Throughout my high school career, I have gone to a school that sometimes can have a more predominantly white student voice. During my freshman year, I realized this overtime with the lack of inclusivity between races and the silence that rang through the school involving students of color. I looked into ways that diversity could be promoted throughout the school, and make the voices of students of color heard. This is when I found the group Advancing Minds of Color. Joining the group I felt heard, that my voice and ideas mattered. I immediately put my full attention to this club. The love I have for it has grown over the years, and has even made me one of the co-leaders of the group since my sophomore year. The group's message is to encourage students of color to take more action in their academic career, make sure they challenge themselves, focus on learning, and defy the stereotypes that society has bound them to over the years. Although education is one of the most important things the group hones in on, the voices and ideas of students of color are another that cannot be denied. As a group, facilitated by myself and two other co-leaders, the group has created a wave of diversity throughout the school. Whether it’s creating pep rallies for Juneteenth, spirit weeks for Black History month, or collaborating with the community outside of Pittsfield High School in the form black cultural celebrations, the group is highly active in wanting change. The group as a whole values our school and wants to make an amazing difference for all students of color. Promoting the importance of education and the promise it holds to ourselves and our society. Everyday I strive to make my dreams a living reality. It's a promise I make to my future self and the responsibilities I receive later on in my life. College is an aspect of my future life that will lead me to the reality that my dreams live in. I push myself to my fullest potential and try my best at everything I do and the steps I take towards college are all the most important as the steps I take in college to pursue my dreams. This scholarship is an aspect of the steps taken that lead me towards something bigger, something brighter, and more powerful than what I am now. In a more specific description, I want to be a surgeon. I want to help and give back to people in need and transform them from the pain and hurt they feel into remission and help them become better. It is definitely a struggle to get to the path that I want to, however, with the help of scholarships like this one my dream comes into view. I am so grateful for the opportunities organizations like this one offer to students in need of funding for college. Thank you for the promises you make, thank you for the service you give to students, and thank you for making my dreams become a reality.

Roger Crawford once said, “Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” The Urban Dictionary describes a challenge as something new and difficult. It requires strength and determination to overcome. In life, no matter what you are always going to be challenged whether that be physically or mentally. It’s a fight. In June of twenty-twenty, five years ago my grandma had lost her fight with cancer. She fought for many years and surpassed her living expectancy. My grandma was the definition of a fighter. She not only fought for herself, she fought for her family and her life. I was always very close with my grandma; in my younger years, I lived with her. When I didn’t I would still always sleepover on the weekends and visit very frequently. The most formative years of my life were spent living in my grandma’s house. My grandma and I always loved to bake together. She taught me not only how to measure properly, but how to put extra care into everything I do. We always shared our sweets with others who needed them most. My grandma’s presence was always known and it was a joy to be around her; her energy was contagious. Yet, in some blur of a time frame, this ended. I don’t remember her slowly starting to get sicker from cancer. All I know is that it abruptly hit her hard and she lost her vibrance. It was tough for me to absorb this new person. She was weak and looked different than she always did. It wasn’t the grandma that I knew and loved. When she slowly declined, it was hard for me to visit. I shoved all of that sadness down. Because of this, I developed strong anxieties over many simplistic things. I was terrified of the weather, I wouldn’t go outside, I stopped talking to my friends, and I lost many hours of sleep. It got so bad to the point where I had to be put on medication for the first time in my life at 11 years old. I thought the relief from the medicine would make me feel better, nevertheless, the anxieties persisted and nothing helped. Every time my mom would go to my grandma and grandpa’s house, I would stay back. I would be alone in my house frantically looking up at the sky and the clouds to see any sign of a storm, fearing the dark cumulus clouds just the same as I would be fearing the day that my grandma would leave this Earth and leave her family behind. Eventually, the dreaded day arrived. I remember that summer night clearly when I broke down getting the call that my grandma had passed. It was a gut-wrenching feeling that I had never experienced before. Tears were infinite, sadness was indefinite. It took a lot out of me that day, and a part of me left with her. It was a challenge that I knew I would have to come face to face with at some point and knew it would arise again throughout my life. Though, days after my grandma passed, the anxieties disappeared. I didn’t know it then but now I realize that they were just adaptations of my worries and fears of the inevitable. It was coming full circle. The emotions I pushed down for months came flowing out and I learned quickly how to cope with grief and loss. This day is never lost on me, and I come back to this realization often in many situations in my life, big or small. I’ve learned to hold on to things and cherish them owing to the fact that you will not have them forever. I’ve learned that showing emotion is ok and sometimes good for your mental health. I don’t pack down all of my emotions anymore, instead, I think and recognize them when they appear. It was a very long challenge that had gone on for a while but it never defeated me in total. Instead, I took it in and turned it into a memory. A memory of my grandma and the kind, colorful, and most importantly loving, person she always was. A memory that defines me and guides me as I move forward in life.

Throughout my high school career, I have gone to a school that sometimes can have a more predominantly white student voice. During my freshman year, I realized this overtime with the lack of inclusivity between races and the silence that rang through the school involving students of color. I looked into ways that diversity could be promoted throughout the school, and make the voices of students of color heard. This is when I found the group Advancing Minds of Color. Joining the group I felt heard, that my voice and ideas mattered. I immediately put my full attention to this club. The love I have for it has grown over the years, and has even made me one of the co-leaders of the group since my sophomore year. The group's message is to encourage students of color to take more action in their academic career, make sure they challenge themselves, focus on learning, and defy the stereotypes that society has bound them to over the years. Although education is one of the most important things the group hones in on, the voices and ideas of students of color are another that cannot be denied. As a group, facilitated by myself and two other co-leaders, the group has created a wave of diversity throughout the school. Whether it’s creating pep rallies for Juneteenth, spirit weeks for Black History month, or collaborating with the community outside of Pittsfield High School in the form black cultural celebrations, the group is highly active in wanting change. The group as a whole values our school and wants to make an amazing difference for all students of color. Promoting the importance of education and the promise it holds to ourselves and our society. Everyday I strive to make my dreams a living reality. It's a promise I make to my future self and the responsibilities I receive later on in my life. College is an aspect of my future life that will lead me to the reality that my dreams live in. I push myself to my fullest potential and try my best at everything I do and the steps I take towards college are all the most important as the steps I take in college to pursue my dreams. This scholarship is an aspect of the steps taken that lead me towards something bigger, something brighter, and more powerful than what I am now. In a more specific description, I want to be a surgeon. I want to help and give back to people in need and transform them from the pain and hurt they feel into remission and help them become better. It is definitely a struggle to get to the path that I want to, however, with the help of scholarships like this one my dream comes into view. I am so grateful for the opportunities organizations like this one offer to students in need of funding for college. Thank you for the promises you make, thank you for the service you give to students, and thank you for making my dreams become a reality. This is shows what black excellence means to me and how I hold myself to those standards.

My overall goal in my future is to become a surgeon using my education that I have obtained. I have always loved the medical field; even when I went to the doctor’s office, I had fun. I want the power to save people with surgery and change the lives of human beings in need. An amazing opportunity that I would one day dream of doing is helping and serving individuals in Africa affected by major pandemics happening right now. For example, Ebola is a huge outbreak that affects many African residents and being able to help millions is something I believe one day I could do. I want to be dedicated, hardworking, and focused on my goals. I push myself to my fullest potential and try my best at everything I do. I want to help and give back to people in need and transform them from the pain and hurt they feel into remission and help them become better. It is definitely a struggle to get to the path that I want to, however, with the help of scholarships like this one my dream comes into view. It is a worry I hold near and dear to my heart that financially, my dreams would die out and I would never get to the place I have always wanted to be at and hold myself accountable for. This goal first stemmed of wanting to help lives and build them back up, when I saw the loved ones around me degrade and wither away. It all started with my grandmother who I was inseparably close with. My grandmother was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer that took who her away to fast. I never noticed it when I was little. However, as I got older as did she, her body began to shut down and I was unimaginably devastated. Her death awoken the realization of death and the short time we have on this earth, something I can never forget. As life went on I noticed my father withering in front of my eyes too. My father and my mother became divorced when I was in middle school. They have always been separated since I was little but finally officialized it then. My father is an alcoholic. He hides his pain in trying to kill himself with this liquid that takes so many people out of this world. After doing it so much he ultimately ended up with kidney failure and is struggling to deal with it today. So much emotion goes on within him and he still uses alcohol to cope. I have learned many things from him. One is never to become him. The other is to not break human beings down but rather build them up. That's where being a surgeon come in. Saving the lives of a human in need is something I need to do, something I want to do, nothing less. My dreams have never crushed under all that I have been through. I am strong and persistent, and I know that for a fact. I know the people looking down on me and the few that are still with us would be cheering me on as I go through this journey of life and the process of an education. I am so grateful for the opportunities organizations like this one offer to students in need of funding for college. Thank you for the promises you make, thank you for the service you give to students, and thank you for making my dreams become a reality.