ello, my name is Skyler McFarland and my mom is helping me submit this today. I have had an IEP since I was accepted to preschool at 4 years old. In the beginning it was a speech-based IEP because for unknow reasons at the time I didn't really feel like talking. As the years progressed, I was having no issues speaking now I was struggling to keep up with my classmates in reading and comprehension. At this point I was in 1st grade. My mom decided to hold me back at the advice of my teachers and give me a chance to catch up. Which didn't happen by the way. It just made me feel worse because all my friends were no longer in my classes. Making friends was not easy for me. What no one knew at the time and wouldn't know until a few years later, was that I was struggling because I have autism. We all found out when I had a major meltdown during school that resulted in being sent to many different doctors' appointments to get things figured out for me. I have had to overcome unbearable anxiety that has made me just want to run and hide from the world. During these meltdowns that were beginning I would say things that I didn't mean and I would say things that I would NEVER do it was scary for me and everyone around me. I would need to leave the class room and set quietly until I was able to return to the classroom and be productive, I would isolate myself because I was made fun of and talked about by the other kids(especially if they witnessed a meltdown) Once the other students realized I was having to have my exams read to me they would point and ask questions that I couldn't or wouldn't answer. I was able to get medication and cognitive therapy over a course of years and now at 19 and a senior in high school I am still attached to my IEP, but it does not define me. I just got my first 9 weeks of senior year under my belt, and I achieved honor roll will hardly any help from the IEP program. Was it easy? Heck no!! It was a struggle from the word go. But if you would have asked me back in first grade or even 3rd grade if it was possible I would have found great humor in your asking. The special education I have received has been a huge support for me and has allowed me to open up and explore my interests. I can now be who I know I am and that is an individual who struggles but I am still able to reach my goals it may just take me longer to get there. My experience from these challenges has played a significant part in who I am today and who I will be tomorrow. It has made me stronger and better prepared to face difficult situations and have a successful outcome. I have learned many techniques to help me learn and move past the issues that the IEP has identified. I can now do class work on my own with little to no help from teachers which I was not able to do for many years. It has been a ton of work and has taken a lot of learning for myself as well as my family member and teachers to get this far. I appreciate all of the people who have helped me get where I am today.

In the following paragraphs I hope to tell you how education has shaped my goals to have a career in performing arts, the challenges I have faced and overcome to get to where I am today and how I hope to give back once I succeed in furthering my education. Education for me is/was a scary subject in general. I don't learn like everyone else does. I struggle to remember things once I have read them. School was/is always hard for me but with the help of several caring teachers I have learned to accept that this is a struggle I need to conquer. My teachers have shown me how to work around some of my struggles and how to memorize things. They have helped me to be able to read and get a general understanding of what is being presented to me. They have also supported me during the tough times when I felt like there was no way I would ever be able to complete a project or exam. My goal is to get a degree in performing arts and possibly end up on Broadway. Theater has changed my life, and I want to show children that the same could be true for them. I want to be an inspiration to students who struggle in the same ways that I do. I have struggled with learning since grade school and continue to struggle to this day. Having a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can seem like the end of the world for many and it most certainly is not. This means that I can read a paragraph repeatedly and still not be able to tell you what it was about. It also means that anxiety can be overwhelming for me. It makes me want to isolate and avoid groups and anything that could be over stimulating. It means that I will not react to a situation like the average person might, instead of being quiet and reserved I may laugh or have no reaction at all. I hope to use my education to create a better future for myself as well as others by sharing my love for performing arts. I will be able to create a living for myself doing what I love. I dream to have a home of my own with all the things that everyone wants in life. It will also allow me to reach out to people on a different level one which many people don't think about. Most people don't understand that people like me are different, but we want the same things out of life. It is my responsibility to open the eyes of those that think autism is crippling for all of us who are on the spectrum. Many of us do struggle and will for the remainder of our lives. In the years following my degree I aspire to be involve in Broadway whether I am on the stage or designing costumes. I want to return to my school and help with the theater department and show kids that you can do anything. My favorite part of being involved in this type of stuff is seeing the reactions of those around me that have watched me struggle over the years. To see what I hope is pride in knowing that they have been a part of getting me to where I am today. I hope that someday I am able to stand on the sidelines and watch people who I was able to help and feel the same sense of accomplishment.

I don't learn like everyone else does. I struggle to remember things once I have read them. School is always hard for me but with the help of several caring teachers I have learned to accept that this is a struggle I need to conquer. My teachers have shown me how to work around some of my struggles and how to memorize things. They have also supported me during the tough times when I felt like there was no way I would ever be able to complete a project or exam. My goal is to get a degree in performing arts and possibly end up on Broadway. Theater has changed my life, and I want to show children that the same could be true for them. I want to be an inspiration to students who struggle in the same ways that I do. They need to see that getting your education can make your dreams come true. I have struggled with learning since grade school and continue to struggle to this day. Having a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can seem like the end of the world for many and it most certainly is not. Autism in my world makes reading comprehension very difficult for me. This means that I can read a paragraph repeatedly and still not be able to tell you what it was about. It also means that anxiety can be overwhelming for me. It makes me want to isolate and avoid groups and anything that could be over stimulating. It means that I will not react to a situation like the average person might, instead of being quiet and reserved I may laugh or have no reaction at all. Even with all of these things at war in my mind I have found peace on the stage. I can stand in front of an audience and sing my heart out in a musical or make a room full of people laugh from hilarious antics in a play or create beautiful and awe-inspiring costumes. After being introduced to theater in the 8th grade, I have decided this is where I am at home this is ME. I hope to use my love for performing arts. I will be able to create a living for myself doing what I love. I dream to have a home of my own with all the things that everyone wants in life. It will also allow me to reach out to people on a different level one which many people don't think about. Most people don't understand that people like me are different, but we want the same things out of life. It is my responsibility to open the eyes of those that think autism is crippling for all of us who are on the spectrum. But I hope to show children that you can be whatever you want to be, you can reach for the stars and you can inspire those who are watching you achieve your dreams. In the years following my degree I aspire to be involve in Broadway whether I am on the stage or designing costumes. I want to return to my school and help with the theater department and show kids that you can do anything. My favorite part of being involved in this type of stuff is seeing the reactions of those around me that have watched me struggle over the years. I hope that someday I am able to stand on the sidelines and watch people who I was able to help and feel the same sense of accomplishment

Hello, my name is Skyler. My hope is to make the world a better place through my creativity. I have been told for as long as I can remember, "someday you are really going to do something Big because you have a huge imagination". As a child I knew there was something different about me. Something that made me stand out from the crowd. I was always singing and dancing around. My mom put me in sports, and I was that little boy in the outfield talking and dancing instead of playing the game. As I grew older, I found that I was pretty good at making stage props, like swords and shields. Then as a teen I was adding to my creativity because I was making entire cosplay costumes from the ground up. I became fascinated with mask making and replicating Victorian era swords. I did most of this by reusing things that were available to me. Plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, yarn, string, tree branches old curtains even old bed sheets. I am largely involved in theater in school and find it fascinating to be involved in creating the various costumes I wear for character parts I am in during the productions. Imagination leads to big dreams and a big imagination leads to huge dreams. I hope to let those dreams become my life. It is important to me to leave this place better than what I found it as a child. I want to stress the importance of using things that are already around us to make something new. You want a costume for cosplay? Gather boxes and fabric and old clothes or crutches even. everything around you can make a superb prop for a costume or any stage. In doing this it is my hope to not only encourage those younger than me but also my elders that even the smallest act can make a difference. If I can continue on this journey my future looks bright as a designer and possibly even having my own business as a creator of costumes for theater productions for the likes of Broadway. If I could start my own charity it would have to involve theatre in some way. Maybe a community theater where the donations were given to help stock food banks to help those in the community. The price to get into watch the performers would be a bag of groceries or money to buy groceries for families in need. I would make sure we stayed within our means by stress ing how we need to recycle products and use them in our project. With this I hope to also help the environment for everyone's futures. Dreams will remain just that and stay in the land of theory until someone comes along and helps us to grow and become a leader or a pinnacle if you will and forge a path for others to follow.

Hello my name is Skyler McFarland. Today I want to share with you some of my personal experiences with finances and what I have been taught about them. In the following essay I how to share my experiences as well as tell you how I plan on using this education to better our future. I was raised by parents who did not grow up having much money. They would always tell my sister and I stories from their childhood. They would tell us how they didn't get the experience of eating in restaurants and going to movies. My parents would stress the importance of meal planning as we got older and explained how it worked into a budget for monthly expenses. We were taught from an early age that chores were important. At the time we didn't understand why. As a couple my parents were not well off and my mom was a stay at home mom for the first 5 years of my life. This left my dad being the one who brought home the finances. At 9 years old my parents got divorced and my mom became a single working mom with the two of us at home. Finances became even more of a focus at this point. She taught us to use the supplies we had around the house to create craft project for school when necessary. She began to teach us how to shop with her every month and follow a strict list of things we needed. There was very little room for wants in our life at this age. She soon began working and finances got better and she was able to start paying us an allowance for the chores we completes around the house to help her out. It wasn't much but it gave us a few dollars to spend on the things we wanted every once in a while. She would expect us to save the money to buy our own snacks or pop. When we got to junior high, she was basically paying us each $20 a month. She started explaining to us that the money we made was not just for wants but also needs like haircuts or special shampoos, deodorants that cost more than what she was willing to pay. My mom taught us that if we want something other than what she bought it was up to us to save the money and take the initiative to do it on our own. In the future I plan to take what she has taught me and use it in my own life. I plan to have a budget of my expenses for each month and have a plan to take care of it with the money I earn from working. When I have a family, I hope to pass this education on to my kids with the help of my spouse.

Hello my name is Skyler McFarland and I would like to share the experience I personally had when I openly admitted I was a bisexual male. Struggle was/is what became the normal for me. I knew what I was feeling or the choices that I made would not be accepted as "normal" by many people around me including family. After coming out to my family and friends there were many questions posed to me about my "decision". What makes you think you like men? How do you know you are bisexual you haven't been sexually active? Don't you think that this will push girls away that are interested in dating you? Or statements that were hurtful. You know that everyone will not like the choice you are making, I can't accept that from you, I think you should wait to publicly make this statement until you have had a serious relationship. These are all things I heard or was told after coming out publicly by people I know. These are things that cut deeply and left scars in their wake. I know because I am drawn to persons of both the same sex as well as the opposite sex. I know because receiving love from a male or a female is perfectly normal to me. I know because of the way the man or woman makes me feel about myself. I know because I can see a future with either a male or female it doesn't matter to me. I care what other people think but I care more about my personal growth. Being a bisexual male doesn't mean I am any different than the young boy I once was, it simply means I am growing into the man I feel I was meant to be. Acceptance is what we all in the community want and need. Not everyone has to agree with who we are or what we stand for but accept us as we are. We want to love and be loved it is not wrong if we are going to find that in a relationship that is different than yours. I don't want to force my beliefs on to anyone I just want to be accepted and looked at as "normal". In the end not everyone has to agree with the relationship I choose to have as an adult but everyone else is not living my life. I am!

Hello, my name is Skyler Mcfarland and in the following paragraphs I hope to tell you how education has shaped my goals to have a career in performing arts, the challenges I have faced and overcome to get to where I am today and how I hope to give back once I succeed in furthering my education. Education for me is/was a scary subject in general. I don't learn like everyone else does. I struggle to remember things once I have read them. School was/is always hard for me but with the help of several caring teachers I have learned to accept that this is a struggle I need to conquer. My teachers have shown me how to work around some of my struggles and how to memorize things. They have helped me to be able to read and get a general understanding of what is being presented to me. They have also supported me during the tough times when I felt like there was no way I would ever be able to complete a project or exam. My goal is to get a degree in performing arts and possibly end up on Broadway. Theater has changed my life, and I want to show children that the same could be true for them. I want to be an inspiration to students who struggle in the same ways that I do. They need to see that getting your education can make your dreams come true. I have struggled with learning since grade school and continue to struggle to this day. Having a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can seem like the end of the world for many and it most certainly is not. Autism in my world makes reading comprehension very difficult for me. This means that I can read a paragraph repeatedly and still not be able to tell you what it was about. It also means that anxiety can be overwhelming for me. It makes me want to isolate and avoid groups and anything that could be over stimulating. It means that I will not react to a situation like the average person might, instead of being quiet and reserved I may laugh or have no reaction at all. Even with all of these things at war in my mind I have found peace on the stage. I can stand in front of an audience and sing my heart out in a musical or make a room full of people laugh from hilarious antics in a play or create beautiful and awe-inspiring costumes. After being introduced to theater in the 8th grade, I have decided this is where I am at home this is ME. I hope to use my education to create a better future for myself as well as others by sharing my love for performing arts. By furthering my education, I will be able to create a living for myself doing what I love. I dream to have a home of my own with all the things that everyone wants in life. I feel that in order to get there I need to further my education. In continuing with school I feel that opportunities will be more available to me and I will reach my dreams faster. It will also allow me to reach out to people on a different level one which many people don't think about. Most people don't understand that people like me are different, but we want the same things out of life. It is my responsibility to open the eyes of those that think autism is crippling for all of us who are on the spectrum. Many of us do struggle and will for the remainder of our lives. But I hope to show children that you can be whatever you want to be, you can reach for the stars and you can inspire those who are watching you achieve your dreams. In the years following my degree I aspire to be involve in Broadway whether I am on the stage or designing costumes. I want to return to my school and help with the theater department and show kids that you can do anything. My favorite part of being involved in this type of stuff is seeing the reactions of those around me that have watched me struggle over the years. To see what I hope is pride in knowing that they have been a part of getting me to where I am today. I hope that someday I am able to stand on the sidelines and watch people who I was able to help and feel the same sense of accomplishment.

Hello, my name is Skyler McFarland. I am a fan of Wicked because I am a fan of theater of all kinds. I entered the world of theater in the 8th grade and have become to love everything about it. I have grown leaps and bounds due to my involvement in theater and the performing arts. I want to continue to grow by furthering my education in preforming arts and being a role model for those who have struggles similar to mine. Wicked is an amazing production that shows some of life's realities in a way that is explained through art. The detail in the costumes is absolutely stunning. The level of creativity to make this show has me in awe. It has amazed me from the beginning how a choreographer can put together movements that match the vocals of a scene. There are so many shifts within Wicked that it keeps you entertained and waiting to see what happens next. The musical side of me was drawn into the program and wrapped for the entire show. I loved the live theater performance of Wicked, and I was not disappointed in the cinema version either. I hope to one day be able to be a part of something as beautifully put together as this.

Hello my name is Skyler McFarland. A little about me, as a child I was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, to look at me you would not know it, other than my fashion sense is a little different than my peers. Over the past 5 years through the theater department at my school, I have been able to stand up for myself and support those that who are/were being bullied. I love to entertain people through working with theater and being involved in various activities the team is involved in. In the past few years we have entertained elderly persons in various nursing facilities by singing or even playing chess. I have been a part of events offered to the public where we create crafts with children as well as adults. I enjoy helping and showing respect for my elders. I feel it makes me a better person as well as a role model for those younger than me. I try my best to keep those of my peer group and those younger than me safe from bullying by helping them become more involved with like minded people. I go out of my way to include those who have been targeted and assist them in who to talk to about the issue or how to combat the war that is bullying. My peer group and I are the front line to deter bad behavior and bring the victim into our fold to show them that not all people are negative. It is important to me that those who are being bullied do not turn into the bullies. It is easy to lash out at those who are "different" and even those that are being bullied can find someone less fortunate to bully themselves. It is my goal to make this chain of events not continue. As for cyber bulling I have had brief encounters with this also. As I said my fashion is different and social media is not kind. The best way I have found to combat this type of issue is to continue to be "ME". I encourage those like me to not try to combat verbally with these types of people and to simply not give them the satisfaction of a reaction. I know this is not the easy way or the answer for everyone because everyone has their own way of dealing with the stress from these types of situations.

Hello my name is Skyler McFarland and I am autistic. Being diagnosed on the autism spectrum is not a bad thing. I have learned that being different does not mean that I am disabled. There are a lot of us on the spectrum and I know I am not alone. I have struggled through my grade school years because my brain does not function like "normal" kids. I can read a paragraph a million times and not be able to tell you about what I have read but, if the same thing is read to me I can tell you the who, what, when and where of the paragraph. Weird right? It's not weird for me it is my reality. When facing a public space my anxiety is overwhelming especially if there are many noises from different sources. It is easy to find myself shying away from situations because I will become overwhelmed and fight or flight kicks in. It is my responsibility to create a mind over matter scenario where the situation seems less overwhelming. It has taken years for me to be able to seem "normal" to the society around me. It is only able today due to doctors, therapy and my family support that I am considering continuing my education. I want to continue my education in the field of performing arts. Odd I know considering my fears. However, my fears are what has driven me to be who I am today and hope to be in the future. In 8th grade I was introduced to theater at my school. I never thought I could get on a stage in front of s crowd, sing in front of people, remember the lines from a script (or read a script and understand what it said) let alone grow to love everything performing entails. In theater I found a separate family that included me and was so supportive. I have grown to further accept my "issues" as strengths that help me. Perfection is not always attainable but the want to be perfect when performing drives my desire to do my best. By continuing my education, I hope to be an inspiration to others like myself who struggle to fit in. They need to know that different is good and different is strength. I don't know if my education will lead me to Broadway or to a school with younger students but either way it is my hope that by seeing that they can succeed in their dreams just as I have in mine is a goal for me. Thank You Skyler

Hello my name is Skyler McFarland. In the following paragraphs I hope to share with you my experience of going from a 2-parent household to a single parent household to having a blended family. I know what I aspire to do with my college career and in describing it to you I hope that you see I am looking to inspire and lead others like me to reach for their dreams. In 2004 my parent were married and everything was looking up in their lives. In 2005 my sister was born and they were now a family unit. In 2006 I was born and they saw their family as complete. The next 9 years would prove to be a roller-coaster of varying proportions. My sister was walking and starting to talk. I was crawling but didn't care to try to say any words. At 2 years old I began to have terrible "tantrums", my parents did not know what to do or how to deal with me. As the years passed, I started preschool where I was placed on an IEP because I still didn't care to talk much. There was a lot of drama at home and at my young age I didn't understand. By the time I was 9 in 2016 my parents were divorced, and I was in a single family with my mother as the lead. My mom was a rock. She cried at night when she thought we didn't know and she did everything she could to make life for my sister and I "normal". We went from being able to choose what we wanted to eat every night to eating what every we could afford; we went from going on vacations to staying home and learning to entertain ourselves. We learned that life at moms was much different than life at dads when we would go for visits. Life at dads was all fun and trips and eating out and dressing in name brand clothes. It was hard on my sister and me. In 2017 life started looking better not only for my mom but also for my sister and me. Mom found a guy who really care about all of us. She wasn't struggling so hard to give us things we wanted because he was always there to help her when he could. We never felt rich, but we were happy and had all we needed. We were once again able to go on family vacations each year and we were able to occasionally go out to a restaurant and have dinner. As I grew older, I came to realize that the names on those clothes from dad's house didn't mean a thing. That a pair of boots and a t shirt fit the same no matter where they were bought. I learned that love could come from where you least expect it and it can look totally different than you thought it would. I may have a plan for what I want to be when my college career is over but that doesn't mean that is where I will be when this ride is through. If I am able to help someone like me along the way, then I feel my life has had some meaning and that makes me happy. Thank You Skyler

Hello, my name is Skyler McFarland and my mom is helping me submit this today. I have had an IEP since I was accepted to preschool at 4 years old. In the beginning it was a speech-based IEP because for unknow reasons at the time I didn't really feel like talking. As the years progressed, I was having no issues speaking now I was struggling to keep up with my classmates in reading and comprehension. At this point I was in 1st grade. My mom decided to hold me back at the advice of my teachers and give me a chance to catch up. Which didn't happen by the way. It just made me feel worse because all my friends were no longer in my classes. Making friends was not easy for me. What no one knew at the time and wouldn't know until a few years later, was that I was struggling because I have autism. We all found out when I had a major meltdown during school that resulted in being sent to many different doctors' appointments to get things figured out for me. I have had to overcome unbearable anxiety that has made me just want to run and hide from the world. During these meltdowns that were beginning I would say things that I didn't mean and I would say things that I would NEVER do it was scary for me and everyone around me. I would need to leave the class room and set quietly until I was able to return to the classroom and be productive, I would isolate myself because I was made fun of and talked about by the other kids(especially if they witnessed a meltdown) Once the other students realized I was having to have my exams read to me they would point and ask questions that I couldn't or wouldn't answer. I was able to get medication and cognitive therapy over a course of years and now at 19 and a senior in high school I am still attached to my IEP, but it does not define me. I just got my first 9 weeks of senior year under my belt and i achieved honor roll will hardly any help from the IEP program. Was it easy? Heck no!! It was a struggle from the word go. But if you would have asked me back in first grade or even 3rd grade if it was possible I would have found great humor in your asking.

Hello my name is Skyler Mcfarland. I didn't realize art education was an actual thing until middle school. I knew what art class was don't get me wrong, but actual arts like writing comic books, paper mache, singing and acting these are the things I needed in my life. When I was starting 8th grade i had a flyer cross my path for Beauty and the Beast, Through our theater team at the school. I was very apprehensive to even try out to be in this play. You see I am on the Autism Spectrum, and it makes it difficult for me to try new things. I have anxiety that hinders my ability to accept rapid changes (like those that are needed on a stage) After much back-and-forth encouragement from my family I tried out for the Musical. That year I got the part of Lefoue you know Gastons goofy little side kick in Beauty and the Beast. That was it for me my life was rearranged, and I have been on stage every season since that first audition. When the select choir instructor heard me singing, she was determined that I would become a part of her very pristine group of vocalists. So, I now split my time between Select Choir and the Thespian troupe that I am now a part of. I do have many other interests that go along side of these, however. I am a costume designer (self-proclaimed) I have made several of my costumes and components for the various shows we have done. I have an obsession with foxes and love to draw them realistically as well as animated. I love to make masks ranging from mascarade masks to full coverage face masks, the latest you guessed it is a fox. With in the art community, I have found my home away from home. A place where I can be myself and excel. A place where we are all different and that is ok because your different makes my different work to be the best and it helps everyone who it comes in contact with its almost contagious. I don't have just one person who has totally inspired me, I have a few different departments inside of the school that I attend. I have the Art department who has taught me the use of different medias, I have the music department who has helped me find my voice and I have the theater department who has helped me grow into the man I am becoming and has grown my love for drama in leaps and bounds. Thank You Skyler McFarland

Hello, My name is Skyler McFarland. Today I want to share with you my view on why motivated and high-achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds deserve opportunities like scholarships and/or grants. I also want to share with you how I feel I myself have overcome some struggles due to being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and how this will continue to be a struggle for not just me but others just like me. As a High school student getting ready to become a part of the college years of my life I see even more the financial burden education can have on my family and myself. Being part of a family that has always struggled financially is "normal" for me. In my future I hope to make things for myself and the family I will eventually crate better. Im used to having to choose the clearance rack when /if we go school shopping. I am used to wearing the clothes that I am still able to fit for the school year ahead. I know what its like to not go on fun family vacations to the beach because we cant afford it. So by being motivated and from a disadvantaged background I hope to give hope and inspiration not only to my direct family members but also fellow students who will see that struggle makes you stronger and motivation pushes you to success. By being diagnosed with Autism a few things changed in my life. My father was/is not a believer in my diagnosis and feels that the issues which I struggle with are simple behavioral issues that can be corrected through discipline. This has caused a huge rift in the relationship that he and I should have. My diagnosis has made thing clearer in some aspects and has helped me to overcome this past and new present. I have learned that I do not have to be like anyone else I only have to be me. I have found a love for music and for theater and have found friends and a cohisive family unit that is accepting of my "issues". My hyper focus has turned into a drive for perfection in everything that I set out to do. My anxiety has taught me that it is ok to feel overwhelmed but you are the one in control not the anxiety. I want everyone to know you have to "only be YOU" dont try to fit into some other mold. Thank You Skyler McFarland

Hello, my name is Skyler. My hope is to make the world a better place through my creativity. I have been told for as long as I can remember, "someday you are really going to do something Big because you have a huge imagination". As a child I knew there was something different about me. Something that made me stand out from the crowd. I was always singing and dancing around. My mom put me in sports, and I was that little boy in the outfield talking and dancing instead of playing the game. As I grew older, I found that I was pretty good at making stage props, like swords and shields. Then as a teen I was adding to my creativity because I was making entire cosplay costumes from the ground up. I became fascinated with mask making and replicating Victorian era swords. I did most of this by reusing things that were available to me. Plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, yarn, string, tree branches old curtains even old bed sheets. I am largely involved in theater in school and find it fascinating to be involved in creating the various costumes I wear for character parts I am in during the productions. So not only was I creating I was recycling. Imagination leads to big dreams and a big imagination leads to huge dreams. I hope to let those dreams become my life. It is important to me to leave this place better than what I found it as a child. I want to stress the importance of using things that are already around us to make something new. You want a costume for cosplay? Gather boxes and fabric and old clothes or crutches even. everything around you can make a superb prop for a costume or any stage. In doing this it is my hope to not only encourage those younger than me but also my elders that even the smallest act can make a difference. If I can continue on this journey my future looks bright as a designer and possibly even having my own business as a creator of costumes for theater productions for the likes of Broadway. Dreams will remain just that and stay in the land of theory until someone comes along and helps us to grow and become a leader or a pinnacle if you will and forge a path for others to follow.

Hello, My name is Skyler and I am a bisexual man. It always feels like we are introducing ourselves as if we were at a recovery group. In the following words I hope to share with you some of the challenges I have faced, what I want from a higher education, how I will use my education to help make it better for my future as well as millions of other LGBTQ+ people. I will also explain to you how receiving this scholarship will help ease the financial burden for me and my family. Let dive right in, some challenges I have faces are those with students my own age, my family and my community as a whole. As a 19-year-old just starting out in life it is hard enough as it is but for me as a bisexual man the struggle becomes more difficult. In my short life I have witnessed people who can be downright mean. For me these people were mostly family. I was looked at weird and told that my interests were to "girly". I was told that I didn't know what I was because I wasn't sexually active yet. Told to wait for life to lead me where I was "supposed" to be. Well I'm 19 and here I am telling the world I am still a man who finds men and women alike just as appealing as I did a few years ago. I am a very creative costume designer, actor and singer. The last few years of school have enabled me to know what I want to do with the rest of my life. I want to see my name up in lights on Broadway, maybe design costumes for the performers or be a performer myself. By being an outwardly bisexual male in performing arts I hope to inspire others who have struggled with their family friends and community. My wish is for them to reach out to those that they can trust and to see that by doing just that I was able to make it to my dreams and to get my degree and to become what I was meant to be. As an LGBTQ+ member I will advocate for every branch of our "tree". Everyone deserves to be who they want to be. Everyone deserves to get the education they desire. I will become a mentor for those around me and I will be willing to help become a leader in our community that stands up for LGBTQ+ and explains who and what we stand for. Receiving this scholarship will help me immensely. As a young child of 10 my parents divorced and my mom had to learn how to be a single mom. With that being said life was tight. We learned how to stretch a dollar. She has taught me the importance of reaching out if you need help. By applying for this scholarship, I am reaching out for help. I need help because we are not a well to do family and there is a need for me to get a college degree. I want to be a role model, and I feel that having a college degree and being a bisexual man, I am a double threat because I am educated as well as unique and beautiful. Continuing my education should not be a stressful burden on my mom and family. Sure, they are going to be there to help me make it to my goal but with your help I can make it there easier.

My mom has had the biggest impact on my life. She has been there for me through every step and struggle. My mom has stood strong with me. She had taught me and helped me understand that being a person with autism is not a struggle. Or doesn't always have to be a struggle. My mom has helped me to see that just because I am different and look at the world a little different it doesn't mean that I am not able to be everything that I want to be in life. I know this was an either-or essay, but I feel that the divorce of my parents helped me and my mom to become the people we are today. It helped my mom to be strong and independent and to fight for what she believes. She believes in me so therefore she fights for me. She has had to watch me struggle with family as well as strangers. She has had to learn how to help me navigate the meltdowns that every adrenaline spike brings on. My mom is my hero and my own personal warrior. She is always ready for battle even though you will never see her armor. She needs no sword, and she asks for no rewards, no metals and no recognition. But I will fight for her just as much as she fights for me because I am who I am today tomorrow and, in the future, because she is who she is today tomorrow and forever. Here I am ready to graduate High School, and she is still my biggest fan. She will go to battle with me or for me. She has shown me that I do not have to back down from any situation due to my diagnosis. She has helped me to understand what the diagnosis means to me and for me. It does not make me weaker. If anything, I am stronger due to being diagnosed. I push myself harder to be better than society thinks I can be because I know I can do whatever I want in life. My mom has never looked at me like I was crazy when I come downstairs in a cosplay outfit that I have designed, build, and stitched together. She will just ask if I am happy with the finished product and offer assistance with it if needed. Someday I will be a Broadway performer and in the front row will be my mom, my biggest fan and my number one supporter.