Organic Formula Shop Single Parent Scholarship

The biggest challenge that I have faced is balancing the financial and time sensative priorities of parenthood with the priorities of higher education. I began my undergraduate education when my youngest daughter was six months old. I was completing the final class of the program when my other daughter was born. During much of this time, their father was deployed with the military and I had no financial or emotional support. Despite these barriers, I achieved what I set out to do; I completed my AABA and my BSCJ with an 3.89GPA and graduated with full honors and was granted the award of Magna Cum Laude. It has been seven years since I became a single parent, but many of the challenges have not changed. I did not receive any formal support for much of that time. All friends and family remained behind when I left to start life anew. The cost of daycare and other household obligations are taxing, and leave very little room to save and prepare for anticipated school costs. Even with this awareness, I have not allowed it to slow me down. I determined from the start that I would set an example for both of my daughters as a first generation college graduate, and I continue to maintain this focus within my current Graduate program. Despite working full time, managing an integrated team of professionals, serving as an advocate for regional behavioral health needs, and coordinating for care regarding my childrens' own behavioral health diagnosis, I have consistently and persistently used my own experiences in resilience and dedication to show my children that they are not limited by their immediate circumstances. The mixture of financial obligations and time limitation has been the largest barrier for me, but I will not allow this to slow me down. I currently have around $3,500 left to account for in regards to my upcoming semester. I anticipate that his amount will increase as I move into my Specialist Year of study. This will also initiate my required participation with fieldwork placement, impending my ability to explore secondary employment options to suppliment. For this reason, any scholarship funds I receive will be dedicated to covering all additional costs associated with completing my degree. As I work to instill the values of perseverence, resiliance, self-advocacy, and determination in my children, I actively communicate the lessons I learn and the solutions I develop so that they can grow with the guidance and example of someone who has struggled and succeeded despite overwhelming obsticals. This includes the process of scholarship hunting. I anticipate such barriers to only become more prevalent as my children age, and the statistical probability that they may also be limited by their life circumstances is always at the forefront of my mind. We live in a world that seems to become more disheartening with every year, and I worry about my children falling into the social and economic trap that their immediate circumstances may otherwise confine them to. I want them to know that there is always another option, and there is always another idea to seek out and try. Our current world seems to have very few examples to look up to when in need of hope. As I have struggled to find this myself, I will endure so that my children can learn from me rather than having to pave the way for themselves as I did.