Before middle school, I never had any inclination that I was different from my peers. I didn't question my peers experience or mine- I assumed that my girl friends all wanted to marry their best friends, as that was my experience. However, upon entering middle school, my world changed. I gained the vocabulary necessary to describe myself and my experience, and I came out as a lesbian. My friends and family supported me, however I still felt like an outsider within my community, close but unable to fully understand the experiences of those around me. To combat the alienation I felt from my peers, I turned to art. The world I wished for, the one where I was queer and didn't feel alone, the one where I was able to see myself reflected in my idols, existed. I felt as though I had to create representation for myself because I was unable to find it anywhere else. As a young kid, all I wanted to know was that my experiences as a queer person were okay and normal, an assurance that I didn't yet have. I created characters from all walks of life, representing the stages of the queer experience I hoped to have; finding a queer community, finding a partner and being able to be old and queer, being afforded the luxury of those facets of the straight experience which I admired. However, as I grew older, I realised that I wanted to be able to channel my aspirations into something meaningful, something which would be able to help queer youth such as myself. I focused more of my time and energy into my art, honing my craft and deciding that I wanted to go into the arts post-high school. Now, reflecting on my past and looking towards my future, I have decided that I want to be able to create something for people like me; people who are queer and are searching for a voice, something or someone saying that their experience and identity are valid and real, and most importantly, that they are normal. I want to create this experience through media, which is an outlet which is familiar and most importantly accessible to those in need of assurance like I was when I first came out. By being awarded this scholarship, I would be given the space to create this possibility. Not only would I be realizing the dreams of myself, as a queer kid, hoping that I would one day feel comfortable with my queerness, but for other kids and people like me, people who need to know that they are ok and valid. I want to be able to create something new, something which normalizes queerness in a new way which is reflective of the society we are currently living in. With this scholarship, I would be able to afford toe post-secondary education needed for me to be able to pursue this dream in a professional context, a dream which would be beneficial to so many queer people who might be struggling with their identity and just need reassurance.