Writing My Destiny by Ashlea

Writing My Destiny by Ashlea - December 2015 Scholarship Essay

In life, we are shaped by the environment in which we grow up and the people in our immediate surroundings. I have been blessed to have educators, coaches, church members, and mentors as influential figures in my life. Although I am grateful for them, no individual or group of people has had a bigger influence on me than my family. They serve as my primary inspiration for attending college and pursuing a writing career. They also serve as the motivating force for me becoming a future journalist.
Going to college was never a question in my life as my family instilled in me the value of education from a young age. Many in my family have attended college, and most of them went to historically black universities. Growing up in a working-class community on the outskirts of Greensboro, N.C., this was important because it helped to show me that college was an attainable goal. My family members opened my eyes to some of the finest institutions around – HBCUs. It is because of my mother and father – two proud HBCU graduates – that I chose to attend Spelman College. My decision to attend Spelman was not difficult. I fell in love with the campus in late April when I attended a program for admitted students. A sense of joy washed over me while being around beautiful and intelligent black women.
A college should challenge and inspire its students. I chose Spelman because of its rigorous academic standards and its reputation for producing proud alumnae making an impact in all fields of human endeavor. I want to follow in their footsteps and add to school’s rich tradition. I am majoring in English and double minoring in writing and communications. Writing is my passion; it allows me to express myself in ways that I cannot while speaking. It allows me to engage and entertain readers while telling other people’s stories. I credit my family for my writing passion.
The art of great storytelling begins with my great-great-grandmother Mildred Blount. At 96, she still weaves tales of picking cotton by day as a sharecropper in Snow Hill, a dot of a town in eastern North Carolina and going to “two-bit” juke joints at night to listen to blues. Perhaps her stories inspired my grandmother to major in communications. Perhaps they inspired my father to major in journalism; they certainly influenced my decision to pursue a career in writing.
We live in a world in which the stories of African Americans are often overlooked or diminished. For whatever reasons, many people [un]consciously minimize our achievements. I want to right that wrong by becoming a journalist and telling the stories that might not otherwise be told. Ten years from now, I will be 28 years old. Although that is young, I believe I will be beginning to leave my imprint in the field of mass communications. By doing so, I want to inspire other African-American females to follow their dreams. Receiving a scholarship from Varsity Tutors will not only help me continue my education at one of the nation’s most prestigious institutions for African-American women, it will allow me to build for the future. I aspire to make a difference in other people's lives; this scholarship will help make that happen.