James T. Godwin Memorial Scholarship

Four years ago, my older brother wanted to enlist in the military. Always seeking a challenge, he chose the Marines as his branch of service. Soon, he realized he would have to overcome obstacles before completing basic training. He was then faced with his first challenge, losing weight. Together, I and my brother began eating what we described as “turtle food.” From literal lettuce to fruit salads, we jokingly ate like herbivores to support his diet. Even at restaurants, we’d be sure to each eat a salad, which favored his weight loss. Combined with his consistent workout routine, my brother drastically began to lose weight. The next challenge faced him. He needed to make the most of his hometown before he left. This challenge was partially complex since COVID-19 was among us. My brother was stationed in California and wouldn’t return to New Orleans until four years later. Knowing this, my brother and I became tourists. We visited places like Canal Street as if it were our first time in the area. We ate king cake as if we didn’t buy it every year. Yet, it wasn’t the sites or the king cake we wanted; it was the memories we solidified. My brother had then overcome another challenge. The most complex challenge yet had then faced my brother. My brother, Bernard, had to leave. He had graduated high school, lost weight, and made memories. Knowing he had to cut his hair, he let me take the first action. I cut his dreadlocks (very poorly) before he received his actual haircut. They cut the rest relatively short, looking clean and formal. We drove him to his recruiters and took many photos before formally saying goodbye. While at basic, my family and I sent my brother letters and often called him to encourage him. Despite losing the opportunity to congratulate him on his transition from basic training to the military (due to COVID), we were proud of the state of Louisiana. Now, I am facing my challenge. It’s been four years since my brother left. I’ve gone from a first-year student to a senior in high school, and now I’m leaving. While I attend college, my brother will return home to continue his life outside the military. Despite his return, I sadly won't be seeing much of it. I’ll now be facing my challenges and my endeavors. Hopefully, he’s here to help me the way I hopefully helped him.

My maternal grandfather, Allen Sisk, grew up on a farm in rural West Virginia. He enlisted in the Navy in 1957 and found his calling as a heavy equipment operator in the Seabees. PaPa was so proud of his service, often telling stories of his adventures as a young man in Japan and Guam and on other Pacific islands. One of his favorite tales involved three young sailors crowded together on a motor bike and a sternly-worded lecture about decorum and inappropriate shenanigans from the shore patrol. I believe he would have made the Navy his career had he been able to stay in Japan, but life works out differently and he returned home and met my grandmother. PaPa gave me two very special gifts: his talent for skeet shooting and the importance he placed on education. As a young boy, PaPa traipsed through the woods, shotgun in hand, with his older brothers to provide meat for the family dinner table. Money was always scare in a family with eight children. After his service in the Navy, he turned his shooting skills toward recreation and began to shoot skeet competitively. He was very good even into his senior years and so proud of his accomplishments. Sometime during the 1980’s, a fellow Izaak Walton gun club member became convinced that the key to my grandfather’s success was his shotgun and not PaPa’s years of practice and dedication. The Texan badgered PaPa incessantly to buy his gun, but my grandfather would not sell, not for any amount of money. His refusal only cemented the want-to-be champion shooter’s opinion that the gun was responsible for PaPa’s success. Eventually, the Texan gave up and drifted away. Years later when I began to display some talent in skeet shooting, my grandfather was bursting with pride in me. Every time we talked on the phone, he asked if I’d been shooting. It was a connection we shared even though we lived 1,600 miles apart. PaPa passed away in October 2023. He left his prized shotgun to me. I will always treasure it. The other gift PaPa gave to me was an appreciation for education. He would have like to have worked with computers, which were in their infancy when he was discharged from the Navy Reserves in 1963. However, there was no money for college, and my grandfather found work utilizing the skills he’d learned in the Navy. He made sure my mother and my aunt went to college, though, and he never failed to ask me about my grades and my other school activities. As an accounting major, I know the knowledge and skills that I will learn as I complete my accounting degree will be applicable in so many fields. I don’t know yet if I want to be an auditor with a Big 4 firm or maybe pursue white collar criminals with the FBI. I think PaPa would be pleased by the choices I’m making, and I know he would have bragged to all his friends about my Dean’s List recognition. I’m sad that he is no longer here to see me walk across the stage with my diploma in hand in a few years, but his words of wisdom about the value of education will stay with me forever.

When I think of Cannon Beach, I think of my mom. My mom served in the Navy as a Lieutenant. She was a doctor and traveled to many states for her work. My favorite memory of my mom is of our first trip together. I was 12 years old and we drove to Cannon Beach, Oregon. We spent two days exploring the beach, biking, and drinking coffee. When we arrived at Cannon Beach, we headed straight for the ocean. The first time my mom had the opportunity to visit the ocean, she was 16 years old. She had never seen the ocean before this because she grew up in Missouri. We reached the beach during low tide and so we walked to Haystack Rock. By the rock, we saw coral reefs, starfish, crabs, sea anemones, and much more. We watched the sunset and the next morning we watched the sunrise from our bedroom window. That morning we waded into the water and soaked up the sun. We observed people fly their kites and we relaxed in the sand. The ocean is our favorite place to be. The hotel we stayed at included complimentary bikes. After low tide, we borrowed two bikes and biked to the beach. My mom’s bike was light blue and mine was black and red. We spent an hour or two biking on the shore. It’s the only time we biked together. When the sun started to set we stopped biking, took off our sandy flip-flops, and sat down on the beach. We viewed the sunset and talked. My mom shared a memory of when she was a teen that biking had reminded her of. When my mom was 15 years old, she threw her brother’s bike down a hill by their house because he had shot her in the forehead with a BB gun. Then we biked back to the hotel. My mom and I love to be active, and biking together is one of my earliest memories of exercising with her. My mom’s love for coffee has influenced my whole family. She introduced my dad to coffee when they first started dating and my mom let me try her cappuccino when I was 11. Cannon Beach has many exceptional coffee shops, so we decided to have a coffee tour. The first coffee shop we sampled was Sea Level Coffee. Sea Level had a cute, beachy aesthetic. At Sea Level, my mom told me about her first date with my dad. They met at a coffee shop. My dad was late and when he arrived he said, "Sorry I was late. I was sailing." We laughed about that. Next, we tried Insomnia Coffee. Insomnia had delicious coffee and pastries. Later we discovered Insomnia has locations close to home. Lastly, we visited Sleepy Monk Coffee. Sleepy Monk had specialty mochas, bagels, and many types of beans. We both ordered specialty mochas and instantly fell in love. To this day, Sleepy Monk is our favorite coffee shop and every time we go to Cannon Beach it is our first stop. Over the years, my mom and I have continued to visit coffee shops together and chat over Americanos and mochas. My favorite memory of my mom is the first time we went on a trip with just the two of us. We got to share our love of nature, sports, and coffee. We had so many deep conversations and I learned a lot about her life as a teenager. Cannon Beach is my favorite place to be because of all the memories I made with my mom there.

My father was a teacher, then a retired Air Force veteran, and once again a teacher. He was always thinking of ways to test me. On the funny side, two events come to mind. The first was about cherry pie. Our family liked pies—Rhubarb for my brother and apple for my mother and sister. Cherry was for Dad and me. One Thanksgiving I was to have a lifelong pie lesson. I complained about how big of a slice he took out of the new pie. He turned to me and handed me the slice of pie. Then he took the rest of the pie and ate it. Point Dad. Not long after that came you have to be smarter than ___ lesson. I was a pretty good football player in high school and he always said I had two speeds, not moving or too fast. When leaving the house I would run through the kitchen and out the door to the carport. I had it timed perfectly. I was turning the doorknob, pulling the door open, and sliding through in one motion. He was sitting at the kitchen table when I came through a warp speed when I pulled the door and it was locked. I hit the wall so hard that I damaged the drywall. The lesson was two-fold. I learned to repair drywall and as my dad pointed out I only had to be smarter than the door. Two points Dad. I could also write about my amazing brother. He is a Navy combat veteran with a silver star and 2 purple hearts. But my last dad's story is about when he told me not to be ashamed of washing out of Army Rotary Wing flight school. He crashed two planes be he moved into AirForce intelligence. He was so proud when I did not fail flight school and became a warrant officer with a medivac specialty. But this story is about a Medivac pilot (me) who loved my service and went on to 35 years of Healthcare software sales. However, that is not the ending to my story. I am blessed with great health and mental acuity so I wanted the last part of my career to be as important as my first years in the Army. Like my dad teaching is my last goal. Many years ago, I began teaching business classes at Rutledge Junior College. Most of those students had a rough life and wanted to learn to make their lives better. I loved it and wanted to help since I knew how much my family helped me. More recently I started being a substitute around COVID-19. My daughter who has now taught special education for 22 years, asked me to be a substitute teacher because of the teacher shortage. I got the teaching bug. Why ask for a scholarship later in life? There is a huge shortage of Special Education teachers so I am pursuing a master’s in special education. The goal is to be certified to teach children with mild to moderate disabilities. This is an expensive venture. More so when you raise two wonderful granddaughters. All scholarships matter. I will start teaching special education in the fall on a provisional certification. That way I can effect change faster and add years to my teacher impact. Thank you for your consideration.

My grandpa served during Vietnam and is one of the most respectful, kind, helpful, and patient people I have ever known. He has taught me a lot about life and has taught me skills as well. He has a perfect marriage with God included. I strive to be like him. One story that stands out to me happened when I was around 16 years old. My grandpa wanted to show me how to drive a stick shift car. It was a hot summer day, and I was getting frustrated becauseI struggled to switch gears smoothly. I remember him always saying “Take your time.” He continued to encourage me until I eventually started to get the hang of it. This lesson taught me a lot about patience and persistence which has stuck with me throughout my life. Grandpa's influence goes beyond practical skills; he has also shown me the importance of kindness and respect. He always treats people with the utmost respect, no matter who they are or what their background is. This is something I have tried to carry into my own life, whether it is through my studies in civil engineering at Grand Rapids Community College or my part-time jobs as a coach, lawn care worker, irrigation technician, and asphalt lab technician. In each of these roles, I strive to be kind and respectful, just like my grandpa. One of the most valuable lessons my grandpa taught me is the importance of having strong values and living by them. He has a perfect marriage with God included, and this has shown me the importance of faith and commitment. I try to apply these values in my own life, whether it is in my relationships or my work. For example, when I am coaching ultimate frisbee, I always emphasize teamwork, respect, and perseverance. These are values that I learned from my grandpa, and I believe they are essential for success in any area of life. Despite my high school GPA of 2.7 and my current college GPA of 2.76, I am determined to work hard and improve. My grandpa's teachings about persistence and not giving up have been a great source of motivation for me. I know that with hard work and dedication, I can achieve my goals and make him proud. In conclusion, my grandpa has been a significant influence in my life. He has taught me valuable lessons about patience, kindness, respect, and the importance of strong values. I strive to be like him in everything I do, and I am grateful for the impact he has had on my life. I believe that these qualities make me a strong candidate for the James T. Godwin Memorial Scholarship, and I hope to continue to honor my grandpa's legacy through my studies and future career in civil engineering.