Well Made - Davis Scholarship

I am making decisions to help my community by first enrolling in a 4 year university, as a first generation student I am setting an example to my younger family members and those in my community that education is an escape and amazing opportunity to uplift our community, especially the one I come from in the Central Valley. I hope with my example my brother and those who feel they cannot achieve higher education realize that nothing is impossible and the obstacles we face can be conquered by way of higher education. I am also applying for many outside scholarships to fund my academic journey and thus support my goals despite the financial difficulties my single parent household faces, this along with my job search are all actions that will help me achieve my goals and benefit my local and national community. The next major decision is my major of political science, by learning the history of politics and immersing myself into the political world I can learn how I can uplift my community and make our voices projected and heard by all to make a true difference. I am just beginning to implement these decisions as I start my collegiate journey but I am already seeing the goals and sacrifices I made in high school, such as with volunteer work, extracurriculars, and spending less time on vices in exchange for preparation and game planning for the next step in life, college. These will all help my community as upon achieving my legal and political goals I can go back and be a beacon of hope and champion for change in my city and be a true role model for the kids of Stockton and hopefully kids across the country that with the help of education all doors become unlocked and nothing in life is impossible. I wish to live a life of no regrets and with the decisions I make today, I know I will live void of regret tomorrow, and hope that any who see this are able to take this message to heart and realize their life’s mission. I hope to be someone that those in my community think upon with fond consideration and an inspiration to my family and those in my community to achieve their goals under any circumstances and show that with the help of Pepperdine University my life’s goals became a reality and that theirs can too as long as they search for resources and put their mind to it.

Limping through Chemistry as a sophomore in high school, my dad began to instill in me the importance of creative problem solving. In order to overcome a seemingly impossible issue, one must find strategies to come to a solution. This message was relevant for my high school career, and now my college career. As an emotional thinker, the idea of creative problem solving is centered around challenging myself to think analytically when an issue in my academic or personal life arises. Socially, this may look like improving communication, expressing thoughts and emotion, as well as continued connection with my peers. Academically, creative problem solving allows me to find opportunities to become the best student and individual I can. In Chemistry my sophomore year of high school, communication with my teacher, using my resources, and staying after school were a few of my solutions to failing multiple tests. In contrast, the lack of problem solving would have looked like giving up, coasting through the class, and having a poor attitude. In college, I have taken full advantage of my small class sizes and professor's office hours. Small class sizes allows for my professors to get to know me on a personal level, and attending office hours demonstrates to the professor that I am engaged and striving to do well in their class. When I am unhappy about a test grade or confused on subject matter, I creatively problem solve by continuing to know my professors and attending their office hours. To me, creative problem solving and well-made decisions go hand in hand. In some cases, creative problem solving is a well-made decision and vice versa. Each of these acts comes from the goal of the desire to be the best student and individual I can be. Without a vision or ambition, there would be no need for problem solving and well-made decisions. I am implementing well-made decisions in my community by participating in heavy amounts of community engagement throughout high school, and pursuing a career that will provide extensive amounts of community connection. Serving with my church throughout high school sparked a fire in me of a passion for people. Engaging in children's ministries and the food pantry, my love for people and desire to devote my career to servings others and my community began to grow. As I began exploring potential career options, I toggled between becoming a doctor and a nurse. What led me to wanting to become a nurse was the personal connection that nurses have with their patients. After seeing a family member in the hospital for a few weeks, the medical staff that had the most impact on them was the nursing staff. I believe that becoming a nurse will provide opportunities for more well-made decisions and circumstances for creative problem solving that will have a valuable effect in the lives of my patients. This idea, is what kindled my goal to become a nurse. Learning to creatively problem solve and connecting this idea to well-made decisions in my personal and academic life is what led to a future career in nursing to help my community. Within the next few years, I hope to see how creative problem solving and well-made decisions will have a positive impact on my patients and my community.