As a first generation college student from a low-income family, money and the possibility of building a career for myself always seemed so daunting. My worries about money and the future have never been greater than my goal to connect with people. For me, those connections are continuously made through collaborative visual storytelling. It is my goal to connect and positively impact both individuals and society through the stories that I tell. Under the thumb of big companies and intimidating student loan balances, I wouldn't be able to tell meaningful stories as thoroughly and truthfully as I feel they should be told. With the help of this scholarship, my student loan burdens would be lightened; I could be that much closer to running my own independent video and film production group. I aspire to have my own industry-standard equipment to make these goals a reality. However, until I repay my student debt, this goal seems somewhat overly optimistic. I have immersed myself in various types of storytelling to foster connections with people and broaden my perspective. Whether it's factual or fictional, I aim to master visual storytelling to shine a light on experiences and people that might otherwise go unrecognized. Achieving my goal of being an independent filmmaker would mean that I could use my creativity and growing technical skills to their fullest extent. The substantial help that this scholarship would give me in repaying my student debt will give me more freedom to fully pursue and achieve my goal of documenting and creating stories that inspire change and meaningful connections.