My name is Alicia Owegi. I am an international student-athlete from Nairobi Kenya, who is currently pursuing a degree in Biological Science at Alabama A&M University. I desire to pursue Physical therapy in the future, and at some point, go back home to serve in this field. The most important part of my life is my faith. I am a growing Christian part of a healthy body, looking to grow in my faith, and serve the Lord to the best of my ability. Now that I am well introduced, I can get into the numerous obstacles and difficulties I have had to face throughout my college and high school life. I will not be able to mention them all, but I do want to add that I was blessed to grow up in a stable home, in Nairobi-Kenya, with two parents who loved me and gave their absolute best to give me and my two sisters the best life they could afford. They taught me what it means to work hard earnestly unto the Lord, to respect and love others, and to enjoy the short life I have been given. They, along with the unforgiving sport I competed in (tennis) taught me what it meant to win and lose with grace, most of the time, and how not to be deterred by failure. I learned to overcome. That said, I am on a partial athletic and academic scholarship at A&M, and this gave the opportunity to pursue my studies in America. I worked in the cafeteria my first two years, and now as junior, I am beginning to work as a tutor. I desire to make some extra money in order to pay for my ticket home, car insurance, and day-to-day costs while on campus. We are not given a stipend for that. I also would like to work fewer hours, so I can have time to serve at church, maybe visit a few families and get to cultivate deeper relationships with some members of my church, in order for me to grow in my faith. My greatest obstacle is my sin, most times it comes in form of anxiety. It hinders my growth in my faith, and in my game, which is a disappointment to my coach and although they won't say it out loud, my family as well. Any extra money would help me ease the burden off my financial status, and I can focus on serving the Lord diligently. My parents do not make enough for them to be sending me the amounts they do. I desire to be financially dependent and help them save for my younger sisters college, among other things. Hence my reason for applying for this scholarship. However, I am content with where the Lord has placed me, and the circumstance I am in. My desire for support should be by no means an indication of otherwise. I just also feel that sometimes it is wise to ask for help.

I became a believer when I was sixteen. Before that, I looked at the Christian faith as something I can use to gain material blessings. I was an anxious athlete who wanted, desperately, to win matches and succeed in life. I wanted to be popular and for my family to afford all the new gadgets so that I could, by some miracle, fit in with the 'in' crowd. I believed that these things would make me truly happy, and I also believed that God owed me all these things, because other people had them. Why not me? That was my truth. In 2022, one of the boys in the youth group at my church passed away suddenly. Our youth leaders took the time to explain to us what it means to live and die as a Christian. They said if we read our bible diligently and prayed everyday for a good amount of time, and devoted our lives wholly to God then we would get to go to heaven. Most people seemed to not to notice that what they wanted us to do was impossible! I had tried to devote my life wholly to the Lord in order to be blessed, but I was not doing a very good job at it. There had to be another way for us to get to heaven, for our lives on earth to mean more than just how successful we are. Christ was the other way! Christ is the only way! I looked at the gospel of salvation in a whole new light from that day. By God's grace I grasped the importance of Christ sacrifice on the cross for us, and how much we really did no deserve it. I mean, we did not even ask. He did it because he loved us, and because he is God and he is so merciful to us (Ephesians 2:8-10). My life got a whole new meaning in light this. I had a longing for something more than myself, more than my desires for riches I would not have for very long. I learnt God's truth, that he being all-powerful and all sufficient, loved me, a lowly creature who rebels against him daily, enough to sacrifice his own son to create a way for me to spend eternity with him, through faith. No strings attached, I just have to believe. What a wonderful mystery! I do not believe one can have a truth that is important enough, if it is separate from God's truth. The truth of man is focused on self, and things that will end. The truth of God is everlasting and unchangeable. However, the truth of God becomes the truth of whoever believes in it. Whoever believes strives to live out their lives in a manner pleasing to the Lord (Colossians 1:9-10). With help of the Holy spirit, and with support of the church, my hope and prayer is to live of God's truth the best way I can. And when all is said and done, I want to be called a good and faithful servant, and so spend eternity in his glory.