On August 20, 2014, I woke up to the sight of my left leg amputated three inches above my knee. In that very moment, instead of being mournful over the absence of my limb, I became a man full of purpose after hearing the words of my dear friend, Connor. He was a Christian counselor that encouraged me with Acts 26:16. This verse states, “But rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister.” These very words caused me to “rise up” out of my depression and fully embrace a community of people who have been able to overcome insurmountable amounts of adversity that comes with living with a disability. Now, my intention is to convey how I have navigated living with a disability over the last ten years and how I plan to use my education to become a licensed professional counselor to positively impact the quality of life of people with disabilities. To begin, when I was 20 years old, tragedy came. I was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of my twin sister who was the front passenger at the time, as well as my left leg. I never knew it was humanly possible to be in that much pain, the grief forced me to discontinue college for almost two years and I felt incredibly alone. However, my story does not end in defeat. I got more siblings the moment I joined a disabled community after Connor invited me to a weekly amputee support group and the laughter, fun and brotherhood I encountered in that community has supported me in finishing college and becoming a college ministry leader for four years to help countless college students advance in their spiritual walk. So, my plan is to finish earning a Masters of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Liberty University by Fall of 2026 with the dream of opening my own private practice that will offer counseling services specifically to people with disabilities called The Joy Center. This private practice will be available both online and in-person so that our community can easily access this depository of mental health services. My sole desire is that this practice will be a haven of compassion and respect to countless people with disabilities who need a confidant who understands their unique challenges and lifestyles. I know firsthand that we may struggle to find a person who truly empathizes with us. My center will change that. Additionally, I will volunteer to lead or facilitate group counseling group sessions for college students living with disabilities at The University of Texas at Austin. Also, I will offer free mental health workshops and seminars with the St. David’s Medical Center’s monthly Amputee Support Group meeting here in my locality of Austin, Texas. Lastly, I would like to use my education to start my own scholarship fund named The Jacelyn Wilson Scholarship, named after my late twin sister, to assist other college students who have a disability to further than academic pursuits. All in all, I want to leave an indelible mark on this world by using my own overcoming journey as a disabled person as a platform, a catapult in order to help other disabled people defeat their respective giants. This is how I will carry out Acts 26:16 and I hope I have clearly demonstrated how I will use every dollar of this scholarship opportunity for The Joy Center to come into fruition.

On August 20, 2014, I woke up to the sight of my left leg amputated three inches above my knee. In that very moment, instead of being mournful over the absence of my limb, I became a man full of hope and purpose after internalizing the Bible passage Acts 26:16. This verse states, “But rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister.” The verse has defined what success and achievement mean to me. Success looks like rising up to endure strenuous hours of rehabilitation and standing up on the only foot I have left to finish my undergraduate degree and become a minister to college students for the last five years. Now, my intention in this personal statement is to convey how this scholarship opportunity will help achieve a new level of success by becoming a licensed mental health counselor that will impact the quality of life of people with disabilities. To begin, I have faced a great number of challenges that have molded me into the man addressing you today. My twin sister and I were born and raised in Houston, Texas by our single-mother tirelessly working to provide for us. In 2011, I was deemed the class Valedictorian and attended The University of Texas at Austin to earn a bachelor’s degree in film/television with hopes to become an independent filmmaker. Then, at 20 years old, tragedy came. I was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of my twin sister and my left leg. I never knew it was humanly possible to be in that much pain and the grief and rehabilitation forced me to discontinue college for almost two years. However, my story does not end in defeat. Over these last twelve years, I have been successful in various ways through the support of my family and church members. I have exemplified what it means to be resilient and have not let grief or physical limitations stop me from learning how to walk with a prosthetic leg with the help of a walker, crutches, and a cane to eventually march across the stage on my own at my UT graduation. On that day of commencement, I was crying with tears because I felt accomplished, not merely because of academic success, but because I personally persevered through so much pain, grief and limitations to make it to that point in life. That day of graduation, I learned that my success wasn't determined by my grade point average or degree, but it was about breaking through setback after setback to keep moving forward in my life. Over the years, I have refused to let my hardships hold me back from becoming a minister, enduring the physicality of walking for long periods for appointments and gospel outreach. So, I want it to be made known that I intend to pursue every single one of my educational and career goals, in spite of my disability. With that said, with the help of scholarship, my plan is to finish a Masters of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Liberty University in the summer of 2026. Upon obtaining my professional counseling license, I will open my own private practice that will offer counseling services specifically to people with disabilities. This private practice will be available both online and in-person so that our community can easily access this depository of mental health services. My sole desire is that this counseling will be a haven of hope, healing and restoration for countless people with disabilities. In conclusion, I will achieve my aspirations in life, not for mere financial gain, but to leave an indelible mark on this world by using my gifts and talents as a disabled person as a platform in order to help other disabled people defeat their respective giants. This is ultimately what success looks like to me, finding fulfillment and passion in uplifting the disabled community and to essentially carry out Acts 26:16. I hope I have clearly demonstrated how I will use every dollar of this scholarship opportunity for it to come into fruition.

On August 20, 2014, I woke up to the sight of my left leg amputated three inches above my knee. In that very moment, instead of being mournful over the absence of my limb, I became a man full of purpose after hearing the words of my dear friend, Connor. He was an amputee peer advocate that encouraged me with Acts 26:16. This verse states, “But rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister.” These very words caused me to “rise up” out of my depression and fully embrace a community of people who have been able to overcome insurmountable amounts of adversity that comes with living with an amputation. Now, my intention is to convey how being a part of that disabled community has inspired me to become a licensed professional counselor to positively impact the quality of life of people with disabilities. To begin, when I was 20 years old, tragedy came. I was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of my twin sister who was the front passenger at the time, as well as my left leg. I never knew it was humanly possible to be in that much pain, the grief forced me to discontinue college for almost two years and I felt incredibly alone. However, my story does not end in defeat. With that said, I got more siblings the moment I joined a disabled community. After Connor invited me to his amputee basketball club, rowing team and weekly amputee support group, I learned to let my grief or physical limitations stop me from moving forward in my life. The laughter, fun and brotherhood I encountered in that community has supported me in finishing college and becoming a college ministry leader for these last five years to help countless college students advance in their spiritual walk. My amputee community has become my biggest cheerleaders in every area of my life. So, my plan is to finish earning a Masters of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Liberty University by Summer of 2026 with the dream of opening my own private practice that will offer counseling services specifically to people with disabilities.This private practice will be available both online and in-person so that our community can easily access this depository of mental health services. My sole desire is that this practice will be a haven of compassion and respect to countless people with disabilities who need a confidant who understands their unique challenges and lifestyles. I know firsthand that we may struggle to find a person who truly empathizes with us. My center will change that. To conclude, there is one key experience I had with the disabled community that actually ignited the spark in me to help people with disabilities. I adore filmmaking and as I was working on my documentary about amputees, I realized something. That documentary was not for my own self-glory to make a name for myself, but it was made to empower an entire community of people. Making that documentary stirred up a desire to leave an indelible mark on this world by using my own overcoming journey as a disabled person as a platform, a catapult in order to help other disabled people defeat their respective giants. This is how I will carry out Acts 26:16 and I hope I have clearly demonstrated how I will use every dollar of this scholarship opportunity for it to come into fruition.