Empower Her Scholarship

The dictionary definition of empowerment is recognizing ourselves and walking in the power and autonomy we have to achieve our goals. However, I believe that empowerment is best experienced by having a community and leadership examples around us. I am a first-born daughter in an immigrant family who has been blessed enough to have multiple examples of strong female leadership before me. They have inspired me, as I step into an age where I am now the inspiration for those younger than me. My grandmother lived in Nigeria and she raised five successful children who from one generation to the next have all immigrated to America. My mother is one of those children and she has sacrificed everything for me. I’ve had a female manager at work who constantly checks in on me, female small group leaders and countless others who have poured into me. They are all educated leaders who have empowered me to boldly follow in their footsteps. Despite multiple of my own personal challenges, I have never felt that there is anything I cannot achieve because of the confidence that they have instilled in me. And after all, if God is for me, who can be against me? This has had an immeasurable impact on my life. Empowerment involves the passing down of wisdom and knowledge. Stories and proverbs passed down to me have taught me which way to go, along with God’s guiding hand in my life. Growing up constantly moving in order to improve my family’s life, gave me a birds eye view of the power of hard work, causing me to have a lot of intrinsic motivation. My family, friends, teachers, managers and more have all shown me loving kindness throughout my life and empowered me to become who I am today. Their examples, consistent words of encouragement and helping hands have allowed me to achieve academic and extracurricular success. In addition, my relationship with God is my greatest source of empowerment. Through reading the Bible for myself, I’ve discovered my value as someone Jesus loved enough to die for. He is always with me and I can do all things through His strength. I am eternally grateful. Finally, I’ve been fortunate enough to be a leader at school, at home for my siblings and cousins and in any arena I step into. The same way I’ve been nurtured is how I hope to positively impact all the younger women placed into my life. In a world that tears down the looks and abilities of women, I hope to pass on the confidence and wisdom I have gained while being an embodiment of the love of God to everyone. Thank you.