My goal has always been to help people in the ways I needed help growing up. Growing up I was a child to a teen and basically single mother as my father was a bipolar drug addict and didn't help out. However early on in life this set me on a path that I knew I wanted to follow. My dream career is to become an elementary educator. In this field it will help me become a mentor to those who need one, and I can be in a field where people can come to me for anything whether it be advice, food, or just someone to talk to. This will help me make positive influences in children's lives and I would be shaping the next generation of future lawyers or doctors. We always need someone in our lives we know we can come to no matter what and I intend to be that person for someone who needs it and that is why I will be Majoring in elementary education at the University of North Florida beginning in the fall to begin this wonderful journey. However, to achieve this goal I know I will need some help along the way. I have been accepted into UNF as an education major, and I was beyond ecstatic when I got the news as an early applicant and will be a first-generation College student and hopefully earn my bachelor's degree. College was something I knew I was going to do early on as I have always worked hard in school and been on top, but my biggest obstacle would be overcoming the financial burden that comes with it. My freshman Year I turned 15 and got my first job at my Local Winn Dixie and worked every weekend and by the time I was 16 I worked 3-4 days out of the week saving up all the money I could to start my college fund. Then In August 2023 I began a job in a daycare and worked Monday-Friday after school and anytime we had days off from school I'd go in as early as possible to earn more money. To help overcome this aspect I have worked hard every day to earn myself money to put myself through college and applied to many scholarships to get any money I can so I can afford to go. I am very passionate about working with kids and would love to turn this into a lifelong career that I know I will love. My life has greatly affected the way I think and how I see others but also guided me on a path that I love and for that I couldn't be more grateful. I will continue to work as hard as possible to fufill my dreamd and if that means payong for college semester by semester then I will.

One adversity that a person like me has gone through is being the daughter of a bipolar drug addict who was never there and always out on a bender or not in the right mind to take care of or even be involved in his families lives. This set me on a rough path in life. I was told I would be just like him, and I had always feared that this was true. However, as I have grown, I have proven these assumptions to be false. In my senior year of Highschool I have accomplished more than he has in his lifetime. I'm in various clubs at school, work Monday through Friday, save my money, and have already been accepted in college with a bright future in the education field ahead of me. Growing up I was missing a very important mentor to help guide me through life and because of that I aspire to be a mentor for all and to those who need one. My goal is to be an educator hopefully kindergarten or first grade. This is my dream job and with this scholarship I can achieve those goals. I dream to be in a field where people can come to me for anything whether it be advice, food, comfort, or just someone to talk to. My goals are to be someone who can make a lifelong impact for a child or even their whole family. We all need someone in our life who we know will always be there no matter what and majoring in education at the University of North Florida will help me to become that person for someone. This scholarship will help me attain those goals by relieving the burden of financial struggle to put myself through college. I can devote more time to becoming the person I want to be rather than constantly worrying about how I will get there. By alleviating some of the financial pressures I have I could possibly get an internship which turns into a job or put my passion to use and help those students that need me or start a program to help those students that focus on innovative and engaging ways that could assist them with skills in life that they need to be taught. In conclusion I would like to make a difference in the world and a difference in the lives of the people through education and with this scholarship it can push me one step closer towards that goal and motivate me further to continuing on with this dream.

My Mother had me at 17 while she was still in high school. My father was the same age but a bipolar drug addict who did not help my mother. Her home life was terrible, so she moved out at 18 and had to work three jobs to support us. Throughout her life, she never stopped working and showed me that if you want something you have to work for it. It helped to show me the value of hard work so since the beginning of my freshman year in high school I have had a job. Not only did she teach me hard work this taught me compassion for others, especially younger children. I hope to be in a career field where I can help children when they are going through tough times as I did when I was younger. My first option is to be a teacher because they can help foster development with children and also become a loving and trusting figure the kids can turn to. This way I can help use the experience I went through to guide others in the same situation or to children going through worse. My second career of choice would be in The FBI working to save kids that are being hurt or Child Psychology. In the world of psychology, I can help kids understand what they are going through, and how it is and can affect them, as well as help them to become more well-rounded individuals. My career in the FBI would help put me in an authoritative position to stop the hurt and wrongdoing of children in the world. I can also protect them from the parents they have who do not deserve them and put them in unfortunate situations purposefully. As of right now I am employed at a daycare and have worked there since August 2023. This has helped me gain positive connections with children and I have become someone they trust. This has also helped prepare me for a life in the education career field and in school with the classes I am taking. It will help me deal with future situations properly and how to address situations I never thought I would have before. Overall, my mother becoming a teen mom aided me in pursuing a career dedicated to helping others as she did for her family. This also taught me valuable lessons on waiting to have kids later in life or not soon but showed me if that happens it is ok and anyone can handle it if they work hard enough.

I would choose Will, Steve, and Dustin. Wil has been through the upside down and knows what facing challenges, especially supernatural ones is like. He and his friends can always figure out a plan to defeat a monster, get out of the upside-down, and come out alive. He will provide the essential foundation and basic knowledge we need to fight a supernatural threat of any species. Secondly, I choose Steve Harrington even though his character started as unlikable and unfit to help he grew into one of the most courageous, thoughtful, caring, and kind characters on the show. Steve would make sure we were protected and well rested he would stop at nothing to make certain the threat was dealt with, and we were all safe. Throughout the show you can see his evolution of becoming a "babysitter to the kids" and this can really come in clutch when dealing with new entities. Lastly, I would love to have Dustin Henderson in my squad just for comedic relief. He is funny and I know during a supernatural threat everyone would be scared and stressed. Dustin would be able to ease our tensions, tell a few jokes, or even be unironically funny for us. Overall, those three would be the most effective duo with some ups and downs to provide us with the defeat of a new supernatural threat.

In kindergarten I was bullied for having pneumonia and was told I should have died after telling my teachers they were able to take care of this bully for me and he never bothered me again. This stood out to me and showed me that not only are teachers there to teach but to take care of those they teach. My career of choice is to be either a preschool teacher or a kindergarten teacher. I am passionate about being a teacher because I believe that in this career field, I can make a difference in children's lives in doing so I can foster child development, inspire creativity, and give them a loving figure or community they can turn to for when they need support. In the field of education there is a high turnover rate, and kids are not getting the help that they need. I have always enjoyed learning and working with kids. Teachers who have taught me were there for me through it all and made the biggest impacts in my life today. Upon entering high school, it was hard to make decisions on what electives I wanted to choose but I chose to go into early childhood which helped me jumpstart this career. This helped me learn how to interact better with children, understand the basics, and give me a good idea of what it would be like when I entered the realm of education. At the time I was working in a grocery store and knew that wasn't going to help me, so I started to look for jobs related to the field I wanted to pursue. During the summer before my junior year, I began looking for jobs in a daycare and found one almost 10 minutes away from my home and I was hired in August 2023. This required me to work every day after school, so it was often tiring but I enjoyed it very much. Working in a field of childcare can be very demanding and required a lot of me but I knew I could handle it. This also required a lot of time away from home and my family, but they understood, and I still came home every night and cooked for them. Most of the money I earned I used to pay my bills and helped me pay for early childhood courses that I would take online to help me. Even though I only worked 4 hours after school it was still a lot but then over the summer, I began to work full time with most of my hours being over 40. However, this greatly helped me to understand how to interact with children better and prepared me for my CDA interviews and observations. The people in this field inspired me to get in it and now I am doing my best to prepare for it in hopes to be an amazing teacher and kind hand for these children.

My father was bipolar and used drugs. He was in and out of prison my whole life and I got to see how it affected him. This helped me to choose the path of eduction and teaching. It also showed me that relationships in life are important and how you act leads to who will be there for you in times of need. This has helped me want to be able to work with others who need it and be able to help them if they are struggling as he did not have that support. My goal in teaching is to provide support, love, and encouragement in kids and give them a whole community they can rely on even if their brains are different or they are different from others. No matter what someone is going through or what they are struggling with I will always be there in hope that they stay strong and get better the best that they can. Seeing this through my life made me realize that life is not always on sunny and happy but there can be dark ups and downs and it’s about you react and handle it is how your life will be. He did it the wrong way but it taught me the right choices to make and it will help me guide others to make the right decisions.

My father’s incarceration has led me to go through life without a much needed father figure and we do not speak very often. He was a bipolar drug addict with very serious mental trauma. If the bipolar gene was passed on to me I would check for it as soon as possible and take my medication always which is something he failed to do. Which affected how he interacted with others and why my family is split apart and we do not all have contact with one another. I plan to always say no to drugs and go through life trying to help others not fall victim to them. Through my life I have had help from friends and even went through therapy to help myself work through my feelings and not turn to alcohol or drugs to help me cope. I have a journal that I write in daily to help me write down how I am feeling if I cannot talk to someone right away. Not only have I worked on myself to cope I have tried reaching out to my father after multiple incarcerations but he no longer speaks whether by choice or if something happened to him. Along with drug use he was very angry and went to prison for assault so when I am angry I channel that into calming things like painting which I have been able to express how I feel in them. These works have also helped me excel in art classes which got those paintings showed in malls or stores and even posted on school websites. Other art crafts i channeled my feelings into was Jewlery making. This helped me feel better as well as earn money. My friend and I started our own business and began making rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings to sell. Finally this affected the career path I would like to go in which is prekindergarten - elementary education. This will help me give guidance to kids who need it or kids I can watch over and take care of when others in their life are incarcerated. I know work in a daycare which is a steppingstone to this career path. It shows me how to deal with other’s emotions while working on my own at the same time. It teaches me patience, love, and empathy even on kids who some would reject. This will help me to give those kids some comfort of parent if they are gone.