Central Aroostook High School Class of 1987 Alumni Scholarship

My career plans are to go to NMCC for electrical and graduate with good grades. I hope to find a job opportunity while I'm in college so I can have a stable job once I'm finished. I hope to work as a journeyman electrician for a few years to gain confidence and experience. Someday I plan on having my own company and call it DTE (Dayton Taylor Electric). I want to do electrical because it's something I've become very interested in. This past year I've had the opportunity to work with RLC electrical and job shadow. I am very grateful for this opportunity as it solidified my career choice. I like how every situation is a little different than the last and the places it can take me. Every job site is something different and in a different location. It's something that people rely on, it will never not be a need field. My goal in life is to provide a good life for my family, and be able to make all their dreams come true. My father did this for our family and I take great inspiration. Of course I am young and money hungry but nothing can put a price on loving what you do for a career especially while it provides for happy healthy family. Planning for the future isn't just about the wants like a new car or the trending item but also the unexpected and I think most people my age forget that. Plans always don't work out so it's all about how you overcome life's challenges to stay on track to achieve your goals. I am in the process of learning this first hand at a young age. I am overcoming my biggest life obstacles as on December 13th, 2024 I was involved in a car accident where I lost 13 of my teeth. My best friend was the driver, thankfully everyone walked away alive. This has been extremely hard on the both of us, even though he walked away untouched. This June a week after I graduate I will be having bone grafting done to start the implant process. I have been without teeth since this accident, making being socal and meeting new people extremely hard. This is a time in my life where networking is very important as I start my career, having no teeth makes this difficult. This process has taught me to always be positive and have compassion for others. Sometimes life is hard, but you have to look at the positives, especially in my situation. On that night my dreams could have been taken away from me in an instant. But I stand here today ready and determined for success on the long road ahead to become an electrician.

I am looking to pursue a career in social work or clinical therapy. I have wanted to pursue this career since my freshman year of high school, and I am passionate about it because it is a career that we really need. I want to specialize in kids with autism because I am fascinated by how they think, how they adapt to their environment, and how to help their parents understand them better. This scholarship will help me cover some of the costs of my college years, which I will be in for five years, because I am looking to get my masters in social work. One obstacle I had to overcome was moving to a different state when I was in kindergarten. I lived in Massachusetts until I was six, and moving to Maine at such a young age was definitely a change. All of my parents' family was up here in Maine, so they felt it was best to move back up here to be closer to family. I already had friends down there, which took a long time to make because I wasn't a very social kid. When I moved to Maine, I had an even harder time making friends because everybody already had friends. I spent months playing by myself on the playground, watching people just look at me and walk past. I'd go home crying to my mom about not having any friends, and she just tried to encourage me to go up and talk to people instead of waiting for someone to come up to me. I've used that advice a lot in my life. As everyone knows, being a teenager and making friends is hard. but using the advise my mom gave me, its helped me make a bunch of new friends because I didn't wait for them to come up to me, which might not happen, I go up to them and initiate conversation because they could be equally as nervous as I was to talk to people. My personality has definitely changed since my freshman year of high school. I remember walking through the halls, trying to make sure no one noticed what I looked like or what I was wearing. I was very insecure about what I thought people thought of me, and that only led to my self-esteem being at an all-time low. Throughout the years, I've just thought to myself, who cares what others think of me? I'm my own person and shouldn't take anything anyone might be saying or is saying personally because some of them don't even know me. Thank you for your consideration