Hello, my name is D’Aysha Cooper. I am from Orlando Florida and I’ll be attending Clark Atlanta University in the fall to major in business administration. I aspire to better my community and society through acts of service. I’ve always been told if you want change, you have to be the change , and I hope to instill this into others with things that I have learned throughout my education. I will visit and educate those in my very own neighborhood where I grew up, as well as offer free workshops and volunteer my time to spread the knowledge of business to more minority groups. I started a small business designing and customizing T-shirts during Covid my eighth grade year. Since then, I’ve continued to work hard and I’m approaching my fourth successful year in business. I’ve we learned a lot and overcame many challenges. I would love to share my story with others, so they see that anyone from any background can achieve anything . I stay active in school, and often make visits to my old elementary school as well as churches And other organizations in my city. once making my transition to college, I plan to do the same , encouraging my classmates and the people surrounding me to go for what inspires you. Coming from a difficult background, I had no guidance. My high school offered mentorship programs and by joining those programs not only did I receive guidance, I learned how to guide others . I will help young groups that struggle to discover the path that will help them follow their dreams. I want to host workshops helping people begin the process in the startup of a business. If they like to choose a different career path I will point them to connections I’ve made throughout my the years and help them research and offer my time in anyway possible. For the younger generations I would love to get into classrooms listen to the students and encourage them. It is important to know It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, we all have a fair shot at success. All we have to do is stay focused. Having help is what got me to where I am today and I would love for people with a similar upbringing and difficult background to see there is someone like me and to know that if I can do it, they can do it to. Throughout my years attending Clark Atlanta University, I plan to be very involved and volunteer in the community on my downtime to meet new people and help in anyway possible. Mentorship is something important to me and I want to provide my help and mentor those around me. With motivation and believing in yourself, you can achieve all your goals.

Hello, my name is D’Aysha Cooper. I am from Orlando Florida and I’ll be attending Clark Atlanta University in the fall to major in business administration. I aspire to better my community and society through acts of service. I’ve always been told if you want change, you have to be the change , and I hope to instill this into others with things that I have learned throughout my education. I will visit and educate those in my very own neighborhood where I grew up, as well as offer free workshops and volunteer my time to spread the knowledge of business to more minority groups. I started a small business designing and customizing T-shirts during Covid my eighth grade year. Since then, I’ve continued to work hard and I’m approaching my fourth successful year in business. I’ve we learned a lot and overcame many challenges. I would love to share my story with others, so they see that anyone from any background can achieve anything . I stay active in school, and often make visits to my old elementary school as well as churches And other organizations in my city. once making my transition to college, I plan to do the same , encouraging my classmates and the people surrounding me to go for what inspires you. Coming from a difficult background, I had no guidance. My high school offered mentorship programs and by joining those programs not only did I receive guidance, I learned how to guide others . I will help young groups that struggle to discover the path that will help them follow their dreams. I want to host workshops helping people begin the process in the startup of a business. If they like to choose a different career path I will point them to connections I’ve made throughout my the years and help them research and offer my time in anyway possible. For the younger generations I would love to get into classrooms listen to the students and encourage them. It is important to know It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, we all have a fair shot at success. All we have to do is stay focused. Having help is what got me to where I am today and I would love for people with a similar upbringing and difficult background to see there is someone like me and to know that if I can do it, they can do it to. Throughout my years attending Clark Atlanta University, I plan to be very involved and volunteer in the community on my downtime to meet new people and help in anyway possible. Mentorship is something important to me and I want to provide my help and mentor those around me. With motivation and believing in yourself, you can achieve all your goals.

Although many people think that having audacity is not necessarily a good thing, In my life audacity has given me wings. It is the courage to defy the odds that you face, stare it in the face, and do exactly the opposite of what your circumstances dictate you should do. To have audacity is to have a willingness to take bold risks. I was born into a family of poverty and as a result I was often in trouble and developed anger towards everyone because of my circumstances. At the age of 13 I got into an altercation in school that caused me to be suspended right when covid hit. I felt it was impossible for me to better myself, I no longer wanted to live life the way I was living, I wanted to elevate. During my suspension from school my mom advised me to make better use of my time instead of lounging around the house and doing nothing. We owned equipment that can be used to make things, though we've never used it until then. I've always been a crafty individual, so making a face mask came natural to me. I enjoyed all aspects in creating the mask from the design process to the final product. Business started off slow, at the time I was only doing face masks for $8 dollars a pop! I made an Instagram post and to my surprise started to receive messages of people wanting to order one. I started my small business three years ago customizing apparel and other personal items just as a way to occupy my time during my suspension and ended up discovering a way to overcome my financial challenges. I was 13 years old with a new vision and a plan for myself. Within my first 2 months I began making orders at a steady pace learning how to do new things. I explored different projects, some of which have become my best sellers to date, like my wooden photo collages, and customized apparel for clients. I enjoy the freedom that my business brings me to not only challenge myself and talents to create new things for my clients, but to also have the opportunity to offer myself full stability. This November will be 3 years since I took my first order. For the past 2 years I've been financially stress free and my anger issues which stemmed from my family's financial circumstances have been alleviated. I believe it's safe to say I beat the odds against me. I had the audacity to stare my poverty in the face and overcome it. I’ve overcome my financial challenges and changed the path that my circumstances dictated for me. I have stayed out of trouble and even managed to skip a grade as a result I will be graduating a year early, and will now graduate with the class of 2024. I will go off to college and return to my community to pursue my career and make a change, if you want to see a change you have to be the change.

Although many people think that having audacity is not necessarily a good thing, In my life audacity has given me wings. It is the courage to defy the odds that you face, stare it in the face, and do exactly the opposite of what your circumstances dictate you should do. To have audacity is to have a willingness to take bold risks. I was born into a family of poverty and as a result I was often in trouble and developed anger towards everyone because of my circumstances. At the age of 13 I got into an altercation in school that caused me to be suspended right when covid hit. I felt it was impossible for me to better myself, I no longer wanted to live life the way I was living, I wanted to elevate. During my suspension from school my mom advised me to make better use of my time instead of lounging around the house and doing nothing. We owned equipment that can be used to make things, though we've never used it until then. I've always been a crafty individual, so making a face mask came natural to me. I enjoyed all aspects in creating the mask from the design process to the final product. Business started off slow, at the time I was only doing face masks for $8 dollars a pop! I made an Instagram post and to my surprise started to receive messages of people wanting to order one. I started my small business three years ago customizing apparel and other personal items just as a way to occupy my time during my suspension and ended up discovering a way to overcome my financial challenges. I was 13 years old with a new vision and a plan for myself. Within my first 2 months I began making orders at a steady pace learning how to do new things. I explored different projects, some of which have become my best sellers to date, like my wooden photo collages, and customized apparel for clients. I enjoy the freedom that my business brings me to not only challenge myself and talents to create new things for my clients, but to also have the opportunity to offer myself full stability. This November will be 3 years since I took my first order. For the past 2 years I've been financially stress free and my anger issues which stemmed from my family's financial circumstances have been alleviated. I believe it's safe to say I beat the odds against me. I had the audacity to stare my poverty in the face and overcome it. I’ve overcome my financial challenges and changed the path that my circumstances dictated for me. I have stayed out of trouble and even managed to skip a grade as a result I will be graduating a year early, and will now graduate with the class of 2024. I will go off to college and return to my community to pursue my career and make a change, if you want to see a change you have to be the change.