My plan for the future is to keep working toward my Ph.D. in Business Administration because I want to revamp my business to make it better than to make it broader for the community. Reopen my doula business so that I can better help my community. I'm a 35-year-old single stay-at-home mother of 3 kids. My goals are just like my plans for my future and my kid's future has a lot to do with making sure my kids have a good future as well. As a parent you want your kids to have goals and ambitions for their future but you have to lead by example yourself. So going to school and pursuing my dream and my goals to show my kids no matter you always follow your dreams because the sky is the limit. This scholarship will help me with getting my books for classes, and any else that I will need for my classes. this scholarship would be a blessing for me when it comes to helping me because I'm already on a tight budget and I don't have the extra money to buy my books for school and I'm not receiving financial aid at this moment. My class got paid for by a third party so that I could earn my financial aid back because when I was younger I goofed off while I was in college and I shouldn't but i was still young and wanted to find myself in the world when I should have been finding myself in my school books like I am now. I'm trying to right my wrongs myself finish school and prove to myself that I can finish what I started. My future is what I'm looking forward to and my kid's future too. I'm working towards a goal with my kids that we will do homework together and that will work on our goals too. my oldest daughter always talks about how she loves school and loves to read but has some problems reading she keeps pushing forward and harder to become better at reading so I look up to my baby because she shows me what the definition of strong is and I love that about her because she motives me more and more because she pushes harder to become better at what she loves to do. I'm pushing forward to be the best me. I'm ready to make a difference in our lives and my communities.

Hello, my name is Tiffany Wilson I´m a 35-year-old single stay-at-home mother of 3 kids. I'm a full-time student I just finished classes at Ross Medical School and now I'm at Kalamazoo Valley Community College working on my Associate in Business Administration. I have my own business where I hold 15 different certifications and 15 more that I'm working on as well. I decided to close my business for the moment so that I could take time out and work on myself as well as revamp my business to better help my community instead of just my clients. My business I´m a doula also, I deal with herbs, event planning, meal planning food prep and child trauma relief. I plan to start by impacting my community why helping the community learn about herbs and other things that my business offers. I would like to team up with different businesses as well as nonprofits as well. Networking with other businesses outside of my community to different areas around my community then branch out to different states. I would like to do classes or even be a part of different communities' business expos to put myself out there and work with other communities on whatever needs they may need and grow and become a team with them so that we all can reach out to different communities together and help them to get what they need because it takes a village to raise a child so in my eyes it takes a village to help a community to become better. I have goals and ambitions but I know I can reach them alone so I really would like to be partners with different businesses and communities to make things grow for myself and them as well. I have kids and I want to set a good example for them and show them how to put good into the world to get good out of the world. the kids are the future of our communities so it's not about us as a person it's about what we are putting into our kids to make it a better future for them. the kids are the ones watching our every move and wanting to be like us when they are older so why not be a good role model for them while they are young so when they get older we won't have to worry about the negative because we have already instilled the positive and good aspects into our children while they where younger.

My experience growing up with a single mother was not the best because she was overprotective and really wouldn't let me experience life as a kid as I should have like spending the night at a friend's house or even spending the night with my track team. it was really hard because my mother didn't give me the attention or the freedom to learn things or even experience life. I've learned more as a single parent myself and what I do and don't want to know my kids and letting my kids have their voice and not telling my kids what I want for them because at the end of the day what I want for my kids may not be what they want for themselves and I want them to be able to talk to me and tell me what's on their minds and not be afraid to be open with me. I never could talk to my mom and have my voice be heard and that's why our relationship now is very off. That's why I vow to be a different parent than my mom was with me. the growth that I've done is when I became a parent and now I'm a parent of 2 girls and a little boy and I give my kids my all in everything that I do even when I go to school because my future is their future and I have to make sure that I'm giving it my all because my kids are watching me and cheering for me as well. So I don't want to let them down or even give up because I would feel like I'm letting them down by giving up. I've grown in so many ways mentally, physically, and emotionally that have helped me grow as a better person for myself and my kids because the person I am now I have more patience, I'm more affectionate with my kids and I give them attention. I ask them questions about how they feel and what they want to do and even then when it comes to house rules we sit down as a family I ask them for their input on what the rules should be and what are the disciplinary actions for not following the rules because I want to see what my kids have to say but also what they feel is right as a punishment for them not following the rules. we have an open relationship to were they know they can come and talk to me about anything but also know that right is right and wrong is wrong no matter who you are.

My name is Tiffany Wilson, I am a 35-year-old stay-at-home mom of 3 kids. I'm also, a full-time student working on my associate's in business administration. I'm a business owner who has decided to close my business go back to school and revamp my business to better help and provide more services for my community. I'm a doula and I also have gained other certifications as well with herbs. I would use the money to pay for school, books, and other certifications that I need as well. also, I would use some of the money to pay for my LLC and other documents that I may need to get my business legal. I would sit back and write down everything that I would need to do and budget things like supplies, products, and other things that I may need for my business. I would even try to put money aside for all 3 of my kids to start a college fund for them so that if they decide to go to school they have the money but even then if they wanted to start a business their own business they would have the start-up money to do so. Honestly, if I were granted this money It really would help change my kids and our lives big a lot of big ways especially with me being a stay-at-home mom until I'm done with school. I do have a little income that pays the bills and keeps everything moving for us but it would be nice to have a little blanket to have so that I wouldn't feel so stressed out and overwhelmed because I'm doing everything alone and I could show my kids its okay to struggle but it's the lesson you learn from it and what you take from it. Going to school isn't just for me it's more for my kids and their future to show them that the sky is the limit and that no matter what it's always okay to follow your dream and be the best at who you want to be as a person because, at the end of the day, your happiness is more important than anything in the world. I try to be the best role model for my kids and show them it's okay to be you and that standing in your lane is fine. I'm trying to teach my kids right the best way I know how because I didn't have either parent to teach me how to be a parent so I'm learning as I go and think so far I'm doing a good job because I'm still growing and working on myself as a person and a mother for my kids. my kids are my biggest cheerleaders and all I want to do is keep making them proud and giving them my all like I've been doing. its lot of things I would do with their money but making sure that my kids and I get the best education and the best future is what's really important to me.

Wow.. This one is really hard to say honestly. Let me start here, Im a single mom of 3 (2girls & a son). So things get overwhelming here in our home especially with them all beginning at different ages 7,4, & 1. But what I´ve learned on my own is resting by myself and with my kids individually. I'm a full-time student and a stay-at-home home so money is tight, What I've learned to do for myself is take time out and relax in the tub or just work on my vision wall to help clear my mind and to keep me organized things that I need to for myself and my kids. I have it where it's broken down into categories like Goals, Travel, Positive sayings and to do list. It helps me let out a lot of feelings but also helps me sit back and think about everything that's going on around me and what I can do better to help my kids be successful as well. I take time with each of my kids one on one. My oldest daughter just likes it when I do things with her like helping her with her homework or even doing homework together. My youngest daughter likes it when she is just up under me like us on the couch together watching TV, me doing homework and she laying next to me or even us going on a mom-daughter date just to eat because that is one of her favorite things to do is to try new foods. Well, my son is only 1 but he just loves to play and lay under mommy and Daddy. So just watching my son doing his first is just amazing for me and is wonderful because no matter how overwhelmed I might feel that I am watching and learning about my kids helps relaxes me because as a parent we don't have time to stop and honestly smell the roses but for me, my kids are roses because I'm blessed to be a mom and have time to watch and grow with my kids at the same time. Even being able to learn because they are still young is a blessing too because I know life isn't perfect but my kids don't ever make me feel less than I do because they are always telling me the best mom ever because they are watching me as well and seeing that I'm working and doing the best that I can to make sure that they have a good life and a better and brighter future as well.

I feel that mental health in the black community is bad in some areas. For example; the community I live in has had so many deaths and suicides on a regular base that people overlook the mental health part of everything that happens. People don't offer the help they should for people with mental health or even make people feel comfortable enough to come to them for help without being judged or thrown on medication. I watch people every day in my community walk around trying to get high or even talk about killing themselves because people are overlooking them like they are not there. I want to bring awareness to mental health because I have a brother who deals with mental health on a regular. What he needs is our community doesn't offer the help groups or even the resources that they should to help people get through their everyday lives. A lot of the mental health issues come from childhood trauma that people don't understand or even feel like kids don't have a voice of their own. The business that I'm working on is to help my community deal with mental health, pregnancy, depression, and postpartum. I am a 35-year-old single stay-at-home mother of 3(2 daughters and 1 son) that I'm raising and the biggest thing I'm teaching my kids is about mental health and how it's okay to say ¨ I´M NOT OKAY¨ and that it's okay to ask/need help because every fight you won't have to do alone. People overlook the black community and treat us like we are invisible. I want to bring all the awareness back to my community and help everybody that I can to help them get back on their feet or even feel like that somebody does care about them. I want to give my community a bigger voice when it comes to mental health and hopefully bring back their voices so that their needs can be met and they can get the help they need instead of being judged because they can't afford to get the right help they need. After all, the government doesn't feel like the black community deserves a fighting chance just like everybody else does. I'm a black woman in a bi-racial community and if you don't have a name or money to speak for you they don't even bother looking your way. I'm also trying to show my kids that you treat everybody like you want to be treated not how society feels like they need to be treated.

The dream version of myself is having my business open, helping my community and giving my kids a strong role model to look up to.

My name is Tiffany Wilson, a 35-year-old stay-at-home single mother of 3 kids. I am currently enrolled at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and my major is Business Administration, with a minor in Automotive. I currently as well, just finished up classes at Ross Medical for Pharmacy Technician. I chose to go back to school for myself and my kid´s future. I'm going back to school so that I can reopen my business as a doula to be able to better help the women in my community as well, as their families as well. I have obtained over 25 certifications in different areas for my business and community needs. Obtaining a degree would better help me in my pursuit of becoming a better business owner and stronger role model for my 2 girls and my son. Being able to go back to school to better understand the inside and out of a business to better understand the business aspect. As a child, I've always wanted to own my own business so that I could stand out and better help my community and the people who don't have anybody who will fight or stand by their side and help them get to where they would like to be in life. From dealing with struggling myself and not having help or having somebody who could direct me on the path for help to get to where I needed to be, I had to figure it out on my own to get to where I needed to be on my own. Dealing with depression and trying to raise 3 kids on my own has been a big struggle and I want to be able to give my kids the best future they can have but I want to be able to leave me a big foundation because tomorrow isn't promised and I want to make sure my kids understand the definition of what struggle looks like and what it means when they say hard work pays off. Because at the end of the day, nothing is handed out for free to anybody. I'm trying to give my kids something to remember when that time comes and it's my time to go because I'm not always going to be here to guide them down the right path but if I can set an example of it will even be greater. I look at life different I am here to guide my kids down the right path and show them what hard work looks like. Thank you for your time and for reading my essay.