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Jackie Fisher

1,125

Bold Points

1x

Finalist

1x

Winner

Bio

My first step into America was when I was eight years old. Shy and only speaking Ukrainian I stepped off the plane with my new adoptive parents, ready for a new start in life. Though happy with starting a new life, I struggled with integrating, leaving my culture, family, language, and everything I ever knew behind was challenging. Though life did not continue without challenges I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. Now as an adult I have grown a passion for helping others who have similar backgrounds as myself. Other internationally adopted children, children who had to learn a second language to communicate with the world around them, children who lost everything and had to find a new them to know who they really are. My goals are to take these children who are lost in their situation and help them discover that the world isn’t against them, help them find themselves, and show them why they matter. This mission and goal comes with education and education costs money. I believe I am a good candidate because your money in helping to fund my education does not just stop at the money, it continues into the education I will receive and then pass on to those I help. Thank you for your time in considering me!

Education

University of Denver

Master's degree program
2023 - 2025
  • Majors:
    • Psychology, Other
    • Social Work

Indiana Wesleyan University-National & Global

Associate's degree program
2017 - 2020
  • Majors:
    • Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General

Indiana Wesleyan University-National & Global

Bachelor's degree program
2017 - 2023
  • Majors:
    • Social Work

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

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

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Social Work
    • Psychology, Other
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      social work

    • Dream career goals:

    • Direct Care

      Lincoln Self Reliance
      2017 – 20181 year
    • Program Administrator

      Teton Youth and Family Services
      2018 – Present6 years

    Sports

    Cross-Country Running

    Club
    2009 – 20112 years

    Research

    • NA

      Present

    Arts

    • NA
      Present

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Church — Food packager
      2005 – 2007

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Politics

    Volunteering

    Philanthropy

    Adoptee Scholarship
    Winner
    I was adopted at eight years old from a Ukrainian orphanage. I still remember the first day I met the people that were going to adopt me, it was scary because I didn’t know a single word in English and they didn’t know a single word in Ukrainian, but they had nice smiles and bought me a doll so I was excited about that. Shortly after this first meeting, I was told I would be adopted. I then got on a plane with total strangers that I could not talk to nor understand and traveled halfway across the world leaving everything familiar behind. This journey has not gone without challenges, there was a lot of playing charades with my new family trying to communicate while I learned the new language. I was also adopted with another girl who became my sister. She has a disability and required/s a lot of my new parent’s attention and time. I struggled to find where I belonged and someone who wanted me, craving this attention from years in the orphanage and lack of attention from my new parents I found a person who gave me attention. This person was my grandfather, he took me to get donuts and let me go pet the neighbor’s dog, and told me I was special, I craved this, I needed someone to see me, and he did. Unfortunately, this was not all my grandfather did, in the midst of the attention he gave, he also sexually molested me for years. Under his excuse of telling me I wasn’t real family, I am just adopted. He went to prison for molesting multiple children when I was 15. It has taken me years to overcome these traumas and though I have not nor will overcome them, I can endure and improve my own life and the life of others who have faced similar challenges. In my healing, I embarked on the journey of finding myself which let me to find my biological family in Ukraine. I found my mama and learned I had four siblings I didn’t know about. I learned that my mama was also a product of the Ukrainian orphanage system and therefore struggled to raise children and had alcohol problems, which is why I ended up at an orphanage. Yet she never forgot about her children and even stayed living in the same place for all these years so that her children could find her one day. It has been a beautiful reunion with daily communication, until, Russia invaded Ukraine this past February. This has limited our contact as she does not always have service and is often stuck in a bomb shelter. My heart aches for her safety and fear that my one connection to help me be me might get stolen away with this war. Since these challenges, I have started school to become a social worker; to work in the adoption field and help educate new adoptive families, and be a support for the adoptee. I currently work at a residential facility serving adolescent males who have struggled in their family life, many of whom are adopted. I plan to continue working in the adoption field and help other adoptees obtain what I struggled to find, caring adults that tell them they are worthy. Thank you for listening to my story.
    Growing with Gabby Scholarship
    My biggest growth this past year is finding confidence, and boldness in who I am. The event that inspired this personal growth is the Ukrainian war that started on February 24th, 2022. Being from Ukraine I personally took the date as an attack on me. My birthday is February 20th this was just a few days after my birthday, I had a lovely day and even spoke with my Mama back in Ukraine reassuring me that Russia would not attack it is only a threat. Four days later Russia attached so I had shame in that I even had a little hope for the good. This has been a recurring pattern throughout my life that challenging things happen around the time of my birthday so I started molding this image of “I am bad” bad things happen because I was born. But after years of being lost in my thoughts on a path of self-loathing and lack of confidence this event on February 24th changed my thinking. When I contacted my family in this challenging moment wondering when a bomb was going to hit them in their sleep, they constantly reminded me that they needed me to be there in hope and spirit. But being in my head and the cycle of I’m bad continued hope was something I couldn’t find. As propaganda spread about Ukrainians being Nazis and needing to be exterminated by Russia I started taking it personally. Hiding anything with my birth-given name, and not disclosing who I am. Even knowing this was not true, the mind is a powerful tool that can take control of your life if you give it its way. After a month of being terrified of the new thing to happen if I have a glimmer of hope and hiding who I am, I had a quick snap in my mind. Why am I sulking? There is no external force making things worse because I was born because I am happy because I am proud. My family is suffering daily from a potential attack and I can’t even show them the proudness of being Ukrainian and enduring this attack on them. This realization had a huge change in my brain and I found confidence in being happy, having hope, and being proud and bold. What has changed about me is I am proud of my past and who I am and quickly introduce myself with confidence, and that confidence has spilled over into how I do my job and how I tackle my school work. I am more proficient and determined in getting things done because of my confidence. What has remained the same is the power of the mind. I am not free of getting moments of the mind taking over and trying to take my confidence, but I have that control now. And through this journey of self-discovery, I’ve learned others matter more in life when you are confident in yourself. You care more about others and help more because you are bold in yourself.