Grandmaster Nam K Hyong Scholarship

I am a first-generation college student, the daughter of an immigrant, a single mother, and someone who understands firsthand what it means to overcome barriers that can make higher education feel out of reach. My father did not know how to read or write, and growing up, my family did not have the knowledge or resources to guide me through college. We experienced financial hardship and relied on public assistance to meet our basic needs. Higher education was not something I grew up knowing how to navigate, but I knew I wanted to work hard, improve my life, and create a different future for myself and my children. My path to higher education has not been easy or traditional. As a teenager, I experienced housing instability and had to rely on the kindness of others while trying to finish high school. There were times when simply getting through the day came before planning for the future. I did not have parents who could explain college applications, financial aid, or career paths. I had to learn many of those things on my own. Despite these challenges, I continued moving forward because I believed education could help me change the direction of my life. While attending college, I also took on significant family responsibilities, including caring for my young nephew. I balanced school, work, family responsibilities, and financial stress at an age when many students were able to focus primarily on themselves. These experiences taught me resilience, responsibility, and perseverance. They also showed me how important support can be when someone is trying to overcome difficult circumstances. I eventually earned my bachelor’s degree and built a career in social services. For approximately 15 years, I have worked with children and families in different settings, including Child Protective Services, juvenile probation, residential services, and Communities In Schools. Each position has allowed me to work with individuals facing challenges that are often much greater than what others can see from the outside. Today, I work directly with children and families in schools. I support students experiencing attendance concerns, family instability, financial hardship, mental health needs, and other barriers that interfere with their education. I connect families with community resources, provide basic-needs assistance, support students emotionally, and advocate for children who may not yet know how to advocate for themselves. I often see parts of my own story in the students and families I serve. I understand what it feels like to need help, and I understand how much of a difference one supportive person can make. One of the areas where I have excelled most is building meaningful relationships with people. My experiences have taught me not to judge someone based on their current circumstances. I have learned to meet people where they are, listen to their stories, recognize their strengths, and help them identify a path forward. I have also excelled in advocacy, crisis support, resource coordination, and working with children and families from diverse backgrounds. My greatest professional strength is my ability to combine years of experience with compassion and an understanding of how difficult it can be to navigate systems when you are already struggling. I am currently pursuing my Master of Social Work degree. My long-term goal is to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and expand the ways I can serve my community, particularly in mental health. I want to provide therapeutic support to children and families who may otherwise struggle to access quality services because of financial limitations, lack of insurance, transportation barriers, stigma, or simply not knowing where to begin. The change I want to create in my field is centered on accessibility, compassion, and understanding. Too often, families experiencing poverty are viewed only through the lens of what they lack. I want to be part of a social work profession that recognizes the strengths, resilience, culture, and potential within every family. I know what it is like to grow up receiving public assistance, and I also know that a family’s financial circumstances do not determine a child’s intelligence, worth, or future. Poverty should never determine whether someone has access to education, mental health care, or opportunities to succeed. I also want to help change how mental health services are delivered in underserved communities. Seeking help can be intimidating, especially for families who have had negative experiences with systems or come from backgrounds where mental health is not openly discussed. As a future clinical social worker, I want to create spaces where people feel respected, heard, and safe. I want children to understand that their circumstances do not define their future, and I want parents to feel supported rather than judged when they ask for help. For me, earning this degree represents much more than career advancement. It represents breaking a cycle. I am the daughter of a man who could not read or write, yet I am now pursuing a graduate degree. I grew up relying on assistance, and today I have built a career helping other families navigate difficult circumstances. I am a first-generation college student who had to learn how to navigate higher education without a roadmap, and I am now showing my children that education, hard work, and perseverance can create opportunities that once seemed impossible. As a single mother, continuing my education requires sacrifice. I balance graduate school with a full-time career, parenting, household responsibilities, and the financial realities of higher education. Social work is a profession I chose because I believe deeply in serving others, but it is not always financially rewarded in proportion to the responsibility and emotional commitment it requires. Taking on additional student loan debt to advance in a helping profession creates a significant burden. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to focus more of my energy on my education, my children, and the community I serve rather than worrying about the amount of debt I will carry into the next chapter of my career. When I think about how far I have come, I think about the difference between where my family started and where I am today. My father’s inability to read or write did not prevent his daughter from pursuing a master’s degree. Growing up on public assistance did not prevent me from building a career dedicated to helping others. The challenges I have experienced have become part of the reason I chose social work and part of the passion I bring to my work every day. With my Master of Social Work degree and eventual clinical licensure, I hope to expand my impact and provide meaningful, accessible mental health support to children and families. I want to continue breaking barriers for myself while helping others break barriers of their own. Receiving this scholarship would be an investment in my education, but the impact would extend far beyond me. It would support my goal of continuing to serve children, families, and communities and using my education to create opportunities for others, just as education created new possibilities for me.

I did not grow up in the United States, so my experiences were different from most people of my generation. Born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country is one of the world's poorest countries. The infant mortality rate is outrageously high. Many children do not go to school since their parents cannot afford to pay for their education, as even primary and secondary schools are not free. Luckily, my parents sent me to school despite the financial struggles. I woke up every day at 4:00 AM to attend classes. Roads were almost inexistent, and we did not have school buses, so I made sure I left the house three hours earlier to walk to school. There were times when I was denied access to school despite all my efforts simply because my parents did not have the money to pay for my school fees. But I kept in mind that the future would be bright if I worked hard enough. Taking inspiration from Eleanor Roosevelt, who stated that "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." I worked harder than any student in my class, and I academically outperformed them all. Soon before I knew it, I was elected as my class's president for two consecutive years, where I advocated for reforms on behalf of my peers to the school's governing body. I was only twelve years old at the time. I moved to Atlanta, in the United States, at age thirteen. After my arrival, I realized how technologically advanced the world is. I was then determined to make an impact technically. Upon my arrival, I attended Freedom Middle School, Clarkston High School, and Duluth High School, where I graduated with honors in May 2017. After my high school graduation, I decided to be a computer science major at Georgia State University. Today, I am a university's senior aspiring to become the first person in my family ever to graduate college, leading the way for others to follow in my footsteps. I make the President and Dean's list regularly, and I have the grade point average to show for it. Most importantly, I have gained priceless experiences tutoring my peers in Computer Science and U.S History at Georgia State University through Trio Student Support Services and the Supplemental Instruction Program. In addition, I am a member of several Honor Societies and Clubs where I volunteer to mentor students in my local elementary school in mathematics, reading, and writing through Duluth high school's "Book Buddies Program." I cherished the time I spent mentoring others because I instinctively believe that mentorship is the root of success in life, and I believe in the talent of those around me as I guide them to reach their full potential. Community services have interestingly shaped my mind, but life has taught me a priceless lesson- Greatness is a state of mind, an aspiration that all humans have in common. Ironically, nobody is perfect individually. But it is from others that we take our inspiration- We build upon other people's ideas to achieve true greatness, just like a healthy tree has many roots, branches, and leaves before there could be any flower or fruit. As members of the Duluth high school national Honor Society, we performed countless volunteer works. I participated at the Infinite Energy Center's Concession Stands to support the International Youth Organization by helping out in the concession stands (at the Gwinnett Arena). At the Plantation South, We volunteered by helping out at the Ice Cream Social and serving ice cream to the elderly. These experiences helped forge my decision to choose a career that I would love and add value to humanity. Today, I aspire to become a Software Developer to invent, develop and program medical devices capable of diagnosing and treating patients without requiring highly invasive medical procedures to save lives like right now. I see myself as a successful programmer in five years, completing my graduate degree. I also aspire to mentor future generations in the cybersecurity domain. Eventually, I intend to create programs that encrypt each patient's file so that hackers cannot easily access them. Leadership means exemplarity and acknowledging strengths and weaknesses while allocating the necessary resources for a successful outcome. I will succeed. I know what it means to struggle through life, and I know what seizing an opportunity means. I have realized that many are still wondering about the future, thinking that destiny is predetermined. They do not understand, as I have, that what you make of your ambitions is the foundation of a reliable posterity. The future looks brighter from my perspective through the lenses of determination. I find strength in my aspirations, and determination is my fuel. So much is at stake here; I incarnate hope from many individuals, I can not afford to lose this fight. Hence, I must remain disciplined and focused on turning my aspirations into realities, especially now that I am going through the last two semesters of my undergraduate degree. We have all faced issues in our lives, but what makes the difference is the state of mind we choose to adopt while facing these problems. One may only achieve excellence after surpassing himself. There is no distinction without hard work and perseverance. I know this because I am experiencing greatness, and my existence exemplifies excellence. My experiences demonstrate that excellence prevails over mediocrity and procrastination.