I often ask myself, "Drew, what are you going to do with your one life? What are you going to pursue? How are you going to spend your time?” These questions circulate in my mind as I ponder on what I will do with my one life here on earth. Yet, as I continue to ask myself these questions and think about what my life can be, I always return to one quote from missionary C.T. Studd – “One life soon to pass, only what’s done for Christ will last.” Many of the books I have read and films I have seen center around one very broad and detailed word: legacy. The books or films I consume often share about someone who left a great legacy or show how I can leave an impactful legacy. While I have enjoyed numerous books and films over the past few years, there are two that stand out – one a book and the other a film. One of these two that has stood out, McFarland, USA, is an all-time favorite film of mine. I won’t be able to share every detail from the movie that has shaped my goals, but I can emphasize one. In the film, the coach is doing very well in his first year of coaching cross country and receives a job offer from a nearby school. The offer includes everything he and his wife thought they wanted – money, security, a nice home, etc. However, the coach chooses to stay in McFarland because of something much deeper – love. Seeing this decision in the film inspired me to think about what my ultimate goal in life would be. Would it be to pursue money? Fame? Security? Or, like the coach displayed, would it be to give up some earthly gain and let his legacy be defined by something much greater? I don’t know exactly what I will do in the future, but whatever it is, my goal is to have my legacy be defined by something much greater than earthly gain – just like the coach did in McFarland, USA. The other stand out, a book, has shown me what I must do and how I must live to leave a meaningful legacy. The book, Character Still Counts by James Merritt, challenges me each day to live a life marked by strong character. At the end of the book, the author shares that we all fall short in certain areas of character, but that there is one person who never lacked character – Jesus Christ. Knowing this and that I must pursue modeling my life after Jesus has led me to study Christian Leadership and Church Ministries at Liberty University. As Jesus himself said in Matthew 23:11, “The greatest among you shall be your servant.” I am continually learning what it looks like to serve, lead, and live with character as a Christian in today’s world and culture. Billy Graham is quoted saying, “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” From what I have learned through books, films, and schooling thus far, I desire to go out into this world and leave a legacy not for my name to be known, but for Jesus’ name to be known. Because it really is true – “One life soon to pass, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

As an individual of faith, there is nothing more I put my hope in than God. My faith was instilled in me by my parents at a young age and as I grew older, I made this faith personal. Throughout my faith journey, I realized and experienced the difficulties of life. But as I went through the struggles of life, I looked to the Bible and found that God was with me. In John 16:33, Jesus shares that in this world I will have trials and tribulations, but I can take heart and courage knowing Jesus has overcome the world. Knowing this gave me and continues to give me comfort through all of life’s challenges. I also learned more recently that as a person of faith, I am not supposed to just survive hardships, but prosper through them. Tribulations lead to perseverance, perseverance to character, and character to hope. And as Romans 5:3-5 alludes to, this hope does not disappoint. Worldly hope is rooted in temporary pleasures that may be satisfactory for a moment, but will eventually dissipate. Godly hope is rooted in the eternal. This faith I pursue and hold to is one which does not seek present and short-term benefits, but patiently endures. It is a faith that completely trusts God’s sovereignty and plans. I look to the future with unmatched hope, believing God knows best, and I place my life in His hands. I know I am living for something much bigger than me, and my faith allows me to endure the temptations of earthly rewards, experiences, or luxuries. My faith knows God is all-powerful and in control. All this faith talk sounds great and is what I truly desire, but I am not perfect. I sin, I mess up, I fall short. In the past, this has led to a lot of shame, guilt, and self-criticality. I am continually working through these feelings, but I know God offers and gives grace and mercy – both of which I do not deserve. When thinking about my future career, my faith is at the center. My faith is a gift from God, not a result of works. However, God has prepared good works for me to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). I believe I have been called to a ministry-related field. Thus, much of my studies now are preparing me for a ministry career path. Knowing how much my faith has grown throughout my life thus far gives me great hope for the future. I am continually ridding myself of self-pride and the motives of self-satisfaction, money, and earthly status. I know these are worldly desires that will offer some temporary contentment and fulfillment, but do not compare to what God has in store. My faith will keep me grounded and true to what is right, ethical, and moral; no matter what earthly adversities arise. Remembering all that I have gone through, everything that God has brought me through, and every way in which my faith has grown through my life will, I firmly believe, lead to incredible things. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” While my future is unknown, I look forward to continually pursuing my chosen career path, knowing God and my faith will always be there to assist me.

My mental health is important because it affects and influences every part of my life. Relationships, schoolwork, and hobbies/activities are all impacted by the quality of my mental health. I wrote “relationships” first because a few years ago, my family was impacted by the results of mental health. My mom had a season where she was struggling with some things in her mind, and this situation had a significant impact on my family. Thankfully, the circumstances with my mom have improved and gotten better, but relationships were and have been strained in part due to mental health. Knowing the effect of mental health on relationships, through experience with my family, makes me very conscious of my own mental health and how it affects my relationship with friends, classmates, and older individuals I know. Also, the work I do for school is either positively or negatively affected by the state of my mental health. It is oftentimes easy to just do an assignment according to the directions, submit it, and then forget about it. It is harder, and takes more mental stamina and strength, to think about the assignment, apply knowledge to it, and then learn and grow more from the task in the end. The state of my mental health often determines what I put into and get out of assignments. Continuing on, my hobbies/activities I participate in alter or shift based on my mental health at times. Sometimes, although I hate to admit it, when my mental health is weaker, I will sit on my phone and scroll and scroll and scroll – filling my mind with mostly negative, brain-numbing entertainment. I obviously do not want to waste time in this way, but it happens because of the state of my mind. Knowing how important my mental health is and pinpointing the situations that diminish my mental state allows me to take practical steps to preserve my mental well-being. To maintain my mental wellness, I like listening to positive and uplifting music. What I feed my mind determines how I think which then influences how I act and who I am. Knowing this, I fill my mind with good music constantly and consistently. This “good” music that I listen to is often Contemporary Christian music. The style aligns with my beliefs and morals, and offers and gives my mind hope and encouragement which has a positive influence on my mental health. I also enjoy participating in some sort of physical activity most days. Getting away from technology, not sitting down, and moving around for a bit seems to benefit and sustain my mental wellness. Another way I maintain my mental wellness is by surrounding myself with positive people. Throughout my whole life I have heard the quote, “Show me your friends and I will show you your future.” As I have grown older, this quote seems to make more and more sense because of the impact the people around me can have on my mental well-being. Making sure I spend time with friends and acquaintances who are uplifting and encouraging plays a large role in maintaining mental wellness in my life. In the past, mental health has been downplayed as not-so-important, but more and more now the significance of positive mental health is seen and what the effects of negative mental health can lead to. Remembering the importance of mental health in my own life and the significance of maintaining mental wellness helps me sustain good mental health and ultimately allows me to have a positive influence on the mental well-being of those around me.

After reading a bit about Michael and what the scholarship application entails, I looked up the exact definition of selflessness. What I found states that selflessness is “concern more with the needs and wishes of others than with one’s own.” For me in my life, this definition means putting my time, energy, and focus second and utilizing my first and best for others. As a college student, there are numerous activities, events, and extra-curriculars vying for my time. Making sure I keep my priorities straight is what keeps me selfless. How this is fleshed out is through involvement in my community. For me, I am involved with my church. I have a belief and passion for youth and their development, so I serve as a third-grade leader in the elementary program at my church every Sunday morning. Serving here means I attend the 9:15 a.m. service and serve at the 11:00 a.m. service. This means not staying up late Saturday night so I can give my best to the kids in the morning. When I help with the kids, I talk with them, engage them, and make their experience the best possible so they want to come back again. Having a selfless motivation and purpose allows me to persevere and be my best each Sunday. One example of how I try to embody selflessness occurred in this class about a month ago when we had group connect day. This was a day when the whole elementary program broke off from the normal schedule and went outside for some fun. One of the stations included wrapping someone like a mummy with toilet paper and no one wanted to be wrapped. So, I said I would be wrapped, and the kids went wild. They wrapped my nose, my ears, my shoes, and all around my chest and arms. I was kneeling so they could reach my face, and it was honestly pretty gross. All these kids were wrapping and touching me all over, but they were laughing and having fun. That is what made it worth it. Another recent example is on a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. I was headed to a church small group gathering and as I was driving, I saw a group of kids by some townhouses selling lemonade. Now, the easy thing to do would be to ignore them and keep driving, but I decided to stop and talk with them a bit. I asked them about their lemonade, gave them $5 for a small cup, and asked what their names were. I ended up talking with these elementary and middle school-aged kids for some time, and one of the kids made a palm tree bracelet that I ended up buying and it now stays in my car. The bracelet serves as a good reminder that life is about so much more than me, and to live out my beliefs and passion for youth within the community is true selflessness. Earlier this past year I had the opportunity to provide a large tip for a woman at a restaurant and pray for her. I have been able to pay for a woman’s groceries at Walmart to help provide for her family. I have given rides to friends and offered encouragement to others when needed. All of these examples are me helping someone with a need and trying to do so with a selfless posture. It is not always easy to embody selflessness, but the joy, thankfulness, and appreciation you get to see in others make it all worth it.

The thing that inspires me to get involved in my community is how much my community has given to me. Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, everyone knows everyone. As I grew up, various individuals within my community supported me through my academics, athletics, and fine arts. Their constant encouragement in church, school, and other places within my town propelled me to be the best I could be. I had an amazing experience growing up because of the support of my community, and that inspired me to be involved. How I have worked to influence change in my hometown is through my volunteer opportunities, work experiences, and personal relationships. Throughout middle and high school, I had the opportunity to volunteer with Special Olympics, Vacation Bible School, and youth football and basketball summer camps. I was also able to be a City Recreation Coach for two summers in high school and had a paraprofessional internship at my local elementary school during my senior year of high school. In addition, I have had the opportunity to build a lot of relationships with teachers, coaches, people at church, and individuals within the community. As shown, many of my volunteer and work endeavors have been with youth and young kids. Many people within my community positively influenced me as I was young and growing up, and I am glad I have been able to pour into many young kids throughout my time in my hometown. The relationships with the kids, their families, and others in the community will continue as my family still lives there and I visit a few times a year. However, as I am now in college, I am not as involved in my childhood community as I was before I left for college. Regardless, I have found another loving community in my college town of Lynchburg, Virginia. I left my hometown of Redwood Falls, Minnesota, in the fall of 2022 for college. I went not really knowing anybody but found amazing people through my new church and college. I ended up going to this church the first Sunday I was in town and have not left. I met an older couple who took me out for lunch one Sunday and now we talk frequently. I also found a small group with a couple of older students who have been amazing in my spiritual development. They loved and cared for me as I was far away from home, and that has inspired me to get more involved. Now, I serve in the elementary program every Sunday at the church as a third-grade leader. I am also very involved in my small group which meets every Sunday night, and will often get a meal or coffee with one of the guys in my group on a weekday. During these one-on-one meetings, we have the opportunity to partake in some amazing discipleship which benefits both me and the other person. Also, through my college, I have been able to meet great friends, classmates, and leaders. Because of this feeling of acceptance from my university, I have served as an on-campus recruiter, a volunteer for a local outreach ministry, and a volunteer worker for a Pastoral ministry about an hour from campus. As I have given and worked to inspire change, I have been filled in the process. It really is the small things that add up to make a big difference. That statement is definitely true in my life, and I desire to continue to do the small things in other’s lives to continue to influence individual and widespread change.