Completing college is my ticket to providing a better life for my three sons. College is something that no one in my family has been able to do, and I want to change that. Learning, networking, and doing life with other individuals who share the same goals as myself is also something I look forward to every day. College is so much more than a certificate. This December, I will graduate with my Associate in Arts degree, which I am very proud of. Having to work 2–3 jobs at a time to get through some of life's toughest times will soon be in the rearview mirror and I will be accomplishing one of my goals. My next goal will be to earn my Bachelor’s in Business Administration with Human Resources Specialization so that I may advance my career. Living paycheck to paycheck and having to decide whether I will be paying the electric bill or purchasing groceries this week will be a memory of the past. My family emigrated from Cuba, leaving behind everything they knew to start life from scratch. They did that to escape political prosecution and to save their lives. Since then, no one in my family has been able to climb the educational ladder in the United States to the level of college education. My grandmother’s dying wish was for me to finish college so that future generations can have hope that they too can accomplish their dreams. I intend to fulfill her wish. Student life on campus is full of so many opportunities for community volunteering, networking, fun activities, and resources. Meeting others who work full-time, are moms, and in school brings me joy and encouragement. Participating in school activities with people from diverse backgrounds helps me grow as a person and deepen my appreciation for the community of learners that I have the privilege of being part of. Some people may see my college degree as another qualification on a job resume or another frame on the wall, but to me, it’s a representation of the hard work, grit, endurance, and determination that it took to accomplish my goals. No one can the knowledge, experiences, and memories gained from college from me. The only direction I can go after graduation is forward and upward. Thank you for reading my essay and I promise to be a good steward of scholarship funding received if I am selected.

Multiple sclerosis has altered my life in ways I never thought possible. Some years I can go about my days with fatigue as the main culprit and other years I have had to fight to graduate from a wheelchair to a walker, from a walker to slow walking, and into jogging again. My life goals were to graduate from the law enforcement academy as I continued my studies toward my criminal justice degree and to work as a law enforcement officer. That trajectory changed when I was diagnosed with MS. “You can’t shoot if your gun hand stops working.” “We can’t accommodate your disability.” These are all responses I heard when applying to be a sworn law enforcement officer in the state of Florida. I graduated top of the recruiting class and earned a near-perfect score on my state exam. I did what I thought would be best, become a 9-1-1 dispatcher. After all, I needed to work to pay for things that scholarships did not fund. The position required me to work thirty days at a time without a day off and most of those shifts were eighteen hours long. My fatigue was unbearable and I developed cardiac issues. The culprit: multiple sclerosis. I stopped attending classes online and focused on becoming healthy again. Then I lost eligibility for my scholarships. I decided to pursue a career in the field of aviation. My career growth started from a staff assistant up to an airport manager. Then I became paralyzed in an MS exacerbation. I was separated from employment due to medical limitations that could not be accommodated. I fought to stop being bed bound, into a wheelchair, and to where I am now. It took me almost a year of rehab, medication trials, and prayer. While MS has changed my trajectory more than one time I will not let it stop me from realizing my full potential at any stage in life. Today, I work from home part-time and travel one day a week to manage tasks assigned by my employer at an airport two hours away from my home. Plagued with migraines, fatigue, and leg numbness from the days I drive, I am required to take the next day off which limits the amount of money I can make to pay bills. I feel stuck because my employer provides my health insurance and without it, I wouldn’t be able to cover many of the services I receive to keep me living to my fullest potential. But now I’m being forced to choose whether I pay for the electric bill or basic groceries. Do I need to see my neurologist or drive to have an MRI done? That’s gas money I could be saving. How do I want to move forward? I want to finish my college education in the field of Human Resources so that I may work closer to home while being employed by a company or agency that provides health benefits to their employees. The obstacle I have come to is that I don’t qualify for financial aid because I am employed. This is why I am seeking out scholarships and grants to help me get started. My employer will help me once I can prove I am enrolled and earning high grades but I have to be able to pay for the initial courses first. With this scholarship, I will be able to start my educational journey again and meet the goals of financial independence and healthcare security without compromising my health in doing so.

Have you ever had a near miss in an aircraft? Has your flight been delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances”? A big part of those two issues is the inability for air traffic to be monitored and managed with our limited resources. The labor force in air traffic control is shrinking but the amount of people flying is increasing. How do we mitigate the safety risks of aircraft flying that are not communicating properly on radio communications? Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) which is where an aircraft’s positioning source, its avionics, and ground infrastructure are used to create a communications system between air traffic control and aircraft. This system also works in the aircraft to see others as you are flying. Back to the first question of a near miss, with ADS-B in your aircraft you will be able to see other aircraft flying in your vicinity on your dashboard as long as they are also using ADS-B. This is an extra layer of safety to prevent mid air collisions and what are called near misses. In the second question, ADS-B allows air traffic control to “see you” before they ever hear you on the radio. They can sequence your arrival into the airspace according to the data that populates for your aircraft. For example, if you are flying a Cessna 172 and the aircraft behind you is a Gulfstream - air traffic will quickly move you out of the way before you are over taken by the larger and faster mover. Or they will tell the jet to fly at a different altitude to avoid colliding with you. ADS-B assists with this along with radio communications, other radar data input if the tower is equipped , and visual tracking from the tower. I believe that if all aircraft were outfitted with ADS-B the mid air collision that occurred over Winter Haven, FL between a seaplane and a fixed wing aircraft could have been avoided. They would have seen each other in the airport flight pattern and those individuals would still be with us today. Technology and change can be intimidating when you have been used to doing it a certain way for so long but it can certainly save your life if you allow it to.

It is a big deal for my family to be here and to have children who have been able to prosper on their own in a foreign country. We have learned a new language, learned new traditions, and new laws, and made new friends. The most challenging part has been to go through school with virtually no help at home because mom and dad did not learn most of what we are being taught here in the United States. Now I have the opportunity to go further with my education and be the first one in my family to graduate with a degree! That is the icing on the cake! We have officially lived the American Dream. That sounds great but there are so many layers beneath that. Financial obstacles, health obstacles, obstacles from being a victim of a crime, and so forth. Should we let obstacles define us? No! We are a family that seeks solutions and resolve in everything we do and I will not take my family’s sacrifice for granted. I am asking for this scholarship so that I may pay for my courses, registration, books, and fees without accumulating debt. I do not qualify for assistance because I have a job. My job pays my day-to-day bills but does not pay enough to establish savings more than an emergency fund for these bills. I need a degree so that I may advance to the next level in my career in airport administration. Unfortunately, even though I have more experience than most applicants, I lack the educational requirements for the next tier in my job advancement. This is causing me to lose opportunities to better myself, and my family situation, and with inflation I am falling further behind. I am living paycheck to paycheck and without job advancement, I am afraid I will lose my home. My employer will partially reimburse me for coursework completed, so once I can initiate learning and complete courses I will be able to self-sustain my own educational goals. I need the initial investment to get started for the first two semesters along with books, fees, and registration. I appreciate the time you spent reading my essay and the admiration you have for our culture, our history, and most of all the future of our people here in America. This scholarship would catapult me into another realm of abilities that would benefit not only me but my family and my Hispanic community.

Traditional students graduate high school, go to college, complete their educational goals within a 2-8 year timeframe and move into their desired career field. This is the exact opposite of what defines my education history because I graduated high school with honors and scholarships but went down a different path due to being the victim of a violent crime while I was enrolled as a freshman at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. The result of the violent crime resulted in the birth of my oldest child who I love dearly and will do anything to improve the quality of our life and the community in which we live. Another obstacle placed in our lives that barred me physically and financially for a long time from achieving the ability to receive a higher education degree was the diagnosis and subsequent symptoms of multiple sclerosis while being a single mother. While most traditional students would have family to lean into during difficult times such as a medical diagnosis or when being the victim of a crime, I did not. Little did I know at the time that the person who inflicted harm upon me could also file to obtain child custody. From 2008 until now I have had to co-parent my child amicably with the person who battered me when I was first entering college. I have learned through therapy, prayer, and time to let it go but it does not change the fact that my educational goals have been severely impacted. This scholarship will help me enroll and complete my associate's degree so that I may apply for higher-paying jobs that I currently do not qualify for based solely on educational requirements. Although I possess a great deal of institutional and hands-on experience, it is not enough to advance me to the next level in my career field. With the high cost of courses, inflation in everyday items, and the rising cost of my healthcare I will not be able to complete my educational goal without scholarship awards. I believe that higher education will also help me cater to the youth in my 4-H club that I mentor who are looking into different career paths and have questions right now about college that I cannot answer because I lack the experience necessary. I thank you for reading my essay about my non-traditional educational path and how obtaining an associate's degree or higher would advance me in my career field to better my family and my community. Your help would be a blessing.