Cleveland, Ohio is where people think Lebron James is from when in reality he is actually from Akron, Ohio. I know because I grew up in both cities and the whole Ohio loves Lebron. He always came back to Akron and did so many things for children. He came to schools for lectures, he did an organization to ride bikes with kids, and he came in to play basketball for schools plenty of times. Lebron is my biggest hero just for the simple fact he made it out of the hood. Living in Akron, Ohio you are widely overlooked. Akron doesn’t have many resources for kids, especially just living in the Midwest by itself. All the kids around me always loved Lebron just for the simple fact that he’s a basketball player but for me he made it out of the ghetto and made a name for himself. It’s so easy to get caught up in the wrong people and do the wrong thing all because of the limited things to do in Akron. Lebron gave me inspiration of discipline and patience. showing me that if I want to succeed, I need to work hard and show perseverance. Growing up with a drug addict father and a mother too self-involved with her boyfriends it was hard to have a good role model around, but Lebron James was that person for me. Do I think that Lebron James is the greatest basketball player of all time? Absolutely but he became the greatest basketball player by remembering where he came from and putting in the work to never have to go back to that place he was once in when he was younger. Lebron is an inspiration to us all, but to this little girl from Akron who grew up poor and had no idea if she would make it past the age of 16, he is a superhero.

Theater, the first love of many. Every kid can remember the first time they fell in love with theater. I remember mine. I was 8 years old going to the Akron playhouse, they were showing the Phantom and the Opera. The chills that went down my body as soon as you heard the orchestra, the dialogue, the vocals, the setup of the stage, and just the absolute quietness and respect of those on stage. Being a woman of color it was amazing to see all types of actors. I saw black men, black women, plus sized actors and actresses. I learned right there that theater had no place for hate, it was a place for beauty, love, and passion. Growing up, I did anything I could to be a part of theater. I went to Broadway summer camp, enrolled in a two-year program for the performing arts, and tried my best to keep up with whatever play or musical coming out. Growing up poor and not being able to have the funds or the connections when it came to theater was hard, it was hard to keep up with other passionate students who have been involved since they stepped out of their mother's womb. But the older I got and the more confident I became, I see that theater doesn’t care when you start or how you start, it’s merely all about passion, hard work, and the love of it. Are you willing to rehearse every day? Be on your feet for multiple hours? Are you willing to dig deep into your character without judging? Are you ready to enunciate and speak loudly without getting uncomfortable? Most importantly are you comfortable with being uncomfortable? Theater is all about getting out of your own skin, being loud and obnoxious. I believe that’s what most actors and actresses love about theater, being able to leave your own problems for a while and be someone else, a person you’ve always dreamed of being or maybe someone you would never in a million years thought you could become. When you step onto that stage, perform, and a round of applause at the end is so exhilarating. Knowing you've entertained someone by playing a whole different person and being able to be unrecognizable is a feeling like no other. Theater isn’t just about entertainment, you can simply inspire a person, ignite sadness, happiness, fear, and anger all in one performance. Theater is a place where one can let go of all of their emotions in a healthy way. I believe theater was created for those who are introverted or don’t know how to express themselves. Theater is never about judging, it’s about listening and compassion. Theater saved my life. To my eight-year-old self who would go into the bathroom, look into the mirror and pretend she won an Oscar or a Tony for best actress…. We’re almost there.

Adversity in the dictionary is described as misfortune, difficulties. In my opinion I believe adversity is just a synonym for trauma. We all explore misfortune in our lives, but it never leaves us quite the same and that can be for the best or in some cases for the worse. I’m still on my healing journey from my own adversity. Starting from the ripe age of 8 I can always remember being bullied. I was a mixed child with a black drug addict dad who was also in his 60’s and a white mom who worked as a massage therapist. It also didn't help that we were lower class. I was always bullied for having too much hair, not having the coolest shoes, not driving a brand-new car to school, and it didn’t help that had little to no family. The family I did have never wanted to help us out, I think they like seeing us struggle. It ended up messing with my head growing up. I had horrible rumors made about me, I got taken advantage of, backstabbed. Getting bullied also affected my grades, so I was in danger of repeating the same grade. At the ripe age of 14 I tried to kill myself. All the trials and tribulations I was dealing with was too much for a little child. I was so angry all the time, fighting, being disrespectful, hanging around the wrong people. I was so lost. I ended up getting therapy and that ended up helping a little bit but overall, it didn’t do much for my self-esteem. It wasn’t until I graduated and moved away from the city I grew up in that I began to blossom, like a second puberty except this one was emotional and mental. I had a chance to be someone else, to make my own label and character for myself, not something that others had laid upon me. The more away from home I was, the more confident I felt. I truly could be whoever I wanted to be. It wasn’t until I moved and did deep shadow and spiritual work on myself that I realized the things I was getting made fun of for had absolutely nothing to do with me. When I was a kid, I couldn’t control what kind of car my parents drove or what clothes they bought me. I eventually ended up being more grateful than ever for my mom because of how hard she tried to give us a nice life with what we had and that’s more than a lot of others. I read a quote once that said, “You cannot heal in the same place that broke you.” and that spoke volumes to me. My adversity helped me learn so much about myself and move into a positive and healthy healing stage in my life where even in my early 20’s I am so confident and sure of myself. I want to help my community in the future by making a youth center for children that don’t have much. A community center that has sports, tutoring and therapy lessons to help strengthen the love and confidence within children who come from low-income families because everyone deserves to feel special. This community center can help get kids off the street, get them involved, keep them interested in school, and keep them stimulated. Bullied children have a higher statistic of suicide, prostitution, drug dealing, etc. Bullying in children can cause so much harm to the mind that leaves scars forever. Nobody deserves to feel suicidal and to feel alone.

May 12, 2012, is the day the movie The Avengers came out. I was a 12-year-old girl living in Cleveland, Ohio where evidently the movie was filmed. Me and my dad used to go to the movies all the time together at the Tower City theaters. I remember the excitement and the amazing marketing that was everywhere for this movie. The moment the movie played I instantly had goosebumps, the electric feeling of falling in love with the colors in the film, the stunts, the actors, the plotline, and the amazing quotable lines. That magnetic feeling is what put in motion the dreams of becoming an actor. Being able to play a character with the actions and objectives you couldn’t have in real life was an absolute dream. From then on, I knew I would have to do everything I can to become a world-renowned actress. Growing up my whole life revolved around the arts, as simple as making a drawing to express myself and what I was thinking to listening to music to describe how I was feeling and what kind of mood I was in. My passion for the arts derives from the pleasure of escaping the real world and going into a fantasy for a little while and forgetting everything else. That’s mostly why I love acting so much, just to become something other than yourself, to have the thoughts and life of someone else…whoever you want to be. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, one of the top ten dangerous and depressed cities in the United States. I also grew up very poor and even though my parents did everything that they could so I could learn the art of acting, it was still very expensive and about connections. Acting classes were about 500$ a class, my school's theater program wasn’t the best, and when I did get into a program no teacher wanted to give me a real chance just because of the school I was in and the reputation that came from going to that school. Whilst there were other children from more prominent schools who were given a chance. Throughout it all, I remained strong in my love for acting. Theater was a healthy part in coping from all the violence, problems going on at home, and away from the constant depressing thoughts that came into my head. Art was a form of escaping for me, and when I become an actress I want to use my platform to build a program in Cleveland, Ohio and expand to other low income cities for youth children to start their passion in the arts regardless of how much money they have, to help give a leg up to those who want to pursue their own passions and dreams. Whether that’s theater, painting, music, sculpture, etc. The arts is a very competitive sport but regardless of the fact everyone deserves a chance, no matter where they come from or how much they have. Art is what brings people together, it brings laughs, cries, anger, and understanding. Every form of art has a way of reaching into the soul and touching something within everyone and I think everyone in the world deserves to feel that amazing feeling.