If I could press a button to instantly improve something about myself, I would most want to improve my work ethic and drive. With how the state of jobs and education is today, you need to constantly be working hard in order to get ahead and achieve your dreams. To achieve my dream, of being an actor, is a lot of luck, but as Thomas Jefferson said, “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” If I’m going to make this career work, drive will be key.

Creativity to me is whatever you have a passion for. You can be creative in accounting, you can be creative in construction, creativity is an opportunity that is everywhere. For me, creativity is expressing what me and my peers love through forms like theatre, film, and music. I love being able to show the fun side of life through these mediums and I intend to make that into my career. Using this scholarship, I’ll be able to enroll at an arts-focused university and grow my knowledge of the world in order to express the ideas of the world, beyond just me and my friends. Attached is a video that me and my best friend Nick made for a competition. It was a talent show, to find the “Mr. Grandview” at our school, Grandview High School. This video came on to introduce him to the audience. Nick called me while I was on vacation with family, having just left the Barbie movie, and he pitched this idea to me. We weren’t really close at the time, but I agreed anyways. We ended up spending maybe 30 total hours on this video; it was our first time working with a green screen and video editing in this regard. After 40 or so takes, 30 hours, and one day where I spent the entire day—8am to 11pm—at his house working on this video. Thanks to all that time we spent together bouncing ideas off of each other, I made a best friend I will never forget, and this video turned out amazing. Him and I are such a dynamic duo because of it and it’s all thanks to this strange, funny video that I agreed to do on a whim. That’s what creativity means to me. Accepting a new idea on a whim, working on it nonstop, meeting new friends because of it, and falling in love with the process. We ended up winning that Mr. Grandview competition, with me also as one of his backup dancers for his dance routine, but more than winning the crown at the competition, I’m grateful for winning the best friend I could ever have.