Growing up in my community, everyone was a part of an imaginary family due to the bond we had with one another and all the similarities we had. But, the main thing we all had in common was living in poverty. When I was 2 years old, Hurricane Katrina came and wiped out all my family’s belongings and left us struggling. I grew up in small white house, in Louisiana, with my parents and my four siblings. At an early age of 5, my mothers fainted from a brain aneurysm which caused her to be hospitalized and away from us for nine months. It was very hard waking up everyday for a month waiting for my dad to come with my mother, but he didn’t. It gotten to where my dad had to stay with her at the hospital and me and my siblings had to stay with my grandparents. After escaping death grip, my mother was able to return home after almost a year. With hospital bill being sky high, it took a drastic toll on us. Growing up, we didn’t have much and our house was so old, it was basically falling apart as the years went by. Looking back, I’m very thankful for how my parents handled our struggles. No matter how bad things were for us financially, they always kept their heads held high and always reassured us that there was nothing to worry about. And I believed that we were fine and there was nothing to worry about, until I was old enough to start understanding the situation at hand. I remember not even bothering my mother with new school clothes one year and decided that I can make do with the high-water pants and small shirts I’ve been having for previous years. I recall feeling my lowest walking through the school and having classmates bully me for the clothes I wore. Not knowing I had control over what life dealt my family, but still pointed and laughed at me in torment. Some times I would be furious with my parents situation for the repercussions I was faced with and other times I was terrified to be faced with one little occurrence that would put us right on the streets. Making matters worse, my late grand mother had fallen ill and had to be taken care of. With us having to make accommodations for her to live with us and our back and forth hospital runs, my parents money was blown. One day she had a seizure and we had to move her to a nursing home. Things weren’t getting better, but my praying parents kept their faith. I think the hardest part is having my mom almost burst out in tears in front of me because we didn’t have any food for dinner. She was tired. Tired of having to pretend everything would be ok. Tired of not being able to afford things for us. I never wanted to see this again. In 2020, Hurricane Laura had hit, wiping out our house. Homeless. What we were afraid of. We stayed at my other grandparents house. After 3 months, the insurance company moved us to a townhouse. We were told they could rebuild our house and our new one wouldn’t be built for another year. At this point, we weren’t even worried because both of my parents were promoted to supervisor positions. Today I can say we are in a lovely home and my family is stronger than ever. We are thankful for what we have just as we were back then.

Have you ever seen a movie where they showcased the main character waking up each morning and following the same routine every day and getting sick and tired of it? That was my life when it came to living with drug addiction and once it hits rock bottom, it feels like you're in a reoccurring nightmare that just keeps getting worse and doesn't seem like there's a way out. Talking about addiction can be very difficult. Not because of the fact that you're telling your personal business to other people, but because after denying having an addiction many times or trying to convince yourself that it's not an addiction, it's hard to finally admit to yourself that you're addicted and need help. It's difficult to be truthful with yourself when it comes to addiction because you don't want to believe you have a problem. Growing up, I had a lot of health issues. On top of that, I had really bad anxiety. To help with the many health issues, I was given many prescribed pills that I had to take daily. At the age of 8 years old, I was molested and it affected me mentally, which lead me to deal with depression. As a way to cope with the depression, I would pop the prescribed pills given to me more than I was supposed to. Next thing you know, at the age of 11, it became a regular thing for me to do and at 13, I started a path of alcohol abuse. What makes drug and alcohol abuse worse is that you never know how far it can take you. At the age of 16, I started working at a local job in my town. The job was known for hiring old and existing drug addicts and alcoholics. Working there, I was introduced to nicotine, weed, molly, and Xanax. I kept telling myself, "I can stop whenever I want to." In reality, I was just lying to myself and digging myself a bigger hole. I would spend all the money I would make on drugs and alcohol and I would lie and steal from my family when I didn't have my own money to buy them. So many signs were telling me to stop, but I kept on doing drugs. One day at work I was filling in for a coworker during night shift. I mainly agree to do it was because I knew they had weed and I wouldn't get caught because my parent are sleeping during that time. During a slow period, one of the cooks said she was going to take a smoke break and asked if I wanted to join and I said yes. We smoked a fat blunt she had rolled together and I was feeling good and high until everything started to spin. I thought if I went back to working, it would wear off, but it didn't. I had ended up fainting and later on found out that the blunt I had smoke was laced with crack. Since then I have been completely sober and haven't used any drugs or drinked since. I have more control over my life now and it doesn't feel like a dark cloud is following me anymore. Now I want to use my experience and knowledge to teach others not to let drug and alcohol control them like they are puppets. We use drugs the same way an athlete uses a crutch he doesn't need. It's because we're too scared to walk on our own two feet without them.

Well this year has been one of plenty bold act, but the boldest had to have been when I finally sought out help for my undiagnosed depression and anxiety. Growing up in such strict religious household, some times the parents can be so focused on instilling the teaching of the religion and rules they follow, that they can create a disconnect between them and their children. With being such a timid kid, comes the consequences of not being listened to. I remember when I had mustered up the courage to tell my parents of all my problems. How I couldn’t bare to breath another breathe. How anxiety has control over my total being, leaving me a shell of who I once was. Of the incident. Of her. Oh how how I cursed her to the pits of hell before I even knew where that was. I remember getting their attention, and when they turned all I saw was irritation. I grew small inside. “Momma…I gotta talk to y’all about something.” I said quietly. “What is it Leah.” she replied flatly. “I- I think I got anxiety and depression.” I heard a sigh. “What makes you thinks that Leah? You have nothing to be depressed for and you’re not shy.” I was taken back. “Well uh- I’m always sad and-“ “Leah we taught you to pray about these things! There’s no such thing as depression! We’ll talk later.” My heart wrenched at the words that fell from her mouth. That talk never came and dismissal awaited me left and right until adulthood, but as of today with the new courage I found within my friends who I love, I’ve received medical help and will be starting therapy. I feel content now that me and my parents are fixing our relationship.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but in a sense, I love the little things more than the big things. What I mean when I say this is I pay more attention to the small moments and things in life and cherish them more than anything. I don’t need any big gesture or anything grand to make me appreciative. About a month ago, my depression was at an all time low and on top of that I had just finished a very frustrating day at work. Everything was so overwhelming that day, I cried myself all the way home from work. My roommates didn’t know what I was going through internally, but they could tell something was really weighing down on me. Without even asking me, they made me a dinner, had me bake cookies with them, and had us end the night by playing our own little version of Just Dance to Shakira and might I say it was the best fun I had in the longest time! Even with me expressing my gratitude to my roommates, I don’t think they understand how much that night had touched my heart and lifted my spirits. Although they were small gestures, in the comfort of our home, they were able to have me get up, laugh, dance, and forget about all my troubles without even knowing that I was thinking of suicide before their simple act of kindness changed everything for me. The small things in life are what makes life meaningful and worth living daily for, we just need to learn to appreciate them a little bit more

Giving back is important to me because it’s a valuable piece of life. It’s important because it’s what brings people together and it doesn’t exclude anyone because of race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. We learn, grow, and experience so much from giving. Being the giver teaches us selflessness and kindness, while being the one receiving teaches us gratitude and being appreciative. What I do to give back is volunteer at local organizations that go out and clean up the city, plant new trees, and provide food and other necessities to homeless shelters. Also, I help the church I grew up in do drive-by food drives for those in need, due to recent natural disasters. I’ve also decided to switch my degree to Psychology and aim to become a therapist so I can give back and help those who mentally need help or are struggling. Although it is very helpful to physically give back to our communities, I feel as though mentally giving back by being there for those and dedicating the time out to repair the mental state of many out in the world is the best way I can give back. Not only will it be giving back to those, but it will also be giving more.

Have you ever seen a movie where they showcased the main character waking up each morning and following the same routine every day and getting sick and tired of it? That was my life when it came to living with drug addiction and once it hits rock bottom, it feels like you're in a reoccurring nightmare that just keeps getting worse and doesn't seem like there's a way out. Talking about addiction can be very difficult. Not because of the fact that you're telling your personal business to other people, but because after denying having an addiction many times or trying to convince yourself that it's not an addiction, it's hard to finally admit to yourself that you're addicted and need help. It's difficult to be truthful with yourself when it comes to addiction because you don't want to believe you have a problem. Growing up, I had a lot of health issues. On top of that, I had really bad anxiety. To help with the many health issues, I was given many prescribed pills that I had to take daily. At the age of 8 years old, I was molested and it affected me mentally, which lead me to deal with depression. As a way to cope with the depression, I would pop the prescribed pills given to me more than I was supposed to. Next thing you know, at the age of 11, it became a regular thing for me to do and at 13, I started a path of alcohol abuse. What makes drug and alcohol abuse worse is that you never know how far it can take you. At the age of 16, I started working at a local job in my town. The job was known for hiring old and existing drug addicts and alcoholics. Working there, I was introduced to nicotine, weed, molly, and Xanax. I kept telling myself, "I can stop whenever I want to." In reality, I was just lying to myself and digging myself a bigger hole. I would spend all the money I would make on drugs and alcohol and I would lie and steal from my family when I didn't have my own money to buy them. So many signs were telling me to stop, but I kept on doing drugs. One day at work I was filling in for a coworker during night shift. I mainly agree to do it was because I knew they had weed and I wouldn't get caught because my parent are sleeping during that time. During a slow period, one of the cooks said she was going to take a smoke break and asked if I wanted to join and I said yes. We smoked a fat blunt she had rolled together and I was feeling good and high until everything started to spin. I thought if I went back to working, it would wear off, but it didn't. I had ended up fainting and later on found out that the blunt I had smoke was laced with crack. Since then I have been completely sober and haven't used any drugs or drinked since. I have more control over my life now and it doesn't feel like a dark cloud is following me anymore. Now I want to use my experience and knowledge to teach others not to let drug and alcohol control them like they are puppets. We use drugs the same way an athlete uses a crutch he doesn't need. It's because we're too scared to walk on our own two feet without them.

Growing up in Louisiana, you have to prepare for a hurricane or flood every year. In August of 2020, my hometown, Lake Charles, Louisiana, had faced a category four hurricane called Hurricane Laura that left our community broken and destroyed. More than 75% of the building in my city were either destroyed or badly damaged. Less than two months later, our city was hit with another hurricane called Hurricane Delta. This hurricane was just a category two but was dangerous because it picked up and swept the debris from the previous hurricane everywhere. Fast forward to 2021, Lake Charles faced a snowstorm and later on a large flood, damaging most of the city's residents' houses once again. Now, almost a year later, Lake Charles is still recovering from the effects of the previous natural disasters. Lake Charles is almost like a ghost town now. A lot of people have moved away due to the fact they lost their houses and are tired of having to start over every hurricane season. My family and I were one of the many families who lost their homes because of Hurricane Laura. Schools were set back for months due to them having to recover from the damages they faced. There's no attraction. No excitement to get people to stay in Lake Charles, let alone affordable places for people to live. Lake Charles needs someone to take the initiative and help restore my hometown and I feel as though I'm the person to do it. People think it just takes anyone to donate to a community or going there to volunteer will help it in its entirety. Although it would be very helpful, it's better when someone who personally knows the community that's being helped. When someone knows the community personally, it would be easier for the person to know what is needed for that community, and people of that community will also help because they're familiar with that person. I would be that person to help the community, but not for the look or for people to acknowledge me for it, but because my heart is tied into my city and it has suffered too much and hasn't received the help it needs. In 3-5 years, I plan on starting a non-profit organization and have its sole purpose be restoring the city of Lake Charles and it will be volunteer only. As the organization grows, I plan on expanding it and having it restore cities around Louisiana. Many cities in Louisiana are left unheard when they need help and I want this organization to be a sign of telling them that we hear them and we're in this together. We'll be partnering up with local Salvation Army's and Goodwill's to help those in need of food. We'll also be partnering up with Red Cross to find families places to stay while they recover from losing their homes. As we get closer to the start of the organization, the more planned out it would be. Giving back to my community would be fulfilling. Why wouldn't I want to give back to the community I grew up in. I see it as a display of appreciation and respect.

When people aren't listening to what I have to say, I feel like I'm talking to a baby. They don't understand what you're saying, but they react to your words to make it seem like they do. So, I make sure I don't do that to other people. Listening to me means that you're showing a sign of comfort. Giving a person a listening ear shows a person that you are there for them even if you don't have anything to say to make them feel better. By actively listening, I've helped a close friend of mine from harming herself. It all starts by asking someone how are they doing or how are they feeling. You never know what someone could be going thru. Asking them how they feel about certain situations that have happened or are on their mind shows people that you are open to listening to them and that they can open up to you. When listening to someone, you have to take it little by little with the person to get them to open up to you and lift the weight off their shoulders. It's not being nosey, it's being genuinely concerned for the person and showing that you care about them. Even when there's no one to listen to me, I'm always there to listen to others and I'll never regret it.

The truth is, I deserve this scholarship because I'm horrible at saving money! Oh, and don't get me started on how I spend my money. If I'm being honest, if the scholarship money didn't go straight to my school account, I would more than likely spend it all on snacks and DoorDash. My academic and career goal is to become the family failure. I feel as though my peak in life is being 39 years old and still living with my parents with no job, no bills, and no friends. That right there is what I call living life and reaching a state of perfect peace. When I was 9 years old and my church's choir director made me lead a song and I was trying to overcome my stage fright, so I went along with it. Now keep in mind, my church had over 700 members and recorded their services. I was shaking so badly from fear, next thing you know, I fainted and had fallen headfirst off the 6-foot stage. Never again.

The time I used persistence to overcome an obstacle was when I had recently worked two jobs during the first half 2021 to pay for my out-of-state fees for college. It was really hard maintaining my jobs, my schooling, and my personal all at once. Less than a year before that time period, me and my family suffered greatly from the effects of Hurricane Laura in August of 2020. We evacuated to Dallas, Texas, and when we came back, we were faced with so much destruction in our hometown. We had lost our house and most of our personal belongings. We were homeless, broke, and jobless except my dad. We had to move in with my grandparents for a while. They live 2 hours away, so my dad had to drive back and forth daily, which drained him mentally and physically. Due to the hurricane wiping out most of the building in our town, students weren’t able to return back to school until late November 2020. Fast forward to March of 2021, we had just moved into our new house and just getting our footing again. I had recently got accepted in Penn State University, but the out-of-state fees were $8,000 a semester and we were nowhere able to pay for it at the time because my parents had just spent so much on moving, so I dedicated myself to two jobs. I worked every week, 64 hours a day, and still maintained a 4.0 GPA. It was very hard and some times I wanted to break down or give up, but with all I had been through in the span of a year, I overcame too much to give up and in the end, I was able to pay for my first semester by the help of God.

Being patient is important to me because it's a matter of equality. We always want people to be patient with us, so we should be the same with them. When your patient with someone, your showing them that it's ok and that you understand. Being patient with others can help them grow and learn more. The same can happen to you. When your being patient to others, your teaching yourself how to be calm and tolerant. Your learning how to wait. It's so important to be patient because when we rush things, it won't be right or go as we planned, which will leave us upset and disappointed. When we are inpatient with others, it can make them frustrated and want to give up and that's not the right thing. Being patient helps us get through our day and through life, but when your inpatient and rush everything, you'd look back and wondered what happened.

Does anyone remember the simple times where when a classmate at school had a crush on you, they would hand you a folded-up piece of paper that read “Would you go out with me?” with a yes or no checkbox write under it in not-so-good handwriting? Now-a-days, when someone asks you out, your only option of rejecting them is by saying no and hoping they accept that as an answer or whip out your mace, spray them, and then take off running as far away as you can. Let’s hope you had your running shoes on that day. It’s sad how much things have changed, and this is the world we live. Everyday can be a hardship for women. If it’s not the bad hair day or constant gender equality problems, it’s the constant harassment from the male species. Now you may wonder “What is this male species you speak of?” Well, to put it into words, the male species is a vast group of human beings that can either be for you or against you. The ones that are for you are the respectful ones that can be a friend, a lover, or even a father figure. The ones that are against you are the disrespectful ones that care only about themselves or what’s between your legs. Now this isn’t a rant on why men can be the most awful thing to walk Earth. That’s for another day. The reason why I pointed these two different types in the male species is because a lot of times us women encounter the men that are against us and only want us for our looks or for sex. No matter how many times I’ve stated that I’m in a relationship, underage, or being lesbian, some men kept badgering for me to go out with them like the constant annoyance was going to make me change my answer. Some men went as far as to trying to force me to sleep with them even after the fact of knowing I was underage at the time. Having gone through many situations like this, I’ve realized how bad harassment has gotten over the years. It’s a serious matter that needs to be stopped and changed. With that being said, I’ve came up with two acronyms to prepare for these types of situations. They are K.E.I.T.H. and A.S.A.P. They stand for Kick Em In The Hoo-ha and Always Stay Alert Please! Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Sometimes you must protect yourself from men because they can get handsy or try to force themselves on you. When it’s a situation where you know they don’t have a weapon or won’t use a weapon on you and try to force themselves on you, Kick. Em. In. The. Hoo-ha. They will be overwhelmed with pain, which will give you enough time to escape and call for help and remember Always Stay Alert Please. You may never know if any one the men you rejected is following you.