When I was filling college applications, I thought of possible majors I’d like to explore. I knew I could be anything but I didn’t want to major in just anything. I strongly believe that doing what you love is the best thing anyone should do so. Otherwise, you could be stuck studying something you aren’t passionate about. I decided I wanted to major in English and focus on Creative Writing because that is what I love. That is what helps me express myself. Although, I knew I’d get numerous questions about my choice and what I wanted to do later on after college. Unfortunately, I’ve found it is not a very chosen major in big schools so people don’t take English majors seriously. But for me, it was evident. I knew what I wanted and I decided to follow my gut. I want to become a renown author and hopefully see my books on big TV screens, to the words, “based on Joy Kohol’s novel”. This would be a dream come true for me. I want to be able to tell stories that are usually hard to find in our everyday life. I’ve seen this many times, “Write the books you want to read.” This is what pushes me to write, I want to tell stories that have been untold, stories that are difficult to find. I especially want to convey as many messages as I can. Being able to tell the world something they’ve never thought or heard of is what I want to do. I believe there’s only one you so nobody can do it like you do. It will not be an easy journey but whatever that is needed to be done, I will do. My father always tells me to never give up, no matter what and my mother also says, keep seeking and you shall find. I’ve been applying these words in everything I do and working hard towards this goal. I’m still in Junior in college so I’ve been practicing and honing new writing skills based on the feedback of my professors and I’ve found them to be helpful in improving my writing journey. I may not know what the future holds but I know that whatever I am doing now in the present will determine my future. I believe that as I keep pushing myself to be great, I can succeed. If my goal is to see my name “Joy Kohol” on Wikipedia, I will work hard to make that happen because I know I can do anything if I set my heart to it.

Freshman year of college, I found out I was on probation. Not being fully aware of what it meant to be on probation, I wasn’t very stressed out about it until I gave a closer look to the email I had received from my school. “You could be expelled.” They said if I came to be on probation a second time. I had basically failed the class I was taking and had my final grade excluded from my GPA. My GPA was a disaster. At the time, I was taking an Art History class and my other classes where all English language classes that I was required to take in order to be able to be considered a full time college student. After passing all my English language classes, Spring 2020, I decided to take Art History again along with four other classes now as a full time student. I was still on probation so I knew I had to work extra hard in order to get off probation. Unexpectedly, after the news of the surge of the novel COVID-19, we had to continue the semester online. In the middle of March, I had to pursue online classes that were once all in person and figure out how to keep up with homework and assignments as well as exams through my computer. It was nerve wrecking and stressful to say the least but I was determined to succeed and come out the best. I kept up with my classmates and professors trying my best in every assignment big or small so my grades wouldn’t drop again. When I took my finals during the first week of May, I was nervous of the outcome but I was still confident I had tried my best and put in the required work. A few days later, I received an email saying my final grades were available to check. Nervously, and with sweaty hands, I followed the link that would take me to my final grades, and soon enough I found I had passed all my classes and gained a 3.6 GPA and made it to the dean’s list! In addition, I also received an email from the The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) about being amongst the nominees for my university. Never in my life, had I expected to make it to the dean’s list or even be offered a scholarship after being on probation. Taking my classes online was not a piece of cake especially with a virus going around. Everything around me was chaotic but being able to see my name on the dean's list, Joy Kohol for Spring 2020, I have learned I am capable of anything if I set my mind to it. I know I can do it no matter what the obstacles are. Barack Obama once said, “Yes, we can.” That’s it. That’s the message. I can do it. I will do it. I have done it. And I am excited for what’s to come in the future.

In light of Black History Month, my all-time favorite film is “Hidden Figures”. When I first watched it, I was immediately inspired by the incredible courage of these great women. Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three black woman with brains, inspire me to push through and never give up. They’ve inspired me and made me believe in the possibility of succeeding in society- not only as a person of color but as a woman. We tend to be considered less smart and incapable next to men and as seen in the first few scenes of the movie when Johnson arrives in the office to help with the math, she was already looked down at because she was a woman. No one thought she’d be able to figure the right calculations, yet she did. She reminds me that I can do it, like Barack Obama said, “Yes, we can.” Therefore, I believe I can do the impossible too no matter how challenging it seems. I have a goal to make my parents proud but to also do unthinkable things for myself. I aspire to defy societies’ norms and excel in life no matter what it takes. I’ll finish with this quote said by Katherine Johnson, “And it's not because we wear skirts. It's because we wear glasses.”

2020 started off unexpected. I saw things change in March right after celebrating my 20th birthday in February surrounded by loved ones. But then, I watched my friends celebrate their birthdays afterwards at a distance, away from friends and family. It was hard. Classes online weren’t as great as the in person experience and on top of that, I couldn’t go visit my parents who live in Burkina Faso, West Africa in the summer. That hit me hard. I constantly thought about how living in the moment was important and telling your loved ones you love them is a most. 2020 thought me how to not give up and to keep pushing through regardless of the many challenges I will face. I am strong, capable, amazing, beautiful and so much more. Regardless of how things can be and how cruel and difficult the world can be, I am a conqueror on to greatness. I now know how important it is to hold on to life and live it to the fullest because you never know what the future holds so be yourself, love yourself and live in the moment. Life is too short to give up and renounce going after your best life. Even when I don’t think I’m living my best life, there are so many little things to lean on. Life is hard, but it is also full of adventures waiting to be experienced each all in their time.

As a music enthusiast, I have a large playlist of songs I listen to whenever I’m working or taking a walk. One song that uplifts me and that I listen to all the time is H.E.R.’s 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑼𝒔 𝑻𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 for the Disney drama 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚. It is a heartfelt and beautiful song which I can never get enough of no matter how many times I play it. It caught my attention the minute I heard it for the first time. All I felt was joy and peace as I calmly sang the words along with H.E.R. When I listen to the words of this song, I feel my energy and hope is boosted and I hear a voice telling me I can conquer anything. Because H.E.R. doesn’t mention a particular person in the song, I think about God, my mom and my dad who have been with me at the start of my journey as a college student. I’m away from home right now, and these lyrics encourage me and remind me of how far I can go no matter the stresses of life which are often overwhelming. I especially pair H.E.R.‘s words with my mom which are: “Never forget that I love you, no matter what. You understand ?”, which she says to me all the time we talk on the phone. As I hear her say those words and listen to the lyrics, I’m reminded that there are so many amazing people and God who are rooting for me and holding me up that I might achieve greatness despite the many challenges that present themselves. It is my to-go song for this new year, 2021. I never want to lose hope!

I grew up in a Christian household to missionary parents. My parents always made sure we read our Bible and prayed together. My mom sang and prayed every night with us before going to bed and we help prayer meetings and Bible studies with both my mom and my dad. The have a clinic and they’re mission is to touched many peoples’ lives by praying with them and hosting Bible studies. I’ve learned to pray and sing at a young age and finally got baptized at the age of 9 though it had never dawned on me that I didn’t have an actual relationship with God. We followed my parents but never took on our own steps in learning to trust Him and rely on Him in faith. A few years later, when I found myself living with just my parents while my sisters went away to school, I developed my own relationship with Jesus when I got my own free time and personal space. It’s hard to make time just to sit and read His word, while praying is easy, I often don’t take time to read His word but I always say, “I can’t imagine life without God. I don’t think I’d be able to survive or even try to live.” This is exactly how I feel about having a relationship with God. I can’t see Him or touch Him physically but I know He’s always watching and always here with me. I’ve been through so many scary and confusing times, been through so much pain but I know He is still in control and is making a way. He’s done it before and He will do it again. My father always says, “Never give up.” and I believe that. God will never give up on us no matter how uncertain and confusing the times we are in can be. He is still God from beginning to end.

Before moving away for college, my sisters and I used to sing with my mom all the time before bed. She would come to our room to pray and we would always start off with some worship before talking about prayer requests. My mother sings at our church back home so she made sure to sing with us while she could to train us to sing often each. I have a deep voice and cannot sing high notes while my mom can do both and she’d teach me how to sing and what notes to take on when singing. When I left for college, she always encouraged me to sing when I’m alone in my dorm or anywhere else, she’d insist by saying, “Sing a lot.” and I have been doing so. Even my dad who isn’t much of a singer, sings in the shower and I love to hear him. I hope to get back home soon so we can praise God together once again as a family.

To me, my everything is my mom because when I think about all the efforts and countless sleepless nights she’s spent having to figure out how to provide money to pay for my sisters’ and I’d school it motivates me to work hard. One of my biggest goals is to make her proud of me and I hope she o be able to buy her anything she’s always wanted but couldn’t have in the future. She deserves so much and I would like to be able to give it to her. It hurts to see her rushing around to provide for my schooling and despite having a job it still isn’t enough to help cover some of the expenses of college. When I listen to Aminé’s "Mama", I’m reminded of all she’s done for me and how I need to work hard to provide for her in return as a HUGE THANK YOU.

This is my 10 years old Labrador retriever Goldy! I love him so much and miss him deeply! I am an international student from Burkina Faso, West Africa so I haven’t seen him since I’ve been in the US staring fall 2019. I pray I can see him next year because he’s not getting any older and it makes it so hard. I took all these photos in my final year of high school because I wanted to have as many pictures and videos I could of him. Insta: joy_is_fearless

As a 20 year old black woman living in America, I’ve experienced racism in many different ways. Though small and some big, these unfortunate experiences have encouraged me to keep believing that I can still achieve so much despite the color of my skin. My father always tells me, “Joy never gives up no matter what. Remember that there will be oriole that will not like you even if you’ve done nothing but live them, people will always talk.” I have come to see that and live it as it pushes me to do great and be great despite all the negativity I receive daily, giving up is definitely not an option to me. I walk outside everyday proud to be black and blessed to have experienced racism through a six-year old and his mother at Walmart or a bus driver at school. My skin color is not a threat and with the courage my father sparked into me, I strive to be great, successful and to make my parents proud of their daughter as I hope to write books that tell stories about my home continent, Africa and where I come from. And most importantly, my parents story as missionaries in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Thank you for reading through.

I am an international student from Burkina Faso studying Creative writing in English at Ball State University. I am going into my second year next semester. As a small girl in a big world, I have plans to become a successful author and hopefully a movie producer one day. Another goal I cling to is being able to repay my parents for everything they’ve done for me all through out my high school years and the start of college. It’s a been tough on them and I really hope to make them proud and give them the luxury they deserve for all they’ve done for me. As the daughter of missionaries, I hope that I can write thousands or even millions of fictional as well as nonfictional books that will all focus on conveying messages about life struggles in Africa more specifically Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Mali and Burkina Faso which is where I am from. I am a proud African who wants to help my continent however I can and I hope to make enough money as well so I can support my people back home and my parents’ clinic in Burkina Faso. This scholarship would mean the world to me and my parents because I watch them struggle to pay my tuition every month just say I can have an education in an school I shouldn’t be in but by God’s grace, I have a place there. I will work hard not only for myself but my parents because I love them both so much and they both deserve so much more than to struggle to find money so I can finish college. I want to finish strong for them. Thank you for taking time to read through.