Growing up as a Black girl, I faced a substantial amount of adversity in my life. My parents were emotionally separated ( Yet still lived together) when I was around six years old, and the ensuing years were filled with financial instability and emotional unrest. During this period in my life, I was also growing up in Inglewood CA. My parents did their best to seclude my brothers and me from the negativity that was taking place outside our apartment's gated door. Despite these challenges, I learned to persevere and never gave up on my acting dreams that lived outside of Inglewood. One of the biggest challenges I faced in my later years was the cost of higher education. I'm not the first person in my family to attend college, but I knew that I had to take on the responsibility of paying for my education myself. Other male members of my family had full-ride sports scholarships to attend a University while I did not. Along my journey, I have obtained grants, scholarships, and loans, and saved as much money as I could. Yet It still wasn't enough to cover the cost of my Theatre arts LMU tuition. I got accepted to LMU with 5,000 dollars in my bank account. I was around 20 years old at the time and was convinced that I was “Balling”/ had a lot of money. It wasn't until I saw my first tuition bill of over 20,000 dollars that I was quickly humbled. Even in that moment of sheer panic, I did not quit. I found a way to continue my education. Again, I applied for every scholarship and grant I could find, and I even took out loans to cover the remainder of my expenses. It was a difficult decision to make because I didn't want to be in debt. But I knew that investing in myself wouldn't be in vain. Since I'm the one who has handled all of my financial responsibilities, I've had to make many sacrifices to do so. I've spent a great amount of time away from friends, family, and relationships to reach my academic goals. There were times when I felt overwhelmed and doubted my ability to succeed, but I knew how far I came. I'm now at the end of my collegiate experience. I managed to maintain high GPAs and be on the dean's list for multiple semesters in a row. However, The tuition I've been paying over the years has put an incredible dent in my funds. I came to LMU with 5,000 dollars and I will be leaving in debt. Receiving this scholarship would not only alleviate some of the financial burdens that remain but would also serve as a reminder that my perseverance and hard work have not gone unnoticed. Thank you for considering my application.

ICU”, a song by CoCo Jones (Actress/ Singer), essentially sums up how I feel about Fine arts/ acting. I highly suggest whoever is reading listens to that song to understand what I mean. I began acting at five years old, but I’ve been a performer my whole life. I vividly remember saying, at a young age, that I was on the earth to entertain. It was not initially my choice to act. My parents would put my siblings and me into many activities to find out what we enjoyed best. Acting scared me at first. It was a lot to take in as a five-year-old. Yet, I started to get used to the long days; Especially when I would play with Barbie dolls with future Star Yara Shahid ( Grown-ish). As soon as I fell in love with acting, I got dropped from my agency, and life went back to normal. The only way I had access to acting was through Fine Art programs. Unfortunately, the school I was attending at the time didn’t have any. It wasn’t until I went to high school that I started to act again. On my initiative this time, I joined the theater class. My theater experience was drastically different from my Film/ Tv one. I learned about Shakespeare, read plays, improv, etc. These were all things I hadn’t done before. I gained a substantial amount of knowledge from my theater class and met some of my closest high school friends there. During this same time, I was also an athlete. I was playing basketball and acting. It soon became too much for me to handle at 15 years old, so I decided to play basketball only. However, I knew that I still wanted to act. After high school, I had the opportunity to play college basketball but decided to pursue acting instead. At my community college, I joined theater again. Ironically enough, COVID-19 rudely interrupted my reunion. I enrolled in theater and somehow ended up “Zoom acting.” Eventually, I transferred during the pandemic to LMU. I got accepted into the theater arts program! I find it difficult to encapsulate how I feel about Fine arts and acting. It’s a burning sensation that I have deep inside. Im grounded in so much peace when performing or even learning about the craft. I enjoy every part of acting and the process it takes to be great. As a creative individual, fine arts are essential to my being. This Art form helps me express myself in more ways than I can articulate. In the end, Acting is the only Art form my soul calls out to the most!

I’m a very talented individual! I have many abilities, and here are some of the following: I can sing, dance, draw, and paint. When I was younger, I struggled to find my passion. I would frequently find myself participating in a multitude of things. I've played basketball, I've taken kickboxing classes, I was a ballerina, I was a gymnast, and I enjoyed every moment. Yet, nothing fully satisfied me until I started acting. With acting, I found that I could utilize all of my talents. The craft of acting takes an incredible amount of work. This Art form mirrors and imitates human life; therefore, there is always progression. Other than majoring in Theatre Arts at Loyola Marymount University, the following examples are how I practice my skills as it pertains to acting. To improve my skills as an actor, I have to work on myself as a human being. I have to live my life and experience both failure and success. It is also essential to acquaint myself with other cultures and perspectives. Next, I watch movies, documentaries, and Tv shows every day. As an actor, I need to study the medium I want to succeed in. Lastly, I read books on acting to prepare me for the auditioning rooms and the business in general.

The world faces numerous problems, which makes this prompt challenging to discuss only one. However, homelessness is currently one of the world's most prominent problems. I chose to speak on this issue because I believe most people, if not all, can agree that they'd rather not have homeless people roaming their streets, corners, and overall neighborhoods. I also think it's safe to say that most homeless people would rather be off the streets and in their own homes. So many countries experience homelessness around the globe, and no one seems to have a plausible solution. At times it seems like giving shelter, food, or encouraging one to apply for a job can fix the problem. Yet, I do not subscribe to this idea that acts of charity are always the answer to an issue. Many statistic cases show that most homeless people have mental health issues and (or) drug misuse. With that stated, it is evident that not every homeless person benefits from the possible solutions listed above. I believe rehabilitation facilities for the homeless would significantly help fix/ reduce the global homelessness crisis. Providing the homeless with a place for mental health/ drug treatment, food, shelter, and later on job opportunities; would be a step in the right direction. Cleaning up the streets means cleaning up the mind first. The world's homeless crisis is too great of a wound to be healed all at once. It will take a substantial amount of time to eliminate homelessness. No matter how massive or minute, action is better than no action at all.