Cardel Love Scholarship

When people hear words like millions, billions, trillions, and quadrillions, they might be confused about how many digits they actually contain. There are seven digits in millions. One billion has 10 digits, making it even more extensive. It’s harder with statistics. 4.3 billion people who live in Asia are battling starvation. 1.3 million Americans are legally blind. All awful, but unfathomable facts to me. When speaking of numbers like these, we cannot possibly grasp their magnitude until we put them into perspective. Perspective is not something we're born with, it's something we gain. Standing over her coffin, counting her eyelashes for the last time was my awakening. Not everyone had black in their closets, some guests settled for neutrals. I began to realize the great impact one person made on my life. Taking the role of providing for me, looking after me, being my teacher, my cook, my safe haven, and most importantly the role of being my mother. There are nearly eight billion people on this planet and not one of them mattered to me that Sunday morning, and my mom didn’t matter to them. My mother’s death made me think about all the lessons my mom passed on about life’s fragility. “Be healthy so that you can grow up nice and strong!” Mothers want to watch their kids grow up and meet their grandkids. Oh, the smile I would love to see on my mother’s face that day. A core moment in all mother’s dreams has been taken away. She is never going to have this opportunity, how many moments in my life will she now miss? Instead of thinking about how many moments she'll miss in my life, I'm thinking about how many milestones I can achieve that will make my mother proud. This realization is what makes me one out of eight billion. Perspectives only change because of the differences everyone has. This is now a milestone in my life. I know my mother would want me to understand, but because of this drastic change in my life, my perspective has shifted towards: would this make my mom proud if she was here? By bringing joy everywhere I go, cracking jokes, and making friends smile, I know I am brightening both of our hearts. I know for certain that my mother would not want me to be gloomy and drag on with life, but prosper and make the best of the situation at hand. I now believe that my mother's death has made me even stronger as a person. If you were to speak with me, you would never know what I endured. I exert happiness and smile at all times, just like my mother. The realization that people have their own lives also makes me want to make more of an impact on people. Change is an inevitable part of life, and we will all continue to experience and grow from change. In college, I'm eager to study Information Management and Technology, fueled by a deep passion for all things tech. Already, I've made a significant impact at my local church, modernizing their technological infrastructure. Now, I'm determined to extend my expertise to the business world, empowering more organizations and individuals through advanced solutions. With a genuine desire to drive growth and efficiency, I aim to create a positive, lasting impact on their lives. Embracing new challenges, I'm excited to shape a tech-enabled future, where innovation and progress lead us towards a brighter tomorrow.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies...”? I think the same thing can be said for me. I know what you are thinking, and no I am not a book fanatic. I am an artist. I am a special effects makeup artist. Which surprisingly is something that I never saw myself doing. When I say that “living a thousand lives” can be said for me, I mean that I can be anyone that I choose to be. Have you ever wanted to be one of your favorite cartoon characters, a superhero, or even a villain? In the past year alone, I have turned myself into the grinch, a zombie, an alien, an avatar, a robot, Spider-man, Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” a volcano, a tiger, Princess Tiana, Cruella De Vil, and many other things. I have gotten the chance to embody each one of these characters. It feels like a childhood dream come true. Instead of seeing characters in movies and saying, “I wish I could be that”, I can easily turn myself into that thing. In another sense, every time that I paint something on my skin, it draws all the creativity out of me. It is as if all the colors and shapes in my head, instead of putting it on paper, I can put it on my skin. Also, doing special effects makeup can be very time-consuming. But when I am doing it, it is the most ecstatic feeling in the world. The best part is the suspense of seeing how it would turn out, seeing if I could accurately recreate something or make it realistic enough to scare my mom. And considering that every time I turn myself into something, she is either amazed or terrified, that means I’m doing something right. Makeup has changed my perspective on things. I am the kind of person that tries something and 9 times out of 10, it comes easily, causing me to lose interest quickly. Makeup was one of those things that came easily at first but as time progressed and I sought to try more difficult things, it challenged my abilities as an artist. It has caused me to be more consistent in my craft because there is never a dull moment when I am creating something. When I get to college I plan on studying psychology as my major. I want to minor in art or dance. I plan on participating in many art related clubs to further my ability as an artist. And because makeup is my favorite thing to do other than dancing, I want to take up more art classes to help my creativity when it comes to makeup.