Being the daughter of a veteran has definitely influenced my mindset when I consider my future and career. While I know a lot of veterans and people who are still in the armed services, it has always been special to me to know that my dad himself once served. My dad enlisted in the Air Force in the late 1990's. He was nobody special--just a computer tech who made it to Senior Airman and then honorably discharged in the early 2000's. While he got out of the military before I was born, a treasured part of my childhood and early adulthood was hearing his stories. One of the first things I remember noticing about him was that he always wore his dog tags. I would ask him what they were, and he would tell me, and then I would ask him what they were for--and he would tell me that he wore them in the Air Force so that people could identify him. This perplexed me, but I admired it. I always used to ask to look at them, just so I could read his name and see that they were really his, and I would imagine what an important man he must have been that people needed to always know who he was. His stories weren't wild, looking back, but they were incredible to me as a kid. He would talk about having to clean sand out of the computers all the time, and seeing the giant camel spiders that lived in Kuwait, and seeing the oil burning, and surviving boot camp--and I was hooked. On rare occasions he would even share pictures from when he was in the service, and I would ask to see them again and again. It was a mystery to me that my dad had once lived a whole different life, one where he wore a special uniform and had adventures. I didn't realize until years later how much this had impacted me. As I grew up, my interest in the military burgeoned, and living in a Navy town meant that I was surrounded by more and more service members (who told me more stories), as well as by military aircraft (which fascinated me beyond words). As I entered middle school, my love for storytelling and the military merged, and most of the pieces I wrote soon involved the Navy, the Air Force, or both. I wished I could serve as my dad once had, but for some reason, I thought it was out of my reach. I didn't think I could be anything like him. So my aspirations were limited to stories, where I could be anything I wanted and create characters who understood how I felt. It wasn't until starting college that I realize that I could truly, actually join if I wanted to. I could live in the adventures my dad had seen, and beyond that, serve my country and make a difference. I have always been bound by the need for a purpose--something greater, something bigger than myself--and the desire to plunge head-first into whatever gets me there. Now I stand halfway through my junior year of film school, having applied to join the Navy and waiting to hear back. God only knows where I'm going, but wherever I end up--in the film industry or in the military--I know my father's willingness to serve our country, even before I was born, is what will be at the forefront of whatever I do.

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved stories. They captivated me as a child, and I spent hours every day reading, watching, and listening to them. I started writing at the age of five or six and became obsessed with cameras at around eight. When I finally received a camera of my own, I couldn't put it down. I was always documenting things, creating scenes and stories, never missing a moment. Eventually, after upgrading to a DSLR years later and moving toward writing a novel, it became clear to me that my interests weren't going anywhere. I wanted to make movies. I wanted to impact people, to bring life to the stories in my head and use them to help people think deeper about what it means to live and love and grow. What was more, I also wanted to build relationships with the actors and crew who make the movies possible. I believe every story, every job, every moment has a reason. That reason isn't always at the surface, staring us in the face, waving a bright flag--but it is waiting to be seen. And I sincerely believe there is a reason I have been made a visual storyteller. I don't know what it is yet, but my hope is that time will tell. By the time I graduated high school, I was recording my homeschool co-op's concerts, convocations, and more. When I graduated and was no longer marching in the drumline, I walked the parades with them in order to capture videos of the unit. Over the course of my gap year, my parents encouraged me to find the right college and the right degree to pursue, and, offhand, mentioned filmmaking. I jumped at that; it was perfect. I could finally make my dreams of making stories come true, and this time people would actually see them. Thus, after much prayer and consideration, I chose to attend Regent University's Film & Television program. The path has not been easy. In every way, it has been complicated, time-consuming, and more challenging than I had ever imagined it would be. But I have met the most incredible people, and I have realized I am not alone in this world of creativity--in an art where imagination meets specialized, practical skills. School has impacted me for the better: I have spent countless hours learning all the cameras, rigs, lights, and other gear available to me, and I consistently teach my friends and others how to use that same equipment. I specialize in the Steadicam, and I hope to be able to take a formal class in order to better operate and teach it. The path I hope to take is that of becoming a camera operator, while at the same time writing some personal projects that I hope to one day direct and submit to festivals. This scholarship would help me considerably toward accomplishing that goal. Finishing school and getting that degree will help me get jobs, and having money to go towards school means that I will have more money later to formally train on the Steadicam and other equipment after graduation. This, in turn, will make it easier for me to become certified and apply for still more jobs. All in all, I hope that one day, the stories I tell will challenge people to make themselves and each other better. This scholarship can help make that happen. I would sincerely appreciate your consideration of my application.