Sometimes it seems like there is not enough time in a day. That is why I count on planning my week to keep my tasks in order. From volunteering, working part-time, and juggling a full course load, I need to be diligent about my time. When I am not in class or working on assignments, I spend my off days giving back to the community. An example of this is the volunteer work I did earlier this year. During my spring break, I volunteered at The Queer Healing Arts Center in Oakland, California. There I was in charge of creating a database of a hundred and fifty queer black films. This summer, I am volunteering in a local campaign for a county executive and taking summer classes. Between breaks in the academic calendar, I would spend those days contributing to a community garden or creating lesson plans for the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club. For as long as I can remember, I have been juggling extra-curricular activities and school, but now I am juggling extra-curricular, school work, and a part-time job. I managed this by planning which assignments to do based on their due date. I set aside four hours a day strictly for school work, then the rest of the day is dedicated to my part-time job and extra-curricular activities. On days when I cannot set aside four hours for school work, I make sure to do as much school work as I can. To keep from overwhelming myself, I schedule everything to where I allow at least one day out of the week to relax or run errands. This day off is what keeps me from neglecting assignments or my extracurriculars. Taking care of myself makes balancing all of my tasks easier. I also ask for help when having difficulty managing time. When the school load is too much to handle, I ask my manager to adjust my work schedule. If work gets busy, I take time away from my activities so that I do not have to neglect my courses. I take pride in balancing my after-school activities and full course load. Seeing my single mother balance two jobs and still have time for her children inspires me to find the time when it comes to what matters. My motivation to put myself through school, give back to my community, and excel at everything I do, is how I find time to maintain a 3.6-grade point average and volunteer during my free time.

There once was a time when my household was safe and loving. Unfortunately, that time was short-lived. My father tried to shelter his family from harm but eventually became the most harmful threat to them. My father suffers from sickle cell anemia and would often need to be admitted to the hospital whenever he experienced a pain crisis( periodic episodes of extreme pain, a common symptom of sickle cell anemia). During these hospital visits, the doctors would often prescribe him prescription opioids. Like many other Americans, my father soon became addicted to prescription opioids, and that would be the illness that would ruin my family. My father became increasingly distant, and whenever he would experience a minor inconvenience, he would go into an extreme rage. His temper had gotten shorter and more volatile he started to assault my mother. I remember having to pull him away from my mother while my little sister cried for help. His addiction led to domestic violence, and the distress from both was too much for my mother to bear. My mother, sister, and I ended up leaving our home with no other place to go; we had to live in a hotel room for two months. My father's addiction did not improve, the opioids would trigger pain crises, and his doctors would prescribe more opioids. He needed up losing his job and eventually the house. Witnessing this impacted me deeply. Where most people look back at their adolescence with fondness, I grieve for my lost innocence. The only good outcome of this experience was my will to go to college. College seemed like the only way to better my circumstances. While attending college, I could not get my previous experiences out of my mind. I spent two semesters trying to come to terms with my past while striving for a better future. During my sophomore year, I concluded that I should dedicate my career to advocating for and protecting black women. After I graduate college, I will start a non-profit organization devoted to assisting single Black mothers to escape abusive relationships and other troubling circumstances and provide them a way to gain financial independence. By creating a support system for Black women suffering from abuse, whether at the hands of their partner or from substances, I can help more Black women survive these circumstances. I plan to provide exit strategies and help execute those plans in my non-profit. I also plan to assist Black women in becoming financially independent because a lack of money is the barrier keeping Black women from getting help. Hopefully, my non-profit organization will improve the care for Black women impacted by domestic violence or substance abuse and increase the number of survivors of these epidemics. Watching my mother, a Black woman, experience and overcome domestic violence makes me want to bestow that same fortune onto other Black women going through the same thing.

The achievement that I am most proud of is going to college. Growing up in difficult circumstances, college was always a dream but rarely felt like an option. I have always enjoyed learning and had a goal of continuing my education. However, being raised in a household where we were always worried about finances, I was not confident in how I would pay for college. While I was in high school, our home had got foreclosed. In addition, my parents were also going through a brutal separation. Graduation was less than a year away, but the chance to go to college seemed far-fetched. Discouraged, I wanted to give up on college, but something told me not to. I listened to that voice, and I am glad I did so. With hard work and motivation, I graduated high school and got accepted into a four-year school. Getting that acceptance letter was something I took much pride in, but the fear of taking on loans was inescapable as I was unsure if I could ever pay them back. My family's financial troubles did not disappear either. I remember using my refund check from college to pay my mother's rent. Going after my dreams were frightening and did not seem possible, but I pursued them anyway, and now I am about to start my senior year of college. This accomplishment means the world to me because it indicates that my goals are not far from reach. This achievement taught me that my potential is limitless. With my drive, I can go far in life. Growing up living paycheck to paycheck and remaining optimistic can be challenging. However, getting into college made me realize that hope is not a luxury for the privileged. I learned that I am allowed to have aspirations and a will to fulfill them. I also taught myself to have more confidence in myself. I let my circumstances define me, but I am more than my socioeconomic background. Going to college taught me if I should have faith in anyone, it should be me. I hope to achieve a bachelor's degree soon. After college, I hope to start a non-profit organization where single parents can receive support exiting a toxic household or an abusive relationship and gain financial independence. I hope that through my career, I can help my community progress to a better state of wellbeing. In the future, I wish to provide my family with a better life, a life where we do not have to wonder how we will pay bills. I hope to achieve a life where I do not have to doubt whether I should go after my dreams.

My mother went through many tribulations, and I have seen her overcome the bulk of them. Life as a single parent was difficult for my mother. She became a single parent by escaping an abusive relationship. She was battered and heartbroken but could not grieve because she had three children to feed. When we finally left that toxic household, we had no place to go and ended up living in a hotel room for two months. With no financial support for my father, my mother worked two jobs to provide for her family. However, with those two jobs, she could barely pay the bills. When she eventually found a place, I had to pay rent with my refund check from college. Witnessing my mother struggle like this shattered my soul. I never want to see my mother in a position like that again. Luckily, my mother is a fighter. When most would have given up and let the pressure crush her, she rose above it. My mother now has a better-paying job, does not have to work eighteen-hour days every day, and is in a healthy relationship. Seeing my mother experience strenuous events and survive is inspiring. Living in a household with one parent shaped how I see the world and what I want life to be. Before, I was happy with a regular job that paid a lot of money. Now, I want to help others and better my community. Living in a single-parent household has made my career goals more altruistic. My goal is to dedicate my career to improving the quality of life for disenfranchised communities. I want to put all my effort into securing opportunities for the children of single parents, LGBTQ youth, low-income families, and anyone else who needs that extra support. Living with a single mother made me want a career that will impact lives. Today I aspire to start a non-profit organization where the mission is to assist struggling mothers out of their current predicament and lead them into financial freedom. This organization will also support children who want to escape an abusive household. Observing my mother go through her hardships alone made me wish she had more help. With this non-profit, I can be the help I longed for my mother to have. I will achieve those goals by gaining experience working in the non-profit sector, which I am currently doing during my time in college. After I graduate, I will start raising funds and building a team with my same passion for this organization. My goal in my career is to help as many people as possible. Life with a single mother helped me realize that goal.

Growing up was difficult. I came from a low-income household with many dysfunctions. I witnessed my mother endure verbal and physical abuse by my father. He would comment about her weight and assault her when he felt disrespected. He would even go as far as threatening to kick her out during arguments. The exposure to this behavior altered my perception of safety. If my home was not safe, where was I safe. After years of toxicity, my mother had had enough and decided to leave. She started a new journey as a single mother with three children. The transition was difficult. We had no place to go and lived in a hotel for two months. My mother was working two jobs and still struggling to put food on the table. When she finally got an apartment, paying rent was challenging. I remember having to pay rent with my refund check from my school. Going through such hardships with my mother changed me as a person. My experience as a child of a single mother gave me the ability to empathize with others I would not have had without that experience. I care more about people and am more forgiving. My experience has impacted how I see and interact with the world. I go out of my way to help others because I know people can privately go through turmoil. I would not have the altruistic aspirations I have now if it was not for the adversities my mother and I experienced. My mother has inspired me to become a better person and dedicate my career to helping others, especially single mothers. My mother inspires me to go after my goals and not let anything stop me from doing so. Every day I wake and work towards my dreams. If not for the drive my mother instilled in me, I would not be where I am today. Thanks to my mother, I am now on track to becoming the first person in my family to graduate from college. My mother inspires me to speak with work with determination. Watching my mother overcome abuse with little support inspires me to one day start my non-profit to help single parents and children exit their toxic households and relationships and gain financial freedom. My mother has inspired me to fight for my community with zeal. My mother has inspired me to look in the face of adversity with courage that I will power through. My mother has inspired me to be more like her.

My love for my family is limitless, but sometimes I feel their affection comes with terms and conditions. I do not think my family consists of bad people, but their thoughts on the LGBTQ+ community make me feel unsafe. I could never be my authentic self around them out of fear of alienation or harmful assumptions. I grew up watching my father display disgust whenever he saw a same-sex couple. I grew up hearing my mother repeat harmful stereotypes and use homophobic slurs, then excuse this behavior because she watches Will and Grace. Witnessing such behaviors from my parents made me fearful of coming out. For most of my adolescence, I was in denial of who I was. My parents were never emotional and would often get annoyed by my sensitivity. Sharing my sexuality with them would be another trait that inconvenienced them. This void I have from lack of familial support is what drives me to give back. Not feeling at home when I was around my family made me realize the importance of a safe space. Craving that kind of acceptance and intimacy led me to search for solace in the wrong places. Because of this, I will devote my career to helping LGBTQ youth create their own safe space. I am currently on track to becoming the first person in my family to graduate from college. I am majoring in sociology and plan to use my degree in advocacy work for all disenfranchised groups. As a Black Queer woman, I know what it is like to feel like your identity will result in someone harming you, whether it be for your race, gender, or sexual orientation. This feeling of constant danger motivates me to provide safety for the LGBTQ community. Once I graduate, I plan on creating a non-profit organization with a mission to assist LGBTQ members out of toxic homes and abusive relationships and obtain financial freedom. Through this organization, I will hopefully provide hundreds, if not thousands, of members of the LGBTQ community with a safe space to heal and grow. My goal with this non-profit is to decrease the casualties our community face. LGBTQ youth homelessness to same-sex domestic violence, I hope that through my work, I would save more lives, and we would lose fewer members of our community. I will impact the LGBTQ+ community by using resources and education to progress the community to a place where they can receive the protection and love they deserve.

It seems like I spend all my time dreaming about the future. I hope I can acquire stability and safety in the next few years. The last five years of my life have been tumultuous. My parents ended their toxic marriage, and our house was up for foreclosure. While grieving these losses, my mother, sister, and I found ourselves with no place to stay. With no other choice, we lived in a hotel for two months. My family was under a great deal of pressure. My mother became the sole provider for our family, having to work two jobs with failing health. The role of only provider for her children consumed so much of her life that she began neglecting her health and nearly died. Witnessing this while still trying to graduate high school became exhausting. I felt myself get depressed and overwhelmed by my emotions. Fortunately, I was able to overcome those feelings and graduate high school. My mother had found a new apartment, and slowly but surely, our situation was improving. We still had hurdles to get over. My relationship with my father has diminished. He became abusive and more aggressive towards the end of my parent's marriage, and as of today, I have little to no contact with him. My life changed drastically in such a short time, and I am still trying to adjust. I still feel myself having to work through depressive moods. My mental health is the main deterrent to achieving my dreams. I dream of being the first in my family to graduate college. I dream of starting a non-profit organization where single mothers would get the support they need to exit toxic relationships and attain financial freedom. I dream of being financially stable and being able to assist my mother when she needs it. I dream of being an outstanding community leader, a safe space where other disenfranchised people can come to seek refuge. My dream is to live a healthy life free of anxiety and sadness so that I can love my community the way they deserve. When I am feeling depressed, it is difficult to stay motivated. My dreams seem so far and unrealistic. It is hard to remain hopeful when you have been through so much. At times I feel like I am undeserving of the opportunities that I have, and other times I dwell on the opportunities I do not have. It is also hard to remain positive as a Black woman in today's society. With all the injustices in the world, I cannot help but be affected by them. Although times are tough and I might feel discouraged, I will not let that stop me from achieving my goals. I plan on seeking community help. When I start to feel depressed, I will no longer make myself go through it alone. I would look to my mother, friends, classmates, and professors to help remove this block so I can have the future of my dreams.

Historically Black is a term that should be associated with prestige. When I hear historically Black, I correlate the phrase with excellence. Black history inspired me to pursue my sociology degree at Howard University. The Black history I was being taught in high school was elementary. It started with slavery and ended with Martin Luther King. Even when we studied those topics, there was no nuance. I knew if I wanted to learn from the Black perspective, I had to attend a historically Black college or university. Learning about general Toussaint Louverture, Amelia Boynton Robinson, reading bell hooks, and Octavia Butler inspired me to critique everything through a racial lens. Attending an HBCU would expose me to different perspectives and experiences throughout the African diaspora. Learning more about sociological approaches with Black people in mind makes me eager to strive for solutions to our community's issues. Attending an HBCU increased my interest in social justice. Social justice means ending the irreversible damage within institutions. Social justice means no one has to question their safety because they are the only BIPOC, woman, gay person, or disabled person in the room. Social justice means everyone receives the respect and protection they deserve regardless of race or gender. Social justice means fighting for equal opportunities and privileges for everyone. As a Black woman from a low-income upbringing, I have faced many obstacles and prejudices. That is why I need to give back. For the past two years, I would volunteer during spring break. Last year, I created lesson plans for the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx, New York. This year, I curated a film database for The Queer Healing Arts Center in Oakland, California. I will continue to volunteer. I believe the only way to better our community is through service. Through service, we can see instant improvements in the community. When I helped with the community garden, I assisted in providing another food supply for those who might not have the means to get food elsewhere. I also plan on dedicating my career to giving back to the community. After college, I plan on starting a non-profit organization with the mission to help single mothers exiting abusive relationships or other troubling circumstances attain financial freedom. Witnessing my mother endure an abusive relationship and struggle to get on her feet after leaving that relationship made me realize how many other mothers in our community go through this.

I have had many blessings, but those blessings did not come without adversity. Like many, I had to struggle with not having much. From my mother being in a car accident that left her out of work for three years to my father's lifelong battle with sickle cell anemia that only progressed as he got older. Watching my parents' health battles through the years was disheartening, and the financial stress of trying to raise three children with one source of income took its toll on our family. Overwhelmed with bills and failing health, my parent's marriage ended and devasted our family. My family has been dealing with financial burdens for years resulting in my father resenting my mother and their three children. Unfortunately, when my parents separated, their relationship did not end amicably. Towards the end, my father became increasingly abusive toward the rest of the family. When we were finally able to leave, my mother, sister, and I had to stay in a hotel for two months with no other place to stay. It was getting harder and harder for me to enjoy the things I once did. In addition to the problems I was dealing with at home, I was also dealing with depression. Somehow I overcame my battle with depression and graduated high school with a 3.7-grade point average. My circumstances were looking up, but there were still some obstacles between my family and our goals. My mother was now the sole provider of the household and was struggling to pay rent. With two jobs and no assistance from my father, my mother barely made enough to support her children. I remember having to pay my mother's rent with my refund check. When things seemed like they could not get worse, the country entered a global pandemic. My mother lost one of her jobs, and I lost all contact with my father. 2020 seemed like it would devastate my family, but our luck turned around. My mother and I found jobs, and our financial situation improved. We still live below the poverty line, but now it seems like we are not up to our necks in bills. Due to our persistence, my family overcame financial hardships and familial turmoil. Growing up in a low-income household, I believed to improve my circumstance, I had to go to college and get a good job. I have the opportunity to be the first in my family to graduate from college. When I graduate, I can provide a better life for my family. My mother would not have to work so hard with my help after I graduate. With my degree, I plan to start a non-profit organization that helps single mothers attain financial stability. Hopefully, I can better the lives of many families, and fewer people will avoid the hardships I faced.

Do you know what it is like to fight for your voice to be heard? Do you know what it is like to be treated like a second-class citizen? Do you know what it is like to dedicate your life to the betterment of your community? Amelia Boynton Robinson and Samuel William Boynton have spent their lives fighting for civil rights. As members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, both Amelia and Samuel, also known as Bill, worked to create Selma, Alabama as a pivotal landmark in the civil rights movement. As civil rights pioneers, Amelia and Bill held Black voter registration drives in the city of Selma for decades. Unfortunately, Bill passed away to see their goals come to fruition, but that did not stop Amelia. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, which is now known as Bloody Sunday, where she endured brutal state-sanctioned violence. Amelia put her life on the line so that Black people in America could exercise their constitutional right to vote. That type of dedication and persistence is something I see in all the Black women in my life. From my mother to the women of the civil rights movement, to the teachers who went above and beyond for me and their other students. The sacrifices these Black women made to ensure that the generation behind them have equal opportunities is what inspires me. Women like Amelia are who get me up in the morning. Women like Amelia are who I thank for the opportunity to go to college. Without women like Amelia, I would still be treated as a second-class citizen, and my constitutional rights would not be recognized. Bill has also inspired me. Without his contributions, fewer Black people would be registered to vote, and we would have no say in the issues that impact us directly. When I look at Amelia Boynton Robinson, and how she became the first Black woman in the state of Alabama to run for Congress. When I look at Samuel William Boynton who spent most of his adult life fighting for Black people to be able to exercise their rights, I am empowered to contribute to the betterment of my community. I am currently canvassing for my local primary election, and plan to do so for future elections. I also plan on donating to action funds that fight for racial justice. After I graduate, My goal is to create a non-profit organization that supports single mothers of color and their children in achieving financial stability.