I have experienced more adversity in my life than many average eighteen-year-olds. I was born to two alcoholics who were neglectful and abusive. I suffered four years of hardship living with them until finally Child Protective Services took me and my two younger sisters away from them. My time in foster care lasted for nearly four years. Some of the things that I experienced in those homes are unspeakable. The people who I was supposed to be able to trust abused me. They treated me differently from their own children. They neglected and malnourished me. I was sexually abused in half of the homes that I stayed in, too. I was finally adopted when I was eight years old into a loving family. But that didn’t mean that adversities stopped. Many adversities have arisen- from my adoptive father being diagnosed with cancer, to my mom nearly cutting off her thumb, to losing several beloved animals. From a young age, I have had to mature faster than most. I had to be my little sisters’ “mom” until I was eight years old. My beginnings hurt me and damaged me. But when I was adopted, I found hope. I found myself being raised by two people who truly loved me. I had a solid mother and father figure. I was taught right from wrong. I was given nutritious food to eat. I was loved and nurtured. Naturally, this was hope in itself, but my journey of hope really began when I started to develop an awareness that there was something drastically different about my new parents. I kept wondering to myself why they were so kind to me. Why did they keep giving me grace even after I was a rebellious punk? Why did they love each other so much and likewise love me so much? Why were they happy all the time? I knew something was different about them. One day, I asked them about it. My adoptive parents explained to me that they were Christians. They told me how Jesus came down from Heaven to die on a cross for the world’s sins. They explained to me that if I believed in my heart and confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, then I would be saved from my sins and be able to go to Heaven someday when I die. My adoptive parents told me about how they were joyful because Jesus lives in their hearts. They have true happiness and hope because of Him. I was astounded by what I heard. I had a sudden, burning desire to experience this as well. I wanted to have a relationship with Jesus, too! My adoptive parents and I went to my room and we all prayed together. I prayed and confessed my sins to Jesus and then asked Him to come and live in my heart. I know this may sound silly to some. But Jesus is how I have overcome adversity in my life. My walk with Him has helped me forgive my birth parents and foster families for the wrongs they did. It was not easy. Having a relationship with Jesus is not like taking some magic potion and then *poof* everything is better. On the contrary, I still have many adversities in my life. But Jesus gives me hope- a living hope- each day. No matter what life may throw at me, I know Jesus will never leave nor forsake me. This is how I have overcome and will continue to overcome my adversities.

I love to extend kind words to other people. It is one of my favorite things to do- to randomly surprise another person with a kind note or encourage somebody with thoughtful words. One time while I was working at a coffee shop, a woman came in and ordered one of our specialty drinks. We had unfortunately run out of the syrup needed to make that drink that day. I apologized to her and she seemed very disappointed. I noted this as strange- most people quickly choose another drink. But this woman was very upset about it. She very reluctantly ordered a different drink. As I made her drink, I began to talk with her. As it turns out, she had gotten a phone call from her grandmother, who was crying on the phone. The grandmother was going through an extremely difficult time with her health. The doctors didn’t think that she was going to make it much longer. The woman who came into the coffee shop was so disappointed about the drink because she had specifically told her grandmother that she would get the drink for her to help her feel better. The woman's story tore at my heart. I love my own grandparents to pieces. I cannot imagine what it would be like to watch one of them slowly die. Right then and there at work I cried with the woman. Then one of my coworkers and I placed our hands on her shoulders and prayed with her. We asked God to be with the woman and to give her strength during that incredibly challenging time. And we asked God to bring about healing to her grandmother. The woman left the coffee shop with happy tears in her eyes. She was immensely thankful that I had cared enough to listen to her even though she was a complete stranger and she was overjoyed that my friend and I prayed for her. It may have been a small act of kindness to listen and pray for her, but I know it is one that really touched the woman’s heart. I do not believe that helping somebody in need means having to go out and do huge, extravagant things for somebody. I believe it is the small acts of kindness towards others that impact people the most. Simply lending a listening ear or writing a sweet thank-you note can go a very long way.

I am a member of my high school’s National Honor Society. Each year we do a large group project and then each member does a smaller project. One of our community service projects has been very important to me- Food For Thought. Food For Thought is an organization that supplies elementary, middle, and high school students with food over the weekends. Some low-income students spread across a good chunk of Colorado do not have food over the weekends. These students live off of free school lunches and then go home to no food when school gets out for the weekend. Each week, my school bags food for these children. There are about 150 that need to be bagged every week. My National Honor Society chapter and I are heavily involved in bagging the food. Additionally, we have started a canned soup drive to help supply the groceries. It was noted that the food being distributed had little-to-no protein. My chapter and I are in the process of setting up boxes and raising awareness of our cause. I love helping out with Food For Thought because I used to be a low-income student myself. When I was in foster care, I had terrible foster parents who did not feed my sisters and I proper meals. I lived off of my school lunches. When I did come home, there was only ramen or pizza to eat. This community service project is very dear to me because of my own past experiences with hunger and lacking proper nutrition. I have also led my chapter in doing a coat drive for foster children in my community. We contacted our CASA office, and asked if they had any needs that we could help them meet. They said that they needed winter coats. My National Honor Society chapter and I raised almost 50 coats for my community. We decorated and set up boxes around our community. We also talked to family and friends about the project as well to bring awareness to our coat drive. This project was important to me because I never, ever had proper clothing when I was in foster care. I had to wear clothes that were much too small for me and I went without a good winter coat in the winter. I was thrilled to be able to help other children. Even when I graduate high school, I would like to continue to help my community around me. I want to study Political Science in college. I would like to obtain a career that will allow me to advocate for abused children. I was abused and neglected as a little girl and I want to help other children out of horrific situations like that. This is how I plan to continue to impact my community even when I graduate and move on to college.

It wouldn’t take long for somebody to see that I am very different from most girls. I do not believe in following the popular culture of today’s world. I am very “traditional” minded. I have several things that make me stand apart from my peers around me. I uphold these and greatly value them. One thing that sets me apart is that I strongly value dressing modestly. Today’s culture pressures girls to wear crop tops and booty shorts, to have their cleavage showing, and to wear skin-tight clothing. Many, many girls conform to this type of dressing. I do not believe in dressing like this. I believe that God desires for women to dress modestly. As women, we do not need to be wearing clothing that screams, “look at me!” We do not need to be showing off our bodies for the whole world to see. Instead, we should cover them well and honor both God and the men around us by doing so. I also value not being “too grown up” to do certain things. When girls hit their teenage years, many of them become too cool for things that they used to do. But I will not conform to what culture says I should and shouldn’t do for my age. For example, I will never outgrow my love for climbing trees. To this day- I am eighteen years old- I climb trees all the time. It may be looked down upon because I am “too old,” but I don’t really care. I do not care what other people think about me. Another example is that I will never be too old to play with my little siblings. I have known girls in the past who feel as though they are too old to go out and jump on the trampoline with the younger children. Or that they are too old to go and play pretend with the little kids. On the contrary, I love to play with little children and will never become too old or too “cool” for it. Another thing that sets me apart from many of my peers is that I strongly value showing respect to the adults around me. Calling people in positions of authority by Mr. or Ms. is something that I try to always do. It may be more old-fashioned, but I like to give the people older than me the respect that they deserve. I also try to say thank you to those who have helped me in any way. While this may seem extremely simple, so many of my peers do not thank those in authority. I plan on giving back to my community through advocating for abused children. When I was a little girl, I was abused in my birth parent’s home and in several of the foster homes that I stayed in. Coming out of those abusive homes, I want to help other children who are hurting and suffering from abuse. I want to major in Political Science. At some point in my life, I would like to obtain a job that will put me in a position where I can effectively advocate for abused children. My past, my upbringing from my adoptive parents, and my own personal quirks have uniquely shaped me to be the person I am today. I want to go out into this world and shine as a light for all the people bound by today’s social standards. I hope to use my uniqueness to positively impact the community around me.

I have not taken any financial classes. Instead, I have amazing parents who have taught me important lessons about money and finances. (They have taken financial classes through Dave Ramsey.) I am extremely grateful for their wise instructions. Without them, I would be very lost. My parents have taught me how to save, spend, and tithe my money wisely. The first thing that I have learned is to save my money. Save, save, save. It may seem very basic, but in reality, not a lot of people do this. Nearly all the money that I earn gets put into savings. That is a ground rule to me. Otherwise, I would be tempted to go out and spend my whole paycheck. That would be neither wise nor productive. The next thing that I have learned from my own personal experience is that it is wise to set aside a small amount of money for spending. The idea behind this is to prevent the temptation of pulling out money from savings to spend. It is also very important to be wise on what to spend this precious money on. A personal struggle that I have is to not spend it on food- fun snacks and treats. I find it helpful to ask myself how long the item that I am wanting to purchase will last. Fun treats do not last long and therefore are not ideal to be spending my sparse cash on. I am a Christian. I believe that everything that I have is not really mine, but God’s. Therefore, I tithe 10 percent of everything I make. This means that I am essentially giving 10 percent of all my earnings to God as commanded in the Bible. Another useful thing that I have learned from my parents is the importance of not taking out loans. I have heard of the horrors of being 10 to 15 years in debt. Many people take out loans when they cannot afford something. This is not ideal, however, because then this money has to be paid back. My mom went to Baylor University. All four years she took out loans to pay for college. Then she got married and had six children. It took her years upon years to pay off her student debt. I do not wish to make the same mistake! I plan on using these tips from my parents for the rest of my life. I firmly believe this way of handling money will keep me debt free and able to pay for important expenses in life. My future will be much better and more enjoyable without years of debt.

I was brought into this world by two extreme alcoholics. The things that my birth parents did to my two little sisters and I during their periods of drunkenness are unrepeatable. The things they did were evil. On many occasions, my birth mother would lock my sisters and I in a room together. Then she watched us from the door. She watched us fight and yell at each other. When we would hit one another, she egged us on and would laugh as she watched us beat each other up. We were a hilarious TV show to her. Being three and four years old, we didn’t know anything different. Another time, my birth parents had a huge fight. Alcohol was likely involved. They screamed at each other in front of us and then chased each other out the front door of our house. Then they got in their cars and chased each other around. I was four years old at the time. It is only by God’s grace that my sisters and I did not end up hurting or killing ourselves while our birth parents were acting like psychopaths. Our neighbors at the time kept calling Child Protective Services. CPS eventually came out and investigated our situation and then we were placed into foster care. In foster care, I experienced extreme hardships. Not only was it incredibly difficult not having a solid mother and father figure in my life, but I was also physically and sexually abused in many of the homes that I stayed in. It still hurts me to this day that my birth parents were alcoholics. I look back and wonder what my life would have been like if they were not alcoholics- if I had grown up in a “normal” family from the day I was born. I certainly would not have experienced all those horrible events in my life. I would not have experienced my immense trauma. And yet, I know that my story is beautiful. It is unique and it has taught me more lessons than I would have ever learned if I had not gone through these hardships. My story and reason for going though all my hardships can be traced back to one thing: my parent’s addiction to alcohol. I would never have gone through such hardships if my birth parents had not chosen alcohol over their own children. My experience with alcohol has greatly impacted the formulation of many of my personal ideas and beliefs. I know for certain that I will never, ever get addicted to alcohol or drugs. In our American culture, alcohol is positively promoted. From commercials, to advertisements, to peers; alcohol is shown as fun and harmless. But I will never be seduced into trying drugs or getting addicted to alcohol. I have seen up close what alcohol does to people and I by no means want to participate in that. Alcohol has greatly impacted my life and it will continue to impact me. However, it has helped me grow. It has given me a moral guide as to how I should live my life in light of my birth parent’s terrible decisions. It has given me a passion to help other abused children through advocacy- for other children being impacted by alcohol abusers. While it hurts to be impacted by alcohol, I will strive to help others in any way I can overcome being affected by alcohol.

In 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic hit. Around the same time, BLM movements became a nationwide ordeal. At the time, I was a freshman in high school staying with my grandparents in Texas. We began watching the news to stay updated on the events going on in the world. This is when I discovered my passion and interest for politics and government. I grew to love reading and watching the news. I love to learn about the various political leaders making big decisions and I love to learn how the government works overall. I enjoy learning about both sides of an issue and working through it to formulate my own opinion on the matter. Politics fascinate me and I plan to combine my interest in politics and my past experiences to positively impact the world around me. At age four, I was put into foster care. My birth parents were abusive alcoholics. From my birth parents' house, I stayed in four different homes before I was adopted. I was mistreated in every home I stayed in but one. I was never truly cared for or loved. But by God’s grace, I was plucked from those terrible homes and situations. I was adopted when I was eight years old by a loving family, with whom I now live with. Over the last ten years, I have had to spend many long hours processing through the trauma of being physically and sexually abused and neglected as a small child. I have a very unique past. I am not bitter about my past, however. My past has taught me so many lessons and things I would never have learned otherwise. I am thankful for the things I have been through because they have taught me the importance of family, loyalty, and character. My past has also given me a deep passion. I want to speak up for the little ones who are neglected and abused. I want to help children who are caught in the midst of family crisis, abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. I know what it is like to be so powerless and helpless and I want to do my best to help others get out of situations like that. Combined with my interest in politics and government, I want to major in Political Science. I want to obtain a job that will put me in a position where I can effectively advocate for the causes I believe in. I have a particular interest in becoming a foreign affair analyst because foreign politics interest me. However, no matter what job I will obtain, I will work hard to achieve my goals so that others can benefit. It is my goal to positively impact my country and use my past experiences to help others in any way I can. Receiving this scholarship would mean so much to me. College is extremely expensive and every penny put towards college is one step closer to fulfilling my dream of helping others.

I was adopted when I was eight years old. My birth parents were abusive alcoholics who were likely immigrants from Mexico. They had no college education. I will be a first generation student when I go to college in the fall. I have many, many traumatizing memories and experiences from both my birth parents and being in foster care. However, God has brought me out of my pain and suffering and given me hope. My adoptive parents are amazing people who have taught me many valuable lessons in life. They have helped form me into a hardworking, thoughtful, and kind person that others enjoy being around. I have worked hard to lead a life that brings good to other people, despite my early beginnings and my birth parents’ poor example. I have had several community service experiences. One of the most special ones to me, however, was helping do a coat drive for foster children in my local community. When I was in foster care, I was not taken care of properly and my foster parents were neglectful. I often wore clothes that were too small for me and did not have a coat in the winter. I know what it is like to lack such necessities and therefore it was important to me to give back to my community by helping other foster children obtain suitable coats for the winter. My National Honor Society chapter and I donated nearly 50 coats in total that year. Another meaningful community service experience was doing Food For Thought with my National Honor Society chapter. I helped sort and bag food for needy children in my community. These children received food solely from free breakfasts and lunches at school, but over the weekends they had no food to eat. Over the course of a year, my chapter and I helped fill hundreds of bags of food. This opportunity was very personal to me as well. When I was in foster care, I lived off of ramen, Little Caesar's pizza, and hot dogs. I loved being able to help supply children with wholesome meals. My unique beginnings and experiences have given me a deep desire to help children. My dream is to go to college to study Political Science. With a Political Science degree, I want to obtain a job that will help me advocate for abused children. However, I am not wealthy and going to college is extremely expensive. Receiving this scholarship would truly mean so much to me and it would help relieve some of the financial burdens that come with going to college. Every penny put towards college is a penny closer to obtaining my dreams of becoming involved in politics and helping children. I sincerely hope I am chosen for this scholarship. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I have a strong interest in politics. I love reading and watching the news. I love to learn about the various political leaders making big decisions. I enjoy learning how the government works, learning about both sides of an issue, and then working through it to formulate my own opinion on the matter. Politics fascinate me and I plan to combine my interest in politics and my past experiences to positively impact the world around me. At age four, I was put into foster care. My birth parents were abusive alcoholics. I was mistreated in nearly every home I stayed in until I was adopted at age eight by a loving family. I have a very unique past. I am not bitter about the hardship I went through, though. My past has taught me so many lessons that I would never have learned otherwise. I am thankful for the things I have been through because they have taught me the importance of family, loyalty, and character. My past has also given me a deep passion. I want to help the thousands upon thousands of small children without voices. I want to speak up for the little ones who are neglected and abused. I want to help children who are caught in the midst of family crises, abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. I know what it is like to be so powerless and helpless and I want to do my best to help others out of situations like that. Between my past and my interest in politics and government, I want to major in Political Science. I want to obtain a job that will put me in a position where I can effectively advocate for the causes I believe in. Classes in Political Science will teach me many skills that I will need to achieve my goals. I will learn how to understand, promote, and debate political arguments. I will also learn how to be a strong writer, speaker, and critical thinker. These skills will help me become an effective advocate for the causes I believe in. These skills will also be essential in the workplace. People who better understand Political Science can change the world. A few key things learned in Political Science are how the economy, military, geography, alliances, and political leaders and their pasts work together to make up the political systems of our world. Understanding these things are vital. Studying the past mistakes of political leaders and then choosing to learn from them and implement ways to not make the same mistakes are ways people can make a difference in the world by better understanding Political Science. While I have a particular interest in becoming a foreign affair analyst, I am still undecided on my exact future career. However, no matter what job I obtain, my goal is to work with diligence and integrity in my job field. I will work hard to advocate for others who cannot speak up for themselves. It is my goal to positively impact my country and use my past experiences to help others in any way I can. This scholarship would mean so much to me. Every penny put towards my college education is one penny closer to achieving my dreams of advocating for children.

I was put into foster care when I was four years old. My birth parents were abusive alcoholics. I was mistreated in the foster homes I was placed in and I have many traumatic memories from them. Apart from being neglected and abused in the foster homes I stayed in, I often wore clothes that were too small for me. I solely lived on junk food, too- Little Caesar's pizza, hot dogs, and ramen-anything that was cheap for my foster parents to buy. I was a very sick little girl before I was adopted into my loving family. Because of my past, I have strived to help others in any way I can. My National Honor Society chapter worked this past year to collect winter coats for our local foster care agency. We collected nearly 50 coats for foster children in need. I also helped with Food For Thought, a local organization that gives food to elementary and middle school students who do not have food over the weekends. These children ate free breakfast and lunches during the weekdays, but did not have any food over the weekends. My NHS chapter and I sorted and bagged hundreds of pounds of food over the course of a year for children in need. Both of these community service projects had a special place in my heart because of my past. I love being able to help others and serving my community truly has a special place in my heart. My past has given me a deep passion. I want to help the thousands upon thousands of small children without voices. I want to speak up for the little ones who are neglected and abused. I want to help children who are caught in the midst of family crises, abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. I know what it is like to be so powerless and helpless and I want to help others out of terrible situations like that. With my past and my strong interest in politics and government, I plan to major in Political Science. I want to obtain a job that will put me in a position where I can effectively advocate for the causes I believe in. I do not know exactly what career I will choose in the field, but no matter what job I obtain, my goal is to advocate for abused children. In this way, I will give back to my community. I am working hard and striving to achieve my goals so that others can benefit. It is my goal to positively impact my country and use my past experiences to help others in any way I can.

I have a strong interest in politics. I love reading and watching the news. I love to learn about the various political leaders making big decisions. I enjoy learning how the government works, learning about both sides of an issue, and then working through it to formulate my own opinion on the matter. Politics fascinate me and I plan to combine my interest in politics and my past experiences to positively impact the world around me. At age four, I was put into foster care. My birth parents were abusive alcoholics. I was mistreated in nearly every home I stayed in until I was adopted at age eight by a loving family. I have a very unique past. I am not bitter about the hardship I went through, though. My past has taught me so many lessons that I would never have learned otherwise. I am thankful for the things I have been through because they have taught me the importance of family, loyalty, and character. My past has also given me a deep passion. I want to help the thousands upon thousands of small children without voices. I want to speak up for the little ones who are neglected and abused. I want to help children who are caught in the midst of family crises, abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. I know what it is like to be so powerless and helpless and I want to do my best to help others out of situations like that. Between my past and my interest in politics and government, I want to major in Political Science. I want to obtain a job that will put me in a position where I can effectively advocate for the causes I believe in. Classes in Political Science will teach me many skills that I will need to achieve my goals. I will learn how to understand, promote, and debate political arguments. I will also learn how to be a strong writer, speaker, and critical thinker. These skills will help me become an effective advocate for the causes I believe in. These skills will also be essential in the workplace. People who better understand Political Science can change the world. A few key things learned in Political Science are how the economy, military, geography, alliances, and political leaders and their pasts work together to make up the political systems of our world. Understanding these things are vital. Studying the past mistakes of political leaders and then choosing to learn from them and implement ways to not make the same mistakes are ways people can make a difference in the world by better understanding Political Science. While I have a particular interest in becoming a foreign affair analyst, I am still undecided on my exact future career. However, no matter what job I obtain, my goal is to work with diligence and integrity in my job field. I will work hard to advocate for others who cannot speak up for themselves. It is my goal to positively impact my country and use my past experiences to help others in any way I can.

In 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic hit. Around the same time, BLM movements became a nationwide ordeal. At the time, I was a freshman in high school staying with my grandparents in Texas. We began watching the news to stay updated on the events going on in the world. This is when I discovered my passion and interest for politics and government. I grew to love reading and watching the news. I love to learn about the various political leaders making big decisions and I love to learn how the government works overall. I enjoy learning about both sides of an issue and working through it to formulate my own opinion on the matter. Politics fascinate me and I plan to combine my interest in politics and my past experiences to positively impact the world around me. At age four, I was put into foster care. My birth parents were abusive alcoholics. After my birth parents' house, I stayed in four different homes before I was adopted. I went from house to house, from city to city, from one set of strangers to the next. I was mistreated in every home I stayed in but one. I was never truly cared for or loved. But by God’s grace, I was plucked from those terrible homes and situations. I was adopted when I was eight years old by a loving family, with whom I now live with. Over the last ten years, I have had to spend many long hours processing through the trauma of being physically and sexually abused and neglected as a small child. I have a very unique past. I am not bitter about my past, however. My past has taught me so many lessons and things I would never have learned otherwise. I am thankful for the things I have been through because they have taught me the importance of family, loyalty, and character. My past has also given me a deep passion. I want to help the thousands upon thousands of small children without voices. I want to speak up for the little ones who are neglected and abused. I want to help children who are caught in the midst of family crises, abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. I know what it is like to be so powerless and helpless and I want to do my best to help others get out of situations like that. With my interest in politics and government, I plan to major in Political Science. I want to obtain a job that will put me in a position where I can effectively advocate for the causes I believe in. No matter what specific job I find after college, I plan to work hard with diligence and integrity to bring about positive changes. I will work to achieve my goals so that others can benefit. It is my goal to positively impact my country and use my past experiences to help others in any way I can.

A personal quality of mine is one that has come through circumstances, as well as through the instruction of my amazing parents. All my life, my parents have lived out this quality and have set an example for me and my siblings. I did not obtain this quality easily or naturally. In all honesty, it came despite me and my stubbornness. My quality is being a hard worker. Becoming a hard worker did not come easily for me. My parents have taught me and trained me for years how to be a hard worker in the tasks set before me. It took a long time for me to develop this skill in my life. I was adopted when I was eight years old. Before my adoption, no one had taught me the importance of doing the things in my life well. Nobody had taught me how to be a hard worker in school or in chores. Instead, my biggest desire was to do the bare minimum in the few responsibilities that I had and get away with as much as possible. However, my adoptive parents began to teach me the importance of being a hard worker from the moment I stepped through their front door. Patiently, they have taught me and displayed to me what it is like to be a hard worker. My diligent parents have shown me that hard workers are people who stick with a task, even when it gets hard. They are people who go above and beyond what is expected. They are people who do the tasks set before them with a good attitude despite any personal discomforts that may occur. In addition to this instruction, having a farm has taught me many valuable lessons about being a hard worker. Each morning, I wake up and help milk our family cow. Having cows means a lot of chores and hard work, whether it is scooping poop, filling up water troughs, or herding cows from one area to the next. Additionally, each summer we raise a large garden and then process the produce at the end of the growing season. Each fall we pick, freeze, dry, and can the fruit from our orchard. We also go out to the woods and chop down trees to be used as our firewood for the winter. While I used to truly despise hard work, I now love and actually value it. Where I used to grumble and complain, I now love doing the tasks set before me. I know that these jobs are training me for harder things later on in life. The discomforts I may feel now will benefit me later on. I believe being a hard worker is important for every walk of life, whether I am taking classes at college, working at a job, or raising a family one day. My desire is to use this quality to impact the world around me. I want to major in Political Science and get a job that will help me advocate for abused children. I know that it is only through hard work and diligence that I can achieve my goals and dreams in life.

I was adopted when I was eight years old. My birth parents were abusive alcoholics who were likely immigrants from Mexico. They had no college education. I will be a first-generation student when I go to college in the fall. I have many, many traumatizing memories and experiences from both my birth parents and being in foster care. However, God has brought me out of my pain and suffering and given me hope. My adoptive parents are amazing people who have taught me many valuable lessons in life. They have helped form me into a hardworking, thoughtful, and kind person that others enjoy being around. I have worked hard to lead a life that brings good to other people, despite my early beginnings and my birth parents’ poor example. I have had several community service experiences. One of the most special ones to me, however, was helping do a coat drive for foster children in my local community. When I was in foster care, I was not taken care of properly and my foster parents were neglectful. I often wore clothes that were too small for me and did not have a coat in the winter. I know what it is like to lack such necessities and therefore it was important to me to give back to my community by helping other foster children obtain suitable coats for the winter. My National Honor Society chapter and I donated nearly 50 coats in total that year. Another meaningful community service experience was doing Food For Thought with my National Honor Society chapter. I helped sort and bag food for needy children in my community. These children received food solely from free breakfasts and lunches at school, but over the weekends they had no food to eat. Over a year, my chapter and I helped fill hundreds of bags of food. This opportunity was very personal to me as well. When I was in foster care, I lived off of ramen, Little Caesar's pizza, and hot dogs. I loved being able to help supply children with wholesome meals. My unique beginnings and experiences have given me a deep desire to help children. My dream is to go to college to study Political Science. With a Political Science degree, I want to obtain a job that will help me advocate for abused children. However, I am not wealthy and going to college is extremely expensive. Receiving the Charlie Akers Memorial Scholarship would truly mean so much to me and it would help relieve some of the financial burdens that come with going to college. Every penny put towards college is a penny closer to obtaining my dreams of becoming involved in politics and helping children. I sincerely hope I am chosen for this scholarship. Thank you for your time and consideration.