Dear Ms. Eitel, I am entering my junior year at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor where I have a double major in English and Film Studies. My dream is to use my English and Film degree to become a screenwriter and to work for a film production company. I began my university education with only a major in English, but as time went by, I realized that I have always had a great passion for film, and so in the summer of 2024, I decided to add a Film major as well. However, since I have added this second major, my course load has increased each semester, as well as my tuition cost. This scholarship fund will help me immensely as I further my university education, and will allow me to continue to study Film at UMHB. In addition, I have been volunteering at a local pregnancy resource center for the past two years, which has been one of the greatest and most fulfilling experiences in my life, and I now hope to one day open my own non-profit pregnancy resource center. The Eitel Scholarship will help me fulfill both my career and community service aspirations! Thank you, Ali M. Steadman

Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, I served as the president of the UMHB student organization, Cru for Life, which is a pro-life organization, for the entire 2024-2025 academic year. As the president, I performed several different duties for the organization, my favorite of which was organizing two volunteer events at Hope Pregnancy Center, a non-profit pregnancy resource center in Temple, Texas. I recruited several students at UMHB to join the event, where out objective was to organize Hannah’s Closet, which is a supply closet located in the garage of the building where all donations of clothing, diapers, wipes, blankets, and food are kept. Hope Pregnancy Center receives many donations from the community, and each fall and spring, they need as much help as they can get organizing their clothes appropriately for the season. In the fall, the volunteers and I aided the director in switching out all of the summer clothes for winter clothes and taking inventory of all donated items, and in the spring, we switched out all of the winter clothes with summer clothes. Watching all of these students from UMHB take hours out of their Saturday morning amidst very busy schedules to come serve families in need really blessed my heart. In addition, working with this organization has shown me the immense generosity that my community has. I have felt discouraged in the past when I witness the great need of mothers and fathers who are facing unplanned pregnancies around me, but I am always pleasantly surprised when I see how many clothing and food items that people are willing to give to help these people out. The power of a community's generosity should not be underestimated! I am confident that no matter what, Hope Pregnancy Center will always have more than enough volunteers and donations to continue to serve their community!