. I wish to encourage others to be resilient no matter the hardships because hardships are what produce growth depending on how you respond to them. These values are something that is permanent and continually growing to my character because of the way I grew up, the church I grew up in, and the God I serve.