We all have stories of life's hurdles unexpectedly pushed upon us, often as a means of casting a shadow on our bright future. My hurdles started at birth as I was born with a webbed right hand (Syndactyly) which caused me to undergo several surgeries at a young age. My last surgery was in 2016. However, my family and I were determined not to allow this to be an excuse to curtail my development and enjoyment of life. This hurdle has allowed me to develop my leadership roles and has contributed to my academic success and social change endeavors. In my free time, I actively play the piano, soccer (my passion), and tennis (my future). I started playing soccer at four years old and continued throughout high school. I now teach the basic skills and fundamental of tennis to young people at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Chicago, IL. My students are often amazed that I can play because of my hand. I continuously reinforce to them through my leadership that God has given everyone the ability to achieve utilizing their own special gifts. I aspire to be a Financial Analyst. At a young age, I knew that I wanted to have a career where I can utilize my analytical and mathematical skills. Overtime, I learned about the importance of money and investments. I have always excelled in my math classes. Throughout my academic journey, I have pursued and taken honors or advanced courses with success. The courses challenged me to study and apply what was learned. One of the most interesting experiences I had was taking a budgeting class for six months. Students were given real world scenarios to plan and budget around adult living situations like rent, car note, food, clothing, savings, etc. This really kept my interest as I wanted to learn even more about business, and I was engaged with the financial aspect and wanted to continue studying finances and budgeting. My next step is to continue obtain a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Finance at North Carolina A&T State University. I want to utilize this degree to continue learning more about business and then teach other youths how to manage and invest their money (just like I can teach youth early how to play tennis). It is best to learn how to manage and invest money at a young age before bad habits are formed. I want to especially share my learnings to others in my community. Community Service is key in my life. Whether it is giving time to teach youth or participating in service projects, I always try to give back in appreciation of the blessings that I have received. I have volunteered over fifty hours alone this year with feeding the hungry, tutoring, cleaning up neighborhoods, and so much more. During the Summer of 2023, I had the opportunity to start my journey working in Finance. I was employed as a Discovery 1 Intern with the Risk Analyst team at Deloitte where I collaborated with fellow interns to complete “real life” client projects. This internship increased my curiosity about Finance and where it can possibly lead me into the future. I am most humbled to be considered for this scholarship. My academic perseverance and dedication to education has prepared me for success. If selected to receive the prestigious scholarship, it would be a great blessing and an investment towards continuing my education. The funds would be used towards my out of state tuition, housing, and additional fees required for enrollment to ensure my continued educational success.