Curtis Holloway Memorial Scholarship

The lady in the kitchen, is the cook, the cleaner, the driver, my rugby cheerleader, my advocate when I need help, my motivation when I am not sure I got this, my biggest critic, and yet my biggest support. She is my mom, but sometimes she has to be my dad because he is not in the kitchen or in the car, or anywhere that I have known since I was 3. My mom has been my one and only constant and I am so grateful for this. In fact, she was breathing down my back reminding me to get my scholarships done today. She "reminds" me of something every day, my homework, to walk the dog, to take out the trash. She literally stood at my shoulder when I was applying for colleges and cheered each time I hit apply. It was a good feeling because it was her way of showing that she believes in me. Even when I doubt myself, I know she has great hopes for my future and who I want to be. I have always been fascinated by science, and as I was growing up, she encouraged this even though she did not know much about science and did not have the money to buy any real science equipment. So I was always making some science project from some stuff that I would find around the house. I built a solar oven, made long rockets, built my own computer, and constructed a telescope. I was always taking stuff apart and making a mess, but she never got mad at this. She always encouraged me and let me have free reign every time I declared I was starting some new project. We would also watch lots of science shows on tv together. It was after watching Neil de Grass Tyson hosting the series "Cosmos" that I found my true calling. I put together my first serious science project about Black Holes, I wanted this project to engage the viewer so I added the sounds of a black hole with flashing lights and movements. This fully interactive project was the first time that I won a science project and I would go on to win every science award thereafter from elementary to high school. I was once even selected to present an Outerspace BioTechnology project to a panel of NASA scientists. One of my best experiences was winning a scholarship to Space Camp. Going to Space Camp was a life changer, as I was able to engage with other people who also had a deep interest in space and the cosmos. For the first time, I felt like I had found my tribe. My mother has supported me and encouraged me as my love for science has evolved into what will be my career. Now I am a senior in high school, and I have been accepted into the Astrophysics program at Arizona State University. Not only is this my dream, but her dream too. I will continue to pursue a field that I genuinely love and can't wait to discover the mysteries of our cosmos. Next week, I will be graduating from high school, and even though she will probably be the loudest most embarrassing parent in the room, I will be overcome with pride because she has been there rooting for me since day ONE.

My mom is the strongest woman I know. Some people say she may even wear a cape. I know she’s always been my hero. I was 12 when I found out my mom had had cancer. I really wasn’t even sure what it meant at that age, at least not what the possibilities had meant for her at the time. I now know that she could have been gone even before I came to be – and I wouldn’t be here to write this essay. She is a survivor in every sense of the word. She has battled two types of cancer and won –physically, mentally and spiritually. She takes on life with undertones of joie de vivre, seeing the beauty and good in the world around her. She has subtly tried to instill this in me, enriching my life from my earliest recollection with music, dance, theatre, art, flowers and fun – weaving culture and beauty into my soul to where they have become a necessity for me to function. Our story almost stems from her cancer diagnoses, specifically Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Thyroid cancer which are both primary cancers and which for her were diagnosed at the same time just as she was embarking on a new career. After she finished treatments – a year long ordeal with two primary cancers, multiple hospitalizations, drug reactions, infections – she took some time to recuperate and then made the courageous decision to have a child, with no spouse or significant other. Yes, she did it alone via sperm donor and I am the result. The uncertainty of what chemotherapy may have done to her reproductive system along with her age drove her to this decision, no longer content to wait for for prince charming to find her, sweep her off her feet and have children. Her desire to have a child was so strong she felt compelled to pursue the endeavor on her own. She says I am her gift from God after going through what she went through, a true blessing and I have lit up her life. Now, eighteen years later I am in college and she works hard to support me as I pursue my dreams of becoming an astrophysicist. She never complains and always makes sure my needs are met. My senior year of high school, I had a solo in the high school musical “The Theory of Relativity” which was titled “Promise Me This”. The first half of the song completely mirrored my life with my mother and spoke so strongly to me I wasn’t sure I’d be able to perform it without breaking down. The second half spoke of the character losing her mother - which honestly is my biggest fear in life – and I tried to tell myself that this is what we went through, but in reverse. I made it through my performances, albeit very emotionally and realized this strong, independent woman – my mom – has passed along those traits to me, along with a love of the arts, and the ability to recognize beauty in life, believe in miracles, and to not waste a single day.