My name is Julia Russell, and I’m a rising senior at Bucknell University majoring in Biology and Ancient Mediterranean studies. I plan on pursuing a career in doing research with bioarchaegenetics focusing on individuals with genetic disabilities in the ancient world. I focused on this specifically as I have my own fair share of genetic disabilities and I feel it is important to show that those with disabilities have always been present. I plan on using my education to create a safe space for people like myself, lgbtq+ and female, as the fields I’m going into are straight male dominated. Within that I also hope to use my experience in research to teach the following generations about my special interests and show that someone like myself are able to follow their dreams even if they seem impossible. I became a MOA when TXT first debuted. By that time in my life I had been a kpop fan for around two years though I couldn’t talk about it because I would be made fun of for my liking of kpop in the general populace around me. I was super excited for TXT to debut as BTS is one of my favorite groups and I wanted to see and enjoy the next generation of kpop. Within MOA I found a very kind and compassionate group of people to interact with about my interests which I couldn’t talk about in person. Ever since the beginning I have felt that MOA have been some of the most accepting and nontoxic fans in the kpop sphere. One of the reasons I feel that MOA are so accepting is because the idols themselves are fairly quirky. For example my bias in TXT is Soobin. I do not have a specific process for choosing a bias but I normally go for the most goofy and silly guy within the group (I can’t choose an ult bias (I like too many groups) but another one of my main biases is Hyungwon from Monsta X because he is consistently silly). I also really like Soobin because I can really relate to the actions that he takes sometimes. For example one of my favorite clips of his is when he is talking about his favorite kpop idol and she reveals herself to be in the audience and he freaks out in an adorable way that’s very relatable to how I feel with idols. My favorite song of TXT’s has to be Devil by the Window as I love a good bass driven song that sounds evil/creepy. Along with that the album The Name Chapter: Temptation is my favorite album and favorite concept from TXT. I love the mystical fae like vibes (I’m a huge fan of fantasy) and it connected really well with my idea of how I would portray temptation. I also enjoyed it because I thought all of the members looked super pretty and it was my first TXT album I was able to buy. I have sadly not been able to see TXT in concert because the tickets are expensive and I live in an area where it’s hard to get to concerts. Moving on from that I am paying for school through some need based grants that I get but I am paying a large sum out of pocket as the grants don’t cover my entire bill. This scholarship will be helpful in being able to graduate with my bachelors degree. This scholarship will help fill the gaps that have become much bigger as my university has been increasing tuition by a lot but my financial aid amount has stayed the same which has left me in a tough situation financially as I do not know if I can afford my spring semester of college. TXT has influenced me for good as they helped me accept myself and find a group of individuals that accepted me for who I was when I didn’t have that. They also influenced me to accept myself for who I am and helped me be okay with my own oddities. The picture is a screenshot of what I was listening to when I found this scholarship and it felt like fate.