My name is Heaven Marks, I am a 20-year-old Cybersecurity Student in the US Navy Reserve, with dreams of funding a Non-Profit After-School Program. First, I want to thank you for the opportunity of allowing me to apply for this scholarship. I admire the strength and love it takes to create a scholarship in memory of someone you love who has passed. Destiny McClain will continue to live on as a giving and generous person, my heart goes out to the family for the pain endeared. Not only has this scholarship presented me with a personal opportunity, but it has also spread awareness of Destiny’s story and who she was in life. I have forwarded her story to a podcast called Crime Junkie in hopes of it spreading more awareness of her case and possibly directing donations toward the scholarship fund. Again, thank you for this amazing and selfless opportunity you have presented to me and others. Creating an After-School Program for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students in underprivileged areas is my way of making a positive impact on the world. This program would provide clothing, food, tutoring, teach a trade in Technology, and provide scholarships. My goal is to offer a sanctuary of safety where we teach profitable skills to keep kids off the streets. As I grew up, I saw how often my peers turned to gangs simply because they were hungry. When you take away the need for survival by providing security in food, clothes, and money, the incentive to join a gang decreases. Furthermore, a lot of students in underprivileged areas tend to have mental health issues or neurodevelopment disorders that lead to teachers misdiagnosing them as behavioral problems. This leads to students being removed from teaching environments and punished for things they’re not given the tools to understand, needless to say, control. By employing therapists and doctors to occasionally come in and assist students, a pathway is created to give these students the chance to manage and control these disorders. Students in these areas tend to struggle with the process of applying to college, a goal of the program would be to provide assistance with applying to FAFSA, grants, and scholarships to open opportunities. Furthermore, by giving them an opportunity to participate in hobbies, the program would build their student resume for better external opportunities. Elaborating on hobbies, the hope is to be able to sponsor students in after-school activities. Growing up, I played orchestra but didn’t have the money to rent my instrument like my other peers. I also didn’t have money for travel concert opportunities or field trips. By creating a scholarship fund, I could assist students in paying for the opportunity to participate in these extracurricular activities. I hope through the hard work it'll take to create this program that it helps at least one student. It would need time, resources, volunteers, and community organization, but it will be worth it if it inspires and touches the heart of at least one student.

Personal wellness looks different for everyone, for me it’s having a way to release stress and anxiety. I have found weightlifting and jiu-jitsu to be beneficial. I maintain a consistent schedule, weightlifting 3 times a week and attending jiu-jitsu classes twice a week. However, personal wellness is more than just physical exercise, for me it’s a consistent and meaningful self-care routine. Once a week, I pamper and maintain myself. I do a deep conditioning treatment on my curls, style my hair for the week, exfoliate my body, wax, and do an at-home hydro facial. Treating myself to this routine is something I look forward to all week. I put on an affirmation podcast, meditate, listen to an audiobook, and most importantly, I don’t study that day! This day is about a full body reset, that includes my mind. Most importantly, I take time to journal, go over any exercises my therapist recommends, and I log all the things I am grateful for that week. Maintaining the ability to appreciate what's happening in my life not only aids me in enjoying my present, it helps me maintain a positive outlook on life. Not only does this consistent routine assist me in winding down and washing the stress of the week off my body, but it also prepares me for the week ahead. Treating myself each week motivates me to continue pushing forward during the week and after a hard week of studying and focusing, I feel that I deserve this time off. This full body rest is about prioritizing my mental health, burnout is a very real thing, especially as a full-time student, full-time employee, part-time Navy sailor, and dog mom. I have a lot on my plate in just one week, time-management has truly aided me in staying organized, and consistent, and lowering my stress. I allot time to relax, time to sleep properly, and even time to scroll on TikTok! Building breaks into my daily routine has lowered the likelihood of getting sidetracked from studying. Maintaining this personal wellness is key to loving yourself, rewarding yourself, and lowering your stress. I often feel I get so overwhelmed with succeeding, I forget to actually take care of myself. Through consistent therapy, I have found a way to stop making my expectations for myself too high and learned the value a day off can have. Now, I start my week off with a clear mind, confident in myself, and ready to take on any challenges my busy schedule may throw at me. I have set realistic goals for myself, I have a consistent study schedule I abide by, and now I don’t experience burnout so I am able to finish my semesters out strong instead of losing speed at the end.

My mother was a single mother, who identified as lesbian. I grew up with 4 younger siblings and unfortunately, my mother did not have a stable lesbian relationship. Often there would be women in and out of the house, often ending treacherously after a build-up of anger and childhood trauma making it difficult to properly communicate. Through this, I never realized the struggles socially my mother was experiencing in addition to relationship issues. As a child, I didn’t understand the lack of acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. I failed to understand why my mother and I were kicked out of a church, why our pride flags would disappear from our yard, and why my mother’s family didn’t speak to her. Through the hate I’ve seen my mother experience, she never failed me as a mother. She absorbed the hatred of so many people, I find it impossible now that she could put a smile on her face. Looking back, my mother being a lesbian made me an amazing human. She taught me that happiness comes before anything else. She taught me to love and accept others for who they are. Most importantly, she taught me unconditional love. She showed me that when you choose happiness and love, the rest will figure itself out. She made her own family, people who have been in her life and mine to the fullest capacity, more than I can say for her biological family. While she only temporarily found love in a woman she married in Chicago before it was legal in Arkansas, she experienced love from so many other people I think that’s how she continued to push herself. Growing up seeing unhealthy lesbian relationships, I often thought that it would negatively impact my ability to love in the future. As an adult, I see now that it is very difficult for young single mothers, especially in the LGBTQ+ community, to find long-term partners because of the commitment it takes to raise kids. My mother made many sacrifices for me and my siblings, including putting aside romantic relationships after her marriage failed. This experience showed me one thing, do not be with those that cannot show unconditional love to the people you love in life. My mother faced adversity, not only from the community she lived in but from her own family. She was kicked out of churches, her house and car vandalized, and her parents banned certain kids from being able to play with hers, however despite experiencing so much hate, she embraced her happiness, and love, and stood for her beliefs. She influenced me to stand up for those who have no one standing on her side. I plan to take those life lessons with me and thoughtfully implement them into every action I take. Currently, my plan for the future is to provide an after-school program for underrepresented children, specifically in the LGBTQ+ community. This program will help marginalized students out of abusive homes, alleviate suicide rates in young LGBTQ+ kids, and create opportunities for them to go to university or trade school and succeed in life despite the hate they may experience. Passing on this unconditional love to generations to come is my ultimate goal for my community.

My name is Heaven Marks, I am the oldest of 9, raised in two separate households, one with a single mother, and the other with my father and stepmother. While the more the merrier seems to be the thought process most have when I tell them about my family dynamic, the struggles of instability and insecurity this led to are often overshadowed. I would live on and off between my two families, often having to switch schools when crossing state lines, which led to me losing friends, lacking the ability to make friends, and being the outcast at my schools. Furthermore, my step-family was white, this led to my biggest childhood insecurity, the color of my skin. Unfortunately, when living with my father, no one knew how to take care of my hair, I was the only one who needed lotion, and I overall was neglected when it came to things others found beauty in. While my step-sister was able to have her hair done in the mornings, I went to school with 4+ month-old box braids or matted curls. I conflated my stepmother’s lack of ability to take care of my hair with my hair being ugly. With my hair, led to my skin, I had eczema no one knew how to take care of and was obviously much darker compared to my step-sister, somehow, I equated that to my Black skin wasn’t beautiful. This deeply rooted insecurity grew worse as my constant instability and lack of friends further isolated me. It wasn’t until I got to Houston, TX with my mother where I stayed for 2 years, that I learned how to love myself and my Blackness. I immersed myself in the Black community by volunteering in soup kitchens, cleaning up communities, and offering free tutoring to younger students. I took the opportunity to fully immerse myself in my culture and embraced the love and struggle my people had. I discovered a community of people who adopted Black children and didn’t know how to do their hair. It started off with me showing my neighbor, then my neighbor's friend, next thing you know, I had a group chat of non-Black parents with Black children and I was giving them advice. I built a safe community to ask questions, referred them to hairstylists, advised on products, and taught and educated people about hair types, routine, and most importantly, love. I taught them to compliment their children’s curls, even when they weren’t “done” so that they learned to love their hair regardless of its state. Even though I no longer reside in Houston, TX, I would love the opportunity to create a new community in Dallas, TX in the future. While I am not a hairstylist, the insecurity I felt as a child is something I feel so strongly about I plan on trying to create a community of a similar magnitude, just to help the community. I took my insecurity, found something to love in my insecurity, then taught others not only how to not perpetuate the insecurity into their children, but also how to do their hair. Inadvertently, through teaching non-Black people how to do Black hair, I taught them Black culture. Our culture is so ingrained in our hair from Black hair stores, hairstylists, AAVE when speaking, and music playing while getting hair done, they took in Black culture that they could teach and embrace with their children. The impact I had on families becoming closer and children becoming confident and embracing their Blacknesss, stays with me forever.

My name is Heaven Marks and I am attending Western Governors University for Cybersecurity and Information Assurance. I am currently a reservist in the US Navy as an Intelligence Specialist. Unfortunately, reservists are part-time in the military, therefore they are not eligible for tuition coverage. I am a first-generation student and the oldest of 9. I work hard to set an example for my younger siblings and hopefully gain enough financial stability to be able to assist them through college. My family is poor, and I gained valuable skills learning how to figure it out, I don’t want my siblings to struggle like I did. I graduated high school a year early, completing high school in 3 years with a 3.8 GPA and 18 college credits I obtained through a free dual-enrollment program. I joined the reserve at 17, obtained an E5 ranking at 20 years old, and studied abroad in London, United Kingdom. A very good friend of mine co-signed on a 40k student loan for me to be able to attend London Metropolitan University, where I studied Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics and joined the Diversity Abroad Team as a spokesperson. I got to talk to hundreds of students thinking about moving to the United Kingdom from all over the world and offered mentorship for students. Unfortunately, I moved when the economy was depleting, jobs were hard to find, and strikes were occurring daily. To my dismay, I had to return back to the United States after a year abroad because it wasn't financially viable. Although the experience was short-lived, experiencing life outside of the United States was the most exhilarating experience and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity I had. This scholarship would give me the opportunity to pay off a substantial amount of my loan. My goal would be to use the loan to pay my payments for the next 4 years, which would be approximately $2000, then use the rest to pay off a large flat rate of the loan so that I can pay off some of the loans without having to pay the interest on it. Easing the anxiety of payment for the next few years would allow me to focus on applying to internships, my first technology job, and finishing my degree and certificates. Thankfully I am attending a college that not only is self-paced but also provides certificates in the tuition. Having this scholarship will allow me to not need to work and enable me to dedicate time to my degree enabling me to finish my degree faster. I’ve had a job since I was 14, but I’ve never gotten the opportunity to truly “only” be a student. This scholarship will aid me to be one step closer to only being a full-time student as it’s one less bill I have to worry about working to pay for. I would use the extra money to save and stretch longer to not have to work as many hours. I could take the money from an internship opportunity to save for when I won't have an internship so that I don’t constantly have to be in the process of working, which may limit my opportunity for other internships if it’s a job that won’t allow large amounts of time off. Knowing that I would be one step closer to financial freedom would inspire me to keep going and working towards my goal of not only financial freedom but also the ability to support some of my siblings in a way I didn't have growing up.

I am the oldest of 9 and grew up alongside my teenage parents. Setting a great example for my siblings motivates me to work hard to show them, someone who grew up in the same way can succeed and make a life they can be proud of. I’ve worked hard my whole life, I got a job at 14, graduated a year early from high school, and joined the military at 17. This gave me valuable skills in leadership and dedication. I created my own doors when none opened, inspiring my siblings to fight for the life they want. Every day, I try to show my siblings life gets better with hard work. I want to eventually own a non-profit after-school program in an underprivileged area. This program would provide a safe space for students, especially racial minority and LGBTQ+ students, and would encourage mental health and abuse advocacy. I want the program to provide food, clean clothes, therapists, skills in the Technology industry, and scholarships for college. Giving back to students like me is the ultimate goal I hope to achieve. Not only would the program be teaching them valuable hard skills and keep them away from violence, but it would also reduce the suicide rate by providing access to therapists and space to express themselves. Growing up feeling alone, not having access to food, or clean clothes put me in a depressive state that took years to correct, if I can help at least one student, I feel that the pain I went through could be worth it. STEM is an ever-growing field, full of job security, change, improvements, and more. It’s a field that doesn’t look the same after 10 years and it requires constant learning, which motivates me because I can not only contribute to the field, I will always have something to do. I will always need to learn, further my skills, and improve myself, eliminating the possibility of getting bored in my field. My experience in the military introduced me to the intelligence field and eventually, I found Cyber intelligence, a branch related to Cybersecurity. Although I’m only a Reservist, my limited experience in the area created an interest that never disappeared. I researched the importance of Cybersecurity and how I could impact the world. While a basic use of Cybersecurity is a customer privacy protection and website security, I found a smaller sector of Cybersecurity I would love to explore, Digital Footprint in Anti-Human Trafficking Tactics. Creating cyber tools that could help prevent human trafficking would be an amazing way to protect the women and children trafficked every day across the globe. The many areas technology can be applied to create a never-ending passion to find a way for me to apply my skills to a cause I feel strongly about. Furthermore, developing skills in technology will enable me to pass on these skills to children in the after-school program I am passionate about starting one day. Both anti-human trafficking and an after-school program are small ways I can impact the world. I want to motivate others to not only give back to others but use their passions to help them aid others. I feel as though my childhood was the hardest thing I has to overcome. So often, people limit their experience and life growing up as the limit to their life. Overcoming the negative mindset that my future can only be what my childhood allowed was hard, but important for me to be able to grow. I experienced poverty, abuse, and starvation. It’s hard to imagine myself being able to have a 6-figure job one day when my parents' goal for me was not to be a teenage mother. Neither of my parents went to college and my mother still doesn't have a GED. The thought of a daughter to teenage parents growing up in the hood actually making it out and succeeding in a field in STEM sounded unrealistic, at least with my previous mindset. I realized very quickly there were opportunities out there. The biggest difficulty I had was realizing growing up poor, limited me in so many ways, even obtaining scholarships. Scholarships want people with extracurricular activities, involvement in sports, and involvement in the school. But I went to more than 20 schools and had a job at 14 making it hard for me to participate in extracurricular activities, and sports costs money and time I didn't have. The window seemed to grow small until I looked outside of it. I applied for FAFSA, got government loans I didn’t need a co-signer for, and found a college that has one of the cheapest tuition rates in the USA, Western Governors University. I even joined the military, but being a reservist, I only receive $400 in education aid a month. Whether or not I feel that it is fair how hard I worked to put myself through school, what’s important is that I overcame obstacles, found new ways to succeed, and made my own future.

I grew up in a broken family, born to two teenage parents, my experience is one of trauma. I often look back at the life I’ve lived and when I share that past with others, I’m often met with sympathy and “I’m glad you came out okay.” Honestly, the definition of “okay” is varied and who is the person who gets to decide that definition? Ultimately, I am the one who gets to say if I turned out okay, and while I know life could have been worse, I work every day to let go of behaviors as an adult that are the result of my childhood trauma. I struggled for the longest with my anger, sadness, and surprisingly, maturity. I think in this world, everyone expects anger and sadness from troubled childhoods, but maturity, but no one talks about the children forced to mature just to say alive. My family often jokes I am 20 going on 25, but that statement in and of itself is just a reminder I never got to be a child. I’ve worked since I was 14, joined the military at 17, and moved out shortly after that. My whole education experience was me making good grades because I knew it was the only way out. I was a straight-A honor student from middle school through high school, took college classes my Senior year, and graduated a year early. When I applied for scholarships and grants and got nothing, I realized how limited further education is in the United States of America. I worked so hard throughout school and when I was met with disappointment, I picked myself up, joined the military, and found something else to achieve. I learned discipline, gained a new skill in Intelligence collection, and was able to give myself time to plan out my future. My experiences have led me to believe that where we come from doesn't determine our future, our obstacles may alter our life, but it’s never impossible to find another way. I gained a passion for intelligence and data collection which manifested into Cybersecurity focusing on threat intelligence, I could've never done that without the military. Throughout the changes and obstacles I’ve faced, I realized that limited education for children and young adults is a vital issue that needs to be addressed. In a country where a degree is required, higher education should be free and accessible. Children are not able to choose for their parents to go to college, get a degree, and make money in a profitable field. My goal is to get a degree in Cybersecurity, then open a non-profit after-school program for high schoolers in underprivileged areas. This program would not only give them time to be children, access to mental health counselors, and food, it would also teach them the basics of trade and hopefully provide scholarships to assist them in achieving a degree after high school. I can’t say that I wouldn’t change my childhood because it made me who I am today, but I will say I wouldn’t change how I persevered and fought to be where I am today with the passion for succeeding in the future. There’s no secret to pushing through hardship, I wish I had mental health aid and less financial stress about school on my shoulder to guide me through my experience. I hope no one ever has to feel as hopeless as I did growing up and I know my after-school program could make a difference in someone’s life.

I was born to two teenage parents, 14 and 16, and practically grew up alongside my parents. I couldn’t help the anger that grew within me as a child. My father and mother were never officially together, but my father did marry another woman. Contrary to what one might think, I was not angry at my father for marrying, I was angry at his ability to be the father to his step-daughter whom he never was for me. I experienced instability from moving between my parents across states, one year I’d live in Arkansas with my mother, and the next year in Oklahoma with my dad. It was during the time I lived with my mother, my father would abandon me. I didn't receive random calls, visits, or even his presence during the father-daughter dance at my school. It was during these critical moments of longing for my father that I started to experience anger. I became jealous of the attention my step-sister received from my father, I hated how I didn’t feel good enough for my father. To this day, he's never apologized, all I get is the excuse “The phone works both ways”. Although it shouldn’t be the child's responsibility to call their parent, I did, but never got an answer or callback, for that, my father remains silent on excuses. This growing resentment for the life I had only increased the more turbulent my life became. My mother dropped me off at my father's, leaving me with him for two years. The way my family describes it, she dropped me off smelling of weed, crying, and non-verbal. This abandonment still lives within me today. I suffer from abandonment issues, which makes developing friendships and romantic relationships difficult. I work hard in therapy to reverse the damage I’ve sustained as a child. As I got older, I displayed signs of anger issues with outbursts of frustration when feeling unheard. I punched holes in the wall and hit myself to prevent myself from yelling and screaming. Usually, I would be silent in my tantrums, confining my emotions to myself. This is still an issue as I often go silent, only to have major outbursts when I’ve bottled emotions for too long. As my life became more unstable, I eventually moved into the care of my mother’s mom, I thought this would help end the fight my parents always had about me and my living situation, despite never consulting my opinions. This move provided stability in a physically abusive household, my parents never knew because I didn’t want to be blamed or deal with another custody battle. This led to my first suicide attempt. I took a whole bottle of Benadryl. This day is blurry for me, I was never taken to a hospital but I vaguely remember hallucinating, Either way, I woke up with throw up all over myself in the bed. I remember waking up, taking a shower, washing my sheets, and going back to sleep like it never happened. I ignored it for years, never telling anyone until very recently. The lack of fear of death and disappointment I had when I woke up is a straining emotion to have, especially at 8. Yes, my first suicide attempt happened at 8 years old. I look at my 8-year-old sibling now and couldn’t imagine such a little thing having those thoughts. I tend to hold her a little longer and tell her she’s worth it as if it'll heal the pain I had at 8. Eventually, life had me living with my mother again, after a court battle, and police removed me from school to enforce the custody arrangement. I still experienced anger, sadness, abandonment issues, and suicidal ideation. She had moved us to Houston, TX, the time in my life I acted on every impulse decision. While I maintained straight As and got a job at 14, I also partied, skipped school, and wouldn't come home for days. I started neglecting myself, just to run away from the anger I felt. When my attendance hit 38 absences, I snuck away from my mothers, got on a flight, and moved back to my father in Oklahoma at 16. I finished high school a year early at 17, joined the Navy Reserve, and moved out of my family’s home. Part of me is jealous that other people my age are still living at home, saving up money, and embracing their parents' care. However, through all the things I’ve been through in life, I’ve persevered. Everything I have in life, I’ve worked hard for, dedicated time, and gained skills to achieve. I’ve found my path in life, and my happiness, and learned from my parents' mistakes to know what life I want. I’ve found a way to not let my past dictate my future, and for that, I am thankful to still be here today. I now believe that life does get better and I work hard to finish my degree in Cybersecurity so that I can provide the future I want for myself. A career I’m passionate about, financial stability, and access to mental health care, are the building blocks to a stable life I can be proud of. Through everything I’ve experienced, I believe mental health for children, especially those in unstable homes, should be free and accessible. Schools should have mental health professionals to help guide those emotions so that they don’t manifest into dangerous habits. Children are vulnerable every day they experience abuse, more money needs to be directed to mental health, parental care, and child services, and public college education should be free and accessible so students who grow up in abusive and poor families don’t have to relive their trauma in an essay to get money for a degree they need to get a career.