A DYING FLOWER As the suns rises and the flowers bloom There one that blue that doesn't seem to bloom As days goes on nothing seems change People pass not even taking a glance Not even giving it a chance As it’s only seen as this poor Old thing not its beauty within But only as this sad dying flower

As someone who was in love with the arts as a child who wrote poems, songs, even my own books. And as I grew older went on to learn to play instruments and filmmaking, it became a huge part of me. After I went through the tragedy of getting cancer which resulted in getting my right leg amputated I’ve noticed there is not much representation with people like me an “amputee”. So I want to be that person. I want to start that change, if it’s to become an actress, singer, public speaker, heck even a model. My studies have helped with this goal since it's giving me more knowledge and perspectives.

As a young lady who has become an amputee, I dream of becoming an actress. As there are few people in my condition in the industry, I want to be a role model for others to see that nothing is an obstacle to achieving your dreams.

I lost my father due to cancer about four years ago. It was a hard experience, putting me into a huge state of depression. Even tho my dad was never in my life. I always knew he was there. And even though it has been four years, it is still hard to accept that he is truly gone. Other than struggling with depression, I got diagnosed with cancer a year later. But now that it has been four years after my dad's death and three years after my diagnosis, I am going seven months cancer free. I plan to make a change. Something I want to accomplish in my life is that I want to share both my and my dad's story. To become a public speaker and share how cancer affects the patient physically and mentally. Also, how cancer also affects the patients loved ones around them.

"Live your life full of oh wells instead of what ifs", meaning that if you see an opportunity in front of you grab it right away, don't hesitate. Take it while you can and don't doubt yourself because, for example, let's say a person got a job interview for their dream job and they say: "what if I say something wrong" or "what if I'm not the person for the job". That's already setting you up for failure, it is always better to say "oh well". Now let's say that person walk into the interview without a doubt in the world but did not get the job. Say they will be heartbroken and they will be able to say: "oh well, I did not get the job but I will get the next one and try as hard as I did". The person will leave that interview upset but they will also leave with confidence and not have the doubt of what if. This also should be shared with the world because it will help so many people with self-love and self-confidence. It way sentence that I live by every day. That I learned from someone who left this world far too soon, and I want to help for his words to each millions of people just like he always wanted to do.

I have had Neurofibromatosis for as long as I can remember, and it has made a huge impact on my life up to this day. I was young that I don’t remember, full-on details but around the age 2-4 I had to get surgery on my left leg due to the bones not being connected that they had to take part of the bone from the right leg and left hip to make the left leg connect. Due to the surgery when I was growing up, I was limited on doing outdoor activities such as jumping or running around as any little girl would do, which also resulted in getting bullied all threw out elementary and middle school. The bullying took a toll on me because I never understood why, and I still don’t because this is something I was not able to control. Neurofibromatosis has not only affected me it also has affected my family from my dad’s side since we all do have Neurofibromatosis. In the year 2018, my family lost my dad due to lung cancer which was caused by Neurofibromatosis. After losing my dad it changed everything for me and began to do more research on it as well as going to group meetings and learning more about this condition . A year later after my dads passing. I was diagnosed with sarcoma which is a really rare type of cancer. I was diagnosed far too late because I was not given the rightful attention, when I would go in and out of the hospital complaining about a unberable pain I had on my right leg. I got ignored and was told to my face that I was doing everything for attention. It ended up on my having to get my right leg amputated, since they tumor was to big to just remove it. If I was still the same little girl back when I was getting bullied, I would've probably given up on everything now, but I’m not I’m a young woman that life has thrown so many difficult tasks in her life because it wants me to make a change in this world. The reason why I would be a good candidate for this scholarship is that I know what I have my mindset on doing for my future I want to tell my story to show many people who have Neurofibromatosis that yes at times things get tough and you might feel like everything is falling on you but there is always a good outcome, you just have to go out there and find it.