“I’m that type of person that doesn’t believe in “the sky is the limit.” I choose to be different. I feel like there’s no calling, or no purpose, if you’re following somebody else. My mom always said, “be a leader, don’t be a follower.” I have six sisters, and I am the oldest out of all of them. It’s important for me to show them what a real leader is supposed to be; the head and not the tail. It’s important for me to show what somebody responsible is supposed to look like. Somebody who gets to class on time. Someone who is not afraid to ask questions and lift to their hands. High school is the time to explore yourself. I expect my sisters to be wise about the choices they make because they can affect your future. You’re going to have people who are going to try to tear you down, but it’s not about how you fall; it’s about how you get up. When people see you still trying to strive, they’re not going to see you the same way they did before. It’s okay to be yourself. It’s okay to be different. It’s okay to ask questions. You don’t have to have a group of friends, the best shoes, or the best brands to be known, to be seen.

“Despite what other people have done to me and said about me, I just avoid listening to what they say.  I just look at everything as a lesson. Life is really how you make it. I can’t sit here and say my childhood was all peaches and cream, because it wasn’t. So far it’s still not. I just take day by day. I take advantage of every moment on this earth that God blessed me with. I plan on graduating early. I want to go to Central and study criminal justice to be a lawyer. Then, from there, I want to be a judge. That’s always been my dream since I was a little girl. I wake up each morning and thank God that I have another day to live because I know there’s a lot of people that don’t. I know there’s a lot of kids that are in my shoes right now that don’t have what I have. I’ve been spoiled, and sometimes I can be ungrateful. I’m not perfect. I am just a person searching for her calling, making each day count. At the end of the day, with the time I do have, I’m going to take advantage of it.”