Since the second grade, my sister and I were constantly compared to the Williams sisters because when we weren’t practicing tennis, we were thinking about it, watching it, or talking about it. When I made the varsity tennis team as a freshman, I was expected to showcase my years of hard work, even as the youngest player on the team. Being the youngest was never a problem for me. Due to my late September birthday, I was always the youngest throughout school, a fact that posed no challenge given the standardized learning. However, surrounded by intimidatingly confident upperclassmen on the tennis team, I needed to step up as a leader- not just to fit in but to improve myself. This wasn’t simply a choice as I was continuously integrated into leadership activities - organizing team dinners, designing banners for senior night, and talking to the coach about how I could improve my game. I was helping sculpt my team into a sisterhood and leading myself to self-growth. I earned many awards and was given the nickname “Baby Cowboy” (the cowboy being our school mascot) because I displayed great school spirit that uplifted our team. On the tennis court, leadership emerges as an unwavering force of collaboration and communication. While fiercely competitive, the tennis team is filled with passionate girls who cherish their teammates. Competition can bring up strong emotions, and I despised losing. I needed to work on the mental game of tennis. My strong emotions would devastate my matches and hurt my bond with my teammates. By recognizing my desire for perfection, I shifted my perspective on my matches, understanding that tennis is ultimately perseverance through losses. These skills of resilience, camaraderie, and accountability are the very attributes I developed throughout my years on the tennis team. I shifted my newfound perspective to my studies and work ethic. Instead of dwelling on trivial mistakes, I acknowledged the bigger picture I was working towards: a higher education to provide for my family and posterity. During my sophomore year, unlike freshman year, I found myself able to lose gracefully, compliment my opponents, and shake their hands afterward. My junior and senior seasons were fun-filled. I aimed to build relationships with the underclassmen like the ones I experienced freshman year. When senior year arrived, I had the opportunity to run a tennis camp where I mentored middle school players by sharing my knowledge and experience and boosting their confidence and success in tennis. Despite the endless lessons it has taught me and the joy tennis has brought into my life, I want to pursue a career in marketing. Marketing is a field where collaboration and communication can be used to bring attention to products and services that may otherwise be overlooked. I will use my leadership skills to guide companies toward addressing inequities in the business world, impacting the promotion of products worldwide. Tennis and marketing, though seemingly distinct, both require resilience, creativity, and innovation.

In a world where endless ideas are crafted into products and services, marketing brings them to life. The persuasive graphics, crafting of stories, and influencing of minds are powerful elements that marketing embodies. Effective marketing requires prior knowledge of global and local communities and identifying those with the greatest need. Growing up, volunteering was a regular activity for our family, so signing up for summer service in high school was a no-brainer. After submitting over 500 volunteer hours to my school, I earned two presidential volunteer awards, a testament to my charitable work. My commitment to giving back to the community is important to me, and I know this is something I will continue in college. As I pursue my own goals, I will prioritize the search for communities in which I can make a positive impact. Despite being the fastest-growing college graduate group, black women continue to experience major inequities compared to black men. The racism and sexism that black women face is something I have experienced firsthand, and my experiences influenced me to dive into community service. I painted murals for black-owned businesses, volunteered at churches, and tutored younger students. I have a rare ability to connect with diverse audiences, similar to how marketing aims to engage and inspire a wide range of customers. Marketing is more than designing campaigns; it’s about changing corporate culture and reaching a wide variety of people worldwide. Marketing is a blend of art and business - two crafts near and dear to my heart. As a child, I would draw, paint, and have celebrations that always included art. Art gifts were the go-tos for my family whenever they wanted to make me happy. I have continued to enjoy art and have taken multiple art courses throughout my educational journey. Once I got to middle school, I found interest in having my own business. With family support, I had an array of businesses that ranged from tutoring to lemonade stands. I eventually graduated to having an Etsy shop, where I sold hand-made pillows. I quickly learned that in order to have a successful business, the product must be marketed in a way that will gain the attention of others through skillful promotion. My passion for marketing, combined with the dedication and hard work I put into pursuing it, reflects my commitment to this field. I envision myself continuing marketing with the same drive and enthusiasm, making meaningful contributions to the business world and its advancement in the future. Marketing is the bridge between art and business, two subjects I have long been passionate about. Through this field, I will confront global gender inequality and racism, ensuring everyone can become a changemaker. A degree in marketing will allow me to elevate businesses and creatively impact product promotion worldwide, ultimately allowing me to affect change in the business world.

Starting in middle school, I was teased and picked on for my thick hair by both white and African-American classmates. I was teased by white people for having weird hairstyles and mocked by African-American folks for my damaged 4C hair. This is not my parents' fault; I was indecisive and wanted straight hair one week and box braids the next.     In late junior high, I was teased for my big forehead and my large mouth. I try to refrain from using the word "bullied" because I wasn’t publicly embarrassed or needed help from authority figures. I am forever grateful that I was not bullied in middle school, but the intense teasing led to many changes in my personality and my interactions with others. The teasing led to my being insecure about my chewing and my physical appearance, so during lunch, I would eat in the bathrooms and sit in the back of the class so no one would see my face. I didn’t even want to talk with my friends because I was afraid that they were silently judging or pitying me. As I remember my middle school and junior high years, I think about the feeling of walking down a crowded hallway, thinking everyone was staring at me—at my forehead or mouth, or my extremely long legs, or my uneven skin tones in my face. There was a long list of insecurities that I hadn’t even thought of before coming to this school. I never wanted my friends or anyone else to feel this way.     I believe there was a reason I was teased so harshly. I was already sensitive and insecure about myself, and I needed to overcome these feelings so I could finally grow. In high school, my freshman year was still a little bit rocky, especially with the pandemic. I definitely wasn’t complaining about the masks because they covered my mouth, but I was still socially awkward when it came to making more friends. I went into freshman year with only two friends, two friends that I shared no classes with—not even lunch. I often ate lunch in the library during the first semester.     Finally, I was able to gain confidence in my second semester. I stopped caring about my facial features or my long legs. I decided that if there were people who didn’t like me, there was nothing I could do to change that. I still ended up with three friends at the end of my freshman year, but that was more than I could ask for. I was finally excited about my sophomore year.     Being teased, picked on, and mocked constantly over the years introduced me to social anxiety and new insecurities. I would come home crying from something someone had said at school that day. I would absolutely hate for anyone that looked like me to ever experience those feelings. The feelings of not belonging or being different than others. I want to start my own business one day and show people that even if people are mocking you and ridiculing you, you have to focus on yourself and your goals. With a little headstart- with a little help from scholarships- I can encourage others to persevere through the hardships of middle school, junior high, or high school, just like I did.

About two years ago, I could not control my anger at tennis. It would be frustrating when I hit a ball into the net or missed a shot. This was a struggle for my family since they would play tennis with me for fun, and I turned innocent games into upsetting competitions. I realized this was a problem at a tournament one day. My opponent was someone I knew from my tennis club and had played with multiple times before. My ego had gotten the best of me, and I was irritated at the number of winners she was hitting. Finally, I had had enough and slammed my racquet into the court countless times. With tears running down my face and players from other courts staring, my parents rushed onto the court, possibly more embarrassed than I was. My dad immediately took me out of the tournament and drove me home. I didn’t pick up my tennis racquet for about two months. As time passed and the school tennis season was approaching, I knew I had to start playing tennis again. I also knew that if I acted the same way as I did in the recent tournament, I would risk being kicked off the team and publicly humiliated in front of my teammates. There wasn’t much a person could do to change their entire mindset about a sport, so I decided to retrain my mentality through books. The Inner Game of Tennis and Mamba Mentality began to be my main source of information for a while. My school tennis coach additionally gifted me a binder filled with lessons on optimism during a tennis match. I was determined to stay focused during the match instead of getting upset. Along the way, I focused on nurturing and caring for my love of tennis and encouraging myself to sharpen my tennis skills. As shown in the acronym D.R.I.V.E., respect is also a significant component of tennis. At Wimbledon, if you slam your racquet on the ground a few times, you’ll have to pay a fee. With this in mind, I had to learn to respect my opponent by not crying during the match (making them feel guilty or upset) and honoring the rules of the game. During my journey of optimism in tennis, I had to accept the close calls instead of, in return, making bad calls against my opponent. Innovation and versatility are blended in the mind games of tennis. While paying attention to the weaknesses and strengths of the opponent, I must use creativity and innovation to perfectly place my shots to my advantage and force them off the court. Versatility ties into this by adapting to the players I compete against and continuously finding their weaknesses and strengths. Combining my skills and practices, one of the elements I had to focus on was playing each of my opponents equally. I would sometimes adjust my technique and strategies to match the player. Equality also blends in with respect. If I am not staying true to my style of playing tennis against my competitors, it’s not fair for them. Instead, I should play each of my opponents equally so they can compete against the best version of my game and I can compete against the best version of their game as well. With all of these components combined, a skilled tennis player can be crafted. I hope to one day be a professional tennis player to inspire other players who struggle with the pessimistic mentality in the game of tennis and impact the way they play their game.

On my fourth birthday in 2011, I was introduced to the happiest place on Earth- the Disney World theme park. Being at Disney World was my earliest memory. I remember walking down the streets of Disney Springs with my Tiana tiara and my pink Charlotte dress with a green wand in my left hand. My outfit was inspired by my favorite Disney movie ever- The Princess and the Frog. This is arguably the best Disney movie ever created. From the soundtrack to the animation, I adored this movie from the moment I watched it. Princess Tiana’s determination and focus on her one goal- the entrepreneurial dream that I share with her- opened my eyes to pursue my dreams through hard work. This movie is truly amazing because it teaches little girls all over the world to work hard for what they truly desire in life. This movie additionally focuses on the African-American experience in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Princess and the Frog ties in African-American culture, food, and songs with the fantastical plot. With all these aspects, kids who grow up the same way as Tiana did (whether they lost a loved one or aspire to start a business one day) relate to the movie even more because they experience African-American culture daily. My favorite thing about The Princess and the Frog and Disney films altogether is the life lessons you receive from every single movie. Without a doubt, there is constantly something to learn from a Disney film. I realized this after watching The Princess and the Frog over and over again until I knew the entire script. There is practically a lesson to be learned in every song and scene! The hard work and passion for Disney that the writers and animators incorporated into the movie fascinates me. Their love for Disney always brings me back to my first memory. Strangers and Disney mascots would come up to me with high-fives and birthday wishes. Everyone at Disney was so loving and kind to me, and I will never forget that feeling. It was the same way I felt when I watched a newly released Disney movie with my family and friends or rewatched some of my favorite Disney movies. As I grow older, I know for a fact that I will always love Disney because it makes me feel four years old again, walking around in Disney Park in my little pink dress.