As a music tech major I've quickly learned the fierceness and competition in the music industry. I've also learned the music industry thrives off exclusion, especially for a female artist. There are many ways I want to make an impact. A lot of these ways are currently inaccessible to me for various reasons (lack of connection, financial barriers, etc...). The first impact I plan to make is creating space in the industry for people like me. The first step to many of my long-term goals is proving an Arab woman can find success in the music industry, especially as a performer and as a producer/audio engineer. If I can succeed I can create space for many like me and even others who are not like me to show that diversity of any form can succeed. I want to create music and an artistic identity that does not have to conform to one cultural or racial identity. Thank you for this opportunity! Scholarships like these are a big step in creating equity and diversity in education

It's difficult to say music has really changed my life, because music has always been my life. This is not to say I've always been a dedicated student who spent hours in a practice room, but to say music has always been a foundational force in my life. I've been singing before I could walk or talk. In my childhood I would sing all day. Whether alone for hours on my swing, or annoying the bus driver, I've always loved to sing. Growing up I did musicals and took band classes, but it wasn't until college that I really began to study music. I always knew I wanted to be a singer, but I was a big fish in a very very small pond. So, entering undergrad was quite a shock to me. I was just beginning my music journey and I was already behind everyone. Despite the learning curve I persisted. Saying persisted feels dishonest, because despite the difficulty I never had it in my head that quitting or changing paths was an option. Music always felt like the only path. I did pretty well in undergrad graduating with honors and a distinction in music, but I feel like I am just now beginning to understand music. Until college, music shaped my life as a consumer. Despite loving to sing and perform I was not a creator, I just enjoyed consuming music and regurgitating it. I loved to find music that captured how I felt and inspired me. In my Junior year of college something shifted. I began feeling the need to create music. I felt the need to come into my own voice, like I had something to say and share with the world. Something clicked and all the things I'd learned started to make sense and have purpose. Before I felt like I was just checking boxes, but now I felt like I was learning and genuinely growing. As my momentum started to pick up, my home, Asheville, North Carolina, was utterly devastated by Hurricane Helene. For the first time in my life I had no space for anything but survival. I saw many horrific things, but I also saw a community come together in a showcase of true humanity and community. I saw music become proof of our pain and hardship. I saw people cling onto our songs about the hurricane for dear life. Music was a lifeline, a memory, a uniter, and a manifestation of our collective tragedy. In our darkest times, without power, any water, food, completely cut off from the internet and the outside world (cell phones were out and the floods kept us from leaving the area), music persisted. Music was a voice and a savor. Asheville is in a much better place than it was, but we are still recovering. My relationship to music and the world has greatly changed these last four years. I've decided I want to continue my studies and journey on to higher education. I have been accepted into NYU's Steinhardt program to pursue my master's degree. While it is an amazing opportunity and a wonderful it is not a cheap one. I appreciate opportunities like this one that make even considering this goal possible. Thank you so much for your consideration and thank you for helping keep music alive.