Dear Shonda Rhimes,
You changed my life.
I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for you. My life would be so different if it was not for Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder. I spend most of my teen years admiring you and your incredible talent for creating. I feel like it takes someone special to create what you have and I could not thank you enough for sharing that talent with us each and every Thursday.
Over the past few years, I have had the blessing to meet many people from the different fandoms on twitter. My current best friend and future college roommate, Ashley and I met in the Grey's Anatomy fandom a few years ago. I met some people who I no longer speak with but have impacted my life for the better. None of the friendships I have made in the last few years would have not been possible without you. Four years after I created my twitter, I have grown so much personality wise and discovered my true self and I can say that I have you to thank for that. Not only have you changed my life when it came to finding my people, you have changed hundreds, and thousands of other people's lives.
As I grew up in the fandom and through life, I realized that discovering your passions is very important. I learned that from you and your amazing crews. My entire life I lived a struggle of not knowing what I wanted for my future. The thought of the future scared me more than anything. As my senior year approached, I realized that I probably need to figure out what I want to do with my life. This past summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to work for a company and help pitch ideas and make those ideas come to life. During that experience, I kept applying what I was doing to something I love, television. By the end of the summer I discovered that my true passion was creating, and that I want to produce my own television show in the future that promotes diversity.
Speaking of diversity, I love how passionate you are about it! You promoting diversity has made such a big change in not only the world, but in Hollywood. A lot of us have noticed that there has been a huge change in how Hollywood views cultural diversity, and I think we can all take a second to thank you for that. You played and still play a huge role in the acceptance of being diverse.
As someone who classifies myself as a part of the LGBTQ community, my heart is always so full when I see you constantly supporting the community. Creating characters that are also a part of the LGBTQ community has changed so many lives, and helped people realize that they are normal, and just because they are not straight does not make them any different than anyone else. You helped people discover who they are and to me, that is more important than any award you could ever win.
You have positively changed so many people's lives, including my own. I hope you never forget how important you are and how much you mean to so many people. You are an amazing woman who has done so much good for this world. Never stop being your lovely, independent self!
