Kayla Nicole Monk Memorial Scholarship

I am a 53 year old African American women going back to school to pursue a degree in Culinary Arts. I am applying to this scholarship to seek financial assistance to help me complete this degree. I currently work in retail ordering parts at for my company and have been in this line of work for over 30 years. I'm also a wife, mother, a sister and aunt as well as a member of my church. I also volunteer a few hours a week teaching adult literacy. I have given my time and energy to my family, friends and community to help them achieve their life goals while putting myself last. I recently lost both parents to COVID 19 and other health problems in 2021 and realized I need to do more with my life, so I decided to take a leap and go back to school. I plan to take time out to go to school for 15 months to take time out for myself to achieve my goals of going to school for Culinary Arts. I will going to school part-time while still working my full-time job. The will need financial assistance to attend classes at the Culinary Institute Of Virginia, in Norfolk VA, as the toal cost of tuition is $39,000. This scholarship will allow me to make payments towards my tuition without having to work overtime at my full-time job or pick up another job in order to pay this extra cost. It would be great to have some assistance on this part, as, I need the time I am not working or in class to study and do homework. I am pursuing a career in Culinary Arts in order to enhance my love for cooking, and possibly beginning a career in the food industry. I hope to teach others in my family, community and church healthier food options and how to prepare food for themselves and their families. By doing this we may be able to cut back on health issues in our community such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. My goal is to help individuals create healthy eating habits that will become routine they can pass on their children, other family members, friends and their community. I plan to use my degree in Culinary Arts and nutrition to help create meal plans and show individuals ingredients to use while cooking. I am praying I receive this scholarship to help me continue my education towards this goal. Please consider my application for the scholarship.