Work it, Give it, Live it.

The sense that every human being is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has always been integrated in me since I was able to comprehend. And I have slowly learned that every being also has a necessity to fight for those rights to the best of their ability. Because MLKJ was right, an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Being undocumented and fighting with that community, nationally and locally, has taught me that lesson. At first I joined the movement to fight for my rights to be able to work , drive and attend public college/university in Missouri. But after working with and meeting many other “Dreamers” I have learned that there are greater violations in other states and understand the concept that it is not only about me. I’ve met so many others that deserve to live without our obstacle to the pursuit of happiness, especially since they give themselves to others and are as American as a natural born citizen. I have learned that we have a commitment to the world to live consciously, our actions always indirectly or directly affect/ effect others. The Dream movement, however, is more of a hobby for me than anything else.

Although I am going to eventually study this sub-culture and add to the already fast-paced research while I gain my bachelor’s in anthropology, my main focus for the next 2 years is to study the aspects of music. Specifically producing it and making it sound pleasing while it’s still conscious. I have chosen this career path for part of my life because I believe music is a type of communication that greatly affects a society. The type of music an individual listens to has an effect on the type of lifestyle that the individual chooses to live. I have observed  that with many of my friends and even myself. Friends that listen to rap exclusively, such as Wiz Khalifa and Lil’ Wayne, tend to be selfishly oriented, caring more about themselves than others. I caught myself once entrapped in that lifestyle and I noticed that during that time period the majority of the time I listened to them and artist like them. I have come to the realization that the content of a song is very important, not only harmonic wise but also lyrically wise. This is why I want to create and help create conscious music that is socially popular: to open the minds of the American youth to be a more aware and proactive nation. By conscious music, I envision music that makes one think, that challenges a current believe, or provides a new insight. I believe our minds have been partially shaped by the mainstream media (ie television, radio) to be closed off to the events of the world and to be quite materialistic. We worry too much about image and not enough about content. The current ‘popular’ music for the youth seems to only be a form of entertainment instead of a tool for advancement and growth. So with the education i receive at KCKCC, I want to put it to use on both a local and national level. Educating and opening the horizons of others through one of my passions.

This was a short essay for a scholarship application that I am quite proud of. I was meant to talk about my future goals and why. Good job of doing that in about 500 words?