Heather Lynn Scott McDaniel Memorial Scholarship

My name is Ulysses, and I am a first-generation college student pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at West Texas A&M University. Education has always been more than just a personal goal for me it represents a way to break cycles of struggle, create stability for my family, and open doors that were never available to my parents. Growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas, life was far from easy. My mom came from Parras de la Fuente, Mexico, and has spent her life caring for my disabled sister. My dad, a Vietnam veteran, passed away while I was still in high school. That day, I performed CPR on him in an attempt to save his life, and it left me with a weight I carried for years. After his death, our home began to literally fall apart the roof caved in, and with no proper insurance coverage, we were left to deal with it ourselves. Through it all, my mom and I worked side by side doing construction repairs, and that’s where I learned grit, problem-solving, and the value of hard work. These experiences taught me responsibility, but they also came with a cost. Balancing family struggles, financial stress, and school left me in deep depression at times. I faced seasons where suicidal thoughts felt overwhelming, and it seemed easier to give up than to keep going. But through faith and determination, I pushed forward. I learned to lean on God, focus on the bigger picture, and remind myself that setbacks don’t define the future. Even while working full time to help support my mom and sister, I’ve stayed committed to my education. I earned an associate’s degree in Construction Management, a CAD certificate, and an irrigation license. Now, I’m continuing on to finish my Electrical Engineering degree. I’ve maintained a 3.25 GPA, made the Dean’s List, and was nominated to the National Society of Leadership and Success. This summer, I am interning as a substation engineering intern, gaining the kind of hands-on experience that reassures me I’m on the right path. The adversities I’ve faced from losing my father, to financial hardship, to battles with depression have shaped me into someone who refuses to quit. What keeps me moving forward is my family. My dream is to graduate, buy a fourplex for my mom so she can finally retire comfortably, and to work in renewable energy as an engineer. For me, education isn’t just about a career it’s about creating a life of stability, freedom, and purpose after so many years of uncertainty. This scholarship would help me continue that journey by easing the financial pressure I face daily. More importantly, it would allow me to keep proving to myself, my family, and others like me that no matter how hard life begins, you can overcome and build something better.

Even before I could talk, my life presented hurdle after hurdle to me and my family. But through all of it, I overcame them and became stronger. I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in May of 2003 to a healthy family and a loving community. People always say it takes a village to raise a child, and I doubt that there is another place on the planet that could host a community like New Orleans. My parents told me that everyone there knows everyone, and that thought always excited me. I love the idea of having a friend everywhere I go, and I have grown into that lifestyle at Baylor University, making friends in everything that I do. After having grown up there, my mom truly thought that New Orleans would be "our forever home." Unfortunately, though, hurricane Katrina had other plans. In August of 2005, everything changed for my family and the hopes that they had for us. In the wake of the category five storm that wrecked southeastern Louisiana, my immediate family was uprooted and the course of our lives had been altered. My parents eventually found jobs and a house for sale in Garland, Texas, which soon became the place I call home. As I began to find my way around this new place, my sister and I received the worst news that we have ever been given. We were always told that good things happen for good people and the announcement of my dad's incarceration challenged everything we knew. Our dad was a hero and a role model for us, and to know that even he could go to prison was a shock that none of us were ready to handle. We became a different family, one without an important figure for many reasons. A wife was left without a husband, two kids were left without a father, and the household was left without a voice of reason. For seven long and toilsome years, we were forced to continue our life without my dad. My grandmother had to become an emergency parent again, my mother had to learn how to navigate her life effectively as a single mother, and my sister and I had to learn to grow up without our father, who had been our guide through our entire lives up to this point. This caused my mother to become a different person. She began to put up walls that I had never seen before, for everyone outside of our lives and even some of those inside. She was slow to trust people, and she was much more paranoid about the world. My dad's absence changed how she saw everything, including her kids. However, through all of these life-changing events, we survived. And more than that, we thrived. We were able to build a new community in Texas, beyond the family we already knew. We turned our house into a home, one that would know the struggles of fatherlessness, floods, and freezes galore. And for me, I found my way in life. I found stable communities in my neighborhood, my schools, and many other places around Garland. I joined Boy Scout Troop 57 and became so much more than I ever thought I could. Nowadays, I am an Eagle Scout, a mentor, and a noteworthy figure around my council and across the nation. The challenges I faced throughout my life have shown me that I can make it through anything that life throws at me, and that belief follows me to this very day.