Students pursuing higher education are trying to discover their careers and eventually find employment. The most significant difference between those students and myself is I already have a fulfilling career, I achieved a dream, and I am choosing to abandon it. I am deciding to leave my job as a full-time firefighter for a seat in one of the most prestigious performing arts schools in the country. Leaving the profession of firefighting to study acting at NYU is risky, but nothing makes more sense to me than facing the challenges ahead, and I have proven that the power of positive thinking has propelled my current career forward, and it will do the same for this new adventure I have decided to embark on. During my time in high school, I excelled in the performing arts. I had a knack for understanding the inherent need to understand the human experience through storytelling. My dedication to the craft was noticed by several of my peers, and I was recognized by the district through performance awards. I knew without a doubt that one day I would be acting professionally; the next steps were unfortunately unclear. During my senior year, I was faced with a harsh reality. My parent did not have the means or finances to send me to the Universities and Conservatories I was auditioned for and was accepted. I was a young Latino with parents who never went to college. The genesis of a the plan was formed during this time, a plan to secure marketable workforce skills before plunging headfirst into the arts. I decided on a career in emergency services. I knew that the flexible schedule, competitive pay, and transferable skills would aid me later when I decided to pick up acting professionally. But more than this, I needed to give back to the public and put my life on the line for someone else as much as I felt the need to perform. The days in the academy were grueling. I faced hot physical training daily, fully geared confined spaces training, and daily skill evaluations. Regardless of the pressure and anxiety involved, I flourished in this environment. I felt a sense of pride in my ability to go outside of myself in these stressful situations and still focus on my studying and work life. Four months after graduating from the fire academy, I had a career in the field. My time in the service was filled with several adrenaline-fueled working emergency responses, all different in nature and severity. I found a lifelong brotherhood and family with the fire service. I had become self-sufficient, worked through a pandemic, and I was utterly a self-made man. Nothing could hold me back from achieving the dream now. My audition for NYU was approaching. I locked myself in my closet 4 hours a day and dug into the audition pieces I picked; I was thrilled to be acting again. I auditioned for the Tisch School of Drama at New York University and was accepted as part of the freshman acting ensemble. My effort and time had been rewarded. After years of struggling to be a fully independent man, I was able to take these first steps towards my dream. The issue I face now is the move to New York will end my full-time employment, my finances will be drastically different, which is why I think this Award will help me. It will put me closer to accomplishing my dream of becoming trained by the best professionals in the industry.