My name is Kylee Mehaffey, and I am an aspiring tattoo artist. I have always been very passionate about art, and I knew I wanted to turn it into a career somehow. I have finally decided to take the next step towards this goal, which is furthering my education. I currently do some freelance work, but it isn't fulfilling my artistic desires in the way I want. If I were to win this scholarship, it would help tremendously with my student loans. I am currently a student at The Modern College of Design, which is a private school. As usual, private schools are much more expensive than community colleges. However, I have always been ambitious and set high goals for myself. Unfortunately, this one happens to be the most time-consuming and costly. I currently have a job, but I have to earn an apprenticeship to be a tattoo artist. I want to finish schooling before entering an apprenticeship because I do not want to interfere with my grades because, for me, my education will always come first. I want to become a tattoo artist because I want to prove that you can achieve greatness and be successful even if you come from a small town with very few opportunities. Where I come from, the nearest grocery store is thirty minutes away. I live in a village with few opportunities, which means many people live in poverty. Even if you know there are better opportunities, when you live with little income, many things may seem unachievable because of how little you have. It may appear if you have goals that are "too expensive," people often become discouraged. I want to break that stigma and show people that you don't have to make a lot of money or be born into a wealthy family to make your dreams happen. I want to prove to everyone who lives in the same village and everyone who thinks they can't follow their dreams because of their income that it is possible. I am going to make my name known through my art and my story. I will prove to the people that told me I'd never make anything out of my art or who told me being an artist isn't a "real job" that anything is possible when you're dedicated enough. I will make my name known, and I will continue to inspire and prove to small townspeople that they can follow their dreams and achieve their goals. Small towns such as mine are known as "dream killers" because of our lack of resources.

My favorite piece of art is a tribute to my grandfather, who unfortunately passed away in my sixth-grade year. While he was related to me by marriage, he was the only grandfather on my mother's side that I met as her father passed away before I was born. I remember him getting my grandmother one kind of flower, her favorite, roses. So in a sense, this could also be considered a tribute to both of them. It is a simple piece; a rose with six leaves growing from its stem. Each of these leaves represents a different person in his family. On the first stem, there are three leaves. The biggest, most inner leaf represents my grandmother. The two below it represent my mother and uncle, her children. On the bottom stem, there are three more leaves. The two smallest represent my brother and my cousin, who is my uncle's daughter. The final leaf represents me. The main stem represents the most important thing that holds us together, which is love. Finally, the rose itself represents my grandfather. I drew this when I was only 15 years old. I explained the meaning to my mother, and she loved it. She then shared it with my uncle, and he had the idea to get it as matching tattoos. As a result, when I turned 16, my uncle and mom took me to a tattoo shop to get the tribute permanently drawn on me. I chose my right forearm as it is my dominant and strongest side, and if there is anything my grandfather taught me, it is to be a strong, independent person.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been a leader. No matter the task, no matter how difficult, I have always risen above and conquered. I create my path, and I don't fall at anything thrown in my way. Being a leader is no easy task. There are people constantly counting on you to call the shots. Undoubtedly, this can become draining if you aren't in the correct mindset. However, I've always valued this about myself, especially during school and my activities. When you participate in sports, there's always someone present to help you grow and practice when you're confused. In my experience, I was always one of those people. When someone didn't understand the proper technique to hit a ball or a dance move, I always helped them out. It is difficult to feel like you're left behind and everyone else is moving fast, which is why it is crucial to have a support system no matter what you're doing. I grew up in a small town with not many work or job opportunities. Stores were thirty minutes away with any job available paid minimum wage. Inevitably, this leads to many people living in poverty. If I saw anyone struggling with their academics, I asked them how I could help. I've always got good grades and because of this, helping others wasn't an issue for me. I know the feeling of being out of school for weeks and returning to what seems like an entire lesson taught without you. When you have to deal with this on your own, it takes a toll on your mental health and confidence. I know all too well what can happen in this situation. For this reason, I chose to be the person who stepped up and helped those who needed it. Once I moved onto junior high, I decided to help coach the sports I played. I wanted to help my cousin and her teams learn as much as they could. So I helped coach her in every sport until she moved into junior high. One of my achievements coaching her cheerleading squad was winning first place at our annual competition. The look on their faces will be something I will never forget. With an immense amount of leadership and determination, we brought out the best of every cheerleader and had them shine in their unique ways. Being a strong leader will be highly effective in my life, especially for the goals I've set for myself. When I'm out of school, I eventually want to open a tattoo studio. With this ambitious goal comes many responsibilities. Being a strong leader is required to running your own business if you have employees. You must direct them along the correct path and teach them the proper way to do tasks. You have to create every rule and regulation for your studio. Being a strong leader is something I've held a lot of pride in and will be applied every day for the rest of my life.