I have watched my family go through the ups and downs of financial freedom and destitution. When my parents were married and I was a young girl, my father worked for the federal government as a Special Agent for NCIS and later for NOAA. We moved frequently from Hawaii, the east coast, Virginia and back to the west coast, Washington State. During that time my family had enough money to buy nice houses, cars and my sister and I were in private schools. However, one day my father was arrested for drinking and driving and assault on my mother. On that day my sister and I were checked out of school, went straight into a shelter for women and children and had only the bags and items we could carry with us. My mother tried very hard to make us comfortable even though we had just escaped the only life we ever knew. Within a couple of weeks we were back on the east coast with my mother's family to start over. My mother had been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years and had been completely dependent on my father putting her career on the back burner for his growth and to raise my sister and I. Since then, I have watched my mother struggle to keep a roof over our heads, food in our mouths, work full-time and go back to school (sometimes full-time during the day and part-time at night) to make sure my sister and I had what we needed. We lived in subsidized housing, on government assistance and even received food boxes from our local food bank. We had been living this way for many years but still managed to have a good childhood. During these years we have given back to OASIS, the domestic violence shelter in our town. We have donated cell phones from our local Verizon store and participated in their 5K fundraising event to help others like us. I have watched my mother save money and only buy the things that we needed, not what we always wanted. She has instilled in us that we must always save for and invest in our future whether it be for this month's electric bill or for a down payment on a house one day, but most importantly, to NEVER depend on another person to survive. Fast forward to my senior year of high school, I have been working hard as an honors/AP student so that I can go to college and have the life I deserve. I learned that being financially responsible is realistic even if you don't make a lot of money. This year, not only am I graduating from high school, have been accepted to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro but my mother was able to buy us our very own home! I am majoring in Psychology to study dissociative identity disorder to help others who have gone through traumatic experiences and my therapist who is a PhD, has offered to mentor me through college to obtain this goal. My mom, sister and I are doing well and we have each other. I am hoping to receive as many scholarships as possible and work while in school so that my mom, who has worked so hard all of these years not only for our financial security but our physical safety does not have to worry about funding my college education as well. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I live boldly mostly everyday, days I’m strong and confident, other days not as much. I come from a broken home of divorced parents. My mother struggles everyday to raise my sister and I on her own. My father is an abusive alcoholic with a current protective order in place and many over the years. I struggle with having only one parent because I see my mom work so hard for us girls. I am bold in many ways, one is to show my family that I am responsible, a good student and have future goals. I will remain being bold so that I can provide for my future family and help others without having to live in a violent household ever. The cycle of abuse and mistreatment of women in my family ends with me. Whether I someday have sons or daughters they will know the truth of my family’s past and that abuse will not be tolerated. Being bold is being compassionate and loving all while being a strong role model for others. My degree in Psychology (and grad school) will provide me with the skills and credentials to assist other families to navigate persons with mental disorders and for their families to live their best BOLD life.