My name is Dylan Odom and I am a Highschool Senior at T.C. Roberson High School in Arden, NC. I will attend New River Community College in Virginia next fall to continue my education in Welding and Machining/Fabrication and I will also play on their baseball team. I just completed my Basic Welding Certificate at AB Tech Community College and I am currently working at Ingles. I am currently a player on T.C. Roberson’s baseball team. Our coach has mentored all of us on the importance of giving back to our community and helping others. Our baseball program supports the PEP Program which helps and supports students with physical and intellectual disabilities. I have been a peer tutor for the PEP students at TC. We also have an adaptive baseball program where the PEP students come out and play baseball with us on Saturdays during the spring season. We teach them how to throw the baseball, run the bases and hit. I also attend the PEP student prom. To see the laughter and the smiles on their faces says it all! I will also be attending the Tim Tebow Foundation Night to Shine as a buddy for one of the PEP students in February. During Hurricane Helene, my friends and I went door to door to our neighbors asking what we could do to help them. We cut up trees with chainsaws, moved debris out of driveways and brought food and water to those who needed it. To see the destruction firsthand was overwhelming and scary to see. Seeing neighbors helping neighbors and strangers helping strangers was life changing. It confirmed everything my parents have always said, that if you can help someone you do it, no questions asked because one day it might be you needing that help! In regards to the financial help this scholarship will provide, there are no words. My mom currently has a blood cancer she has been battling since 2009. All I’ve know is my mom going to chemo treatments and hospitals for two bone marrow transplants. When one treatment stops working she moves on to the next treatment. Her motto has always been “I can’t worry about something I can’t control so I pull up my big girl panties and keep moving forward”. She has never missed any school function any baseball game and has always been there for our family and friends. If I could do half of what she has done, I would consider that a win win for me! Anyway to soften the financial burden on my folks would be more than I could ask for. Thank you so much for consideration for this scholarship. Sincerely, Dylan Odom