Ever since we start school we are asked, "What will you be when you grow up?" And so, it’s something I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about. Ultimately, I dedicated myself to a career in speech pathology and certification in American Sign Language (ASL). A close family member led me to this choice as my cousin was born profoundly deaf. She uses cochlear implants to hear, but there are many instances that she is unable to wear them. This means that while swimming in our grandparents' pond or having our annual 4th of July whipped cream eating contest, I was unable to talk with my cousin. Thus, I developed my interest in how people communicate and ASL. Additionally, I’ve always desired to help people. Even something as simple as doing a quick Google search to answer someone’s question, I want to help. This led to me engaging in community service early on, two projects I found particularly impactful. In the summers following my junior year of high school as well as the summer after graduation, I went on a nine-day mission trip through Next Step Missions to serve communities in need. The first mission trip was to Lexington, South Carolina where I spent most of my time renovating a house that was to be used as a resource center for the community. My second mission trip was to Colorado Springs where I worked with Habitat for Humanity and ReStore. I worked on a Habitat for Humanity construction site and also spent a lot of time at ReStore moving materials and organizing the space. Both of these experiences opened my eyes to the lives of others and further motivated me to help those around me. And so, I knew I wanted a career that would mean something to the people I’m involved with. Through my cousin, it became clear that Speech-Language Pathology could be a perfect fit. I hope to help members of the Deaf Community, as well as those of us within the hearing world, learn to effectively communicate, something that many of us take for granted. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to practice this and get involved in my future career this semester. My research professor presented me with the chance to become a conversation partner with a man who suffered a stroke and now has aphasia. Since his stroke, he has struggled greatly with word-finding and getting his message across to others. He knows what he wants to say, but he’s unable to form the words to express his thoughts. Knowing this, I eagerly took the opportunity to help this gentleman. I currently meet with him twice a week and am responsible for putting together semi-structured conversation activities that I tailor toward him and his interests to facilitate and encourage communication. While doing so I create and maintain a positive environment to support the conversation. These meetings have allowed me to advance my knowledge, use some practices that I will implement in my career, develop relationships, help someone improve their communication skills and quality of life, etc. I could not be more thankful for this opportunity and I greatly look forward to being able to help more people in the future. . I’ve gone above and beyond in every aspect of my life, striving to become the person I know I’m intended to be. I have a passion for my education and the career I am working towards, the only thing that can hold me back is funding. Receiving this scholarship would take some financial burden off my shoulders for which I would be immensely grateful.

Ever since we start school we are asked, "What will you be when you grow up?" And so, it’s something I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about. Ultimately, I dedicated myself to a career in speech pathology and certification in American Sign Language (ASL). A close family member led me to this choice as my cousin was born profoundly deaf. She uses cochlear implants to hear, but there are many instances that she is unable to wear them. This means that while swimming in our grandparents' pond or having our annual 4th of July whipped cream eating contest, I was unable to talk with my cousin. Thus, developed my interest in how people communicate and ASL. Additionally, I’ve always desired to help people. Even something as simple as doing a quick Google search to answer someone’s question, I want to help. This led to me engaging in community service early on, two projects I found particularly impactful. In the summers following my junior year of high school as well as the summer after graduation, I went on a nine-day mission trip through Next Step Missions to serve communities in need. The first mission trip was to Lexington, South Carolina where I spent most of my time renovating a house that was to be used as a resource center for the community. My second mission trip was to Colorado Springs where I worked with Habitat for Humanity and ReStore. I worked on a Habitat for Humanity construction site and also spent a lot of time at ReStore moving materials and organizing the space. Both of these experiences opened my eyes to the lives of others and further motivated me to help those around me. And so, I knew I wanted a career that would mean something to the people I’m involved with. Through my cousin, it became clear that Speech-Language Pathology could be a perfect fit. I hope to help members of the Deaf Community, as well as those of us within the hearing world, learn to effectively communicate, something that many of us take for granted. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to practice this and get involved in my future career this past semester. My research professor presented me with the chance to become a conversation partner with a man who suffered a stroke and now has aphasia. Since his stroke, he has struggled greatly with word-finding and getting his message across to others. He knows what he wants to say, but he’s unable to form the words to express his thoughts. Knowing this, I eagerly took the opportunity to help this gentleman. I currently meet with him twice a week and am responsible for putting together semi-structured conversation activities that I tailor toward him and his interests to facilitate and encourage communication. While doing so I create and maintain a positive environment to support the conversation. These meetings have allowed me to advance my knowledge, use some practices that I will implement in my career, develop relationships, help someone improve their communication skills and quality of life, etc. I could not be more thankful for this opportunity and I greatly look forward to being able to help more people in the future. . I’ve gone above and beyond in every aspect of my life, striving to become the person I know I’m intended to be. I have a passion for my education and the career I am working towards, the only thing that can hold me back is funding. Receiving this scholarship would take some financial burden off my shoulders for which I would be immensely grateful.

Ever since we start school we are asked, "What will you be when you grow up?" And so, it’s something I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about. Ultimately, I dedicated myself to a career in speech pathology and certification in American Sign Language (ASL). A close family member led me to this choice as my cousin was born profoundly deaf. She uses cochlear implants to hear, but there are many instances that she is unable to wear them. This means that while swimming in our grandparents' pond or having our annual 4th of July whipped cream eating contest, I was unable to talk with my cousin. Thus, developed my interest in how people communicate and ASL. Additionally, I’ve always desired to help people. Even something as simple as doing a quick Google search to answer someone’s question, I want to help. This led to me engaging in community service early on. In high school I participated in countless community service projects, two of which were particularly impactful. In both the summer following my junior year of high school as well as the summer after graduation, I went on a nine day mission trip through Next Step Missions to serve communities in need. With the first mission trip, I traveled to Lexington, South Carolina and spent most of my time renovating a house that was to be used as a resource center for the community. For my second mission trip I traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado where I did most of my work with Habitat for Humanity and ReStore. I did some work on a Habitat for Humanity construction site, and also spent a lot of time at ReStore moving materials and organizing the space. Both of these experiences opened my eyes to the lives of others and further motivated me to help those around me. And so, I knew I wanted a career that would mean something to the people I was involved with. Through my cousin, it became clear that becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist could be a perfect fit. I hope to help members of the Deaf Community, as well as those of us within the hearing world, learn to effectively communicate, something that many of us take for granted. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to practice this and get involved in the career that my education is preparing me for this past semester. My research professor presented me with the chance to become a conversation partner with a man who suffered a stroke and now has aphasia. Since his stroke, he has struggled greatly with word-finding and getting his message across to others, which can be very frustrating. He knows what he wants to say, but he is unable to form the words to express his thoughts. Knowing this, I eagerly took the opportunity to help this gentleman. I currently meet with him twice a week and am responsible for putting together conversation activities for us to work through. I work to find or develop activities that are semi-structured and tailored toward him and his interests in order to facilitate and encourage communication. While doing so I must create and maintain a positive environment to support the conversation. These meetings have allowed me to advance my knowledge, use some practices that I will implement in my future career, develop relationships, help someone improve their communication skills and quality of life, etc. I could not be more thankful for this opportunity and I greatly look forward to being able to help more people in the future.

Ever since we start school we are asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Even from the young age of 4 or 5, there is pressure on us to figure out what we are going to do with the rest of our lives. Due to this, it is something that I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about. In the end, I dedicated myself to a career in speech-language pathology with a certification in American Sign Language (ASL). I am entering my second year at UW-Eau Claire to complete my bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders and ASL Certificate, then I will continue my education to earn a master's degree and doctorate in Speech-Language Pathology. A family member led me to this career path, as my younger cousin was born profoundly deaf. She can hear with the use of cochlear implants, but still, there are many instances that she is unable to wear them. This means that while swimming in our grandparents' pond or having our annual 4th of July whipped cream eating contest, I was unable to talk with my cousin. And so I developed an interest in how people communicate and ASL, which later led me to speech pathology. Additionally, I’ve always desired to help people. Even something as simple as doing a quick Google search to answer someone’s question, I want to help. Because of this, I knew I wanted a career that would mean something to people and my community. Through my cousin, it became clear that becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist could be a perfect fit. Once I complete my education I hope to help members of the Deaf Community, as well as those of us within the hearing world, learn to effectively communicate, which is something that many of us take for granted. This may include deaf children learning to speak after receiving cochlear implants, patients who have suffered a stroke, and many others. I have thought long and hard about what I want to achieve in my life. I have set many goals that I will accomplish, unfortunately, those goals bring along a great financial burden. As a first-generation college student, my parents have instilled in me the importance of an education while also stressing the importance of paying for my education. As the youngest of three children, all born within a three-year time span, the weight of paying for college falls on my shoulders, as it also does for my brothers. It is no secret that college is expensive. Not only is there tuition to pay but also the cost of living, room and board, textbook fees, school supplies including a laptop, and more. So even before entering high school, I worked tirelessly to achieve academically, athletically, and served my community, while also keeping multiple part-time jobs to save for college. However, I am still falling short and can’t help but stress about my financial situation. Receiving this scholarship would take some of that financial burden off my shoulders for which I would be immensely grateful.