Of all the pilots in the United States, less than 1% are African-American women (News). According to ABC News, this includes airline pilots, military pilots, flight instructors, and more (News). These numbers will always shock me, but never surprise me. As an African-American woman myself, aviation was never a career path that was presented as even a possibility in my childhood. I grew up with a single mother in a poor region of Kansas City, MO due to the abuse my father inflicted on my family. As a first-generation college student, I was recommended to stick to something safe, something that wouldn’t break the bank; something “reasonable”. My love for aviation, flying, and all things involving the sky, however, has brought me down a different path. My family's history with careers is non-existent as addiction and abuse, both physical and mental, took center stage in my parents', grandparents’, and great-grandparents’ lives. A generational barrier; it is the reason I work so hard to achieve the goals I set. So far, I am a sophomore in college and one-fourth of the way done with my pilot training. Though I still have a long way to go, I have made achievements that remind me to keep going, such as early placement in my pilot training, and becoming the President of the Women in Aviation chapter of my university. My plan is, with the help of Women in Aviation and my completed piloting training, to reach the hearts of young women and girls to show them the often untapped potential of aviation. I also want to change the statistics that less than 1% of pilots are African-American women. Aviation is one of the most Caucasian male-dominated fields in the entire world, and with my input, I will change that. Not only for flying planes but to change the way the world views women and people of demographics that are deemed “unusual” for a particular career and place due to history’s effects on the United States. The only thing that can stop me, with my drive to fly high and my grades in good standing, is the cost of flying. I currently have two jobs to help pay for my college expenses as I have no one in my family that can help me. With the money from this scholarship, I can fulfill the dues for my flight training, the bulk of my university expenses. I can focus on my goals of change and start in the cities I live in, Kansas City and Warrensburg, MO. These cities are both their own projects, but I have a plan to help fix the unseen demographics of women who tend to not be welcome in places where money is the loudest voice. Not only to show them, "If I can do it, you can do it.”, but to give them a clear path, the motivation they need, and the right resources to achieve the “unreasonable” dreams that will fulfill them. News, A. B. C. “Diversifying the Flight Deck: Less than 1% of US Pilots Are Black Women.” ABC News, abcnews.go.com/Politics/diversifying-flight-deck-us-pilots-black-women/story?id=72880810.

When I heard it was an option during freshman orientation, I doubted myself and my ability to achieve it due to its complexity and the challenges that came with it. Coming into the program with no previous flight time, my best option was to just go for it. “It” being the early flight placement that only fifteen of the top students in the class would be offered. In the Professional Pilot program at the University of Central Missouri, early flight placement is the goal in the first semester because the more hours of flight, the better for pilots. To qualify, you must have reliable transportation to and from the airport, and, of course, be one of the top fifteen students in the class of new freshmen entering the program. Of the freshman class, many had already flown or had previous experience in flight. I had no flight time or previous experience in aviation, and no reliable transportation to and from the airport. Despite this, I worked hard to make the early flight placement with the things I could control. I saved money for a car and prioritized my grades with A’s across the board. After the first stage test, of which I got a perfect score, the students who qualified for early flight placement were announced; I qualified. My hard work and perseverance proved me well, though that was not the end of the challenge. As previously stated, I required reliable transportation to the airport. With no car to my name, I did not know how I could get the transportation needed in my budget. At the time of receiving the announcement that I had qualified for the early flight placement, the only thing I could think of was how I couldn’t accept it. To receive guidance on how to decline the offer, I went to Dr. Lover Chanceler, head of the Multicultural Center at UCM. Instead of assisting me with declining the offer, she encouraged me to take the placement. She gave my information to a friend named OJ who sold me my first car. The early flight placement was one of many challenges I have had since being in the Professional Pilot program, but it is also one of many I have overcome. Piloting is a difficult but rewarding career path that I have chosen for myself, but my choice comes from my desire to change the demographics in aviation. It is no secret that the field of aviation was a Caucasian male-dominated field with little space for any other demographic for many years. To be an African American woman in the field of aviation would break generational barriers on both sides of my heritage. As a woman, it would prove that women are just as capable as men to achieve high-risk, high-reward careers in STEM. As an African American, I believe that my success can help inspire more success from all people regardless of their ethnicity or racial background. I believe that every profession should be a melting pot of different types of highly qualified individuals to promote new ideas for a better functioning community worldwide. As it currently stands, I am the only woman of color in the Professional Pilot program at the University of Central Missouri. My goal is to, through working with several airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, promote and create a new age of pilots to ensure the dream of making a melting pot of current Caucasian male-dominated fields becomes a reality.

The desire to travel the world to create a more understanding society has been ongoing in my life and has altered my decision about the careers I have considered for myself. One of the most important values I have is to leave the world more unified than when I came into it. My first idea was to be a flight attendant and travel the world to meet new people, learn about different cultures, and encourage more diversity in the field of aviation. When I began working in customer service, however, I quickly realized that though it is noble work, being a flight attendant is not my calling. It was through this discovery that I enquired about being an Airline Pilot. For me, piloting is not only about flying an aircraft from point A to point B, it is about destroying the systematic boundaries set in place for people of wealthy backgrounds to succeed while others suffer. An ideology I think is stopping the equal view of all ethnicities is the idea that people of color are inferior to Caucasians or people of a lighter skin tone. I am a great advocate against the amount of melanin within the skin determining how much money people make, what careers people can enter, or what people can achieve. My goal is to learn about diverse world cultures to enlighten others so that all people can be successful, even though they are born in a system designed to repel that success. To ensure my goal of a more diverse aviation field, I am currently becoming an Airline Pilot by working towards a Professional Pilot degree at the University of Central Missouri. The demographics of this field are primarily caucasian men, and I believe that is a fact that needs to change. As an African American woman working towards a Professional Pilot degree, seeing people who look like me in my profession inspires me to work harder. Seeing other minorities in my profession emboldens my belief that I can achieve my dreams, even though my goals may seem outlandish to others. Diversity in the workplace encourages the influx of different ideas and promotes a more efficient working system. Applying diversity to the field of aviation is an overdue necessity to promote greater equality and encourage people of color already in it. With the current demand for pilots following the COVID-19 pandemic, expecting pilots to come from only one demographic, primarily caucasian males, is a recipe for disaster. Working towards ensuring the next generation has an adequate amount of diverse, inspired individuals to replace the inevitably of experienced pilots leaving the workforce is an essential value for the field of aviation. Incorporating the faces of different types of people in the world of aviation will inspire others, just like it has inspired me, to join aviation and find my place.

For most people, the thing that contributes to their love for aviation fits somewhere along the lines of experiencing a discovery flight at an airport or airshow. Perhaps they have a relative who is a pilot and flew in the past, someone who tells them stories of their previous adventures. They might have a powerful historic movie that changed their perception of what it means to work in aviation. For me, I never had a moment similar to this. As far back as I could remember, I always had a devotion to all things aviation and aerospace. These desires were not invoked by any movie, a relative with stories to tell, or even a discovery flight experience, but instead, it was just who I was. My decision to pursue a degree in aviation was decided as soon as I was born. My first plan for my future aviation career was to be a flight attendant. The opinion I had of the career changed when I realized the job focused on skills such as hospitality and customer service. I learned and developed working with these skills during my employment at Chick-Fil-A. While learning about customer service and hospitality, I quickly realized that it was not my particular calling in my life to walk the aisle of an airplane and serve food or other commodities to the patrons. I noticed that I much preferred the leadership role that accompanied climbing the ranks at Chick-fil-A, as well as the teamwork aspect of getting the job done correctly and safely. This is where I combined my love for aviation, my life goal to travel the world, and my innate drive toward success, and I realized that I would pursue the career of an airline pilot. With this realization that I wanted to become an airline pilot came a new meaning to being an African American woman in aviation. It is no secret that the world of aviation is a caucasian male-dominated field, with little space for any other demographic. To be not only a woman but an African American woman in the field of aviation would be breaking generational barriers on both sides of my heritage. As a woman, it would prove that women are just as capable as men to achieve anything they set their minds to. As an African American individual, I believe that my success can help inspire more success from all people, regardless of their ethnicity or racial background. I have no doubt that every profession should be a melting pot of different types of highly qualified individuals to promote new ideas for a better functioning community worldwide. To further the objective of aviation being a melting pot, I have joined the Women in Aviation program at my university - the University of Central Missouri - to promote and support other women working in aviation. In addition to supporting the other women in aviation through the WIA Program, I also plan to be a beacon for other women curious about the subject, but who are uncertain about their path. My goal is to show them that not only can women do anything they put their minds to, but that they can do so despite the historical factors that follow the aviation field.

School and education never stop, even during a COVID-19 pandemic. My junior year of high school was altered entirely by the pandemic with the online school which added fuel to the rigorous coursework that my college preparatory high school had to offer. In this year of high school, I had many difficult classes such as IB Physics and Pre-Calculus, but the one class that proved to be the most stressful at the end of the year was Music Appreciation. “Music Appreciation?” you say, “How could that possibly be more stressful than physics?” The class was not difficult it was quite interesting. In the majority of the class, we studied music from all around the world and identified major differences from the music we are most familiar with. My favorite example of this is when we studied music from India. The hums and beats entranced me as I am an aspiring world traveler and pilot. Learning about the culture of different countries was a fun assignment for me, until the final presentation. We were put in groups of four and tasked with choosing a movie and studying its soundtrack. With this, we would deliver to our peers how the music affects the overall movie by, for example, adding suspense or creating a somber moment for the audience. This assignment seemed simple, but it soon proved to be a whirlwind of emotions and anxiety. The night before the presentation, it was clear that my group’s slides were not at all ready for the following day. The online school gave this assignment an illusion of being optional and contributed to the problem my group was encountering; half of the group did not do the work. Even I, a pretty hard-working and focused student, failed to watch the movie until the night before the presentation. On the day of the presentation, no one but my teacher knew the order in which everyone would present. It was just our luck that we were up first! Hoping that my groupmates did their work and praying that my knowledge of the movie would save me, we begrudgingly stepped up to our google slides presentation. With all eyes on us, anxiety was at an all-time high. I tried to remain as calm as possible to rekindle my courage and somehow, by the grace of God, present this work. Most of the leadership work of the slides(the colors, design, order, and distribution of topics) for the movie was decided by me, so I considered myself the leader of the group. I took the stage (in front of the class) and introduced my groupmates. The presentation went on perfectly as if we practiced. The slides were complete, my groupmates were knowledgeable, and I hit it home with my ques on who should speak next. At the end of the presentation, it was safe to say we set the bar high for the other groups. From this experience, I learned that I am a natural leader. I can conjure up a presentation from the air and lead my troops to victory. I also learned that faking confidence is key to success when, after the presentation, my teammate said, “You did amazing! How were you so calm?” The truth is my heart was beating faster than a monitor could track, I was only faking it. By putting on that face of serenity, I became just that and was able to keep my cool in the face of fear. I learn all these things about myself from an “easy” Music Appreciation class.

I have always been told, “Education is Freedom” since as young as I could remember, but I never understood the weight of that statement until my senior year of high school. I realized the gravity that not only intelligence had for a person, but also financial and family support. Lacking in those last two areas, my senior year became a ball of anxiety for the future and reflection on my past. Without these fundamental players in the game of success, I felt hopeless. It was then that I reflected on my past for answers on how to solve these issues. I saw that I have the proper preparation all along and that there was no need to dwell on what I lacked. I looked back on my relationship with my parents. My father was gone for most of my life but returned to my family during my 7th-grade year’s summer. When I was around him, he used gaslighting and manipulation to fabricate a story in which I was the bad guy. I found myself emotionally drained when in his presence, so I had to make the difficult decision to remove him from my life. I no longer associated myself with him and avoided his existence. Though my mother was a saving grace at the time of this decision, we would butt heads often. The realization that I never truly had a father and the recurring backlash from my mother caused a whirlwind of emotions. While the uncertainty of my relationships with my parents brewed, the COVID- 19 pandemic reached my city. It shut down life as I knew it and furthered my depression. The high school I attended was a college preparatory academy complete with rigorous coursework and demanding classes. All these factors furthered my depression. I struggled with this depression for a long time before I got a therapist to help me. I found myself again and, with that, my desire to be a pilot was reignited. Before I knew it I was on the brighter side of life, excelling in my grades, managing my emotions, and on track to graduate with flying colors. I found, from the rubble of my depression and hardship, that I had become more independent and self-reliant. I found a new appreciation for happiness and an improved motivation to follow my dreams. The rigorous work prepared me for the college workload that I would encounter in my future, and COVID- 19 strengthened my persistence and time management skills. I had become a stronger, braver, and healthier version of myself through hard times and depression. Due to these experiences, my definition of success is described as financial freedom, being content, and being able to help other people. I believe this because the result of success is peace of mind in a person's finances. This peace in finances brings contentment to said person’s overall life; in their relationships and career. With this, they will want to help others find the same happiness, and thus they help other people. In 20 years from now, I will be 38. At this time in my life, I see myself as a well-trained pilot for United Airlines, a wife to a dependable and loving husband, and with a stable connection to my mother and family.

As a child of a mother that has heart failure, I believe it is necessary to have a healthy body and mind. There are many essential ways to care for your body: drinking enough water, eating the right foods, or getting enough exercise are great options. Though these things are critical and make a positive change to the body, I believe that the foremost thing to do for a long healthy life is to protect your mental health. I believe that the body is more than just a few organs that work together for survival; it is also the free will and mentality of a person that plays a major part in overall health. With good mental health, a human could be determined to do all the other necessary things for good health. Though, I do think that mental health becomes more fragile the less a person values it. So because of this, poor mental health can cause unpleasant effects on the body. It causes a person to stop taking care of themselves and it may leave them with a mental scar. They may be sad or depressed and these extreme emotions cause physical harm to the body and mind. Over a long time, these emotions could lead to a gradual deterioration of overall health. Therefore, because mental health decides the overall physical health, I believe that having a good mental health status is the most important way to live a long healthy life!

I have a few little pleasures that I love to do to pass time or relax. I like to keep these little pleasures academic-free because usually, education is the reason why I need the break. One thing that I love to do is listen to music while either sitting down and imagining whatever my heart wants or while cleaning to be a bit productive. Another thing I like to do is play a video game called Minecraft which allows me to expand my creative potential. Additionally, I love to play the game with my friends and in so, it gives us a great bonding experience. Despite the love I feel playing games and hanging out with my friends, I do believe that the secret of simple pleasures is the aspect of much-needed alone time or a change of pace. A more simple pleasure I love to indulge in is brewing a nice cup of tea. From oolong to hibiscus, I love the experience brewing a nice cup of tea can give me; the steam rising from the freshly heated water making contact with the teabag creating an unimaginable aroma. Drinking warm hibiscus tea while sitting on the porch greeted by the slightly chilled unending wind while listening to slow lo-fi is an ideal moment of time for me.

The goals that I have for my life are seemingly impossible to others, but I know I can achieve them through hard work. Starting with the near future I want to achieve the goal of making it out of college completely debt-free. This goal is immense because the career path I would like to take, Professional Pilot, has an extremely expensive overall price. Of course, the payment of this degree will be done primarily from scholarships and grants, but due to the fact that I was born into a single-parent household, I will be paying for all of my college expenses myself. Becoming a pilot would make me the first in my family to not only graduate from college but to do it with no debt. During college, my goal is to become an airline pilot, which is a sizable dream that I know I can reach. One of the reasons why I want to become a Pilot is because I have always wanted to travel the world and I believe that being a pilot will bring me a bit closer to that goal. Another reason why becoming a pilot is a major goal of mine is because it is a very prestigious career full of majority white men. Being the opposite of a white man, I believe becoming a pilot will help me convey the idea that anyone can do anything through hard work. I have already taken many steps towards this goal including being accepted into the University of Central Missouri, the home of the Professional Pilot degree. The fact that this career path will take a lot of hard work and money does not scare me from trying because I know I can do it. It will be hard, but nothing worth having comes without hard work.

With numerous inspiring individuals to look up to, ever since I was little I wanted to make my own mark on the world. Someone who inspires me the most is a woman named Bessie Coleman as she was the first black woman to be a pilot. She was the first and my goal is to follow in her footsteps and take it further, I want to change how people view black women. Due to generations of slander from media and little representation, African American women have been portrayed as lude and rude. This false portrait of black women shown to the world has created a horrible image and I want to change this. This horrible image limits black women from contributing efficiently to the world and makes young black girls buy into this mental prison. I have evaded this reality, but I personally see this lude and rude personality everywhere around me. I believe that due to so many women falling to this false promise of what black women are causes the opportunity of the good life they could have to slowly disappear, unknowingly to them until it is too late. It is for these reasons that I want to make a change. Traveling the world, I will show the true life of black women and how they are affected by this image through showing my own life. I believe that showing how I avoided this reality despite living in the perfect atmosphere of dysfunction will be a major part of how this change will be made. I want to achieve this mark on the world not only for black women but for all women that expose themselves to this lie. In doing this, there will be more claimed opportunities for all women, making a more progressed reality.

I had always been an optimistic child. I would work to keep my grades up, and disrespect to an adult in my mind was unheard of. Once 2020 came, the world changed. I felt trapped in my head and it made me wonder if my life would ever be the same again. I grew increasingly lonely and once school started online it got worse. I fell into a great depression dealing with the never-ending chases of school work and high grades. My life meant nothing to me at the time and I even wished for it to be taken from me more times than I can count. The world turned dark, cold, and full of despair. At this time, I gave up on my dream of becoming a pilot because I didn’t want to live anymore. It seemed like everything was over until my mother noticed my hardship. She hated seeing me so miserable. My mother contacted a therapist who I thought wouldn’t care about how I felt or if I wanted to live. To my surprise, after a few meetings, I realized that she cared very much for me. She listened to what I had to say at which I appreciated more than can be stated in words. With her help, I was able to believe in life again and what my dreams could be. I was able to raise my grades and realize my never leaving desire to become a pilot. I stopped thinking about how the world would be without me and, instead, thought about how I could make the world better. This time in my life taught me so much about myself and my goals and I’ve become so proud of my decision to stay alive and fulfill my dreams.

It is a great threat to all lives on Earth, but some are more susceptible than others. Those who use their income for bills that are sky high and substances that they depend on to bring some type of happiness into their lives are its choice of prey. This illness festers and thrives in underrepresented communities and once an unfortunate soul has contracted it, they have little choice but to hide it or embrace it. It consumes them, changing their mind and altering their life for as long as it is untreated, and sometimes even through that. This illness has many names: Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, PTSD, but it is most commonly referred to as simply Mental Illness. All of these names haunt impoverished communities, causing most to stay in their grief fed to them by Hopelessness. This curse of the mind plagues generations of people if not treated, even though the souls that need treatment the most often avoid it. The lost victims that are seen everyday on street corners, below bridges, holding signs stating their issues, or in prison cells. These people need the treatment that can heal their minds, but this life saving treatment does not come cheap. Coming few and far between, this treatment drains even the richest of fortunate people’s bank accounts, so how could an impoverished, suffering soul even think of it? The issue of Mental Health is undoubtedly a cancer of the mind: no known, guaranteed or affordable treatment. So how could I, one so passionate about its harm to society, start the process of healing this threat to low income communities? I would start with the children; those severely impressionable and affected most by the Mental Illness of their surroundings. Stopping or halting the generational curse of the minds found in low income families gives hope of a brighter future at the cost of time. Going into schools of underprivileged communities and speaking with the adults of the future will give insight to their life at home, uncovering the opportunity to heal any misfortune. Children speak with little filter, so uncovering a broken heart is not too difficult. That is the first step. The second, more excruciating and uncertain step into the battle of Mental Illness is to go out into the communities and plant/promote the freedom of therapy and support. The first thing that may come to mind for the individuals plagued will be, “How could I ever pay for something like that if I can barely afford my life?” This question must be met with the inviting, “It’s free, if you are willing to heal.” Having the opportunity of a healed soul must be affordable for it to have any hope of making a jurassic difference in underprivileged communities. The steps for a healed and safer community from an impoverished and hurting community are numerous and change depending on the specific circumstances of said communities, though two things are certain. One is that the steps listed above are necessary steps of proper healing for the future. Two is that these things can only be completed by a team of specialists, generalists, social workers, volunteers, counselors, therapists, and generous donors. This great issue to society is in need of a great opportunity to fix things. An opportunity that if I were given, I would implement as much of this plan as possible to aid people stuck in the curse of Mental Illness.

I have a few little pleasures that I love to do to pass time or relax. I like to keep these little pleasures academic-free because usually, education is the reason why I need the break. One this that I love to do is listen to music while either sitting down and imagining whatever my heart wants or while cleaning to be a bit productive. Another thing I like to do is play a video game called Minecraft which allows me to expand my creative potential. Additionally, I love to play the game with my friends and in so, it gives us a great bonding experience. Despite the love I feel playing games and hanging out with my friends, I do believe that the secret of simple pleasures is the aspect of much-needed alone time or a change of pace. A more simple pleasure I love to indulge in is brewing a nice cup of tea. From oolong to hibiscus, I love the experience brewing a nice cup of tea can give me; the steam rising from the freshly heated water making contact with the teabag creating an unimaginable aroma. Drinking warm hibiscus tea while sitting on the porch greeted by the slightly chilled unending wind while listening to slow lo-fi is an ideal moment of time for me.

The goals that I have for my life are seemingly impossible to others, but I know I can achieve them through hard work. Starting with the near future I want to achieve the goal of making it out of college completely debt-free. This goal is immense because the career path I would like to take, Professional Pilot, has an extremely expensive overall price. Of course, the payment of this degree will be done primarily from scholarships and grants, but due to the fact that I was born into a single-parent household, I will be paying for all of my college expenses myself. Becoming a pilot would make me the first in my family to not only graduate from college but to do it with no debt. During college, my goal is to become an airline pilot, which is a sizeable dream that I know I can reach. One of the reasons why I want to become a Pilot is because I have always wanted to travel the world and I believe that being a pilot will bring me a bit closer to that goal. Another reason why becoming a pilot is a major goal of mine is because it is a very prestigious career full of majority white men. Being the opposite of a white man, I believe becoming a pilot will help me convey the idea that anyone can do anything through hard work. I have already taken many steps towards this goal including being accepted into the University of Central Missouri, the home of the Professional Pilot degree. The fact that this career path will take a lot of hard work and money does not scare me from trying because I know I can do it. It will be hard, but nothing worth having comes without hard work.

With numerous inspiring individuals to look up to, ever since I was little I wanted to make my own mark on the world. Someone who inspires me the most is a woman named Bessie Coleman as she was the first black woman to be a pilot. She was the first and my goal is to follow in her footsteps and take it further, I want to change how people view black women. Due to generations of slander from media and little representation, African American women have been portrayed as lude and rude. This false portrait of black women shown to the world has created a horrible image and I want to change this. This horrible image limits black women from contributing efficiently to the world and makes young black girls buy into this mental prison. I have evaded this reality, but I personally see this lude and rude personality everywhere around me. I believe that due to so many women falling to this false promise of what black women are causes the opportunity of the good life they could have to slowly disappear, unknowingly to them until it is too late. It is for these reasons that I want to make a change. Traveling the world, I will show the true life of black women and how they are affected by this image through showing my own life. I believe that showing how I avoided this reality despite living in the perfect atmosphere of dysfunction will be a major part of how this change will be made. I want to achieve this mark on the world not only for black women but for all women that expose themselves to this lie. In doing this, there will be more claimed opportunities for all women, making a more progressed reality.

As a child of a mother that has heart failure, I believe it is necessary to have a healthy body and mind. There are many essential ways to care for your body: drinking enough water, eating the right foods, or getting enough exercise are great options. Though these things are critical and make a positive change to the body, I believe that the foremost thing to do for a long healthy life is to protect your mental health. I believe that the body is more than just a few organs that work together for survival; it is also the free will and mentality of a person that plays a major part in overall health. With good mental health, a human could be determined to do all the other necessary things for good health. Though, I do think that mental health becomes more fragile the less a person values it. So because of this, poor mental health can cause unpleasant effects on the body. It causes a person to stop taking care of themselves and it may leave them with a mental scar. They may be sad or depressed and these extreme emotions cause physical harm to the body and mind. Over a long time, these emotions could lead to a gradual deterioration of overall health. Therefore, because mental health decides the overall physical health, I believe that having a good mental health status is the most important way to live a long healthy life!

I had always been an optimistic child. I would work to keep my grades up, and disrespect to an adult in my mind was unheard of. Once 2020 came, the world changed. I felt trapped in my head and it made me wonder if my life would ever be the same again. I grew increasingly lonely and once school started online it got worst. I fell into a great depression dealing with the never-ending chases of school work and high grades. My life meant nothing to me at the time and I even wished for it to be taken from me more times than I can count. The world turned dark, cold, and full of despair. At this time, I gave up on my dream of becoming a pilot because I didn’t want to live anymore. It seemed like everything was over until my mother noticed my hardship. She hated seeing me so miserable. My mother contacted a therapist who I thought wouldn’t care about how I felt or if I wanted to live. To my surprise, after a few meetings, I realized that she cared very much for me. She listened to what I had to say at which I appreciated more than can be stated in words. With her help, I was able to believe in life again and what my dreams could be. I was able to raise my grades and realize my never leaving desire to become a pilot. I stopped thinking about how the world would be without me and, instead, thought about how I could make the world better. This time in my life taught me so much about myself, my goals, as well as made me stronger and I am so proud of my decision to stay alive and fulfill my dreams.

Ever since I was a young girl, I thought an abundance of money was a fairytale concept reserved for rich people. I often found myself fantasizing about a better life in which my mother did not have to micromanage her bank account. That she did not worry about her kids having food on the table or how to tell them they would not be able to go to Disney Land. Money was always the limiting factor of my life and this stopped me from thinking a better life exists. My environment kept a cloud of poverty over my head and presented me with the reality of hardship and hierarchy. I would see other kids more fortunate than I was with all the things I only wished I could have. Living with this perspective, life has always seemed like a “pay to win” experience. Due to this background, for me, financial freedom means being able to live through a month without depending on the next paycheck. Having the ability to dream about going to college without the drawback of student loans or debt. Being able to do my lifelong dream of traveling the world to meet and speak to people from all walks of life. Explore what this world has to offer and uncover its secrets. Be a part of something bigger than myself and, one day, show my children the same thing. Let them grow up and live life to their fullest living in a safe neighborhood. Financial freedom is, being able to have the life I want without the drawback of how I would pay for it. I now understand the value of money and that the only way for me to be able to reach this financial freedom is through education, scholarships, and finally college. When I first realized that my way to prosperity was through education, I stopped worrying about how some kids didn’t have to work as hard as I would have to for my goal. I got and maintained good grades, participated in JROTC, and became a model student. I developed my love for education and found my admiration for flight and all things aeronautics. I knew that the field of aviation seemed to be reserved for white men and being the opposite of both meant that I would have a hard time accomplishing such a thing. This did not stop me from trying to achieve this goal because, to me, it means that there is plenty of space for a black female pilot. I know that my future is filled with great things all because of hard work. My freedom to explore can and will be achieved and I will undoubtedly have my definition of financial freedom.

As a student studying in a public, historically black, college prep high school, I have been exposed to and witnessed firsthand the immediate issue of educational inequity. The irony of being at a college prep school, but not even having the necessary funding to do certain experiments in the science rooms is a deafening reality for me and other students. On the other side of the city, however, there is seemingly no shortage of money for schools with a high population of white students, whether public or private. According to The TFA Editorial Team from Teach For America, this situation results in low-income students being 2.5 times less likely to be college-ready than the latter. This unfair distribution of academic funding can be felt and seen in many school districts across America and is the reason that many students of color give up, regardless of their own academic goals, when they realize their unfair chance for success. Due to this situation many students experience while trying to start their lives without the same funding as their peers, I firmly believe that there is an immense need to stand up for education inequity. This situation should not be tolerated and, for the sake of the students that need it the most, we must stand up and do more for the unfairness of academic funding caused by education inequity. Bibliography- The TFA Editorial Team (2019, July 26). 6 myths about educational inequity. Teach For America. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.teachforamerica.org/stories/educational-inequity-facts.

As a survivor from depression, I can wholeheartedly say that without the help and encouragement from my friends, I would not be here today. I believe that friendship is what holds human beings together, it is another form of love that is needed in life. Friendship is finding someone that can relate to you, that you can trust and vice versa. For me, friendship kept me alive. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was caught in a deep depression that lead to suicidal thoughts and self harm. I trusted my friends in telling them about my state of being, something that I never would have told my mother. I didn’t want to disappoint her or make her mad that I wanted to die. When I told my friends, of course, they wanted to offer me nothing but help. They encouraged me to get a therapist. They listened to my tears over the phone and offered me a virtual warm embrace that I couldn’t bring myself to ask from my mother. With my recovery from these thoughts and developing into a young adult, I have found that friendship is essential. Even though there is a type of friend that does not have your best interest in mind, the fake friend, they are helpful. Fake friends teach a person to value the real friendships that they have, making them invaluable. I found that, while growing up and maturing, real quality friendships are the only ones to keep in a person’s life. Friendship means quality over quantity, respect, honor, support, and a safe place free of judgement. A true friend is a person that you can go to no matter the situation. Friendship is critical in order for a human to thrive and I value it tremendously.

Suicidal idealization, depression, and anxiety. These were the illnesses that I encountered through the year 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. These emotions were extremely difficult to recover from and, without the help of my therapist, a strong support system, and being determined myself, I would not have made it out of this mess. For this reason, I firmly believe that self-care and concern for mental health are essential for a healthy life. To ensure that my body and mind are thoroughly taken care of I have learned to do a variety of things and have learned many things about myself. These include small things like morning affirmations, ensuring that my body is clean and healthy, managing my emotions through exercise, and keeping my area and the vibes of others positive. My morning affirmations are very helpful for me, one being, "I am a beautiful and successful young woman. Today I will be happy and cheerful!" This affirmation alone has helped me to brighten my day from the second I get out of bed, no matter how hard it may be some days. Keeping my body clean and, most importantly, secure and healthy through eating a proper diet, and drinking enough water! Water is so important to the body, even though it is very easy to forget to drink some. A proper diet can, quite literally, brighten one's day and make you feel so much better. Moving my body has made a great impact on my life because, along with the proper diet and water, it has helped my body feel good and healthy. Finally, keeping the social structure surrounding me positive and flourishing was like I said before, was a major part of breaking out of my mental illnesses. This also provides us with a safe place to be together.

Education has always played a major part in my life. My mother would tell me, "There are only two things people can never take from you: your belief in God and your education.", while we would cook together. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri where crime never sleeps, my only goal was to make something better for myself. To escape the clutches of poverty and make a new and brighter life for my family. Once I go to college I plan to become a professional pilot and if that doesn't work out, I will become an air traffic controller. Over my years of living, I have had many experiences which have brought me to the desire to attend college. One of which was my experience at my high school Lincoln College Preparatory academy. Here, I participated in JROTC, JLAB leadership, and IB classes. I studied for good grades, not settling for anything less. The atmosphere of Lincoln, being a college preparatory high school, was focused majorly on studies and school spirit. Due to this, as well as the advanced curriculum, I learned to persevere through any hardships I encountered. My time in the JROTC program was filled with many achievements such as being the 1st Sergeant of my company and participating as an active member of the JLAB leadership team. Another experience that brought me to my desire to attend college and create a better life for myself was my time working at Chick-Fil-A. My employment started after the 2020-2021 school year in which COVID-19 decided the end of the school year. During my application time, my mother grew very sick and had to spend nights at the hospital. This time was very much uncertain for our family as, at the time, we did not know what was wrong with her or if she would be able to come home. My mother was diagnosed with heart failure and, after a few more days at the hospital with little certainty, was able to finally be brought home. This experience of having my first job coupled with the diagnosis of my mother having heart failure was a major battle in my life that I conquered. I got the job at Chick-Fil-A and continue even today to learn and grow in the job. It has added to my leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving skills exponentially. Its part of my desire to go to college is that, being around so many different people that worked with me at the establishment that wanted to grow in their own education, made me also grow my love for learning. I plan to make a positive impact with my education by becoming a pilot and world traveler. This goal of mine is a major one because there are not many female African American pilots in the world of aviation and aerospace. A part of what I want to do is to inspire other young girls, in a similar position as I am or not, to reach for the stars and land on the clouds for their own lives. I also want to show the world that may have a predetermined idea based on the media of what an African American girl is capable of and what she is not, that she is capable of whatever she works towards, and more. The need for more females, regardless of race or ethnicity, is still so high in workplaces of STEM. I hope to bring a spotlight on my achievements once I finally reach my goal job in aviation, the airline captain.