b'Philadelphia FuturesAnnual Report20202021Cassidy ArringtonSponsor-A-Scholar, Class of 2019Ellis Trust, three time recipientCentral High School, Class of 2019Yale University, Class of 2023I have gained clarity and focus on what matters to me.Entering the 2020-2021 academic year, I was cooped up in my home and still struggling with the effects of a summer spent confronting police brutality, calling for police abolition, and participating in the Black Lives Matter movement. I felt a lot of that hurt, and it was affecting my mental health.I needed a new medium to express myself, and I found it in photography. I attended class remotely during the fall 2020 semester, so I was able to spend all of my free time photographing the Black community in Philadelphia. During this time, I took a class that led me to declare a major in Ethnicity,Race, and Migration Studies, as well as self-publish a book called Surviving Home: A Photozine, featuring my photography and poetry. When I returned to campus in spring 2021, I applied for and was awarded the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship to work on my art and photography. Even though it was born out of a lot of struggle, I am empowered to embrace my future.Philadelphia Futures has constantly been there to support me during my college experience, and isalways willing to listen. I have had a lot of affirming conversations with my College Success Advisor, where we have discussed my family, politics, police brutality, and things that are important to me. Futures is committed to holistic support for students, and views students as individuals who deserve a whole life, with hard work, but also peace. I appreciate how Futures has made themselvesvulnerable during their anti-racist transformation, using voices like mine as a resource.page 9'