Resilience: Navigating Through a Family Crisis

For a long time now, I have had a good idea of the direction of my life. I plan to attend college, get a good job, then eventually start a family; I plan to “live happily ever after” just like my parents. During my sophomore year, however, everything changed.
One summer night at around three in the morning, I heard my mother scream my name. I jumped out of bed confused and very scared; my heart raced. I stood at the top of the stairs, afraid to step down. I heard a strange noise so I took another step. With every step the sound became clearer and clearer to me. It was a sound I had never heard before, and to this day have only ever heard once in my life. It was the sound of my father crying. I got to the living the room and stood in the middle of all of the commotion. The coffee table had been

I began to focus on my artwork, and I never settled for “good enough.” I constantly learned from other inspiring artists, like Kehinde Wiley, and continued to grow as an artist myself. My proudest piece is a painting I named “Love and Growth” to promote interracial relationships. However, I will not grow too comfortable with the artist I am becoming, instead, I will continue to improve. In college, I will not “go through the motions” or take getting my degree for granted, but I will get the most out of the opportunities I am presented with. My parents showed me that if I start to settle I could lose everything I have worked so hard for. I choose not to fear working toward progress, no matter what the emotional cost may be. While going to college, getting a job and eventually starting a family are still my future goals, I will not chase the idea of the perfect “happily ever after.” I will always strive for more: to be a better person, to improve my journey and the journey of those around me. I will not go through the motions; I will be the