My momma is one of a kind. She's strong, independent, fierce, persistent, loving, and Southern. We all know that the south has a different kind of lovin’ and livin’ that makes them unique. Since I was a child, I always looked up to and idolized her ways as a woman. She never let a man run her world or get in the way of achieving her goals as a single mother. In my eyes, she represents women and motherhood. She has impacted me in so many ways than I’m even aware of. Being outside was her specialty, we would go camping, play different sports, I would skateboard while she roller skates and just soak up the sunshine. Being outside so often, she taught me different skills that most women my age don’t know. For example, she taught me how to get somewhere safe if I ever got lost in the woods as well as how to sanitize fresh water that was safe to drink. Of course, there was a balance because a Southern woman has to be ladylike. I was taught what it meant to be kind, gentle, supportive, and family oriented. Without her and my family, I would not be the woman you see here today! As any parent should be, my momma was instrumental in helping me become the young woman I am proud to present to any and everyone. I previously covered how she taught me different things, but now I want to take a moment to acknowledge how she raised me. My momma’s parenting style was more authoritative than anything, and we sure butt heads a lot. There was even a two-year period when we didn’t speak to each other. Even through those times of anger and resentment, I was still learning from her. Through that, I learned that love is unconditional; deep down we both knew that I loved her and that she loved me, no matter what came between us. Some of the best things to do when relationships or friendships get hard is to take time apart to individually process the situation. I wouldn’t have many friends if she didn’t teach me the importance of space. The other aspect she molded into me was the importance of family. I was born into a broken family, but my momma made sure that that didn’t define who I am then or in the future. She always reminded me that “family is forever” and that family support is always within reach. Family isn’t always who is connected to you by blood or law, it’s the old couple up the street whose yard we mow just because, it’s the homeless we fed at church, it’s the child who doesn’t feel safe at home, and so many others. I am a proud reflection of my momma, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

You Are Dead to Me You are dead to me. You made me believe in this false hope that you'd change; you never did. I worried why you would walk away; just to find out you were jealous of people I surround myself with. Becoming quiet makes me wonder, "what happened?", just to find out your ego was bruised. Making me feel as though everything was my fault, and later realizing that you're a narcissist. You made me belittle myself, and for that, you are dead to me. You are dead to me. With feeling your skin against mine, you ripped parts of my soul away. You are the creator of this fear in me by people who identify as male. Creator of this anger trapped inside of me longing to be released. You stripped me of my sexuality just as you stripped me of my clothes. As you forced yourself on me, I began to comply in fear of you. You tried to take something that was not yours, and for that, you are dead to me. You are dead to me. I have flashbacks remembering your body temperature and feeling your uncomfortable member. I scratch at my body where you had once touched before in hopes to lose feeling so I will never feel you again. I cover my ears as I cry because your words are being replayed in my head like a scratched record. I have to reprogram my head as if I was an A. I. who began to feel emotions. In this circumstance, I can't feel anything. I feel like a sack of bones being carried around by strings with this sense of numbness. I need to learn to trust and love again, and because of that, you are dead to me.

My educational goal is to become an elementary teacher to help other children the way I was helped by my first-grade teacher Mrs. Jakeway. I was struggling when she contacted my parents for a parent-teacher conference and I began to open up about how my home life was beginning to interfere with my education. With her persistence and encouragement, I was able to get my grades back on track and practice how to learn properly. Throughout the rest of my elementary school years, my grades began to improve and my friendships were stronger. In fifth grade, I received my first award and I’ll never forget how proud my parents were and how amazing it felt for my hard work to be recognized. Once I began middle school, the classes got a little more challenging. Yet again, there was another teacher who saw how capable I could be. Mrs. T Scott was my biggest supporter from my algebra class all the way to my elective, Civil Air Patrol. She saw how my natural leadership skills began to bloom and pushed me toward applying for the Colorguard Commander Position. I landed the position and became the first female Colorguard Commander for squadron 804. With that position, I created an entire network of empowerment and confidence going into high school. During my freshman year, I was active in numerous clubs and had lots of school spirit during our Friday night football games. During sophomore year, I was one of the managers on the wrestling team who traveled with them to different competitions in the Antelope Valley High School district as well as our neighboring high school districts. Throughout my junior year, I had the utmost confidence in my abilities to achieve what I put my mind to, so I tried out for my school’s debate and dance team. Unfortunately, I’m not too great at poppin’ and lockin’, but I was one of the first students to make the debate team and compete in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day competition. My team and I came in second place earning numerous awards from the City of Lancaster, our mayor, and Quartz Hill high school. All of this fed my pride, and I graduated high school with the class of 2021 as one of the valedictorians. I have been able to adjust and adapt those skills from Mrs. Jakeway and Mrs. T Scott to maintain a 4.0 GPA and a tutoring position for Introduction to English and Elementry Statistics. My academic goal is to graduate from AVC with an associate's degree in Psychology and Child Development and Family Education as well as fulfilling my General Education requirements to transfer to a four-year university. Of course, sacrifices have been made to ensure that my goal becomes my reality. I have had to let go of people who weren't good for my future, determine what was more important to me at specific times in my life, and refuse fun for my education. Those sacrifices are just a few of the many I've made, but I wouldn't go back because I understand that my education will lead me to the path I want. My goal is to be someone’s support and encouragement to strive to be successful just like Mrs. Jakeway and Mrs. T Scott were for me.

Just like everyone else, I’ve struggled with different hardships and challenges throughout my life. I’d have to say that the biggest rock blocking my road to success would be finances. Considering I’m younger and not highly educated in a specific area, the jobs I tend to qualify for include retail, fast food, restaurants, and grocery stores. With that being said, most of those positions begin at minimum wage and are part-time. I prefer to balance a part-time job while being a part-time student to ensure I don’t fall back on one or the other. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I’ve been able to save up for because of that. The only way I have been able to save was when I applied for a part-time assistant management position and to put myself out there. Thankfully I was hired due to my potential, willingness to learn, and future learning opportunities. With that, I have been able to pay my own phone bill, car insurance, life insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses. The number one tactic I used to save up during those times that I continue to use is saving half of my paycheck when my expenses allow. I have been able to buy my first car, trips to Texas to meet my infant nieces, and a vacation to Hawaii. Every choice in life has its own consequence and mine fell towards my personal friendships and relationships. In my position as an assistant manager, there have been lots of pros and cons. For some context, I have been working between 20-35 hours, and at one point 30-39 hours per week, on top of going to school. With my financial struggles being eased, my relationships with friends and family were slowly dissipating because I predominantly worked on weekends. I began to lose touch with friends and was too exhausted with work and school to spend my extra time with family. Thankfully, my support system brought their concerns to me and helped me open my eyes to the consequences of my actions. I began to use the sick time I had accumulated to take specific weekends off to spend with family. My friends suggested hosting study groups as a way to connect and get schoolwork done. We designated Wednesdays for homework and connectivity through carpooling to nearby coffee shops and libraries, eating breakfast and lunch together, and creating a work-break system every few hours. I have learned to face any challenge head-on and accept failures as they come because I know my support system will help dig me out when I become unable to.

The social issue that affects me on an everyday basis is mass shootings in America. I’ll never forget the mass shooting that paused my school day. It was back in 2019 and I was a sophomore at Quartz Hill High School. It was a Tuesday morning when we all heard about the active shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita. School shootings are one of those things in my generation that we’re aware of but don’t fully understand the severity of until it gets close. That day opened my eyes to the reality of these stories. I used to be friends with someone who went there, and I hadn’t been more worried about someone in my life until that day. Thankfully, they were safe and the police were able to stop the shooter and ensure everyone’s safety. The rest of that school day was cold, quiet, and in disbelief. Ever since then, I’ve been alert of other students, school staff, and the neighborhood surrounding the schools I attend. There have been about 60 different shootings across the United States since the beginning of this year according to ABC 13 Eyewitness News. There are a few different things we can do as individuals and as a collective group to abolish mass and school shootings. There are hundreds of things we can do to stop mass shootings from occurring. Some things I do personally to deter this type of activity in my community specifically include becoming involved. When my schedule allows, I attend different meetings and hear everyone’s understanding of future steps to prevent such events. I have also become active with Antelope Valley College’s student life to be more proactive in my attempts to make a change. I also try to check up on people I’m friends or acquaintances with to see how their mental state is. From my understanding and experience, most school shootings are done by an attending student which is why I actively check on those I care about. As everyone knows, change happens in numbers. As a group, there are even more opportunities to change the mass shooting events occurring in America. Some things I do include joining clubs or groups that have the same mindset as you in regard to gun control, voting, holding peaceful protests in relevant locations, and getting in contact with those in your community who can make the change. Mass and school shootings don’t have to persist into the next generation. They once were uncommon and unimaginable and if we work together we can make that a reality again.

The fun with individuality is that no one can tell me that I’m doing it wrong. My favorite thing about myself is that I, without realizing it, gravitate toward uniqueness. I’m a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, 19-year-old woman. I understand that on paper, I don’t sound very different from any other social media influencer, but what many don’t know about me is that my interests are what separate me from everyone else. Some of my favorite hobbies include hiking, puzzles, and learning new fun facts! My dad knows a lot about California’s wildlife and native plants, so hiking with him is like taking the classroom outdoors. While I’m indoors though, I blast music ranging from rock, country, hip hop, rap, and lofi. I tend to be most productive when I’m listening to music, one of my personal achievements is being able to complete a 2,500-piece puzzle in under 3 hours. In regard to fun facts, I prefer random and unknown ones. One of my favorites is that rhinos tend to kill more people per year than sharks do, which is ironic considering how many people are terrified of sharks. With all this random knowledge and child-like energy, I plan to become a kindergarten teacher for kindergarten through second grade! The most influential way I plan to give back to my community is by becoming a kindergarten teacher for my local elementary school, Quartz Hill Elementary. As someone who attended that school from kindergarten to sixth grade, it was some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Quartz Hill Elementary School is already a wonderful place for children to learn and grow, but I’m hoping to add something that I am yet to see. Not only do I plan to teach children the material that’s required to confidently continue into the next grade level, but I also want to teach them life skills like detail orientation, wildlife facts, and embracing their individuality. I’ll be exhibiting and promoting organization through binders for different subjects. My future students will be learning about California’s wildlife through daily facts, field trips, and on the playground. While embracing individuality appears differently for everyone, I plan to apply positive reinforcement for creativity and exemplary behavior. Some positive reinforcement tactics I plan to use are music Mondays, a treasure box, and a sticker chart to show their growth. Of course, these different skills I plan to implement and encourage are going to be different for each student and class so there will be some adaptations. I’m hoping that with my unique traits, I can teach the next generations about their own. and continue this trend.

With my future career goal of becoming a kindergarten through first-grade teacher, I plan to inspire my students in many different ways. For some context, the reason why I’m choosing this career path is because there have been multiple teachers throughout my educational journey who have helped me become who I am today. I plan to teach inside and outside the classroom by encouraging field trips to museums, wildlife preserves, missions, and zoos. While inside the classroom I’ll teach the required material necessary to promote to the next grade as well as individuality and activism. I feel it’s important for the classroom to have a sense of uniqueness that shows the teacher and students. By allowing the students to express themselves and their different characteristics, I hope that it will carry into adulthood. I understand that activism is viewed very differently by many people, but the activism I’m going to support and inspire is guided towards standing up for themselves and others as well as making a positive change for those around them. My plan to inspire the youth in my career is by creating a safe space for them to be themselves and understand what is and isn’t appropriate in a world where change is needed.

My educational goal is to become an elementary teacher to help other children the way I was helped by my first-grade teacher Mrs. Jakeway. I was struggling when she contacted my parents for a parent-teacher conference and I began to open up about how my home life was beginning to interfere with my education. With her persistence and encouragement, I was able to get my grades back on track and practice how to learn properly. Throughout the rest of my elementary school years, my grades began to improve and my friendships were stronger. In fifth grade, I received my first award and I’ll never forget how proud my parents were and how amazing it felt for my hard work to be recognized. Once I began middle school, the classes got a little more challenging. Yet again, there was another teacher who saw how capable I could be. Mrs. T Scott was my biggest supporter between my algebra class and my elective, Civil Air Patrol. She saw how my natural leadership skills began to bloom and pushed me toward applying for the Colorguard Commander Position. I landed the position and became the first female Colorguard Commander for squadron 804. With that position, I created an entire network of empowerment and confidence going into high school. During my freshman year, I was active in numerous clubs and had lots of school spirit during our Friday night football games. During sophomore year, I was one of the managers on the wrestling team who traveled with them to different competitions in the Antelope Valley High School district as well as our neighboring high school districts. Throughout my junior year, I had the utmost confidence in my abilities to achieve what I put my mind to, so I tried out for my school’s debate and dance team. Unfortunately, I’m not too great at poppin’ and lockin’, but I was one of the first students to make the debate team and compete in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day competition. My team and I came in second place, earning numerous awards from the City of Lancaster, our mayor, and Quartz Hill high school. All of this added to my persistence to succeed, and I graduated high school with the class of 2021 as one of the valedictorians. I have been able to adjust and adapt those skills from Mrs. Jakeway and Mrs. T Scott to maintain a 4.0 GPA and a tutoring position for Introduction to English and Elementry Statistics. My academic goal is to graduate from AVC with an associate's degree in Psychology and Child Development and Family Education as well as fulfilling my General Education requirements to transfer to a four-year university. This scholarship money will be saved towards transferring to San Diego State University or Long Beach University to get my Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. My goal is to be someone’s support system and encourage them to strive towards success just like Mrs. Jakeway and Mrs. T Scott were for my younger self.

A single-income household can be extremely tough when your parent loses their job during the market crash of 2008, a family member kicks you and your parent out of their home, and are forced to go from apartment to apartment until the housing market is suitable. That was my childhood until I was about 11 years old when we moved into the first house I called home. Unfortunately, I watched my parent struggle through it all. With that being said, I learned some very important life lessons and things to avoid. For example, when going to save money for big life events, it's best to plan in shorter increments rather than large ones because you never know what life is going to through at you. I have tried several different tactics to accomplish good spending and saving habits. The tactic with the best long-term success rate for me would be monthly and weekly budgeting. At the end of every week, I estimate my income and plan when to pay any bills for the week to come. It allows me to calculate what my spending limit is for each week properly. I also repeat this process at the beginning of every month with rough estimates to foresee as well as plan in advance bumps in the road. When I budget each month and week, I take my total income for that time period and insure that bills are accounted for first. Then, I divide the remaining total in half to put into savings for school, car maintenance, and emergencies. This emergency savings also accounts for any miscalculations or change of plans throughout the month. The total after that process is what I call my “fun money”, which I use for entertainment, food, and shopping. With this tactic, I have been able to save up for numerous large events, such as a vacation to Hawaii, my first car, a brand new laptop for school, sibling reunions, and new furniture for my bedroom. I plan to use this throughout my life, with some adjustments as my income increases, considering how well it is working for me. The more accomplishments I accumulate, the more friends and family ask for financial advice. My first step is asking what their goals are because this tactic may not line up with what they're looking for. If it coincidently is for saving, I go into detail about the tactic I explained previously. If they're comfortable, I create a plan using their income, bills, and other expenses to estimate their "fun money" as well as if it will logically work for them. If it doesn't then we collaborate together to find something better for their needs through Google searches, talking to financial advisors, and our parents. Financial freedom is unique to each person, therefore, it's a trial-and-error effort.

I am the only child between my parents who have been separated since I was an infant. I have three older siblings on my mom’s side and two younger siblings on my dad’s side. Unfortunately, I was a very self-aware child who knew that my siblings weren’t full-blood and that affected my mental health until I was about 17. As a child, knowing this made me feel extremely isolated, sad, and an abundance of anger. These different feelings began to show up in my educational process and halted my success. My first-grade teacher, Mrs. Jakeway, was one of the only adults who noticed how my persistent and brave behavior outside of the classroom didn’t match my grades and academic effort. She took it upon herself to get in contact with my parents, specifically my dad, to understand what was going on at home that made me act this way. She explained that she was aware I was knowledgeable and knew the material but wasn’t applying myself to the homework and classwork. I began to open up with my parents and Mrs. Jakeway, and I completely changed. While talking with my parents, I explained how my isolation made me believe that I couldn’t rely on anyone else for help. My brain had convinced me that because I was the only child between my parents, I had to do everything on my own, which manifested into anger and sadness. I felt that having to do everything by myself wasn’t fair and that I don’t deserve to be so alone. Mrs. Jakeway and my parents collaborated to find different ways for me to get the help and resources I needed to be successful, which I still use today. The resource that helped me the most was having a sense of community through playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball, switching my partners in class with different students, and positive reinforcement. Now as an adult, I feel closer to my family than ever. Throughout high school, I was able to maintain a 4.0 grade point average; which carried into my academic career at Antelope Valley College. While majoring in Early Childhood Education and Psychology, I began to tutor for English 101 and Elementry Statistics as my first step towards my career. I want to become an elementary school teacher to help children just like Mrs. Jakeway did for me. Her belief in me overcoming that isolated feeling helped me achieve the academic success and opportunities I have today. In my opinion, being a teacher goes far beyond their typical job description of teaching. This scholarship will give me the opportunity to give back the same way I was helped.