When I started my college career I would have never imagined that I would find so much community in a violent environment. Starting college with minimal guidance I often felt lost and second-guessed everything I did. My first class was Stage Combat 1 and I was faced with the most rigorous teacher I had ever met needless to say I wanted to drop the class by the end of my first week. This class challenged me mentally and physically; this was my first time on campus fresh out of the lockdown, and I was understandably overwhelmed. Luckily with one call home, my parents have convinced me to give it one semester. By the end of it, I was the most loving and uplifting program I've had the privilege to be a part of. Learning how to perform violence safely forced me to work closely with new people and depend on them in ways I could never have imagined. They helped me seamlessly transition from home to college life, and balance a job and school all while giving me the courage to fiercely pursue a creative career. Throughout this time I've been able to pursue many avenues of my acting career but my greatest achievement to date would be the combat work I did for my college version of Hamlet. I had the privilege of being an assistant on this play and working closely with my combat professor and the director to bring together a violently beautiful retelling of Hamlet. However, I was not initially very secure in my work as a performer or choreographer and was very close to passing up on this opportunity altogether. Like most creative overachievers I suffer from a vicious cycle of self-doubt. Once I got the offer to assist on this project I felt that I hadn't prepared enough or wasn't even worthy of working on it. I kept reminding myself that I was surrounded by immensely talented individuals who were more capable and way more deserving of this opportunity than I could ever be. I simply felt that had a lot to learn and I long way to go. However, after talking it out with my TA she convinced me that I had been doing amazing work and should reconsider joining the production team. I'm very glad I did because it was an experience like none other. I had the opportunity of working closely with the cast teaching them steps to fight safely on stage and maintaining/carrying their weapons. Watching them grow and flourish from the rehearsal room to the stage has been an astounding feeling. I found that through this as long as I apply myself and continuously put my best foot forward I can not fail. It taught me that I am not unbreakable but I am strong enough to get back up and keep trying again. Taking a nontraditional pathway has not been easy but being a part of this production has reinvigorated my passion for this work and will carry me through my journey. I hope that I can keep working closely with live production cases and build lifetime relationships. One day I would like to move to stunt work and safe violence on film and TV until then I will continue to work tirelessly to make this very real possibility my reality.

As a shy and introverted kid, I often struggled to find my voice. It was when I discovered acting I found a platform where I could embody diverse characters with confidence and conviction. Acting, for me, is a powerful means of self-expression and a way to connect with others on a deep emotional level. It allows me to explore their joys, sorrows, and complexities and bring their stories to life. For the past three years, I have dedicated myself to refining my skills as a performer, driven by my dream of becoming an accomplished actress and director. My journey involved countless hours in rehearsals, stage productions, and pursuing certifications to develop a well-rounded background in the performing arts. Earning certifications in stage combat and participating in transformative stage productions have shaped my understanding of storytelling and the creative process. These experiences have fueled my determination as an actress and director. My ultimate goal is to establish a production studio that collaborates with creatives of color, emphasizing their stories and narratives. I envision creating an inspiring space where artists can thrive beyond mere entertainment. Columbia College Chicago has played a vital role in my artistic growth, providing valuable opportunities and guidance.

I've always been skilled at the art of pretending. Creating an alternate world where I felt safe came naturally to me. There was a certain comfort in knowing that, at any moment, I could shed my true self and slip into another persona. But my journey with mental health, which began during my teenage years, has been far from easy. While I discovered solace in the world of theater, where I could temporarily abandon my identity without forfeiting my existence, I realized this was merely a temporary solution. Theater became my refuge, where I finally found a sense of belonging and acceptance. It was there that I became more open and encountered individuals who truly understood me, along with an exceptional theater director who genuinely listened. In their presence, I felt seen in ways I had never experienced before. The theater, alongside the combat community at my college, became my rock, helping me continue my quest for improved mental well-being. Through this transformative experience, I have become more focused and self-aware, enhancing my communication skills and establishing firm boundaries I honor. Despite the significant progress I've made, I continue to struggle with treating myself with respect. As I pursue a career in performing and film production, I often find myself plagued by self-doubt and a persistent feeling of not belonging in these spaces. These insecurities have led me to pass up remarkable opportunities, causing setbacks in achieving my goals. Consequently, I frequently feel stuck in my career, questioning whether this path is truly meant for me, despite my unwavering love for performing. Alongside this stagnation, a profound lack of motivation hampers my work ethic, making me feel as though I am constantly starting from square one and digging myself out of a hole time and again. These negative emotions have snowballed, leaving me feeling like a failure—a sentiment I deeply regret. However, the robust community I have built around me has provided the strength to pick myself up. Even in the midst of self-doubt, I can envision a future where my concerns fade away. At times, I can see my goals with utmost clarity, motivating me to strive for improvement. I won't deny that my journey toward better mental health remains challenging. Nevertheless, I've come to recognize the power of acknowledging the strides I've made—acknowledging my need for help and fostering a supportive community has played a vital role in my progress. I take great pride in the steps I have taken thus far, and I remain hopeful for continued growth on this path. Moving forward, I embrace the significance of authenticity and the strength that comes from standing alongside those who genuinely understand and support me. Together, we can overcome obstacles and transform our lives, ensuring that our mental well-being remains a top priority.

Being a black woman is one of the bravest things I've done in my lifetime. Every space I enter I feel as if there is no place for me and no matter how small I attempt to shrink myself to fit their expectations of a black woman. When I spoke passionately about my interest I was aggressive, when I was silent I was intimidating, when I showed intelligence it was undermined, and when I shared my achievements people were eager to humble me. No matter what I did or how I did it, it was never acceptable and it took me a while before I fully understood why. Over the years I found that initially when confronted with these experiences I had become a timid person who lacked self-confidence and went as far as to look to other individuals to make me feel better about myself. However, as I've grown up and gained a bit more awareness of myself and my capabilities, I've successfully reproduced a fierce, outspoken individual who is always eager to make her presents know in a room. At the beginning of my journey of self-growth, I came to terms with what it meant to be a black and more specifically one in America and I felt that I needed to help in my way. I had to learn that a large part of how black women are viewed is through media and how other people heavily portray us. When I was younger I always saw the stereotypes that everyone has come to know and they rarely allowed the black leads that strayed from those stereotypes. It wasn't until in recent years where we can see a drastic shift in how black people are present. My first account of this was when the accountment of Marvel's Black Panther was made and there was an immediate buzz on all platforms of the first big-budget superhero movie with a largely black cast. I've never seen so many children and adults that looked and sound just like me overjoyed with a movie. That was then I realized how important representation in media is and the type of influence it holds over the consumer. I wanted to capture that joy and that sense of pride that the black community shared when the movie was released and let it be a reminder that black people can do anything they set their minds to. I hope to achieve this by building a production studio that works closely with black people specifically women to cast and develop films that positively present the black community. A percentage of the proceeds of each film will be headed to organizations in place to uplift and assist the black community such as The Loveland foundation, Black Women Blueprint, Black Lives Matter, etc. I hope that the films we produce will inspire the many generations to come and that the production studio itself will become a welcoming space for other young creatives of color.

I’ve always been in love with singing and dancing at a young age. With the encouragement of my family and friends my passion for the two only grew. I was also blessed with an amazing church family that allowed me to put on performances and sing in the choir to this day. They made many of my dreams a reality and I’ve decided to use the talents I’ve been blessed with to go on acting in the threat and production in film. I plan to attend college and further cultivate my craft while also networking with people who have similar goals as mine. Then once I’ve learned about the ins and outs of media and filmmaking, I hope to one day open my own production company and make space for youth to develop their craft as my church gave me. My production company will focus on making films that will depict people of color in more ways than one by acknowledging that they’re allowed to play characters outside of the mundane box Hollywood so regularly places them in. What excites me most about this world that I’ve been placed in is the journey I’m on to reach these goals. I can think back to the times in life where I felt like I didn’t have a purpose nor place on this earth. However, the people that God continues to surround me with in my life only have shown me that I’m on the path he means for me to be on. Though I still have my struggles and hardships I would not ask for it any other way because through that pain I find growth and meaning. The things I learn along the way are the things that keep me pushing today. With everything that I’m blessed with while I’m on my journey, I plan to give it back to my community. My whole life I always had a small community to look after whether it be at home, church, or school I felt responsible to make sure it was in the best shape possible. I plan to hopefully in the near future to go back to my church and school and make a donation just to show my gratitude for the drastic impact they both had on my life.

As a child, all things creative piqued my interest and I knew from a young age that I would want a career involving the fine arts. Though I don't think I struggled academically I noticed that I excelled quicker with media and fine arts. Because of this, I was able to dabble in everything from photography, fashion, sculpting, painting, glass staining, poetry, storytelling, etc. Even now I can't bring myself to abandon my love of those interests, however, I've learned that my heart is fully devoted to acting and film making. I started my journey of acting and film making in high school by acting in plays, and script writing for short films. I initially continued my studies at my second decision school, Middle Tennessee University, to complete my general education and introduction to film making and acting classes. However, I recently chose to transfer to my top school, Columbia College Chicago but because of some unforeseen financial circumstances, I had to defer my education for one semester. This has been hard on me as I was looking forward to being on campus with like-minded people for the 1st time ever especially since covid stole my high school senior year and freshmen experience. Though I may face setbacks now I'm doing everything I can to get back on track with my goals. For the longest time, I've dreamed of creating stories to share with the world yet as I got older I was concerned with how I would make that a reality when there was a lack of people of color in the film industry. Furthermore, due to a lack of diversity and representation for POCs in films, they were almost always attached to a certain set of stereotypes and characteristics surrounding them throughout the plot entirely, especially the ones concerning black people. Any representation I grew up seeing of other black people was always upholding negative stereotypes. Such as the angry or strong black women that were either too loud or mean, the fatherless black children, or black men who are violent, aggressive, emotionless, etc. This made me feel grossly underrepresented and unseen as a young black woman which made my journey of becoming an actress and director a bit discouraging because I felt I would be typecast in only roles that only serve these stereotypes. Even though this felt like the reality for me when I was younger, I'm proud to see more shows with black leads that break down these barriers and in the future, I hope to do nothing more but to add to the positive representation. I want children of color to look at my movies, TV shows, skits, plays, etc, and see themselves reflected through my artwork. Once I'm finally on campus I plan to collaborate with other like-minded, aspiring creatives to build a community where we work toward making this a reality. Hopefully, our work inspires future filmmakers and actors/actresses, and that our community creates a welcoming safe for them in the film industry.

Being an artist means many things to many different people. However, to me, an artist is someone who can capture the thoughts and feelings hardest to verbalize. It's allowing ourselves to be vulnerable through these most creative parts. We as artists share so many similarities yet stand as individuals in our light. An artist is anyone who can and is willing to create art. No matter if they have published a piece or solely express themselves through a personal love project, we all have a little artist wanting to come out. My art has become the very foundation I've centered my career around. I found that my drive behind creating art is the storytelling and interpretation side of it. My goal is to positively impact people of color through my artwork by presenting them in a light that positively represents POCs while at the same time dismantling stereotypes that have surrounded us for far too long. I hope to spark a conversation around harmful stereotypes and prejudice in our communities and even ones we made hold on ourselves. Through creating various pieces throughout the years I see my art as an extension of myself. My inspiration derives from personal experiences I’ve been through and I always attempt to convey full emotions throughout each piece. I feel connected most to my works of art when I give them space to “grow” and be able to relate to other POCs facing a similar experience. I found my art comforting and I hope to do the same for many others down the line as well. In the future, I'm hoping to fill the lack of diversity in media by displaying the range of POCs in film. Though there seems to be a positive shift for people of color in some aspects of the media we still have a ways to go before we can say they are given the same opportunity as others in the film industry. I hope to create a space at the table for future filmmakers, actors/ actresses, scriptwriters, etc. by opening a production company that not only values their ideas but also assists in improving them as an artist. It would be a safe space where they can grow, learn, and further their career in the film industry because this industry is forever changing and we must keep up as artists to keep creating. Also, a special thanks to the donors of the Ocho Cares Artistry Scholarship for providing a scholarship that understands and supports the efforts young artists like me attempt to create every day.

It seems that from the beginning we're encouraged to take the world by storm and cultivate a life for us that fits who we are as individuals, regardless of the trials and errors we must face. Scholarships like this one would help me tremendously by funding my education that would set me up for nothing but success. Because I chose a more creative path I found it difficult to find scholarships to support my major. It feels as if the more particle and realistic the career path the more likely to be financially supported. If not it feels as if we fall by the wayside, this scholarship would prevent me from deferring another semester or taking out more loans to support myself through college. I've seen this pattern happen one too many times as talented individuals in my community who either end up deferring multiple semesters or just simply dropping out of school. In the fall of 2020, I debated whether I should change my major and school to something that wasn't necessarily my passion but would make me eligible for financial support. I felt like it would guarantee a safe future for me. Ultimately, I followed my dreams, now it's a year later and I'm attempting to do everything in my power to financially support those dreams. I've been attempting to get most of my school tuition covered by scholarships and grants to make paying off my loans way more reasonable for me. I think this scholarship would be helping me achieve that goal while also reducing the pressure my parents may feel by putting not only me but my older sibling through college as well. I've had some setbacks so far and have taken out more loans than a 2nd-year undergraduate should have but I have made up my mind to keep going. This scholarship would assist me in cutting down the total cost of the tuition I owe by just a bit so I can manage my payment plan throughout the school year. I can safely say that during this financial journey I grossly underestimated how difficult it would be. It's something that I should have done earlier in my academic career but now I'm choosing to make it better now. Furthermore, I would like to show my appreciation for allowing students like me to apply to these scholarships. Though it may not seem like much, scholarships like these assist in aiding many of our academic goals as we grow as students during our academic careers.

There is a ton of controversy around the topic of the impact of smartphones. From those claiming it creates a wider divide between various groups of people to bringing together people spread all across the world. As for me, I think smartphones have completely changed the way I communicate. I can easily stay in touch with family that no longer live with us and they can share their experiences with me. It has also helped me generate business for myself and as a freelance artist, I found that smartphones and social media were a great way to interact with other artists on a professional level while at the same time giving me the freedom to display my art. Though I've had my success with my smartphone and social media apps I also recognize the negative impacts it has. I understand that my generation grew up on the rise of technology where it was and is still forever evolving. This came with many problems but some I was personally subjected to was bullying. Cyberbullying became all-new for bullying to everyone and had detrimental effects on my mental health. It was suffocating because it felt like no true escape and lucky I had a support system to fall back on but that didn't change the damage that was made. In the present time, I find myself using my smartphone mostly to still find work and keep up with my daily schedule, appointments, important emails, or just simply staying connected to the people that matter most to me. Now that I'm old enough to be behind the wheel I try to make it a point of mine to not use my phone at all. However, if I need to use my phone I use Bluetooth and voice command. I don't find it too large of a distraction because my new car is equipped with hands-free mode but the older car I had before I found it hard to use the phone if I ever needed to. Yet I think back to the time where I needed my phone while driving and had to either pull over or ignore it because I'm aware of what the dangers distracted drivers can create.

The people that I give the title of My everything is a group of people that have seen me at my worst and still given me nothing but their best. They are the reason my heart beats and the reason I can't allow myself to give up even when I can't find the will to keep going. These people are my parents. As I get older I grow more grateful for them both because I understand that a lot of people don't exactly have the undying support they gave me. I also acknowledge that they have pushed back their personal goals and dreams to allow me and my siblings to live out and explore ours. Working tirelessly to make sure we were cared for and loved, and more importantly empowered to be our most authentic sleeves. Though many might feel as though that's my parents' job to do, I'm still greatly appreciative of what they've done for me and I've made it a personal goal of mine to make them proud with every step I take in this lifetime. Upon announcing my major in acting and film, I was met with nothing but support and understanding. With their support, I've been able to give my mind, soul, and body to acting and film. It has been a dream come true, as each day I work towards my goal. The linked image below is my recreation of a piece posted online. It embodies my everything because to me it represents growth and porosity through pain and suffering. Like me, the image has become a product of her journey and instead of accepting faith, she's able to push forward. By doing so she not only created beauty from her struggle but has now been able to provide and nurture others with the growth she's made through her pain. From the fragment across her face grows flowers embracing the beauty of her journey; her face though lacking emotions holds a strange calmness as she accepts what has happened to her yet not letting it affect who she is. With the assistance of my parents, I've been able to turn my struggles into growth and their simplest presents keep me going day by day. I've learned that my past shape me into who I am today yet is far from defining me and the story I continue to live out. In dealing with the pressure of my past I find myself almost weightless, feeling lost sometimes, yet my everythings keep my ground in who I'm becoming and what I strive to be in the future.