Nicole Brass

When I first began my college journey, I wasn’t the polished student you see on the Dean’s List today. I was homeless, struggling with heroin addiction, and carrying a 2.7 GPA that mirrored my instability at the time. By 19, I was already a single mother, and before my 21st birthday, I was serving time as a first-time offender in a maximum-security prison, though I was classified as minimum security. Life threw me into the deep end with maximum security lifers, and I had to learn quickly how to swim.
But here’s the thing: I did.
This year I celebrate 7 years of sobriety. I’m now the proud mother of four beautiful children, and every semester since returning to school, I’ve earned a 4.0 GPA. I’m a member of the National English Honor Society, I’ve made the Dean’s List consistently, and I’ve been told by every professor I’ve had that I will be published one day. Writing isn’t just my passion, it’s my oxygen.
I dream of studying at an Ivy League institution, not because I believe prestige makes a person, but because I know the right environment can sharpen my voice to its highest potential. I’ve lived through the collapse of everything, and I’ve rebuilt myself word by word, page by page. My challenges are not footnotes, they are the very chapters that give my story weight.
As a divorced, full-time student and mother, financial obstacles remain real, housing, books, and food often compete with tuition for priority. But if my past has taught me anything, it’s this: resilience, resourcefulness, and a touch of humor will get me farther than fear ever could.
I am proof that even the most unlikely story can turn into a masterpiece. And I intend to keep writing mine.