My father is a man who I admire and look up to like nobody else. He is my role model, and I strive to one day be as great a father as he is to me and my 2 siblings. During my toddler years, my dad was playing professional basketball in multiple countries in Europe, like Germany, the Netherlands, and France, to provide for my family. There were times where we traveled with him, and times where he was without us, and although he loved playing basketball, I know he did not want to have to be away from us, but he did what he had to in order to keep us financially stable. After his basketball career, he worked at several different institutions, from being a substitute teacher, to a program coordinator at a recreation center, and finally a business analyst at PNC bank. Now, my dad and mom work together as entrepreneurs, running a hair salon chain with 2 locations, one in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, and one in Miami, Florida. My dad has always been my biggest mentor and motivator, as growing up he signed me up for different sports teams to keep me active at all times. Basketball wa my favorite of the sports, and he trained me and pushed me to be the best possible player that I could be. Although there were hard days where I wondered why he was pushing me so hard, I've realized that he just wanted me to excel, and all the work paid off, as my high school team made it to both the section and state semi-finals during my senior year. On top of all of this, my dad grew up with his father being absent. The best part about this is that you would never know it, because he is the best father anybody could ask for. Although his father was not involved in his life, he never needed anyone to teach him how to love his children. When it comes time for me to be a father, I have no doubt that I will forward the love that my dad has shown me. The way that he has led and grown our family into what it is now is so amazing to me and I am forever grateful for the man that he is. I know that one day I will return all of the favors that he has done for me because he deserves the world.

Hello! My name is Elijah Bruce-McCrommon. I am a rising Junior marketing major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I attend Howard University. The cost to attend Howard University has risen by over $5,000 for the upcoming semester, and in addition to that, Juniors and Seniors are not guaranteed on-campus housing, so on top of the risen cost, I will also have to pay monthly rent in an apartment in the already expensive city of Washington D.C. This scholarship would be of massive assistance to me and my family as we seek to figure out how to cover the costs. Being in the Howard University School of Business, I have seen so many successful individuals, whether it be corporate executives that come in to speak to us, or students who run successful businesses. I have been inspired by these people and reassured by them that I can indeed be one of those people as well, so I have ventured into my own personal endeavors and found that a few of them that have born fruit. The first is producing, which I started around a year ago but have recently started taking seriously. I have always been fascinated by music and started making beats last summer. Only within the past month have I started selling the beats and posting them on social media. The other endeavor is a clothing brand that me and my friends have started called silver sage gallery. We had been planning to start the brand for a while back and have recently began the early stages of designs, and are in contact with a manufacturer to create our first samples. We have collaborated with a local boutique store that we frequently shop at, and they are allowing us to sell our samples out of their store. My goals for the first venture is to push out at least 2 beats per week to advertise on social media with videos, and my goals for the second venture is to sell all 100 samples when I go back to Howard for the next semester. Some community service I have completed is the Howard University School of Business Day of Service, which took place in August of 2022 and 2023. In 2019 I completed a summer of volunteer work in my city at Monroeville Day Camp where I was an unpaid intern called a Junior Counselor. In 2021, I completed 3 days of community service at the Hindu Jain Temple in my city, Monroeville, PA, where I was a wedding server. Thank you so much for this opportunity!

I feel that education is extremely important because it allows our minds to expand and bring even more into this world. I feel that learning gives us a baseline in life which allows us to eventually, as we grow, be able to innovate and create more. Education is mandatory as we advance as a society and it is, undoubtedly, one of the largest influencers of creativity when done correctly without limiting the learner. I am thankful that education was very prominent during my younger years, and I am glad that I took it as serious as I did, because I feel like education has morphed and influenced me into the man that I am today. I was mesmerized by knowledge and always wanted to learn more, but I could never exactly put my finger on exactly what I wanted to do because of the fact that there was always more to learn. An example of how education influenced my creativity is from when I was in 4th grade. During my 3rd grade year, every kid had to play the recorder, which is a flute like instrument played by blowing into it. I loved playing it, and by the time 4th grade came around, we all got the opportunity to play an instrument of our choice. I wanted to be different and chose to be in the orchestra and play the cello, which is a string instrument. I played the cello from 4th grade until the day I graduated high school, and I am glad that I took the time to learn how to read music and understand time signatures because now, I am currently using the information I learned from those years and making money off of it. One of my passions is producing music and making beats which I sell and post on social media. Without this education, none of what I do now would have been possible. My understanding of music makes producing far easier than if I had to teach myself, and because I retained the information, I am able to put it to use to my advantage. Overall, education has been a huge staple in my life, and I take pride in my learning. As my life continues, the knowledge I have gained over the years continues to assist me in my journey, and I hope to continue to learn more and more every single day