My journey through the NYC public school system has shaped who I am in ways I am still discovering. I entered elementary school as an extremely shy child, unsure of my place in the world. In kindergarten, I faced racism that made me feel isolated and unseen, ultimately leading my family to make the difficult decision to transfer me to a different school. At such a young age, I learned that environments matter and that sometimes growth begins with change, even when it is uncomfortable. Middle school became another period of challenge and transformation. I struggled deeply with insecurity, often feeling overlooked and not taken seriously due to bullying. Those experiences forced me to confront my self doubt and learn how to stand up for myself. While it was painful, it taught me resilience and self advocacy. More importantly, I found friendships that grounded me. The friends I made during that time are still some of the closest people in my life today, reminding me that genuine support can come from unexpected places. I continued my NYC public school journey at the High School of Fashion Industries, alongside my middle school best friend. There, I chose to major in art because I wanted the opportunity to grow creatively and challenge myself in an unfamiliar way. Being surrounded by students who expressed themselves fearlessly encouraged me to find my own voice. That environment helped me gain confidence and independence, lessons that extended far beyond the classroom. Overall, NYC public schools taught me how to navigate adversity, build confidence, and surround myself with people who uplift me. These lessons have stayed with me as I pursue higher education as an accounting major at Howard University. This scholarship would allow me to apply everything I have learned through my public school experience to my college journey and future career. As a first generation college student, completing my education means breaking generational cycles and creating new opportunities for my family. I am motivated by the sacrifices made before me and the future I am working toward. My story is one of growth, perseverance, and purpose, and I am proud of how far I have come.

Being a creative person isn’t just a trait for me. It’s a way of life. From a young age, creativity has been my outlet and my voice. This passion began early on, when I started taking Saturday art classes at the prestigious Pratt Institute during my elementary school years. It was there that I learned how to translate my imagination into reality, whether it was through sketching, painting, or even stop motion. From a young age, I always had a hard time expressing myself vocally. I often found it difficult to put my thoughts and emotions to words, especially in group settings or when I felt overwhelmed. Being a Black girl in a predominately white school made it even more challenging for me to speak up for myself, especially because I was constantly being bullied and singled out. My mom would always say “Closed mouths don’t get fed”, and while I knew she was right, I still found it challenging to speak up or stand up for myself when it really mattered. Over time, I turned to art as a way to communicate my feelings. Whether I was drawing, painting, or creating something with my hands, it gave me a sense of freedom and relief. What I love most about art is that it doesn’t rely on words, it speaks for you in ways that language sometimes can’t. As I got older, my creative expression evolved. I became a YouTuber, using video editing as a modern canvas to tell stories, share my perspective, and connect with the world. It all started with my obsession for American Girl Dolls when I was eight years old, and searching them up on YouTube. I was then revealed with many videos, which were American Girl stop motions. Because of this discovery, I spent months researching and learning about the art of stop motion, which inspired me to create my own with my dolls. It wasn’t the outcome of the videos that made YouTube fun, but the process. From spending hours creating scenes, and repeatedly taking a photo of a doll and moving her by a centimeter, to creating scripts and acting out different voices for the dolls, I enjoyed every moment of it. Looking back, those early YouTube projects taught me more than just how to edit videos; they showed me the power of patience, dedication, and bringing ideas to life in my own way. I’m now a student at Howard University, and I used my experience with creating YouTube videos to launch a new channel, aimed at inspiring and empowering young Black girls who are striving for success. Through my creativity, I’m able to draw viewers into my content, and give them a glimpse of who I am. While I’ve gained more confidence expressing myself face to face, my channel gives me the safe space to speak freely and give viewers authenticity. Talking to the camera allows me to open up in ways that feel natural, and it’s become my tool for sharing my story, uplifting others, and embracing the real me. And that’s what creativity is all about.

Becoming a student at Howard University has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. After breaking many generational curses such as teen pregnancy and beginning my education at Howard as an accounting major, I want to use my knowledge as a young Black woman to inspire my community to achieve their goals and to always aim for big things. Although I'm still figuring out my path as a business woman, I am committed to driving change in the world by challenging stereotypes against Black women, always being open to learn new things, and empowering others for success. From a young age, I always knew that I wanted to study accounting in college. Seeing my aunt thrive as a successful Black woman at PWC showed me what was possible in the business world. Since I have always enjoyed math and wanted to give back to my parents (who sacrificed so much for me as teen parents), pursuing accounting felt like the natural path. When I began my college education at Howard University, I got to learn the culture of the business world in the School of Business, which was an eye-opening and enriching experience. During an accounting panel I was heavily interested in what the participants were saying because one day I hope to be in their shoes. I asked a CPA named Brittany about work-life balance because, while I’m passionate about accounting, I sometimes worry it could consume my life, leaving little time for personal fulfillment. She explained that accountants “work hard and play hard”. She’ll push herself to get her work done by a certain deadline, and then the next day, she’d be on a plane heading for her vacation. Her words resonated with me because they echoed my mother’s words. Accounting and any career is about balance, and balance is the key to success. As a Black woman and student at Howard University, I aspire to positively impact my community by encouraging young Black women to achieve their goals and dream big. My mom’s stories about her childhood, where teen pregnancies and not completing their education was common, motivated me to break that cycle. I believe knowledge is wealth, and growth comes from learning. By sharing my life as a college student on social media, I hope to give others insight on what it means to work hard towards your future, and to show that success is possible. My goal is to inspire other Black girls to want to work in business and to challenge the stereotypes about Black women, since working in business is a white and male dominated field. With my social media presence and my future career, I want to be the person to network with students like me and to give them advice to prepare them for the business world. Representation matters, and I aim to be a resource for Young Black women aspiring to enter the field. Overall, I am incredibly blessed and grateful for my education at Howard University. Being here has taught me the value of learning and building connections for success. While breaking generational curses in my family, I also want to inspire and have an impact on my community who made me who I am today by teaching others to strive for big things. My mission is to reshape the business world by dismantling stereotypes about Black women, embracing continuous learning, and creating opportunities for the next generation of Black professionals.

Math is my favorite subject. Whenever I express my love for it to others, confused looks are plastered on their faces. “Why?” they would ask like I was crazy. Math is like a puzzle in which there are many ways to put that puzzle together. The idea of solving equations, and learning how to work with numbers constantly lit a lightbulb in my brain. After getting back scores from state tests, and report cards in middle school, there was always a pattern of my math grades being significantly higher than my grades in other subjects. Having the ability to provide solutions for people with mathematics is something that I want to spend my life doing. That’s why from the 7th grade, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in finance/accounting. Being an accountant requires organization and being an excellent planner, which are skills that I’ve built over the years. Like math, I grew up having a love for art. As someone who is majoring in art in high school, I learned that in order for my work to look as best as possible, I need to plan out my sketches, and how long it would take for me to complete the process before deadlines. Recently, I’ve been working on three pieces for my Senior Art Show. I started working on this project during the end of December, and I finished working on it on April 1st. In order for me to complete my pieces on time, I had to divide the amount of time it would take to work on all three pieces, so I spent one month working on each piece. With the organization and planning skills I’ve built from doing art for many years, I can use that as a future accountant. Accountants manage finances for businesses, and even though I currently have no experience in accounting, I’ve worked with finances in school. I’m an All Student Body Secretary in Student Government, and I would help the Treasurer organize the money that we earn from school events and fundraisers to divide the money by grade levels. Seniors would get half of the money we make because seniors have a lot of activities and events. Juniors would get 25% of the money, and sophomores and freshmen each get 12.5% of the money. I would also help collect money orders and log in information to keep everything organized. Although I want to pursue accounting, I had other career interests in mind. If I didn’t plan on studying to be an accountant, I would’ve studied to be an architect. I liked how being an architect requires mathematical skills and also being creative. However, after being in an art school for four years, I realized that I think it’s best for me to branch out from the art world and try something different, but also something that’s perfect for me. My art teacher from my freshman year asked me if I was planning on studying art in college and I told him “no”. He seemed disappointed because he loved my art and he wanted me to pursue a career in the arts, but I realized that I want art to stay as a hobby. I love art, but creating art isn’t as fun when it’s for an assignment. It gets draining, and I feel like doing it in college would make me lose my love for art. This is why I think it’s best for me to pursue accounting, and do art as a hobby.

Math is my favorite subject. Whenever I express my love for it to others, confused looks are plastered on their faces. “Why?” they would ask like I was crazy. Math is like a puzzle in which there are many ways to put that puzzle together. The idea of solving equations, and learning how to work with numbers constantly lit a lightbulb in my brain. After getting back scores from state tests, and report cards in middle school, there was always a pattern of my math grades being significantly higher than my grades in other subjects. Having the ability to provide solutions for people with mathematics is something that I want to spend my life doing. That’s why from the 7th grade, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in finance/accounting. Being an accountant requires organization and being an excellent planner, which are skills that I’ve built over the years. Like math, I grew up having a love for art. As someone who is majoring in art in high school, I learned that in order for my work to look as best as possible, I need to plan out my sketches, and how long it would take for me to complete the process before deadlines. Recently, I’ve been working on three pieces for my Senior Art Show. I started working on this project during the end of December, and I finished working on it on April 1st. In order for me to complete my pieces on time, I had to divide the amount of time it would take to work on all three pieces, so I spent one month working on each piece. With the organization and planning skills I’ve built from doing art for many years, I can use that as a future accountant. Accountants manage finances for businesses, and even though I currently have no experience in accounting, I’ve worked with finances in school. I’m an All Student Body Secretary in Student Government, and I would help the Treasurer organize the money that we earn from school events and fundraisers to divide the money by grade levels. Seniors would get half of the money we make because seniors have a lot of activities and events. Juniors would get 25% of the money, and sophomores and freshmen each get 12.5% of the money. I would also help collect money orders and log in information to keep everything organized. Although I want to pursue accounting, I had other career interests in mind. If I didn’t plan on studying to be an accountant, I would’ve studied to be an architect. I liked how being an architect requires mathematical skills and also being creative. However, after being in an art school for four years, I realized that I think it’s best for me to branch out from the art world and try something different, but also something that’s perfect for me. My art teacher from my freshman year asked me if I was planning on studying art in college and I told him “no”. He seemed disappointed because he loved my art and he wanted me to pursue a career in the arts, but I realized that I want art to stay as a hobby. I love art, but creating art isn’t as fun when it’s for an assignment. It gets draining, and I feel like doing it in college would make me lose my love for art. This is why I think it’s best for me to pursue accounting, and do art as a hobby.