“Tell us a little bit about yourself.” I could say I was placed into a single story at a young age: one shaped by my background as the product of a 17-year-old girl who was forced to throw away her dreams and an 18-year-old boy who failed to finish high school. I could explain how in the eyes of others, I was just another statistic: a young Black girl from a low-income family with few opportunities to be more. But instead, I say, “I’m a dancer.” Dance became more than just a hobby; It’s a part of who I am. But it didn’t come naturally. Picture me, an anxious eight-year-old, walking into auditions with no idea what to expect, unsure if my family could even afford the uniforms or tuition. But I was accepted into a local majorette company, and with that, a new determination took root. It wasn’t about the uncertainty anymore; It was about proving to myself that I could expand my story. And so for ten years straight, I danced. The discipline, the structure, the focus on perfecting each movement— all of it gave me something stable to hold onto. Dance shaped me, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. As a child, I spent much of my free time with my great aunt, who was battling metastatic stomach cancer. Without health insurance, she struggled to get the care she needed, and I saw firsthand how the gaps in our healthcare system caused unnecessary suffering. It opened my eyes to the inequities in healthcare and ignited a desire in me to help others, especially children, avoid similar struggles. Where dance has structure, nursing has precision. In choreography, every movement intertwines with the one before it, demanding focus and consistency, just like healthcare. The creativity I found in dance is the same ingenuity I see in pediatric nursing: finding ways to connect with children, make them feel safe, and offer comfort in moments of fear. What I’ve learned most from both dance and my background is perseverance. In dance, I’ve trained through countless hours, pushing past mental and physical barriers. In nursing, perseverance is what will carry me through the responsibility of caring for sick children. I understand the discipline required because I’ve lived it— both in dance studios and in life. Though I once thought my single story was rooted in dance, I’ve realized it’s much broader. Dance prepared me for something greater: a life where I can use everything I’ve learned to help others. My story isn’t limited to where I came from; it’s about where I’m going, and how I can make a difference in the lives of children who need care. “Tell us a little bit about yourself.” “I’m a dancer.” My single story has expanded.

“Tell us a little bit about yourself.” I could say I was placed into a single story at a young age: one shaped by my background as the product of a 17-year-old girl who was forced to throw away her dreams and grow up overnight and an 18-year-old boy who failed to graduate high school. As a young, Black student from a low-income background, I was just another statistic. But instead, I say, “I’m a dancer.” Those three words were an instinctual response to the question. Of course, after learning that information, they wanted to know more: How long have you been dancing? What made you start dancing? What kind of dance do you do? So, I would explain that I hadn’t danced all my life like most dancers. I started dancing when I turned 8– this is considered late in the dance world. Despite the overwhelming anxiety and the pit in my stomach, I walked into the auditions for a local majorette company and was accepted. That was all that mattered to me– not the uncertainty of how we would afford the monthly tuition or uniform costs, but the opportunity to showcase the little talent I had. I’d go on explaining that I started dancing after losing my great Aunt to stage four metastatic cancer, a violence within one's own body. On days I didn't have school, I would spend them with her, entertaining her with cartwheels and splits– a distraction from the pains of chemotherapy and radiation. When she passed away, she appeared to me in a dream, standing beautifully as she had been before the cancer. Her aura radiated strongly, and I vividly recall her saying, “Keep dancing – keep going. You have a talent, so follow it, and it will pay off.” Her belief in me inspired me to pursue my dream of becoming a dancer. After nine years of being immersed in the majorette world, which had become my home, my comfort zone, and my own single story, Spring of 2022, I decided to pursue a higher education in dance and audition for Houston Contemporary 2, a pre-professional dance company housed at the Institute of Contemporary Dance in Houston, Texas. Since being part of this program, I have performed in repertoire works from choreographers around the world: Joshua Manculich, Cat Cogliandro, Chloe Crenshaw, Cesar Salinas, Marlana Doyle, Mia Angelini, and Whylan Rucker, to name a few; I participated in "The Legacy of She" (2023), a production directed and choreographed by Brent L. Smith, the Creative Director of Groundwork Studios, alongside Houston's most respected dancers. I was named a Steps on Broadway Summer Study NYC scholarship recipient under the New York City Dance Alliance (NYCDA) and was able to travel to New York City to train with renowned choreographers and expand my horizons as a dancer. I was also able to compete in the 2024 ACT-SO competition hosted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Out of the 28 categories, I participated in the Ballet, Modern, and Contemporary Dance divisions; I was named the Silver awardee in Ballet and the Bronze awardee in Modern Dance. I came to terms that I would never be able to change my background; However, I could change your perception of it. And so they’d say, “Tell us a little bit about yourself.” “I’m a dancer.” My single story has expanded.

If I could change our current healthcare system in America, I would incorporate healing through art, particularly in pediatric medicine. I was placed into a single story at a young age: one shaped by my background as the product of a 17-year-old girl who was forced to throw away her dreams and grow up overnight and an 18-year-old boy who failed to graduate high school. The onset of debilitating migraines became a part of my daily routine at the age of 8. I spent long, painful nights in the hospital, participated in clinical trials, and tried every medication available, but nothing worked. I joined my first dance company at the age of 9 and found that when I danced, the pain seemed to disappear. Dance provided a distraction from the stabbing pains in my head, and the endorphins released allowed me to momentarily forget the agony Spring of 2022, I decided to pursue a higher education in dance and audition for Houston Contemporary 2, a pre-professional dance company housed at the Institute of Contemporary Dance in Houston, Texas. Since being part of this program, I have performed in repertoire works from choreographers around the world: Joshua Manculich, Cat Cogliandro, Chloe Crenshaw, Cesar Salinas, Marlana Doyle, Mia Angelini, and Whylan Rucker, to name a few; I participated in "The Legacy of She" (2023), a production directed and choreographed by Brent L. Smith, the Creative Director of Groundwork Studios, alongside Houston's most respected dancers. I was named a Steps on Broadway Summer Study NYC scholarship recipient under the New York City Dance Alliance (NYCDA) and was able to travel to New York City to train with renowned choreographers and expand my horizons as a dancer. I was also able to compete in the 2024 ACT-SO competition hosted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Out of the 28 categories, I participated in the Ballet, Modern, and Contemporary Dance divisions; I was named the Silver awardee in Ballet and the Bronze awardee in Modern Dance. My single story has become one of resilience and perseverance, to say the least. With this scholarship, I plan to pursue a BA and BSN dual degree in Dance and Nursing. My goal is to leverage my dance training to educate and inspire the next generation of young dancers while simultaneously having a career as a pediatric nurse to integrate the arts into the healing practices for adolescent patients.

“Tell us a little bit about yourself.” I could say I was placed into a single story at a young age: one shaped by my background as the product of a 17-year-old girl who was forced to throw away her dreams and grow up overnight and an 18-year-old boy who failed to graduate high school. As a young, Black student from a low-income background, I was just another statistic. But instead, I say, “I’m a dancer.” Those three words were an instinctual response to the question. Of course, after learning that information, they wanted to know more: How long have you been dancing? What made you start dancing? What kind of dance do you do? So, I would explain that I hadn’t danced all my life like most dancers. I started dancing when I turned 8– this is considered late in the dance world. Despite the overwhelming anxiety and the pit in my stomach, I walked into the auditions for a local majorette company and was accepted. That was all that mattered to me– not the uncertainty of how we would afford the monthly tuition or uniform costs, but the opportunity to showcase the little talent I had. I’d go on explaining that I started dancing after losing my great Aunt to stage four metastatic cancer. On days I didn't have school, I would spend them with her, entertaining her with cartwheels and splits– a distraction from the pains of chemotherapy and radiation. When she passed away, she appeared to me in a dream, standing beautifully as she had been before the cancer. Her aura radiated strongly, and I vividly recall her saying, “Keep dancing – keep going. You have a talent, so follow it, and it will pay off.” Her belief in me inspired me to pursue my dream of becoming a dancer. After nine years of being immersed in the majorette world, which had become my home, my comfort zone, and my own single story, Spring of 2022, I decided to pursue a higher education in dance and audition for Houston Contemporary 2, a pre-professional dance company housed at the Institute of Contemporary Dance in Houston, Texas. Since being part of this program, I have performed in repertoire works from choreographers around the world: Joshua Manculich, Cat Cogliandro, Chloe Crenshaw, Cesar Salinas, Marlana Doyle, Mia Angelini, and Whylan Rucker, to name a few; I participated in "The Legacy of She" (2023), a production directed and choreographed by Brent L. Smith, the Creative Director of Groundwork Studios, alongside Houston's most respected dancers. I was named a Steps on Broadway Summer Study NYC scholarship recipient under the New York City Dance Alliance (NYCDA) and was able to travel to New York City to train with renowned choreographers and expand my horizons as a dancer. I was also able to compete in the 2024 ACT-SO competition hosted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Out of the 28 categories, I participated in the Ballet, Modern, and Contemporary Dance divisions; I was named the Silver awardee in Ballet and the Bronze awardee in Modern Dance. I came to terms that I would never be able to change my background; However, I could change your perception of it. And so they’d say, “Tell us a little bit about yourself.” “I’m a dancer.” My single story has expanded.

“Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?” I could say I was placed into a single story at a young age: one shaped by my background as the product of a 17-year-old girl who was forced to throw away her dreams and grow up overnight and an 18-year-old boy who failed to graduate high school. As a young, Black student from a low-income background, I was just another statistic. But instead, I say, “I’m a dancer.” Those three words were an instinctual response to the question. Of course, after learning that information, they wanted to know more: How long have you been dancing? What made you start dancing? What kind of dance do you do? So, I would explain that I hadn’t danced all my life like most dancers. I started dancing when I turned 8– this is considered late in the dance world. Despite the overwhelming anxiety and the pit in my stomach, I walked into the auditions for a local majorette company and was accepted. That was all that mattered to me– not the uncertainty of how we would afford the monthly tuition or uniform costs, but the opportunity to showcase the little talent I had. I’d go on explaining that I started dancing after losing my great Aunt to stage four metastatic cancer. On days I didn't have school, I would spend them with her, entertaining her with cartwheels and splits– a distraction from the pains of chemotherapy and radiation. When she passed away, she appeared to me in a dream, standing beautifully as she had been before the cancer. Her aura radiated strongly, and I vividly recall her saying, “Keep dancing – keep going. You have a talent, so follow it, and it will pay off.” Her belief in me inspired me to pursue my dream of becoming a dancer. After nine years of being immersed in the majorette world, which had become my home, my comfort zone, and my own single story, Spring of 2022, I decided to pursue a higher education in dance and audition for Houston Contemporary 2, a pre-professional dance company housed at the Institute of Contemporary Dance in Houston, Texas. Since being part of this program, I have performed in repertoire works from choreographers around the world: Joshua Manculich, Cat Cogliandro, Chloe Crenshaw, Cesar Salinas, Marlana Doyle, Mia Angelini, and Whylan Rucker, to name a few; I participated in "The Legacy of She" (2023), a production directed and choreographed by Brent L. Smith, the Creative Director of Groundwork Studios, alongside Houston's most respected dancers. I was named a Steps on Broadway Summer Study NYC scholarship recipient under the New York City Dance Alliance (NYCDA) and was able to travel to New York City to train with renowned choreographers and expand my horizons as a dancer. I was also able to compete in the 2024 ACT-SO competition hosted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Out of the 28 categories, I participated in the Ballet, Modern, and Contemporary Dance divisions; I was named the Silver awardee in Ballet and the Bronze awardee in Modern Dance. I came to terms that I would never be able to change my background; However, I could change your perception of it. And so they’d ask, “Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?” “I’m a dancer.” My single story has expanded.