At the start of high school, my parents and I took a road trip through West Texas and New Mexico. We saw UFOs in Roswell and the dunes of White Sands, but by far and away the most impactful sight was Palo Duro Canyon. It’s the second largest canyon in the country and one of the most missed, a true beauty hidden in plain sight.

A writing course the summer before my junior year tasked me with developing a short story in a weekend’s time, and the first image that came to mind was the lonely landscape of Palo Duro. Even after its completion, I knew this story deserved more, but I didn’t know where to start. So, I set it aside and waited for lightning to strike.

It would be almost a year until I realized the solution and revisited this piece. It wasn’t a complex idea by any means, but it was new territory: I was going to adapt my story into a screenplay. It took a three-month trial of Final Draft screenwriting software, a simple discussion about the ending of the story with my father, and a decade’s worth of storytelling to transform that class assignment into Palo, a 14-page screenplay.

That year of writing taught me that creating without the additives of collaboration, innovation, and risk is simply an impossible task. Even more, it equipped me with the confidence to use storytelling in service to the world. From delivering meals to people in need, facilitating a youth camp with my mother, and providing a platform for survivors to speak, service has been integral to my life, and it will always be a vital tool in connecting with the people around me.

Nowhere is this truer than at UT, where invention is encouraged and stagnancy is rejected. At UT, students are asked to step out of their comfort zone, to mix mediums, to come up with something new. Students are provided with a wealth of knowledge and resources that enables them to complete this boundless task of innovation, because a cultivated mind truly is the genius of society.

At UT, I can synthesize my passion for storytelling with my drive to serve. It empowers me to live a life of gratitude and empathy, but it also reminds me that there is no one way to serve. Whether it be through screenwriting, poetry, journalism, along with everything else I will encounter on the road ahead, I have realized there is no limit for the potential of my writing to change the world.

Major:
Journalism

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?
It's been said before, but it deserves repeating: the Forty Acres Scholars Program is more than a scholarship. It cultivates genuine community, friendship, and support, and it is something I had the privilege of experiencing first-hand during Finalist Weekend. Being around so many kind-hearted, hard-working individuals enabled me to not only be myself, but inspired me to be the best version of myself. The Forty Acres Scholars Program helped to make UT a home away from home, and I am so honored to be a part of a community that has truly changed my life.