In 1995, a brave young girl from Chicago left the city she knew and loved to go to Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia; she left her grandparents, parents, an older sister, and her newborn nephew behind to begin chasing the dreams set inside her since youth. In December of 2003, years after her fresh college experiences, her niece was born with similar ambitions, but even more fire in her. As the girl grew, her aunt was always there to share her life experiences with her and help give her the resources she wished she had in 1995. This short story belongs to my auntie, Carol “Wannie” Winters and I. Without her courageous behavior in 1995, I am not sure where I would be without her educational guidance. Her stories over the years stuck with me, allowing me to watch shows and movies like College Road Trip and fantasize about my future college lifestyle when I was a young girl. As I grew older, my passions grew with me like blossoming flowers and my auntie was always there to water them. When I was interested in being a cardiovascular surgeon, she sent me YouTube videos of surgeon's daily lives. She told me how I should intern and shadow doctors. When I talked about attending an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), my aunt was ecstatic that I wanted to continue our family’s small HBCU legacy. In 2021, when applying to colleges, she was one of the first people I wanted to share my acceptance letters with. When I got accepted into Clark Atlanta University, I was joyful and full of excitement that I would have the opportunity to walk the AUC years after my aunt did. Despite Clark not being the university, I ended up going to, my aunt was proud with whatever decision I wanted to make. When I wanted to apply for my internship, she sent me examples of cover letters and resumes and even helped me create my very own that is beautifully organized. I am so honored to now be a student at the top HBCU in the country, Howard University, giving my aunt something to smile and brag about! Though these are only a fraction of the times my aunt has supported me academically, this shows people how much of a helping hand my aunt has been to me. Without her, she is sure I could have made these achievements without her, but they would have been a million and one times harder for my mother and me and cost me thousands of frustrated tears in the process.

It was her senior year of high school and she found out she was pregnant. My mom got pregnant with my brother at the age of seventeen, all while just getting started with her senior year of high school. In November of '93, she had gone on a trip to visit colleges in Tennessee and Atlanta. When she got back from the trip she was more determined than ever to go to college and now she was considering leaving her family in Illinois to attend a school out of state. But over Christmas break, she found out she was pregnant. She didn't know what she was going to do. She knew she wanted to go to college. She thought maybe she could stay in state and take the baby to school with her. So after having my brother, she decided to go to school but when he was 4 weeks old his doctor noticed his heartbeat was irregular, and at 18 years old and being a new mom, my mother was told her new baby would have to have open heart surgery. She stayed home to take care of him for the first year of his life and when he was 14 months she went back to work while she would take classes at the community college over the years to continue her education never seeing her dream of being on a University campus. When she was twenty-seven, she got again pregnant and had me. As a kid, I can always remember my mom getting my brother and me ready for school, picking us up from school, getting home to cook dinner, and helping with our homework. She always sacrificed for her children. There were many days my mom didn't get a chance to do things she probably wanted to do because she always put my brother and me first. She always put us first even if that meant she would have to take a class she needed another semester. She taught us both that education is so important and that with it anything is possible. When I was young, my mom and I talked about me going to college. My brother and I knew my mom loved us and would do anything for us but we know she always wanted to get her bachelor's degree. Yes, going to college has been a dream of mine forever but it has also been a dream of mine to take my mom on the college journey so she can experience through me the life of a college student living on campus. My mom still works so hard to take care of me, now that my brother no longer lives with us. Getting accepted to Howard University in Washington, DC was a dream come true for me, and even with financial aid and scholarships, we still need help with tuition, books, and personal needs. Applying for this scholarship gave me a chance to talk about the woman who has sacrificed so much for her children and has always done everything to show us that she loved us. When I decide to have children, I hope I can be just as great a mom as mine. She's the best and she's loved by many for her examples. I'm sure winning a scholarship would make my mom even more proud if that's possible, and happy that I am getting a chance to live out "our" dream. I am currently enrolled at the best school for me and believe I'm prepared for it all because of my mom.