I want my art--specifically through my songs and videos--to inspire and uplift those who feel weak and discouraged. I want to speak to those who have experienced similar things that I have and validate their emotions and experiences. I think good art should hold its viewers or listeners hands and say, "It's okay," and that is what I seek to do. I plan to have my creative works be ones that are therapeutic to others and bring more empathy and understanding into the world. Two examples of how I've done this in the past come from a nearly empty gig on a stormy night and an originally private YouTube video. Shortly before COVID I played a small show on a rainy, thundering night, and only two people showed up besides my family. I was discouraged, but after singing a few original songs I heard a man crying. He came up to me afterward and said that my songs provided him with years of therapy in one night. For the latter example, I made a video essay to chronicle my experience of starting college during COVID. I uploaded the video privately because I was hesitant to share my fears and insecurities with my classmates, but I shared it in case it helped one person. Later that day, I was flooded with messages from people who related to my video or were comforted by it. Even a stranger from Italy reached out and thanked me. I bring up these examples to show that vulnerability is essential to my art, even when it's scary. I strive to be a voice that is honest and makes others feel less alone. Going forward, I plan to continue being vulnerable and open by sharing my heart through songs and videos so that people--or even one person--feel heard, validated, and encouraged.

Since I was young I've wanted to live a life that is adventurous and off the beaten path, so my bucket list reflects that. Here are a few of my top items: 1. Run a marathon 2. Publish a book 3. Do missionary work in Iceland 4. Go skydiving 5. Write and direct a film Last month I completed my first marathon, and I have written and directed several short films on my own, but none that I would consider fully realized. I have tentative plans to visit Iceland in the summer where I aim to share hope with others and bring life to a country undergoing a mental and spiritual health crisis. Whatever I end up doing in life, I want to use my creative gifts to help people. Even with physical acts such as running a marathon and going skydiving, I want to create art from these experiences and share what I have learned from them. I want to create films, write music, tell stories, and experience life in a way that enables me to share messages that are important to me and that encourage others. I've always known this, but after I published a video I wrote, shot, and edited on loneliness in the pandemic (https://youtu.be/INThOTaA_jI), I realized that being open and vulnerable with my experiences in creative ways can make others feel less alone. So now my goal in life is to bring that same sense of peace to as many people as I can though my goals, hobbies, and career path.

When I was five years old, my dream job was to become an author. I adored envisioning worlds in my mind and portraying deep truths veiled in symbolism and metaphors. I wrote short "novels" and blog posts, but that dream was deterred when I aspired to be a film director around the age of eleven. I wanted to tell stories through a visual medium and express a message through cinematography and editing. Next I wanted to be a journalist, then a photographer, up until a singer-songwriter, the career I've chosen to stick with. Even though all of these careers sound quite different, they all share the foundation of telling a story through a a creative medium, and that is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. The arts have always been the only way I feel I can truly and most authentically express myself, and I believe my work embodies my emotions and ambitions in a unique way. First and foremost I love writing music. I started playing guitar and writing songs at age fifteen, and now I study songwriting at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Crafting a story in marriage with a melody is the most rewarding and creatively-stimulating experience, and it's the only thing I can see myself doing full-time for the rest of my life. I'm self-releasing an EP this summer under Liz Moss, and I'm currently recording and producing demos for the songs I wrote during my freshman year of college. I won Bloomington, Indiana's "Rising Star Contest" in 2019 for my original song "Insecure", and I was accepted into Belmont's very selective and competitive songwriting program, placing in the top 3 of both of my class' songwriting competitions. I hope to perform live in writer's rounds and house shows around Nashville after COVID restrictions lighten. After music and songwriting my biggest passion is videography. I love telling stories in a visual medium, and often I combine my love for music with my love for video by creating music videos and short films to go along with my songs. You can watch some of my videos on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoyxyvqdsNXmYnzSz0weTFQ where I regularly upload my original songs, travel vlogs, and video essays. I also run a comedy/fandom YouTube channel called "waywardgranger" that has amassed over 5 million views since April of 2020. I have a huge passion for filmmaking, and I hope to work on a film set in the future. My biggest talent and interest in that field is in editing, and I'd love to edit videos and short films for other creators or production companies. I've also started filming and editing music videos for my friends in college. Telling stories--whether through songs, videos, or writings, or another creative form--allows me to be vulnerable and express my own thoughts as well as my findings from the world around me. I have received numerous comments, in person and online, of people expressing how my music or videos have helped them in some way. I even became close friends with someone who emailed me on how my video "college in a pandemic" changed the way that he thought and guided him through his sophomore year of college in Italy. That is the reason I am fueled to continue creating. Hearing how others are shaped and inspired by my work is the most fulfilling experience, and I hope to continue this work for the rest of my life.

My video is linked below! I wrote it about being a college freshman amidst the pandemic and how it's taught me to be alone without feeling lonely. I hope you enjoy it! https://youtu.be/INThOTaA_jI

Fitness, although focusing on the work of one's body, has shaped my mind and my work ethic more than any book or class ever has. As a writer and a musician studying Songwriting at an arts college, fitness and athletics are undervalued, and it's difficult to motivate myself when I feel in the minority. Despite facing barriers and often exercising alone, I've strived to make my first year of college just as active as my high school years. I joined track and cross country in sixth grade, expecting to be the fastest on the team, only to realize how hard distance running is and how bad I was at it. I expected to only run throughout that year and possibly the next, but I never imagined I'd continue running all throughout high school and independently in college. Something always drew me back to running; I fell in love not with the early mornings and the sore muscles, but with the feeling of challenging myself and learning what my body is capable of. Even though running and racing were beyond hard, they taught me to always keep persevering. I couldn't stop in the middle of a race or workout because I was tired. I could never, ever quit until I crossed the finish line. I carried this mentality with me in my other endeavors: I'll never quit a club that I join, I'll always put 100% into my school work, and I'll push even harder up the hills life gives me. After seven years of running on a near daily basis with a team, the decision to wake up and run everyday without accountability or a coach relying on me was hard to say the least. I wondered, will running or exercising lose it's draw if I'm not competing or working towards a goal? Despite this fear, I'm more passionate today about fitness as a college freshman (who is not involved in athletics) than I was as a member of my cross country team. I've discovered that there will always be a challenge in running, weight-lifting, yoga, etc. There will ALWAYS be a challenge and a goal to work toward even if I am nowhere near the pace I used to run at. Instead of focusing on competition, lately I've seen fitness as a way to treat my body kindly and clear my mind. Running and moving my body in general allows me to feel refreshed and more at one with the world. I struggle with anxiety, and I've noticed how much more clear and balanced my mind is after exercising than it were if I skipped my workout. Exercise not only allows me to feel better physically, but it gives me the mental space to focus on my work and be more kind to others. I strive to continue valuing fitness and holding it as a pillar in my life. Doing so will make me a healthier person, both in my mind and in body.

"I wish creating art didn't come with a budget" is a lyric from Ed Sheeran's song "Eraser" that struck me particularly hard. As a burgeoning singer-songwriter, I had just experienced the crushing feeling of planning to record my first single but seeing the four digit number it would take to cover the expenses. I have a deep desire to share my music with the world in it's best and highest quality form, but that is so difficult for many young musicians to achieve due to increasing studio and producer costs. Even getting professional photos taken and acquiring quality equipment for music videos and demos is not financially feasible, especially for a college freshman like myself. The first thing I would do if money wasn't an issue would be to invest in myself as a business in order to better share my music and my heart with as many people as possible. Investing in myself and my artist image includes recording and producing high quality songs to release, boosting my brand by getting professional looking photos and live videos taken, and taking classes and lessons to enhance my skills. The latter aspect is particularly important as I am currently studying songwriting at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. I chose the avenue of songwriting because writing a story in marriage to a melody is the most rewarding and creatively-stimulating experience. I can't see myself doing anything else the rest of my life except writing, producing, and creating music full time, so it's very important to me that I continue pursuing this both in and outside of school. Studying songwriting in music city is a dream come true, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford tuition past my sophomore year. I'm working two jobs this summer to raise money, but it's still difficult to invest in my musical career when most of my money is going straight to my education. Apart from recording music and building a brand, an important aspect of the life of a musician is to see the world. I'm continually fascinated by how much our perspectives are changed by travel and how deeply that effects the songs we write and the stories we tell. With any money leftover, I would build a travel fund so that I can experience the world and other cultures more fully and use that to tell impactful stories through my music. I believe that the stories I have to tell through my songs are impactful and true to myself, and I would be honored to receive this financial gift to continue using and shaping my voice.

Travel is perhaps the most intimate way to view the world. Visiting different countries, learning about different cultures, and seeking to experience the day-to-day life of people vastly different than myself is one of my greatest passions. As a musician, writer, and photographer, travel is an essential part of gaining creativity and telling stories about the human experience. I am a Songwriting major at Belmont University with a minor in Video Production, and I will be studying abroad in Ireland in Spring of 2021. My travel plans for Ireland and my personal travel plans for Iceland this summer will shape me into a more independent woman and into a deeper, more empathetic thinker. Every time I’ve left my state or my country, the perspective I come back with is hugely different from the perspective I left with. Traveling removes me from my egocentric worldview and forces me to try new things, to meet new people, and to listen more than I speak. When I visited France in 2019 this was apparent to me. I speak English and Spanish but know very little French, so my time in Paris and Normandy allowed me to exercise my listening skills and observe carefully everything that surrounded me. Even in countries that speak my language, I plan to use travel as a way to pull myself away from my phone and from my comfort zone and pull closer towards fully experiencing the world as a listener and observer, however uncomfortable it may be. When I study abroad in Ireland, I plan to meet as many locals as I can to better understand their lives and values. Although it may be less glamorous, I plan to dive deep into the non-touristy locations, as they will further immerse me into that culture and way of life. Even though Ireland is a western nation, it’s shocking how much English and Irish values differ from American values, and I’m so excited to learn more about that and to be challenged in my own ways of thinking. As an artist, I plan to use my experiences traveling and the experiences of those I observe to write plenty of new songs that encapsulate the grandness and beauty of our world. Songwriting is my greatest passion, and being out in nature and in new places gives me a unique type of inspiration that I can’t find anywhere else. Recently my songs have been focused on telling the seemingly mundane stories of people I meet and people I imagine, and through that I’ve found that the most common stories can be the most extraordinary. I want to pay homage to the stories of the people in Ireland through my songs and become more culturally aware and empathetic in the process. As a photographer and videographer, I want to visually capture these moments as well. Nearly all of my favorite photographs have come from travel, because there is this sense of mystery and intrigue from a moment in time that existed thousands of miles away from where I currently sit, yet I still have a profound connection to the subjects of my photographs. Capturing scenes of daily life in a culture vastly different than my own is so important for myself and others to see represented in a visual medium. I cannot wait to grow as a person and as an artist in my time abroad later this year. I’d be honored to receive this scholarship to support me financially in my education and in my travels. Thank you for your generosity and your consideration.