Reach Higher Scholarship

If I were to describe myself, I’d say I'm someone who loves to learn 24/7. Of course, nowadays, most of the world has access to unrestricted media and the internet. I’ve always been so thankful for this, as it gives me such a big opportunity to learn about anything I want to. Yet, I still love books and the feel of them. With a book, I can read the experiences of someone, I can read for hours on end about how a wormhole is created, or even a simple fiction love story. I have a big collection of books, which continues to grow to this day. Although my books are all from a diverse set of genres, I always come back to the same thought. “ What will I read next?” It's this singular thought that inspires me to learn more, to pick up another book, and teach everyone what I learned. Teaching is a passion of mine, as I believe receiving an education is important. Learning is one of the best things someone alive can do. Learning gives one an infinite amount of knowledge and new skills. This is why I enjoy tutoring people in my areas of expertise, as it excites me that someone wants to learn. I also love to tutor since I've made it a life goal to help all those in need. Helping others has always been fun for me, not because it makes me feel morally good, but because I know that I have somehow taken a load off someone. I think the reason I enjoy helping people is because I want to be the helping hand I didn't have growing up. See, I was born with a physical disability called symbrachydactyly. It's on my left hand and it means I don't have fingers besides my thumb, and the rest are little like balls of skin and muscle. No bones. My hand is what is called “not normal”, and it was this type of comment that made me feel horrible inside. Instead of reporting or standing up for myself, I accepted it. I wanted to feel accepted and normal, so I began to laugh at the comments while adding on my own mean jokes. I failed to acknowledge myself as a human with feelings. Something I reflect on a lot because I now know that I am a human with feelings who deserves the same respect as others. I'm a unique person. I acknowledge I don't fit a norm people have set up, nor will I be able to do some things my peers can do. I am that girl with a weird hand, and that's okay. I love being me, and I want to keep being me. Before, I prayed every day to God to change me because I could not love the way I was. Today, I can proudly look in the mirror and say, “ I love myself”. Someone who helped me with this self-journey was my sister. She never felt accepted growing up for her own reasons. I think it's because of this that she spent so much time with me and taught me how to love myself. She had gone through what I did and did not want me anymore. Together, we went through a journey of self-acceptance and how to really live life without caring for others' opinions. To me, my sister taught me something I'll carry for the rest of my life.