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Aiden Mcknight

705

Bold Points

1x

Finalist

Bio

My life goal is to become a forensic scientist and provider for my family

Education

Harry S Truman High School

High School
2019 - 2023

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)

  • Majors of interest:

    • Criminology
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      forensics

    • Dream career goals:

    • handler

      Dependable Daycare
      2022 – 2022

    Sports

    Soccer

    Club
    2015 – 20172 years

    Awards

    • no

    Research

    • Criminology

      Harry S Truman — Researcher
      2021 – 2022

    Arts

    • culinary arts

      culinary
      no
      2019 – 2023

    Public services

    • Public Service (Politics)

      harry s truman — helper
      2019 – 2020
    PAC: Diversity Matters Scholarship
    Superhero cinema is an oligopoly consisting of two prominent, towering brands: Marvel and DC. I’m a religious supporter of Marvel, but last year, I discovered my friend, Tom, was a DC fan. After a 20-minute vociferous quarrel about which was better, we decided to allocate one day to assemble coherent arguments and have a professional debate. One week later, we both brought pages of notes, evidence cards, and I had my Iron-Man bobblehead for moral support. Our moderator – a Disney fan – sat in the middle with a stopwatch – open-policy style. I began the debate by discussing how Marvel accentuated the humanity of the storyline – such as Tony Stark’s transformation from an egotistical billionaire to a compassionate father – which drew in a broader audience because more people resonated with certain aspects of the characters. Tom rebutted this by capitalizing on how Deadpool was a duplicate of Deathstroke, Vision copied Red Tornado, and DC sold more comics than Marvel. 40 minutes later, we reached an impasse. We were out of cards, and we both made excellent points, so our moderator failed to declare a winner. Difficult conversations aren’t necessarily always the ones that make political headlines. Instead, a difficult discussion involves any topic with which we share an emotional connection. Over the years, I became so emotionally invested in Marvel that my mind erected an impenetrable shield, blocking out all other possibilities. Even today, we haven’t decided which franchise was better, but I realized that I was undermining DC for no reason apart from ignorance. The inevitability of diversity suggests that it is our responsibility to understand the other person and what they believe. We may not always experience a change in opinions, but we can grant ourselves the opportunity to expand our global perspective. I strive to continue this adventure to increase my awareness as a superhero aficionado, activist, and student by engaging in conversations that require me to think beyond what I believe and viewing the world from others’ perspectives. I didn’t have much time to explore my interests until high school, where I developed my knack for government and serving others. However, being cast in a lead role in my school’s fall production as a freshman gave me the confidence to pursue other activities: namely, student government. Shortly after being cast, I was elected as Freshman Vice-President, a role that put me in charge of promoting events, delegating daily office tasks, collaborating with the administration on new school initiatives, and planning trips and fundraisers. While it demanded a significant amount of responsibility, my childhood of helping my mom manage our household prepared me to be successful in the role.
    James Allen Crosby & William Edward Huff Scholarship
    It always felt right to go left. Instinctively I would always throw with my left side while playing sports. Holding a pencil would only feel right with my left hand, which applied to things such as eating and getting dressed. At a young age my family tried to force the use of my right hand upon me, such as getting me to practice holding things in a certain way and writing in tracing books as to imbed the use of another hand into my brain. Whether it was due to an unfortunate turn of events or a gift I found a sense of comfort when using my left hand, which led me into how I do things in life. As time progressed being left handed actually changed my life for the worse. I don't know if it was due to the speed of my writing or the way I executed words onto the paper, but my penmanship was terrible. Teachers would call home and talk about how my words were illegible, often saying the parent should take action and fix the problem. Kids would talk about how weird I was for using my left hand, but it never stopped me from excelling in other activities. Once I reached the age of 14 I had come to terms with my so-called problem and decided to embrace it. Basketball had become the next best thing in my life since I could really excel in shooting with the use of my left hand. More and more people started to notice, which made my popularity grow as everyone wanted to play with someone with that type of skill. Word would soon get around in classes that I was left handed which was rare, more people asking me what the experience is like. I still struggle with penmanship, but as long as I believe in how unique I am, my life will always be interesting. When I was younger I could not cut my own food because there was no natural way for me to hold a knife and fork. Having both of parents being right hand dominant was not helpful to me to learn this skill. They tried to teach me, but because they did not even know how to cut food left handed I could not be taught. I overcame this obstacle when I learned how to cut food from my grandfather who is also left-handed. That story shows that left-handed people are an inspiration to the younger left-handed people learning how to use their left hand. It was a huge obstacle personally for myself at the time to overcome since it was such a simple task. For many years I could not do it just because I was left-handed. Another food-related obstacle left-handed people have to deal with is having to sit at the end of the table. If I ever have to sit in the middle or have someone directly on my left side it becomes an annoying problem. While eating we bump into each other's elbows since a majority of people that I know are right handed.
    Alma J. Grubbs Education Scholarship
    Being a teacher is dedication to education, which is the foundation of success and to a lifelong career of learning. With thateachert understanding it is mandatory to make sure that your students are given the tools to be successful not only in the educational field but to also succeed and contribute to society. I am a great teacher because I am ambitious, resilient, and passionate in every aspect of life. Being ambitious is more than a desire to succeed, everyone wants to succeed and no one wants to lose it is about what you learn from your experiences. Being a teacher and a coach I have found that students and athletes need room to be themselves and learn from failures as much if not more than from their successes. There is not an exact formula to learning to roll with the punches per say, but being a diverse person I am able to push through and overcome problems as they arise. As a coach and teacher I learned very fast that life isn’t always going to serve up the perfect pitch, in fact sometimes that pitch will be a curveball. In today’s society technology is that curve ball. While it is a great asset to use to teach and learn, it’s also a crutch we rely on in everyday life. I am diverse enough to overcome situation in which technology is not available without missing a beat and my students will develop the same ability to use technology when it is available but also not hesitate to move forward when it isn’t available. Once we were training in Texas getting ready for a deployment and they had us set up on a huge mineral deposit, and those minerals for whatever reason disrupted our communication equipment. I quickly realized something wasn’t right so instead of panicking like some others I simply pulled out my cell phone and started calling missions down range. This ability to think quick and overcome a situation in which technology fails is one of my best qualities.I have the innate ability to take assessments and use them as a tool to not only focus on what I accomplished but then to collaborate with my fellow teachers and share my findings with them. I should always be there to encourage and motivate my students and not discriminate them in any way. My focus should always be for their betterment and growth. This will, therefore, call for total dedication and understanding that my primary role is always to serve.
    STAR Scholarship - Students Taking Alternative Routes
    Many people dream of becoming entrepreneurs someday. But it made me realize that there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration. We need to ask ourselves if we are ready to take the challenge to the outside world. Not everyone has the vision, innovation and creativity to become an entrepreneur. The individual must have a positive attitude and accept the responsibility, have discipline to meet their goals, and take action when the opportunity presents itself. Many prefer job security and rely on a weekly paycheck, while entrepreneurs will take risks and dont have that luxury to know the amount of their income. When it comes to business, especially when it comes to starting one, I tend to think I know it all. Yet in reality, I don't really even know how to get started, enough to make a business efficient, or even get the doors open enough to make the first move.There are so many questions when I think about this topic really, just to put it in layman's terms, I want to know where to start, and how to keep building a business empire, while keeping it all legal and profitable, and not risking my entire future on a thought I think may work. Entrepreneurship is the primary engine of economic growth and prosperity around the world. Entrepreneurs guarantee that there is a real value addition by establishing and creating new jobs, as well as producing creative services and goods (McMillan & Christopher, 2002). Furthermore, they serve as the primary determinants of policymakers’ ability to address social and economic issues that people face in society. As a result, entrepreneurship increases social capital accumulation, economic growth, greater stability, and job production.My interest in business and entrepreneurship has encouraged me to aspire to start a business with a mission to give back to its community. I feel that furthering my education will aid me in my dream of creating a business that gives more to the community than it takes. There are countless ways to better the world including improving poverty, hunger, the environment, and plenty more. I can only begin to imagine the possibilities of businesses yet to be fabricated. If I could make supporting a cause my career, I can only imagine how satisfying that would be. I have been provided with so much opportunity already within my 18 years of life that some couldn’t even imagine. Many businesses, brands, and companies that exist today mainly use their profits and revenue to reinvest in themselves. However, I want to change these customary ways and impart a new way of doing business. I hope to spread my passion and inspire others to make it their mission to offer others a piece of their success. I encourage other entrepreneurs to supply the less fortunate with tools for their own success, or make the world a healthier place to be a part of. I am extremely grateful for all that my upbringing has been able to give me, and I wish to share that with as many people as possible.