Hello, My name is Rebeccah Katherine Patterson. I am from Marietta, GA in East Cobb County where most of my early  experiences have stemmed from. I attended George Walton Comprehensive High School, where I graduated with honors. It was one of my biggest accomplishments because when I was in kindergarten I was diagnosed with a debilitating processing disorder that made learning difficult. I worked around it by utilizing strategies that made me look at the information presented from a different perspective. After high school, I got accepted to the prestigious college of Agnes Scott. During my first year, I did not know what exactly I wanted to major in and decided to explore my options. I knew all about the graphic design field because of my classes in high school-where I ran a business from my classroom, so I decided to take an art class. In addition, I danced for 11 years, where I trained in ballet and lyrical dance and I wanted to continue, so I took a class at Agnes and added modern dance to my list of training. I knew that I wanted to take something that would open my eyes to new ideas, so I decided to take classes in the Africana studies major.  One of the many classes that changed my life was my African American and Social Institutions class. It shaped my identity as a black woman because it taught me many ideas that I was not taught in school. It taught me all about how black studies was implemented in universities and about the leaders that started the movement itself. As a minority in all my levels of schooling and in the arts community, it brought me great pride and compelled me to do something for my community. I want to bring awareness to minority dancers, as well as, other artistic fields where we are not represented.