Have you ever experienced financial hardship and been almost unable to return to school? When your biggest aspiration in life was to be the first in your family to get a college degree? That was me. I was her. I conducted so much research to just be able to grab that degree. Finish school and be able to accomplish this goal. But one person made it possible. Chekemma Townsend. That name will forever hold a special place in my heart. I was almost unable to return to school this fall due to a pass bill. It was hard. I cried, I called everyone I could, and I applied to as many scholarships as possible. But it didn't seem possible at all. Until I researched "nonprofit organizations" in the city of Philadelphia. I happened to stumble upon the organization "Big Brother, Big Sister." I went through a lot of digging and reached out to almost the whole board of Big Brother, Big Sister. She was the only person to reach back out to me, her whole team reached out to me. I wanted to cry real tears for her just taking the time out to listen to my story. It felt different, it was like the universe knew and understood I needed this lady to help navigate me with my life. President Townsend is the president of the Hamilton Family Trust Fund which I had no idea about. Although they only supported non profit organizations, she used her own money to help me continue my education. But also stayed in contact with me, and navigated me through life. The world became so much easier, it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I didn't understand the impact she was going to make for me until I realized she made an impact on me years before we got in contact. President Towsend knew my name already, she was the president of the Philadelphia Youth Network for over five years. I interned under the Philadelphia Youth Network through Bank of America and she specifically selected these students every year while working with PYN. We laughed about this and talked about how small the world was. She impacted my life early on without me knowing because that internship was the start of a plethora of internships that came after. The result of this impact not only came with being able to continue my education, but being able to graduate. Being able to create a change with my degree. But most importantly being able to create a connection that will last me a lifetime.

Winning this essay means I am setting the tone in my neighborhood. Growing up in Philadelphia a stereotype is already placed on you. “ A black girl from a lower income neighborhood, trying to beat these stereotypes.” But most young girls my age get stuck in this stereotype because they start believing what everyone tells them. But I was one of the few who broke this stereotype, and this scholarship will help me further my education. My goal is to attend law school, create scholarships targeted to lower-income communities, start a non-profit organization called “ Big Sisters “, open up a recreation center, and eventually become a US Senator. Attending law school will help me pursue a career in civil law and I’ll be able to fight for the injustices of minorities. I am going to open up a law firm in Philadelphia that will give minorities a fighting chance in court, and help them build up small black businesses to create generational wealth. I am also going to start up scholarships targeted to minorities that will help them pay for tuition and fees so they can further their education. My nonprofit called “ Big Sisters' will be created to match younger children, boys, and girls, with big sisters, where they’ll make lifelong connections and friendships. The goal is to do a match and they’ll be matched with someone with the same interest as them. We will also host community service events, sponsor different programs, take trips, and travel so children will know there's more to life than just the inner city they came from. To add on, my recreation center will be for all children, the goal is to create a gym, game room, and craft room. I want to host different lessons, and events, and just create a safe space for children so they don’t feel like they have to turn to the streets. Lastly, being a US Senator means everything to me. My goal is to lead a community of people in the right direction. I want to show people that you can get here one day no matter where you came from or how you do it. I learned that in the United States, the government controls everything from what we eat, how we spend our money, what we learn, and so forth. So the goal is to start by rebuilding the system because it was never built for people like us from the beginning. I want to improve our education systems, programs for veterans, the immigration system, and so forth. When you’re living in a world that's not for us, we are going to forever be looked down upon, That's why this scholarship would be one step closer to helping me change that.

My greatest achievement to date is going to college, graduating from high school, and interning for State Senator Christine Tartaglione. As a lower-income black female, the odds are never in my favor. We have the whole of America against, stereotypes that stuck to us for years, and living in communities that constantly doubt black women. Graduating from college is huge from where I come from, it gives you a certain amount of respect, but also helps you influence children who grew up similar to you a better chance. This experience made me realize that I can do everything I've ever wanted to do. I learned how to persevere through whatever is thrown at me. Growing up in a low-income community you learn how to survive. From learning how to balance school work, after-school activities, and internships, worrying about when your next meal is going to from, if the power is going to be off, or if you'll even have somewhere to sleep. Another thing my experience taught me is to never worry about why don't you have something just stay focused on your own future. This reminds me to just keep pushing myself through all the things I face, and that where I come from doesn't define me. I've watched people from my community become politicians, doctors, lawyers, activists, and everything else. But they all waited for their own time. Lastly, my experience taught me how to smile through it all. Smiling through it all helps me to remember to be grateful for what I have today instead of dwelling on all the things I don't have. Smiling through every experience helps give me the push, and the reminder that every day is worth it Now for the future, I am one day going to become a State Senator, and I am going to represent everyone who grew up like me. One day I am going to achieve everything I've ever wanted for myself. I am going to create laws that push opportunities for lower-income communities, give resources we lack, and listen to the people. For my future, I want to create community centers that provide places for the homeless, and physicals and dentist appointments for people that cannot afford it. I want to create a job resource center for anyone that needs it, this will give them interview tips and the proper attire for the interview. I want to improve the immigration laws, applying pressure to Congress to get the process moving faster. Create new opportunities for the young adults who are graduating college to start their careers faster. For my future, I hope to accomplish all things possible.

Overcoming adversitites is difficult in my neighborhood because I am constantly trying to break away from the stereotypes thats being placed on me. I overcame adversity by being selected as the Boys and Girls Club Youth of the year, graduating high school, going to college, doing drill team, cheerleading, musicals, playing to instruments, interning for State Senator Christine Tartaglione for two years, volunteering at my local Boys and Girls Club and on campus, being an assistant for Powercircle Mentors, and being president of my class for two years in a row. You might ask why did I list some of my accomplishments and how did these help me overcome adversity. Being a part of so many organizations, programs, and internships kept me focus on my own future. Most children in my community think doing all of these things are " lame " or " isn't as cool", but for me this help me break away from the stereotypes. I overcame every stereotype that was put on me as a label. I was able to break away from these everyday. My future goals and aspirations are to live life in my own meaning of success truthfully. My definition of success is working towards everything I’ve ever wanted but never feeling like I’ve succeeded. I know it's confusing, right? I have such a high work ethic, I believe the work is never done. One day I hope to become a U.S. senator, I believe in representing people who look and grew up like me. Becoming a senator means the work is never done, that there is always room for improvement, it’s always an area that lacks that needs to be fixed, or rebuilt. In approximately 10 years from now, I see myself graduating with my Ph.D. in Political science in government. Being a black girl from Philadelphia, I don’t want anyone to question my credentials or work ethic. My plan is to work my way up from the bottom all the way to the top. 10 years from now I see myself working for the government in public policy, trying to improve the America we know today. I want to set up housing programs, and better benefits for social security because social security doesn’t always cover the needs for our older people, I want to improve veteran programs in our country. They went out to fight for a country that wasn’t fully supporting them. I want to also implement traveling programs for the youth inmy community, so they can understand that its more to their community and neighborhood than just what they're seeing everyday. My hopes for my community go really far and I feel like I already have the push to do so.

I am passionate about receiving my education because I want to make a change in my community. It's important for me to be able to tackle the problems. I also want to be an inspiration for other people that look like me or come from the same background as me. Just want to be able to show them they can achieve their dreams too, and that their environment doesn't define who they are. I am also passionate because of the lack of representation shown in our leadership today. There are not too many leaders in the government that actually care about the youth that grew up similar to me. I want to make that difference for my community. Going into law and politics I want to come back and be able to explain how it works, since our education system lacks the resources we needed to educate the youth correctly. Most of the youth don't even know what they are voting for. They don't know their voting rights, now they know how to vote. I partially think that is why we end with the leadership we do. We sell these false narratives, and stories and then vote for people that don't have our best interest at heart. I want to get into law because my youth needs somebody to speak for them. Too often in my black community we don't go to trial because we don't have the money to support ourselves through trial so they take a plea deal. Someone in my community could be innocent but never go to trial because they don't have a lawyer to represent them, going to trial is too costly for my community. So I am passionate about receiving my education because it's not just for me but it's for all the people in my community. I want for us to have a chance to finally win our fight. A fair fight and have a chance at equality. Have a chance to be educated the right way so for once we can have a turn to be successful. It's so important for us to be educated the right way because it doesn't give us a fighting chance when we aren't especially with a system that was never built for people like me. It is not time to repair the system but it is time to knock it down and build a system fair for everyone.

I am passionate about receiving my education because I want to make a change in my community. It's important for me to be able to tackle the problems. I also want to be an inspiration for other people that look like me or come from the same background as me. Just want to be able to show them they can achieve their dreams too, and that their environment doesn't define who they are. I am also passionate because of the lack of representation shown in our leadership today. There are not too many leaders in the government that actually care about the youth that grew up similar to me. I want to make that difference for my community. Going into law and politics I want to come back and be able to explain how it works, since our education system lacks the resources we needed to educate the youth correctly. Most of the youth don't even know what they are voting for. They don't know their voting rights, now they know how to vote. I partially think that is why we end with the leadership we do. We sell these false narratives, and stories and then vote for people that don't have our best interest at heart. I want to get into law because my youth needs somebody to speak for them. Too often in my black community we don't go to trial because we don't have the money to support ourselves through trial so they take a plea deal. Someone in my community could be innocent but never go to trial because they don't have a lawyer to represent them, going to trial is too costly for my community. So I am passionate about receiving my education because it's not just for me but it's for all the people in my community. I want for us to have a chance to finally win our fight. A fair fight and have a chance at equality. Have a chance to be educated the right way so for once we can have a turn to be successful. It's so important for us to be educated the right way because it doesn't give us a fighting chance when we aren't especially with a system that was never built for people like me. It is not time to repair the system but it is time to knock it down and build a system fair for everyone.