This scholarship seemed to catch my attention simply because of the title as the road less traveled. In a black family, college is always seen as the road less traveled since not many of us make it that far let alone graduate and get somewhere in life. I plan on being the first kid in my family to go to college and that alone has been the struggle of a lifetime. When I decided how I wanted to answer this, I knew there was only one real truth to it. I am passionate about life in the future and where it will lead. I was always dreaming of going to college but I was told that things like this were outlandish for someone like me. I've had my fair share of struggles especially recently with losing my favorite person in the world, my grandma, and my entire inspiration for making it out of this cycle. She was the center of my universe along with God and she made me believe the unbelievable about myself. She is what inspired me to look to the future and not sulk about the past because you can't change what's happened, you can only learn from it. Losing her made life feel like a huge boulder on my back. I stopped doing schoolwork, slacking on my attendance, hanging with the wrong crowd, and even contemplating if I should still be here. I realized now that maybe this was just a sign I had to want things even more now for her and myself. Since then I have overcome many obstacles in life which most recently being a car accident that resulted in me having to learn to walk all over again and a lawsuit I placed against the FWISD school district regarding the lack of female support in sports. I wanted to start a rugby team in high schools in Fort Worth but my goals were set aside and ignored by the men of power. One thing my grandma taught me is that you have to speak up to be heard so that's what I did. I and my coach hired a few lawyers and contributors to help with my case and about a week ago we heard that our case was made official. I know I am just a young adult with not much power and I will not cease to use the little power I do have. I believe the next best step for me is to see where this lawsuit takes me while also still pursuing college so that I can finally receive a degree in psychology. I know my story probably isn't much different from a lot of other black kids in the world but the truth is I believe my story will hold one of the best in history leading into the future and it will be heard. I own this story and it's mine to carry because I am made of these memories.

My greatest inspiration in life is myself. I have lived through things a lot of kids my age probably wouldn’t have. I don’t say this to sound cocky but because now I understand self worth and self love. As a child, I was in and out of the hospital because I was going blind after an accident when I was two. I went through 8 surgeries from the time i was 2 till I was 10. When I was 15, I was hit by a driver who was on drugs. I was protecting my 6 year old sister and that resulted in me being struck. I had broken my entire left side including my femur and fibula. I went through 3 surgeries and was hospitalized for 2 weeks. I had to learn how to walk and stand and things even 1 year olds could easily do. This lead to me missing out on school and work and then the medical bills began to pile up because I needed so many types of surgery. My entire life everyone has considered me a top kid but myself. I beat myself up for a lot of things because I wanted to prove that no matter my background, I could be good enough. I’ve always tried to be good enough but after realizing I overcame so much as a kid, I am good enough. Not many people would risk their life for someone or even survive things like being hit by a car but I did. I grew up in apartments with 4 siblings and my mother. I am the oldest so my job has always been to help and make sure they were happy. My mom worked all day and al night so I was responsible for everyone. I dropped sports, whiz quiz, student council, etc. for them and college is my way of getting something back. If i attend college I will be the first in my family and as an African American girl that means something. Society thinks all girls my age will be pregnant by 15 and high school drop outs working at McDonalds. I never want to be that girl because I have so many people depending on me. So when asked what drives me, my family drives me, society drives me, being the first drives me, but most importantly I drive myself.

Hi My name is Ja’Quesha and I recently was in a car accident that resulted in my breaking my entire left side. I went through multiple surgeries that left me depressed and defeated. A few weeks ago I hit my lowest point in life and I thought I wouldn’t make it and I realized that I wasn’t scared of dying but instead I feared not seeing Heaven. I always grew up in church but I was that kid who slept through most of the service. My godparents are known in the congregation. I always felt like such a let down for them. I started to distance myself from them and turning to social media and making friends. It was honestly the biggest help in finding my faith. I recently found this app Yubo where I would watch people go live and have christian debates and discussions about the raptures. After about a week I joined a smaller live of 3 people and slowly became friends with them. I eventually felt guilt because they were so sure in their faith and I didn’t even own a bible. One of the girls I became friends with realized I was disappearing and I decided to explain to her that I felt like a lukewarm christian and I felt unworthy of Gods love. She asked me to join what they called A Midnight Ministry. There was only 6 of us in the live and they began to show me scriptures from The Bible and documents about people who felt the way I did. I felt as if that was a sign that I truly wasn’t alone and I could change if I really wanted to. I struggled with finding my self worth and they helped me understand that in order to live myself I have to live God so he can show me the way and the path. Christianity has always been the one thing I have when there seems like I have nothing. I’m sure there are going to be other applicants that tell there story much better than me. Some of them might even have a better relationship with God than me. The reason I chose to tell my story is because it’s a story I have only shared with God and I feel as this is my way of honoring my relationship with him and showing how far he has brought me. I’m not the perfect christian or even close but I am one that is changing because of him. Who knows if I would still be here today if I had not found my faith. I was a girl that was only known for almost dying, a mistake, lukewarm christian, sinner, but God saw me in the way I desperately desired and he showed me my path. That I will forever be thankful to Him for.

This is my cat, Nala, and she’s my best friend. Growing up I was a dog lover because they were free and that’s the way I saw myself. That was until in 2019 when a woman struck me with her car. I broke my entire left side and felt as if I could no longer be free, that was until i received Nala. I named her after the lioness in The Lion King, my favorite Disney movie. Nala has gotten me through so many things and that’s why I chose her as my submission.