I am a Black Muslim woman in America, which means things are typically in my favor. I'm the oldest and a first generation student. I constantly have to prove myself worthy of being a part of these exclusively white interests. I am also into the arts and performing, which you don't see a lot of unfortunately. I didn't attend dance classes or partake in theatre until I had to move into the suburbs at 17. It was a change for me being in a predominantly white environment. Yet I still made sure to be a part of choir, theatre classes, art classes and theatre productions while facing discrimination and stares. Despite all the "No's" I get, I have and will continue to peruse my dreams. I attended a community college that allowed me to actually be a part an active participant in the career I wanted to peruse (performing arts). Performing in front of crowds of family, friends, peers, my community and doing children shows really motivated me. Having people from the audience come up to me saying they were happy to see me preform and wanted to others like them (black and/or Muslim) on stage really touched my heart. It made me want to work harder and to continue pursuing theatre. I needed to be their representation. So, I continued to take classes that bettered my acting and stage crew skills. After I graduated, I attended SUNY Fredonia to get my bachelors degree. I major in Theatre Arts and minor in Dance. I currently am trying to make things better for BIPOC, plus sized, and queer people who are in the theatre department. There's not many, and it can be ostracizing. We often don't get cast in anything, or we get overlooked as if we aren't in the department as well, working as hard as others. I'm trying to make it a safe and comfortable environment for those who don't feel like they are welcome. We don't have enough diversity in the theatre/acting world, we have the same type of people be praised for their talent, and not enough like me and many others. I want to be someone who motivates others like me to continue working hard to be achieve their dreams. They shouldn't shy away and give up. We need more of us to make things better in the theatre/acting/dance world better. We'll continue to be underrepresented unless we take a stand and show them that we are more than what we've been made out to be.