SOF helped me through my final semester at UNC School of the Arts. I was maintaining a mortgage in Shelby, NC while paying rent two hours away in Winston-Salem. Travel and living expenses were piling up and making it more and more difficult to stay afloat, financially. The housing stipend that SOF afforded me each month allowed me to make ends meet and start rebuilding the family’s financial safety net. The semester that I received support from SOF was, by far, the least stress-inducing semester of the four years that I attended UNCSA.
It’s hard to know what the future holds in these uncertain times. The state of the film industry has changed greatly with the COVID crisis. All productions came to a grinding halt with the rest of the economy. It is unfortunate that this came right at my transition into the profession. The $1000 graduation grant will help immensely in this transition.
I’ve been given an opportunity to attend a Master’s program at the Veteran’s International Institute of Orthotics & Prosthetics in Tampa, Florida. I’m currently looking into scholarships and student loans to attend in January 2021. I feel like I have a lot to offer this profession and community, as I’ve been a part of it since losing my leg in 2011. I’ve been on the receiving end of some world-class care and now I feel like I can position myself to offer care of the same caliber. It’s a great opportunity to give back to Veterans and amputees alike.