When you grow up there always comes a point in life where you wish you could just slow down and be a kid again with no worries, but for me I seemed to have to grow up faster then others and always had worries. At a young age I faced many challenges such as parents arguing in front of me, friends getting killed, seeing shootings and even having to stand in a food bank line with my mom to get food. These challenges were really hard for me at the time because I was a young kid still having to wake up and go to school and act as if everything was fine when in reality it was far from fine. my mother taught me to pray at a young age so I have always put my faith in God and as I grew older even though these things kept happening I was able to understand and try to navigate through them better. My mom has always been my main provider as my dad is unemployed and not able to help out, my junior year I got a job to help out my mom but it was difficult because I was working, in school and also trying to figure out how to still be a kid and have fun before I enter adulthood. Fast forward to my senior year I am currently working two jobs as well as my mom to try and make ends meet and also pay for college expenses as my tuition is a little over 50,000 dollars a year. this scholarship will be a blessing and will help me be one stop closer to achieving my educational goals as I will be the first in my family to receive a college degree.

For me I have always been interested in criminal justice from a young age, with my degree I plan to help people who are in situations where they need legal representation. Growing up being an African American I have seen countless people go down for crimes that they did not actually commit and I want to be a change and be able to help people who may not have the money to get a really good lawyer like some people can afford. I believe all people deserve to be heard no matter their background, where they come from or what they look like. people deserve to have a lawyer that will listen to their side and piece together evidence that will help their client. people also deserve for someone to not judge them for their mistakes in life but try to help them instead. I have always had a dream of working death row cases eventually just because of how many unfair cases I've seen especially with African Americans who end up being executed but years down the line are found not guilty because they never actually committed the crime. I want to be a person who can make a change in my community because African Americans seem to be underrepresented in a lot of aspects and I believe that is something that needs to change. I have personally had my own battles when it comes to the legal system as I have had family members and friends get arrested and I have also had friends killed at a young age. These experiences have been hard on me but they made me realize that I truly have a calling to help people in these type of situations because I know first hand how difficult it can be. I will be a first generation college student as well as being a first generation lawyer and as an African American female I take pride in this because a lot of my family members did not have the chance to go to college especially to pursue a higher level degree such as a juris doctorate. with my degree I am hoping that I also push younger girls that look like me to push through any problems they are facing and continue to live and do the right things. With my degree I plan to make a change in peoples cases and get them the proper help that they need or help them get that second chance to be able to live their life the right way.