My name is Takirra Simon; I am a Cumberland Academy Virtual 6-12 senior. My majors of interest are business administration and social work. After high school, I plan to go to a 4-year university and be the first in my immediate family to graduate college. I began volunteering for a nonprofit when I was in middle school because my grandmother, whom I call my mom, worked there. The name of the organization is Partnership for Children, and their goal is to support children so they thrive and families so they are successful. Since COVID-19, I have not been volunteering there as much but have started volunteering for events at my school. I even joined clubs that focused on community service, such as the S.A.V.E Promise Club, which stands for Students Against Violence Everywhere, the National Honor Society, and the National Senior Beta Club. While being in these clubs, I was able to help my community through many donation drives for children's homes and Hurricane Helene survivors. I only have one other extracurricular, which is my school's high school student government. I started being part of the student government in my junior year as the secretary. This year I am not the 12th-grade representative and am highly involved with planning senior week, the senior trip, senior shirts, etc. However, my main job has been helping plan events for our high school students, volunteering at school events, and conducting fundraisers for our junior-senior prom, which we also help plan. If I could start my charity, the mission would be to help support single mothers and their children as they navigate through today's education system and economy. Volunteers for this charity would help with simple things such as babysitting for moms when they go to work or school, along with tutoring young and older kids in any subject. Those working for the charity would do tasks such as helping the moms go back to school, find a job, get their kids to school, get groceries, and anything else they need to thrive. I chose this charity because of my grandmother. She was raising 3 kids as a single mother. One got into trouble a lot, and the other ended up getting pregnant as a teenager, so she ended up raising 4 kids. I know this could not have been easy for her, especially the fact that by now she should not have any kids in the house but decided to continue to raise me after my birth mother turned 18. She is not the only single mother I have seen struggling; sometimes it isn't just the mother but also their child as well. Knowing this is the reason I chose the charity that is aimed at helping support single mothers and their children. If I could create this charity one day, I would be thankful for the ability to help these women and their children. I believe this is something we need even more now because of everything happening in the world with women's rights and the way the economy is.

I admit that I did not think I would be a big fan of Wicked in the beginning but since I saw the movie songs such as "Defying Gravity" and "What is this Feeling" have been playing on a loop on my Spotify account. Everything about the songs, from the music to the vocals, stays in my head daily. I have even gone as far as to use the song "No One Mourns The Wicked" for an assignment in my English class where I had to make a playlist based on the epic tale we were reading at the time. However, what made me a fan of Wicked is that it sends a message that it is okay to be different. The other message that Wicked sends is to stand up for what you believe in like Elphaba did despite the consequences she faced. Now that I have seen Wicked and heard the iconic songs and message I will be seeing part 2 when it comes out this fall. I doubt I am the number one fan of the musical because there are those more devoted to it than I am. However, I am still a fan of the musical titled Wicked.

The one thing that I have always been passionate about is helping people. I believe I got that passion from my mom who is always trying to help people in any way that she possibly can as often as she can, even when it exhausts her. In my life, I have had sleep apnea and epilepsy in middle school. During that time I would randomly pass out and not remember anything that happened when I woke up in the morning, even though I did wake up after passing out. I couldn't be around many flashing lights because they were triggering and worried my parents beyond measure. However, I kept living my life the way I was despite being scared of the conditions I had and now I no longer have sleep apnea and have not had a seizure in over 4 years. Another big challenge I faced is one that everybody faced, COVID-19. When COVID shut everything down I ended up transferring to a virtual school in Cumberland County, North Carolina. It was a struggle at first because I went from seeing teachers in person and doing work with my classmates, helping each other when needed to seeing my teachers and classmates through a screen instead. We did not even meet with the teachers every day, in the beginning, there were 2 days a week where we did our work alone without meeting with the teacher. I started this school in 9th grade and for the first time got a C in a class at the end of the year. After normal schools opened back up the virtual school I am still attending remained open. I decided to stay there despite its difficulties, like less interacting with people, not seeing my friends anymore, and dealing with technology. However, throughout my time at my school, I have joined 5 clubs, S.A.V.E Promise, Ladies of Distinction, the Student Government Association (SGA), The National Honor Society, and the National Senior Beta Club. In 4 of the 5 clubs, I have been able to pursue my passion for helping people through donation drives and fundraisers that we planned despite how difficult it was to do so since our school is virtual. The major I plan to follow in College is Business Administration because I want to open a nonprofit with my mom one day. This nonprofit will help the homeless, single mothers, teen pregnancies, and many more people who need shelter and support. I got this idea from my mom when I was a kid and she mentioned it being her dream and as I grew up I realized how important something like this would be in the world we have today. I understand I may need more than a degree in Business Administration and it will be difficult but I plan on doing whatever I can to help people live better lives and get the support they need.

My mother is a black leader who inspired me because she has been a strong, independent black woman for as long as I can remember, when she was young, a single mother, and even now while she's married. She may not have made moves in the Civil Rights Movement and during slavery times like historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, Harriet Tubman, or Barack Obama, the first black President. However, she is still an inspirational woman through perseverance, good heart, and strength. My mom grew up in an environment where her family was poor, there was drama every weekend, and also alcohol and cigarettes everywhere. As a young adult, my mom used to be one of those girls who would love to go out dancing but then she had three kids and wanted to raise her kids the best way she could. During that her two daughters always fought, her son got into trouble, and one of the two daughters got pregnant as a teenager. However, instead of putting the baby up for adoption or getting rid of it, my mom decided to keep the baby and raise the baby as her own. That child was me. By blood and legally my "mother" is my grandmother. However, I will always see her as my mom because she has never been obligated to raise and love me but decided to anyway. She also got saved and became a good Christian woman during this time. At this point my mom has lost her father and is taking care of her mother who has had a health scare in the past month but despite how stressed and annoyed my mom feels right now she is continuing to help take care of her family and being there for her friends. Everything I have mentioned is why I believe my mom is a person who inspires because she has been through so much stress, pain, and hardships but she still is a good-hearted woman who wants to help people in any way she can. Then there's also the rapid change she made in adulthood from somebody who went clubbing to dance to someone who is a good-hearted wife, mother, sister, daughter, Christian, and friend. She is living proof that anyone can change. She is also a role model for young women whether they come from the same background or are mothers. That is why I am inspired by my mom. She may not be historical but she is special and someone to admire.