YOU GOT IT GIRL SCHOLARSHIP

1. I believe being a You Got It Girl means being the person who builds the room she was once told she did not belong in. I started as the only girl on an all boys wrestling team and I lost almost every single match my first year. My peers laughed at me and they whispered about me. I did not let that stop me. Instead I worked through every summer and outpaced everyone until I became the captain and the top performer. I spent my own money and time to recruit other girls because I wanted to make sure no one else had to feel as alone as I did. This scholarship will help me achieve my goals by closing the financial gap for my dream school. It will allow me to focus on my education and my wrestling career at the collegiate level without the constant weight of financial stress on my family. 2. I have been a competitive wrestler since the seventh grade. Over the last six years I have transformed from a timid beginner into a national level competitor. I am a three year captain of my high school team and I have won over twenty five titles during my career. For the second year in a row I hold the record for the most pins on the entire team. I have been placed nationally and I have earned a spot on the women’s wrestling team at Penn State. Beyond my personal medals I am most proud of growing our women’s program from three athletes to seventeen through my own recruitment and coaching efforts. 3. During my junior year I faced a devastating setback when an assistant coach violated my physical safety and trust. This led to a very difficult legal process and a diagnosis of PTSD and depression. There were days when I felt like I was falling apart. However I chose to turn that trauma into a reason to be a protector for my teammates. I showed up to every practice with a positive attitude even when I was struggling internally. I took over the team photography and social media to make sure every athlete felt celebrated and safe. I learned that my strength is not just in my physical moves but in my ability to lead through the darkest moments of my life. 4. I admire my mother more than anyone else. She has watched me go through the highest peaks and the lowest valleys of my athletic career and she never let me give up on myself. She taught me that coming from poverty does not define my future and that being a first generation college student is a badge of honor. Her resilience and her belief in my vision for a women’s wrestling legacy at our school gave me the courage to keep going. She inspires me to be a woman who leads with empathy and grit. 5. I have worked so hard to maintain a 4.0 GPA while being a caretaker for my grandfather and a leader for my team. My family has supported me through every tournament and every medical appointment during my recovery from trauma. This scholarship would cover the final financial gap for my tuition at Penn State. It would take the pressure off my parents and allow me to enter my freshman year focused entirely on being the best student and athlete I can be. It would be the final piece of the puzzle that allows me to step into my future. 6. I want you to know that I plan to return to my high school after I earn my master’s degree. My goal is to become the first black female wrestling coach at Harry S. Truman High School. I have already started building the foundation for the women who will come after me and I intend to spend my life ensuring that every young girl has a safe and empowering place to compete. I am not just an athlete. I am a builder and a survivor and a leader. 7. I will be competing in women’s wrestling at Penn State starting this fall. I have earned a spot on the team and I am entering as a committed student athlete. Being a student athlete means everything to me because it is where I found my voice and my confidence. It taught me that I can handle any challenge whether it is a national tournament or a personal hardship. I look forward to representing my community and the You Got It Girl values on a collegiate stage.

Hello, my name is Taelynn Lawrence, and I am inspired to be a "You Got It, Girl". I am currently an out-of-state student at West Hills College in Coalinga, California, and play on our junior college collegiate Volleyball team. I am a Type 1 Diabetic athlete and have had to push my body to continue playing this sport. I played Varsity 3 years of High-school and club volleyball since my 12's season. Since then, I have noticed how playing a collegiate sport can have on a young athlete's mental health and physical output. Volleyball takes more than just a high vertical and "raw talent". It takes years of skill training, discipline, deep breaths, and mental training to meet your full potential. Now imagine this with injections, smarties, and glucagons. I had to push my body even in the lows and highs. I sat and ignored high and low blood glucose just to stay in the game. I didn't want to be pulled off, especially not for a health condition. I had pushed hard enough to finally make my eighteens season of club volleyball. I secured a starting role and worked to be seen. This is when I was recruited by my college coach. This has, by far, been my greatest accomplishment. Now, I may not have gotten the most playing time my freshman year, but I worked, and I grew so much mentally while pushing through the struggles of being a Type 1 Diabetic. Given what YGIG stands for, I feel I align strongly. Having to be taught resilience, hard work, and independence throughout this experience so far. This year was, by far, the hardest, mentally and physically. As most college athletes know, the training gets a lot more intense when you get to the collegiate level. You are training almost double the amount with limited hours in the day. This is when it also became easier to overlook my condition. I would leave practice with high highs or very low lows. I had limited playing time this season, but when I did, not a single family member was at a game. I had no support and had to do it alone. And with this came a huge falling out with my Mom. I felt as if I had no one in my corner, and since I was an "Adult," I was being forced to do it all on my own. We decided not to move forward in our relationship because of its unhealthy aspects. She not only pulled out of tuition after this falling-out, but also came to take my car from me. Being an 18-year-old with no idea how to even file a tax return, I felt lost and stuck. I was now stuck in a state with a condition that's incurable, with no help, and no way to make my medical appointments. This may not seem like a huge deal or situation, but not only did one of the most important relationships in my life get pulled away from me, I also lost all ways to pay for school and was forced to take out loans and almost beg other family members for money in order to pay and find ways to manage my condition at the same time. I surely couldn't just give up. I had made a commitment to my team, and I had already put in over half a year of time and effort. I had to come back and train even harder, not only for me, but because I had a point to prove to the people around me. I wanted to demonstrate that I can do it on my own. My coach and my teammates are, by far, my biggest supporters. They never just let me fall, and my coach always says, "There is always a way, it might not be easy, but there is always a way," and this will forever be engraved in me. The YGIG scholarship is beautiful in what it stands for, and it has a deeper purpose than just the money. It has shown me the perseverance in female athletes and how truly strong we are. With this scholarship, I would be able to continue my athletic and academic career at West Hills College while getting the education to complete my Nursing degree. Being able to continue the sport I truly love while being surrounded by my new made family would mean the world to me. I know volleyball is ingrained in me, but I hope this scholarship will allow me to continue playing next year. I am so proud to be a YGIG, and I hope to stand tall with this astonishing group of women and athletes. Thank you for your time and consideration! I look forward to growing as an individual and making a difference.

My name is Lily Sanford and I am proud to be a “You Got It Girl”. I am a current sophomore at James Madison University and I am on the D1A National Award Winning Dukettes Dance Team. I have danced ever since I was 7 and I am a huge advocate for how dance is a sport and that every dancer deserves recognition. Dance takes immense athleticism and discipline, and it has made me who I am today. I have received numerous awards, recognitions, and scholarships over the past 12 years, but by far the biggest accomplishment during my athletic career was making my collegiate dance team. I looked up to the JMU Dukettes Dance Team for years and being able to join the family and represent my university at games, travel and community events, and at the national level means so much to me. The values YGIG promotes align greatly with me as I think resilience and the ability to overcome obstacles is so important to all female athletes. I, myself, had a set back that impacted not only my love for my sport but also my whole world. In 2021 I lost my Dad, and for 15 year old me this was more than heart breaking. My Dad was my best friend and losing him felt so isolating. I began losing interest in things I once loved, primarily dance. Dance was once my escape from reality and after the passing of my Dad I still felt hurt even when dancing. But I began to realize that I was not alone. So many other girls were going through hardship just like me and we didn't deserve to give up on our dreams. I started volunteering with the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention to get out in my community and help others dealing with the loses of loved ones, and helping them made me realize I needed to keep going in the same way I encouraged them to. I kept training and flourished as an athlete. I put in even more hours and bettered myself every day. I embraced the emotions and channeled them through my dancing, telling stories on stage that resonated with the audience and because of that I was able to raise awareness through my artform as well as my volunteer work. My favorite and most recent advocacy was wearing Suicide Prevention Ribbons with my team on the field at a James Madison University home football game. My teammates and coach are my biggest supporters and I am so grateful they believe in me and my cause. I posted on social media about our ribbons and received an overwhelming amount of messages saying my work breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health helped them to seek help and start conversations. Dance is such a heartfelt and powerful art form and sport and I hope to continue showing all dancers we can truly accomplish anything through our movement and our voices. Throughout my dance career someone I have looked up to is my mom. My mom has always invested in my dance and educational career. After losing my dad we have struggled financially but she has never let it get in the way of my dreams. She has taught me the value of hard work and how to stand up for what I believe in. From driving me to dance practices for years, being my shoulder to cry on, never missing a performance, motivating me to be my best, and every moment in between I would not be where I am today as an athlete or as a person without her. I truly love the YGIG program and everything it stands for, and receiving this scholarship would help me immensely. As I mentioned, after the loss of my dad paying for college has been very hard for myself and my family to manage. The scholarship would be put towards paying my tuition and keeping me here at James Madison University and allow me to continue my time on the Dukettes Dance Team. Receiving an education while pursuing my love for my sport is by far the greatest blessing. I am working towards getting a Bachelors degree in psychology. I plan on pursuing a career where I can help others understand their mental health and potentially being a therapist to children navigating obstacles the same way I did at a young age. I also know dance will forever be in my life so I hope to continue educating young dancers and share my love of dance with them. I will forever be proud to consider myself a YGIG and hope every dancer knows we are all athletes and have so much potential to make a mark on the world through our sport. Thank you for your time and consideration!