I practice self-care by balancing my work, school, and hobbies in one day, each day of the week. I begin in the morning by hitting my alarm clock a good two or three times until I finally roll out of my bed to the bathroom and begin to freshen up. I cleanse my face, apply my topical vitamin serums, a sunscreen moisturizer, and then go out back to tidy up and feed my home-stead animals. I enjoy giving the feed and corn to the chickens and analyzing there bodies for anything that could’ve happened during the night. After this, I greet my little yellow cat, Butter, and make sure her needs are met as well. By this time, I’m usually rushing off to school for my two morning classes, completing homework while I’m still in class, and rush home for a power nap before I begin work. It’s hard and laboring, but I enjoy earning my pay and saving for opportunities I have planned for the future. Once it’s dark out and the evening fog has grown and engulfed the fields, I head home to finish up any homework. If I do not have any, I enjoy reading from my giant stack of books beside my bed until I’ve worked up the energy to make dinner and take a shower. It really is simple, but this is the life I’ve always wanted. Simple and unique enough for me to experience, and I’m happy while doing it. I love the independency I feel in my life at this moment and enjoy every ounce of my responsibilities.

I aspire to make a positive impact in the world by just simply being the best that I can be. I want to pursue a life in trade and manufacturing and benefit the people I will give service to. With enough experience, dedication, and hard-work, I want to then become a safety instructor for these places and keep everyone safe. Informing others on how they can prevent tragedies might not impact the world, but it will impact individual ones. I want to educate anyone that I can on safety and save the world that they know in their mind and body.

The first woman to come to mind is Esther, the beautiful Jewish queen who stood for her people and protected them from annihilation against Haman’s schemes in the Bible. She was strong-willed and strong-minded. I’ve admired her strength and words since I was a little kid in Sunday school, and I carry from her book the quote “Perhaps this is the moment for which you were created.” I remind myself of these words and remanence on them before I go to work. I love the feeling of pursuing my purpose, and that is exactly why I am applying to this scholarship. Although Esther changed the tides of an entire empire, I want to keep it simple and change what I can while in my small home town. I am pursuing a job, as a woman, in manufacturing where safety is the biggest priority for an employee. Like how Esther kept her people safe from a massacre, I’d like to keep my co-workers safe as a safety instructor and looking out for those around me (a common trait I’ve gained as an older sister of five). I want to follow the steps of Esther and not be afraid to speak my mind and remind myself of my courageous heart. God did not put me through hell on earth and back again for nothing, and I have the enthusiasm and determination to see my goals through. Any money I can have rewarded, raised, or saved, is not only benefitting me—It is benefitting those around me. I want to pursue a trade school, earn my certifications and diploma, and use my developed and hardened skills for the better. I want to use my skills to help others, make the world a safer place, and guide people thoroughly through safety precautions/PPE and OSHA courses.

My favorite ways to pass time are reading, writing, painting/drawing and out door exploring—which all contribute to one hobby: a creative writer. I dream of becoming a published author in young-adult high fantasy, designing my own maps and character designs to enhance the worlds I create. Learning from others and developing my writing and artistry skills help prepare me for my goals of being the next big novelist. I have written seven stories, all which are saved on my laptop and are soon to be edited by a professional editor. I’ve also won three online art competitions against 3,000 or more people in Lord of The Rings fan bases. These hobbies are enjoyable and my way of escaping to meadows, stone-paved roads of busy villages, and imagining life outside of the ordinary box. Leaving behind this world and imagining another helps expand my expectations and pursuing for a better place on Earth. I’ve dedicated my free time to volunteering and providing for my small farm town and giving any help to my neighbors. Where the corn is gold and the breeze is crisp and clear, so is my happiness when I express my hobbies.

It has been my dream to become an auto/diesel mechanic and welder; and I am currently enrolled in Columbus Technical College to pursue this dream. I will take on any challenge and not let my sex (female) stop me from overcoming obstacles in this field and treat those around me as equals (but I will not be afraid to ask for help from my co-workers). I picture my best life with my hands dirty and my feet in steel toed boots, earning a living like my father and his father did, and going home to wash up and play with my future children. I want the simplest things to enjoy a long life of hard work and seeing differences and rewards around me that I worked my butt-off toward. This scholarship will not only cover most of my tuition, but it will deliver me closer to my goal than any can. The money given to me will go straight to my development of skills that will go right back to my community in my small town and also make me the happiest woman to work towards my future!