1) My name is Mia Abigail Zermeño, and I am a first-generation college student and a Brownsville native. In Spring of 2024, I graduated both high school and college where I earned my associate degree in General Studies. I then continued to higher education and became student at Texas State University. At Texas State, I am majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Forensic Psychology. Besides schooling, I like to spend time with friends, reading, and exploring San Marcos. I enjoy being around friends and family and making memories that last a lifetime. 2) Receiving this scholarship would significantly alleviate the financial strain on both my parents and me. Due to various circumstances my family and I don’t get enough federal financial aid, so most of my schooling comes out of pocket and from personal loans, which could be a huge stressor. The scholarship award would help cover essential costs such as tuition, housing, and textbooks, which would allow me to focus more on my studies rather than having to worry about my school finances. 3) Since the beginning of the semester, both my academic goals and career goals have had a slight shift, but nevertheless my passion for school has further grown. My academic goal is to graduate Texas State with my bachelor’s, in Criminal Justice and a minor in Forensic Psychology, by the spring semester of 2026 which would mean I would have finished my bachelor’s degree in two years. After getting my bachelor’s degree, my plan is to apply and attend a Texas law school in furtherance of my career goals. My end goal is to pass the Texas Bar and end up as a successful criminal defense attorney. 4) In high school, organized a drive for female hygiene products. I stared the drive due to the limited resources to some of our lower income female students, as well as low accessibility within the school. We received many products, that we spread out across campus, so that female students would have readily access to products when in need. On top of this drive, I was also a part of my schools’ book drive with over 24 hours of service, and would go to nursing homes and play holiday music during the holidays. 5) One of my biggest failure was in high school, when I was disqualified at a state competition. I was competing for an event at the state level, and my partner and I accidentally went over our time, and we got disqualified for that reason. At the time of the disqualification, I was distraught, but I then realized I still had the next year. This failure gave me the motivation to better myself in the event. We practiced every day and timed each other repeatedly, until my partner and I were able to complete all our tasks with time to spare. That next year we were able to successfully able to compete at state, and we ended up placing 4th in the state. 6) Throughout my life I have gone through many up and downs which have led me to learn many things about myself. One of the strengths I have possessed for a long time is my leadership skills. Since I was a young student, I have had a passion and strength for leading and encouraging my peers to achieve a common goal. On top of this strength, I have also had a strong feel for commitment and time management. I am the type of person to see through with my prior commitments and know how to manage my time properly.