REVIVAL Scholarship

At the age of 24, I found out I was pregnant with my daughter who is now 6 years old. At the time, I was living with my parents, working, and in school finishing up my associates degree. My boyfriend (now husband) was living in Minnesota and I was in New York. Moving to Minnesota once I finished up my associates degree to be with my husband, I had my daughter and stop going to school. As time went on I was working and my daughter at the time was 2 years old started to have some difficulties with her mental health. When she turned 3 years old, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Something no parent wants to hear, and understanding the struggles she had to face throughout the years. By the age 4 years old my daughter was in feeding classes, occupational therapy, speech therapy, counseling, and seeing a psychologist for her medication. Working full time, and trying to balance all her appointments left it impossible for me to try to do school. When she was 5 years old, we welcomed a new addition to the family her baby brother. Little did I know that this would make it even harder for her and she started to have behavioral issues. Along with all her other therapy, we added on behavioral therapy now as well. I tried to do school but I had to take long breaks in between, thinking it was absolutely impossible to be able to go to school, work full time, and manage a child with special needs. Creating a more stability and more opportunities for my family to live a healthy lifestyle. Thank you, Jillian Meisel As time went on, I ended up quieting my job because she was being kicked out of daycares and many people could not handle her like I could. My FMLA at work was running low from all the time I needed to take for my daughter. Once I was able to get assistance for her, I was able to become her PCA, and start school again. My daughter started school making a little easier for me to be able to do school work. I will use my higher education to support my family my giving my daughter with ASD, and my son the best life possible. For my daughter, I want to be able to give her all the help she needs, in order to help her overcome and be successful in life.

I am a parent to two beautiful daughters. They mean the world to me, and I want them to have an easier life than I grew up. My journey to higher education has not been easy. I grew up poor and raised by a single mother. I joined the military to fund my undergraduate education. I want my daughters to have more options than I had after high school and not feel like they have to join the military or take out loans for college. My daughters are three and five years old, and they already have a Uniform Gift to Minors Account (UGMA) and 529 plans. My wife and I are both teachers, and our salaries pay the bills; however, there is little left for my daughter's accounts. I will graduate with my first masters degree this summer and start my second immediately. The pursuit of these degrees will provide us with more financial flexibility regarding investments for my children. Once I become a physician assistant, my wife will pursue her masters degree as a school psychologist. Becoming a physician assistant will allow my wife to pursue her goal full-time. The overall goal is to increase our financial freedom while at the same time showing our children a good work ethic. Our future goals and aspirations are reliant on my ability to achieve higher education. My road to higher education was and continues to be strenuous. I start physician assistant school in a few months, and I am still writing this because I have no idea how I will pay for my school. I am taking out my retirement to help pay the bills while in school. Mathematically we will burn through that amount quickly. As a father, I am worried about our quality of life change over the next two years and wonder if we would be better off if I didn't attend. It is a difficult decision as I have worked for five years to get to this point, and now I am questioning it. My family will benefit immensely if I can receive assistance and make it through these tough headwinds. Thank you.