My community is a community of resilience, strength, and pride. It is a place where self-expression is alive and well, with color marking our streets and vibrancy radiating from every football game, parade, and community event. There is always a reason to smile, and we rejoice in the small things that bring us together. But even though our community is rich in love and compassion, we also share struggles.

Poverty is quite possibly the greatest challenge our community faces. While we are rich in spirit and unity, money can be lacking. The majority of the people in my community, including students, fight on a daily basis to get basic essentials. Some families cannot afford groceries and clothes. The lack of these things can affect my community’s well-being and self-image. These issues create a ripple effect in the lives of the youth and lead some to seek acceptance and power in negative ways, i.e., getting involved with drugs or even carrying guns. These choices are not a result of a lack of ambition but an inability to gain access to resources and positive role models.

This cycle has been allowed to continue for far too long, and it’s one that still exists in today‘s society, especially in my community. Our young people are full of potential, but that potential is often suffocated by the pressures of their environment. They’re searching for guidance, but it‘s hard to navigate a path when the world around them appears to be working against them. This is where I believe that change can begin—through empowerment and education.

Once I complete college, I plan to return to my community and give back in as many ways as possible. I will be pursuing music education, as I believe that music can be a gateway to personal growth, self-expression, and hope. Music is a universal language that brings people from all walks of life together, and I would like to utilize it to enable the young people in my community to find their voice and live their dreams. By sharing my passion for and knowledge of music, I want to help students understand that there exists an entire world of possibility beyond what they see in their immediate surroundings.

Through music, I would want to show students that they do not have to follow the path of drugs, violence, or negative influences. Instead, they can focus on building their future around their talents, their strengths, and their education. I will make them see the potential within them and teach them to nurture their own potential. I want them to see that the successful people they admire—musicians, athletes, leaders—started out just like them. They were ordinary people who made extraordinary choices, and my role is to help my students make those same choices for themselves.

If these students can be helped to embrace their potential and understand the power they have to change their own lives, they will be unstoppable. I would like to show them that their community is waiting for them to lead and impact others, just as I will do myself. This empowerment will not only be useful to them but will also spread out, encouraging them to give back to their families, schools, and communities. By educating and instilling hope, we can start to turn around the cycle that has held back our community for so long.

As I move forward along my educational career path, I will remain committed to returning home and using the education I have attained to help give back to my community. I am excited to inspire a new generation of leaders who will be part of our community’s future growth and togetherness. I believe that through music education and leadership, I could leave a legacy, allowing the young people in my community to find their calling and giving them what they need to build a brighter and more hopeful tomorrow.