I've been showing up to my community for a while now. I'm part of a mentoring program where we mentor younger students, and it's not just to help them with school. We talk to them. We check in with them. We let them know that someone actually notices them and cares. I'm also mentoring kindergarteners, and honestly, they've captured much of my heart. I get to make them feel safe, supported, and just free to be themselves. It means a lot. I'm so passionate about this work because I've been on the other side. I have been bullied in person and online and it really messed with me. It made me question who I was and if I mattered. I never had anybody standing up for me so now I make sure that I am somebody standing up for somebody else. I am a leader at school now but it is not about being a title. It is about the way in which I utilize it. I check in on individuals. I will stand up if something is not right. I make sure that people know they cannot be dismissed. I also talk about Internet safety and bullying with the younger kids. A lot of them don't have a clue how damaging or dangerous it can be. I try to instruct them to protect their peace and understand how valuable they are online as well as offline. As I get ready to go to college, I know that I'm ready to continue to learn, continue to grow, and continue to make a difference. But I also realize that I could use a little bit of assistance with finances. My family is striving, but college is expensive and I don't want to bear all the responsibility myself. I've already shown that I can do it, I just want the opportunity to keep doing it. Going to college isn’t just about me, it’s about all the people I want to help along the way. I plan to continue mentoring and leading because I believe communities grow stronger when we all lift each other up. I want to use my education to make a bigger impact, whether that’s through working with kids, fighting bullying, or creating programs that help young people feel seen and supported. This scholarship would mean so much to me because it would give me the chance to focus on my goals without the stress of financial pressure holding me back. I’m ready to work hard, keep showing up, and make a difference wherever I go.

I started taking acting serious when I was 11 years old in 6th grade. My parents put me into a performing arts middle school where I was an Orchestra Major and Piano Minor. Although I was subject to those specific fields, the all school musical was open and I was prepared to audition as soon as the announcement was out. After doing my first production (Once on this Island Jr), I continued growing in all three fields: Orchestra, Piano, and Theatre. Once I got to high school, we could only have one major and I chose Theatre to me my love and passion. Since I started doing theatre at such a young age, you would think as I get older I would grow out of the phase, but no I definitely did not! I’ve worked tech, straight plays, musicals, and one acts. Without theatre in my life, I’m not very sure what other career choice I would have chosen because it is the only thing I’ve wanted to do since my first time. Even after highschool I want to go study at Juilliard in New York, or get into on screen acting at USC. Many of my friends have also been doing theatre as long as me and everyday I hear them say how tired they are of doing this for so long and they want something new, which is completely understandable, but I felt different because I was one of the few students in my major who actually wanted to pursue an acting career after highschool. I have been training and preparing my whole life for me to just go off and do something different? Not at all! My mom always told me that whatever I do, I need to do it with a purpose so I do not waste my time and her money because “money doesn’t grow on trees”! With that being said, I made sure that stayed true to acting and where I wanted to go with that choice. Whenever I tell people that I want to pursue acting, they always try to steer me in a misleading direction saying things like “well you have to be realistic”. Yes, being realistic is fundamental, but it is also my dream, and if I want something I will work to get it. Many people don’t see acting as a realistic career, but there are so many realistic ways that can push you to that “unrealistic” goal. The journey I’ve had so far with my career has been very rewarding and fulfilling, I hope to inspire teenagers who think acting is lame and tiring to actually try to want it. My favorite artist ever is Billie Eilish, while she is not known for acting she has a particular lyric in a song called My Future, “I’m in love with my future, can’t wait to meet her” I will forever remember that lyric because it inspires me to keep going because I am so excited to see where I will be in a few years and I hope that life treats me well because I will treat my own life well. Acting is my true love, and I want the world to know my name and my purpose.