Help Liana get her BFA at UNCSA! !

Hii everyone,

My name is Liana Morales (She/Her), I'm 17 years old. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York (Specifically Harlem). I just graduated from Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts as a vocal major just recently and I will be headed to University of North Carolina School of the Arts in August to pursue my BFA in Acting. And I need your help!!

My love and passion for theatre began when I was about 5 or 6 when I watched Grease. ( I know.. Pretty raunchy for a little kid) But, I loved it so much. In middle school I started to heavily get into musical theatre. I would listen to it, most times act along with them. It was non-stop. (get it… hamilton joke) Anyways, it was discouraging though because I saw that nobody in these musicals looked like me. For a while, I thought only white people would be successful in theatre. Growing Up Afro-Latina, I've never had any good representation. Not until I discovered the Musical “In The Heights''. When I first heard the soundtrack I began to get emotional because it was the first time I saw myself represented in a musical. It was the first time I've seen a musical where Latine people weren’t portrayed as stereotypical nonsense but people with stories similar to mine. I knew at that moment that the work I wanted to do in the future makes people feel represented and seen.

When I entered Urban Assembly School For The Performing Arts I joined an after school program called Epic Theatre Ensemble specifically their Epic Remix program. I didn't know it at the time but the program would change my life. Thankfully, Epic had a Summer intensive Program called Epic Next hosted by the NYU Graduate Acting Program where we would then develop skills as an actor and at the end we created a devised piece about any social injustice we wanted to talk about and performed it at the Acorn theatre and The MET. The following summer I co-wrote a touring play called "Default" about culturally responsive pedagogy. I speak and educate others about the importance of representation while teaching them about my own culture and its history. Then, in the past summer I created my own short film “ Welcome Freshmen” about the over policing in black and brown schools. Aside from my work in theatre. I was Student Body President for the 2020-2021 school year and I was featured in The Daily News & The Wall Street Journal for refusing to sing the national anthem at my high schools graduation and starting a new tradition at my school where in replacement of the national anthem “ Lift Every Voice”will be sung at every future graduation at UASPA. This is what I was meant to do. I am in something bigger than myself. Everytime I step on a stage I represent people who look like me. I make sure that I'm seen so they can be seen too. That is why I do this. And I intend to continue this as I transition to UNCSA!

Now that you've gotten to know a bit of my journey. Here's the thing..With being accepted to UNCSA I have been very fortunate with the scholarship money that I have been given by UNCSA and the efforts that they have made to make sure they can give me as much as they can. I'm also fortunate to have parents that are helping me with schooling. But, I still need some help. With this money that I am asking for, it would help me pay for tuition, housing, books, materials, essentials, and anything else that can get me by while I'm over there. All I am asking is for your support. Whether that takes form in donation, a share, encouraging words and advice. Whatever it may be. I appreciate it dearly.

Thank you for your time and positive vibes : )

With So much Love,

Liana Morales