Mark D. Schwarck Memorial Scholarship

Arriving home after a long day of school, and finding out the electricity is out, is a traumatic event I do not wish for others. I am a very private person who barely speaks out, I come from a low-income family. I have immigrant parents, who are originally from Mexico. I had seen my mother fighting to stay in this country five years ago but failed. My father had left my family my freshmen year, and created another of his own; he has not helped me or my sister financially since then. During my junior year, I went to school, prepared food for myself, did homework, and on some days, worked. My house is in poor condition; there is no heating, so heating fans would be placed in all rooms at all times, posing a major fire hazard. There are cracks in the walls and ceiling. The roof is barely attached to my house, along with the broken windows. I did not tell anyone about my situation because I had felt embarrassed being homeless. I had not realized it before, but this situation had immensely impacted me. I had lost around 20 pounds in a couple of months, I went from being 100 lbs to 82 lbs. Some days, I stressed out to the point where I had no appetite. I had gone through many sleepless nights, stressing if the electricity would be out or if I had enough food for the week. I am not the greatest cook, so the amount of food I could cook was limited. Before being homeless, I lived in a very toxic household. There would be constant yelling and harsh words being said. This was mentally draining and I used school to escape this. I still manage to maintain a 3.85 GPA, 70+ volunteering hours, being involved in the National Honor Society, on the Honor Roll, and being in the top 10% of my class. I enjoy going to school because my grades are the only things I need to worry about. I motivate myself to keep pushing through. My home is what encourages me to do well in life so that I do not continue living like this in the future. I will be a first-generation college student to obtain my bachelor’s degree. I hope to be an intern to gain experience and work during the summer to earn cash. I would love to go to college to be an accountant, it is financially stable and I find pleasure in doing math. I am currently taking classes in this field, and I find it somewhat enjoyable. I plan to use my Accounting degree to help others and those who have helped me along my journey. I would educate my family and close friends on financial stability. I hope to find kids like me and help them along their journey.

When I was 14, I didn't think I would live to see graduation. I was raising myself, realizing how much was wrong with the world, and trying to make ends meet for myself and my family. When I was made to live with my sister, the world didn't end, but mine came crashing down. I thought I would be sharing a futon with my sister's cat for the rest of high school, but right at the beginning of my sophomore year we got a two-bedroom apartment across town and I finally got my privacy back. I was working two jobs while going to school full-time to make it work, but that was still better than sleeping on a couch. I thought I might eventually move back in with my parents at some point and live like a normal teenager again, but when my parents sold my childhood home I knew that was a childish pipe dream and this was just how it was going to be. Turns out, that wasn't how that was going to be, because right after my junior year of high school, my sister kicked me out with no warning and nowhere to go. All of my closest friends were out of town at the time, and I spent my first night alone with nowhere to go and no hope it would get better. When my best friend got back from vacation, I basically moved in with her and her family. They were all so welcoming and inviting, but I didn't feel at home in their house. I continued to couch surf for most of the summer, as my best friend's family spent a lot of time out of town. I spent my 17th birthday alone, driving around the town I was stuck in, with no one to see and nowhere to go. Still working two jobs and nearing the end of my last summer in high school, things started looking up. I had saved up enough money to get my own apartment and there was even one available in my hometown. Being a minor, I would need someone to sign the lease for me, but my brother is 18 and was willing to do it if it meant I had a safe place to go every night. However, when it came time to sign the lease, he told me he would be moving in with me and moving out of my parent's place. I was devastated, I had been working 60 hours a week all summer to make this happen for myself, and it felt like my privacy and what I had worked for were just being handed off to someone else. I did eventually relent and let him move in with me, under the condition he did all the handy work and killed all the spiders. It was a deal and we moved in a week sooner than we had even thought. That was 2 months ago now, and we're comfortably living in a cute little 2 bedroom apartment with just enough room for my 4 cats. It's still hard and working all the time isn't easy, but I'm proud of how far I've come, and at least I'm not still sharing a futon with a cat.