My name is S’Nia Tribble, and I am a sophomore majoring in Technical Theatre Arts. I have always had a passion for the arts, especially theatre, and I am driven by a vision to make theatre and fine arts a valued part of the education system. My future plans are centered around two main goals: becoming a freelance lighting designer for professional theatre and teaching theatre in high schools. I believe that theatre has the power to transform lives like it did for me when i was at a very low point in my mental health but it can also led people to avenues they never thought could exist for them. I didn’t believe I had any skills or anything special about myself until I joined my high school theatre and grew from lighting assistant to stage manager and co-designer. Unfortunately, the arts programs in general education often does not get the recognition or support it deserves in schools. I want to change this by proving to school how important the arts are for them on top of all the sports teams and computer programs. As a lighting designer, I aim to bring stories to life on stage through creative and innovative designs. By working in professional theatre, I hope to gain the experience and skills necessary to create impactful productions that make the audience feel immersed in the show they are watching. I started my journey as a lighting designer because I love that feeling at a concert when the lights shift and everyone goes crazy and I want to be the person who makes that feeling. In addition to my work in professional theatre, I am passionate about teaching. I want to become a theatre teacher in high schools to inspire young students and help them discover the joy and power of the arts. Teaching will allow me to share my knowledge and experiences with the next generation, encouraging them to explore their creativity and find a safe space they can call home. The theatre was my home away from home. My home life was always a struggle due to the lack of income growing up so being able to work alongside people who had better lives was a gift. Coming from a single-parent, low-income family, financial challenges have always been a part of my life. My mother works tirelessly to support our family, and we live paycheck to paycheck. This scholarship would significantly ease the financial burden on my family and allow me to focus on my studies and career goals without the constant worry of making ends meet. It would also provide me with opportunities to participate in workshops, internships, and other experiences that are essential for my growth as a theatre professional. At Rollins College, I am committed to making the most of my education and pursuing my passion for theatre. Starting my college education in a community college I was able to earn summa cum laude in just one year as welll as complete my A.A degree in that same time. As an African American and Asian woman, I am eager to bring my culture and unique perspectives to the theatre community. The Bright Lights Scholarship would be a tremendous help in achieving my dreams. It would not only support my education but also enable me to give back to my community by promoting the arts. I am determined to make a positive impact in the world of theatre and education, and with this scholarship, I can take significant steps toward realizing my vision. Thank you for considering my application.

A personal challenge that I have learned to overcome is my fear of change which is worsened with my anxiety. As I grow older and as I am finally taking the final step of my normal school days before I leave my home, with my mother and brother, my friends, that I've grown and changed with for better or worse, and my city, that I learned like the back of my hand, I would freak out and beg to stay in one place. Change is a thing that we all experience in different ways. I grew up with depression and anxiety which made it even harder to accept that one day I won’t wake up and bother my mom for breakfast, I won’t get up at 6:30 in the morning and hope I make it to the bus in time, and one day I won’t be able to say I am going to theater rehearsal for one last time. My life has gone through a lot of change rapidly. I lost my father in third grade, my uncle at the end of my junior year, my nana the summer of my junior year and myself along the way. Change affects everyone in their own special way and I sadly was hit with a world of change when I wasn’t ready for it. I have learned and will continue from change as I grow as a person. It isn’t easy to say I got used to the world not being structured as it usually was. In my senior year, we had 2 hurricanes that messed with our school schedules, one that changed the time for my final homecoming and my final fall production in the theater program. What we learn from change is adaptability. While the hurricanes were something we couldn’t change, it gave actors more time to learn their lines and gave me as stage manager time to put together everything I needed for a perfect production. Homecoming week was moved to another week and our homecoming traditions were flipped around to aaccomidate the storm but still make everyoine in our school happy and I'm glad I was able to be apart of the Student Government that made everyone happy even in the bad circumstances. My class schedule put me in classes with mainly people I had never met before and I had to make friends with new people all over again. It was hard to find out that my friends and I werent' going to be all together anymore even if I knew it was going to happen. Everyone going to all of the big name schools or an out-of-state school really hit the change button extremely hard for me since I was palnning to start my education at a community college. I adapted by learning to be a better communicator outside of school, while face to face conversations are ideal, sometimes you won’t get that chance and you need to know how to communicate effectively from afar. For my bachelor's degree, I will be leaving my mom who consistently cooked us meals each week without asking for help and I wish I could tell her how greatful I am. While I’m great at putting things in the microwave, that's a change I will need to begin soon. I will have to adapt to living on my own as well as learning to cook and budget meals into my savings plans. Change is a challenge everyone has to deal with in their own way and I learned to overcome that fear not through avoidance but through perseverance and adaptation.

My brother and I have been avid gamers since we were younger and could not afford our own games. We have expanded to different types of games and are working towards other things. Even though we are on separate video game paths, I still love and remember the days when we had to complete all of our Nintendo games in one sitting because our mom couldn't afford to get us a memory card, and honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world. My favorite memory from playing co-op with my brother, hands down, is the late nights turned to early mornings when we played Super Smash Brothers Brawl on our Nintendo Wii till completion. Then we'd repeat it again and again because of how much joy we had beating all the levels together and seeing such a fantastic story built into this silly little fighting game. Those nights when we completed games together and didn't have to worry about jobs, school, or anything other than beating master hand and his crazy sibling were the highlight of my childhood, even if it was because my mom didn't have the resources to give us the best games. I will always hold a special place in my heart for the Super Smash Brothers games, and I thank the creators for giving my brother and I a bond that will continue to grow even past when these games become relics of our time as children.

I read almost every day, no matter where I am, or how long I'll be there, I'd read in the shower if I could, but I usually turn to audiobooks during that time. BookTok has become a prominent part of the reading experience since I am very much into romance and mystery books. My ideal bookshelf from Booktok is full of mystery romance books. Those books have a compelling story with self-discovery and a unique male character helping our leading woman. Must-haves are books like The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, Reckless by Elsie Silver, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, and The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren. These types of books make Booktok so popular and helpful when it comes to getting into the romance genre of books. They have strong female leads, male characters in touch with their emotions, and so much more than the world can learn from just the couple of hundred pages it takes to get the story through. BookTok is sometimes hated since romance is a prominent source of content for the creators, but there are so many sides to BookTok that it needs to get more credit for reawaking people to the tales of another world. I also love having mystery books, which I find in Booktok. My must-haves for that one come from Jeneva Rose, and her books like One of Us Is Dead, or You Shouldnt have come here. Her books give you that little splash of romance while also giving you puzzles and things to think about from a murder mystery standpoint. There's also The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, which is a compelling story of a woman who was framed for killing her husband and becoming mute. This book gives out so much information regarding mental health, paranoia, and many other topics while also being a mystery for those looking for a kick. Booktok has made it possible for people like me who loved reading as a child to reawaken that part of themself after all the stress of finding a job, getting into a good college, living up to many expectations, and simply existing in an economy that isn't looking out for those of us working on minimum wage. When I was younger, I used books as an escape from all the troubles I had at home, but along the way, I lost my escape because books became too expensive for my mom to take me to the bookstore and get me a couple of books. I started reading again because BookTok showed me how much I was missing out on learning about different ways to live and other worlds I could put my mind in to escape some of the stresses of my life. Going back to books like The Bodyguard, the main character believes she is unlovable. Her mother passes away early on in the book, and she doesn't grieve until it hits her that she'll never see her mother again. It's a real story about learning that you are enough and that it's okay not always to be strong. These books have made those in the Booktok community learn so much about themselves when it comes to mental health and even physical health that I believe we can all say thank you to authors for creating mirrors to our innermost thoughts and those of us who found Booktok are grateful for the outlet that brought us to these books.