Screenwriting : I made it to the second round of Black Boy Writes/Black Girl Writes (: by Oyinda Itabiyi

I was on the 405 driving back to my apartment after a photoshoot I had just shot for someone. I called my Nigerian mom who still lives back in Minnesota. She had asked me if I'd gotten paid for the shoot and I reluctantly responded, no. I told her you gotta start somewhere. I knew it wasn't what she'd want to hear lol. As I drove to my exit and reached a red light my phone buzzed and it was my friend Tai (who also applied for this mentorship program texted me... his text read. I didn't make the "Black Boy Writes/Black Girl Writes Mentorship program" did you? I looked up to make sure the traffic light was still red, it was! I quickly checked my email and saw an email from Jason Mirch at Stage32 with a subject line of congratulations! I screamed so loud my mom thought I had been in an accident. I screamed all the way home. My mom screamed sharing my joy too. As I write this, I want to thank Stage32 and Mike Gauyo for providing us all with a moment like this. I began shouting affirmations like " this show is going to make it" "The world will hear these stories" "I will make it onto HBO Max one day"! I texted my friend and made sure I poured into him too. The no's are necessary. I told him to not ever stop. The no's bring us to the yes's. My win is your win. Your wins are my wins. Just like this program reaches back to us I feel like we should continue that energy!

The email from Stage32 saying that I made it to the second round is an email of achievement in itself. An email of hope. A nudge/reminder of what's possible. I want to remind everyone here to never stop! If you believe in the stories you tell. Don't stop! Congrats to us all. <3 Good luck!