1 Peter 4:10: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." As a young black girl who went to school in a predominantly white town, I struggled to recognize my gifts and purpose. My decision to attend an HBCU was pivotal; it opened my eyes to a world where black excellence in various professional fields wasn't just possible but was thriving. They were people walking in their gifts and purpose. My belief in Jesus and my HBCU instilled in me the spirit of the "impossible," which healed the little low-income girl in a single-parent household who didn't believe she could amount to anything because of her situation. Inspired by my past experiences with limiting my imagination, in my future career, I will instill the "impossible" into the minds of young girls and boys by using my gift: my voice. I will teach them that they, too, have gifts and are not defined by the realms of society or their situations. I am a Philosophy major on the pre-law track, and my goal is to establish a Christ-driven non-profit in the Atlanta area that will help low-income individuals excel academically and personally through arts-based learning and love. In doing this, I hope to ignite a cycle of empowerment and success that transforms communities embodying service as faithful stewards of God's grace.

The funny thing about life is that it doesn’t care if you’re ready, it just happens. The brain’s response to trauma is to protect. It wants you to forget, even though it is hard when it feels like you can see the events replay over and over. It was a sunny morning in a month which had been suppressed from my brain. “Genesis..Genesis wake up!” says my sister. I remember wanting her to shut up, but I could smell her fear once I realized what was happening. My father was my protector, my best friend. When I was younger, I could just sit and talk to him. We had a handshake, which we treasured a lot. In a said handshake, we would make a bird’s wings with our hands. We were the “Fly Team”, and no one could touch us. Like people always say, “times change.” It is hard mourning someone who isn’t even dead. I never realized that my father suffered from mental health issues until that morning. While the gun was pointed at his head, I realized that he suffered through so much agony. Just like the sea, my father had so much more to him than the eye could see, good and bad. When my father went outside, I quickly called the police. As I waited for the trigger to be pulled, I cried. This was the end. This would be the biggest moment of my life, the time my best friend killed himself before my eyes. I still remember the taste of grief. Luckily, he never pulled the trigger. The police came, which seems like a good thing, but it would actually lead to his arrest. The story is too long to tell, but through it all, I learned that through every situation there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I dealt with the shame and regret of the 911 call for months after that event. My father was extradited to California, and I felt like it was all my fault even though it wasn’t. Through it all, I learned that things happen for a reason, even the bad stuff. On the other side of every obstacle is a greater lesson. The lesson that I learned was to not blame myself for things that I cannot control. It is not my fault my father had unfinished business. The biggest thing that I had to remember was that I was strong, and I couldn't blame myself for everything. In the future, I wish to help my community with my compassion. Through everything that I have gone through and seen, I have discovered my faith. In my darkest moments when I thought I could be nothing, the Lord always picked me up and told me who I was. My faith is what helped me to succeed through my 4 years of high school. When I graduated, I was #22 in my class with a 4.0. On top of that, I was the first black girl in my grade to be recognized as honors in the line at graduation. I have won numerous awards, one being the first-ever CTAE Student of the Year at my high school. I value community outreach, and most importantly, being a friend. Something as small as a compliment or a text can help change someone’s mood completely. A true leader will always value connection over completion. My past situation does not define where I am going, but has given me the strength and knowledge to grow into the woman I am today.

My mother does everything by herself. I have 2 siblings: one in Pre-k and one in middle school. Financially, things for my family have been difficult. The word “debt” and the many “we can’t afford that” statements have stressed me out and caused me to grow up quickly. Since August, I have been working 2 jobs to help support my family while maintaining my sports and school obligations. There are many days when I go to work in the morning, go to school, go to practice, then go to work again. I have had many late nights which resulted in me being fatigued, but I have maintained straight A grades. I always remind myself that even though my situation is tough, it could always be much worse. I am thankful to have my family by my side while we are dealing with this, and I know that we will make it to the other side. My whole senior summer I anxiously waited for the new chapter of my life to begin. I imagined my senior year would be filled with football games, late nights, and total fun. I didn’t know my senior year would instead be filled with work, stress, and at times crying. My work ethic is strong, but the weight of my personal situation brought me down for a while. Instead of allowing my situation to deter me, I used every opportunity to use my senior year to set my future on the right path. I never knew that I would have to become a “provider” for myself and my family during my senior year, but it has shown me that I am strong and can accomplish anything. Since I can remember, I have wanted to go into the law field. My uncle is a lawyer, so I have always looked up to him. I want to be a lawyer because I value my constitutional rights and I want to ensure that others do as well. Though I am not sure exactly what I want to major in, I know that I want to take whatever I do into the law field. I have the skills needed for this type of career; the ability to overcome adversity, critical thinking skills, compassion, and other valuable skills. My goal is to be an inspiration for the colored girls and boys of my community. I remember second-guessing my career at one point because I wasn’t sure if someone like me would be able to succeed in it. I want every colored girl and boy to know that their dreams are attainable if they work hard. If I had someone as an example, I feel as if I would have never had a doubt as to what my possibilities could be. I know that I can be that for them - I just need to be able to afford it. I start college soon, which is way more expensive than the things that we already must pay for. I will be attending Spelman College, my dream school, in the Fall. This scholarship will help me not only pay for my education but succeed at my educational institution. I know I can change the world, and I hope that you see this, too.

Serving people does not just help them, it empowers them. Growing up, I lacked self-esteem. I did not know how to use the voice that was so graciously given to me. I often let people walk all over me, and even though I did not like it, I let it happen because I was too scared to express my emotions. I did not want to upset anyone. As I reached high school, I realized that this lifestyle was not fun. I needed to make a change, I needed to stand up for myself. Navigating how to get rid of my habits was hard through high school, but now I have gained what I lacked. One thing that has helped me to gain my voice is my passion for the law field. As far back as I can remember I have always been interested in law. My uncle is a lawyer and has always been an inspiration. I have always been in awe of the dignity that he has as a servant for the community. This aspect has always made me want to go that route when I reached that moment in life. Law has helped me to use my voice by gaining the skills that I would need as a lawyer. I know that to serve my community the best, I would need empathy, compassion, and a strong will. Also, law has helped me to better serve my community. I believe that service is important for many reasons. I am highly active in my school because giving back to the things that have excelled you matters so much. This year, I had the opportunity to work at my local Probate Court and intern with a lawyer in my city. Through both experiences I learned that not many people look like me in many of our most important positions, a woman and black. I want to use my law degree to not only give back, but to show society that people of color and women belong in our court systems. Though my uncle was lawyer, I never saw many black female lawyers in my area. It was rare to see. I know that my story will not only empower people but help them to realize that their dreams can come true. I know that somewhere in the world there is a girl who is just like my past self. My goal is to empower her, wherever she is, and let her know that she can do anything that she sets her mind to.

Covid was not the end, but the start of a new me. When Covid started, I lost myself. I could not go out, which led to me being consumed by my thoughts all day. I became depressed. I did not know what or who to look to, because I felt so lonely, but something that changed my life was revealed to me. From mid-covid of 2020 on I started to seek God. I realized that I am not worthless and was made perfect in His eyes. I was not what the world told me I was, but who He told me I was. As time went on, He revealed to me that my gift was to speak and be of servitude. Being bold in my faith was hard, especially as a teenager. I feared that I would receive backlash, but as God says, we should not care about what man has to say but what He has to say. To reach others I knew that I would have to meet them where they were. During my last cheer season, I advocated to start a bible study on Mondays. My idea for this was to have a safe place for my teammates to talk and learn more about Jesus. It was approved and was remarkably successful. It was genuinely amazing to see my teammates engaging in discussions that were not happening in other areas of their lives. It was not just about God; it was about being there for each other. Being on a team is about trust, and that is what we strived for. I can genuinely say that my best friends were made on the team during those Monday night sessions. Eventually, the bible studies became something that carried outside of practice. Many of the girls that first were doubtful of God became leaders for others. I never knew that my faith would take me so far. In serving Him, I realized that my role is to serve others. All this goes to show that sometimes the wildest ideas can come true. We never know how our thoughts can be a help to others, even when they seem unpractical. Through my journey, I learned sometimes we fall, but God will always pick us up. People see our light and follow in search of the same joy that we emit. Following my faith has led many people to Him. The biggest accomplishment I have gotten from my service was not people coming to God but making lifelong friends in the process. I know that my purpose is servicing my community and being there for everybody.

I remember looking at myself and hating what I saw. When I was in middle school, I suffered from acne. Realistically everyone did, but it felt like I was the only person with those huge bulges on my forehead. I was embarrassed, ashamed, and frightful. Of what you may ask? That no one would like me because of what I could not control. It was a terrible feeling. Every night I would be googling “how to get rid of acne” on my phone. I was surely making things worse by trying every remedy there was on the planet. FYI, none of them worked. When it was time for me to go to high school, I went to my mom and told her that I was uncomfortable going with my...situation. That summer she took me to the dermatologist, and things got better. I was put on doxycycline and my skin cleared, only for a while. When COVID hit, I stopped taking my medicine because we could not get it. I was back to square one, insecurity. When things eased up a bit we went back to the dermatologist and was prescribed Accutane. It was life-changing. Nowadays, I have my confidence back and a clear face to go with it. The thing I learned from my experience with acne is that POC has different skin types than most people. Genetically, our skin is made with other chemicals. Most of the time, the people used for research for skin products are non-POC, which is non-inclusive. Through trying every remedy there is, I noticed that there were barely any people who looked like me, a black girl, doing the reviews. When doing some research, I noticed that there were barely any dermatologists that specialized in darker skin. This sparked something in me. I wanted to be the person that could cater to the POC community on a level that other people would not be able to understand. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to major in biology to be able to accomplish this. Medicine saved me, and I wanted it to be able to save others, too. This scholarship will help me help others by providing financial relief. I come from a single-parent household, and we have an expected contribution of $0 for college. Like my mother, I work two jobs to be able to support the extracurricular activities that I participate in. It is hard not to, but sometimes I worry about the troubles that college will bring because of the price. The money will be an immense help in supporting my education.

My dream goal is to help represent POC in the health industry or through law. This is my dream because people of color are often under-represented and looked down upon. I want to be the change of the world.