My name is Alyssa Waters and I'm a senior at Jones County High School in Gray, Georgia. I’m 18-years-old and I have two brothers, a twin brother and one who’s 13 years old. I grew up in church and my faith is very important to me. I love reading, playing soccer, hiking, and having fun with my friends and family. Both my parents are teachers in the Jones County school system, which is why I want to major in Early Childhood Education once I get to college. While in high school I have been very involved in clubs like FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), JLJ (Junior Leadership Jones), FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), and SkillsUSA. I also am a flute player in the concert band, and I march piccolo in the marching band. The thing I’m most proud of achieving during high school is winning 1st place in state at SkillsUSA for Broadcast News Production. I have a 4.0 GPA and my SAT score was 1130. Being involved in clubs like JLJ has allowed me to volunteer more. I often volunteer at animal shelters and soup kitchens. I'm also very involved in my church and I frequently volunteer my help with any of their community service projects. During the past three years while keeping my good grades, being involved in school activities, and volunteering, I have somehow managed to find time for work. I worked as an admissions clerk at Gray-8-Skate for a little more than a year. In December I got a job at Scooter Coffee, and I plan on working there until it comes time to move into my college dorm. I am happy to tell I have been accepted at the University of Georgia for this upcoming fall semester. I have also already been accepted into the Early College of Education. I have wanted to go to Georgia my whole life. With two parents who graduated from UGA, I was born to bleed red and black. I love the opportunities that Georgia has for me to grow into the best version of me. I’m dedicated to my community, and I hope to move back to Gray after achieving a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. I want to come back and help influence the future kids of Jones County to be the best versions of themselves they can be. I would appreciate your consideration for this scholarship; it would be a huge investment in me and my future.

“I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.” That’s what I heard every time I visited my Great-Grandmother, Granny Davis. An experience that shaped me into the person I am now is the life and death of my late grandmother. Velma Davis was an inspiration to all who crossed paths with her, and nobody felt unloved in her presence. Even most nurses left her hospital room happier than they were before. I remember visiting her one day at the local hospital. There wasn’t a single nurse, doctor, or intern that left without hearing the words “I love you” and an occasional “God loves you too” escape my granny’s lips. My grandmother had Dementia, but never forgot the hymns she learned as a small girl in church. She was always humming and singing through old Christian hymns, her favorite being ‘Just a Closer Walk with Thee.’ Coincidentally, we sang that very song in Church just hours before she entered the pearly gates and ‘walked closer to thee.’ Because of her Dementia she could never remember my name, but that didn’t stop her from loving me all the same. I remember on hot summer days, going with my siblings to pick up Burger King and going to Granny Davis’s house to work on her one-hundred-piece puzzle. We would play with vintage toys and go fishing in the pond beside her house. You could also find me playing Tic Tac Toe with her caregiver, Miss Barbara. Then, before my siblings and I left, we would here “I don’t know who you are, but I know I love you.” My Great-Grandmother inspires me everyday to live brighter, love bigger, and praise God through everything. I’ve never seen my granny in a bad mood. She was always smiling and singing. I hope that when I turn old and grey, I will be as positive as she was. Through my granny’s example I’ve learned it doesn’t take much to make someone feel loved. You don’t have to do this and that. If you love your hardest and in the best possible way, you can alter someone’s whole day. As my Granny Davis did, I pray that on the day when I ascend to the streets of gold, in my last moments I will declare “I’m ready to go home.” Through all my days I will never forget the loving woman that inspires every decision I make, every step I take, and how I live in each moment. Thank you, Granny Davis, for making me into the person I am today. I never could have done it without you.

There are different ways to think about self-care: mental and physical self-care. I like to focus on the mental. There are routine things that I do for self-care, such as a daily devotional, but there are also things I do as I need them, such as a pep talk. Like I said, I like to focus on the mental. There are many things I do mentally to start my day off. Firstly, I try to start the day off with a little bit of Jesus, so I listen to Christian music as I get ready for the day. Christian music always gets me in the right mindset to start the day. After I arrive at school, I normally have 30 minutes to sit in my car, so during that time I do a 4–9-minute meditation. This again helps me get into the right mindset. Later at night I do a devotional and listen to Christian music as I sleep. I also write bible verses and inspirational sayings on my mirror. Every once in a while, I'll compliment myself or give myself a pep talk to boost my confidence. Self-care is important, not only for yourself, but the people around you too. Self-care improves your attitude, therefore making you a more pleasant and likable person. I would recommend a self-care routine to anybody who wants a more positive mindset.

Friendship: it's a commonly used word that implies you have a relationship with someone that you'd do anything for. You'd bring them food when they're sick or stay up until morning talking about the most hidden parts of your life. When they're in danger, you'd fight tooth and nail to make them safe again. When they're knocked down, you're right there picking them back up. When they're sad, you make them smile; when they're crying, you give them your shoulder. How many times do we throw around the word friend, without thinking of what it means? When someone asks who you were just talking to, you probably respond saying something like, "Don't worry, I was just talking to a friend," or "Who? Annie? You've never met her. She's a friend." She's a friend. That statement sends a wave of uneasiness through my mind. Because no matter how many times I say that someone is a friend, I can't help but think, "but they're not just a friend, they're so much more!" My friends were there for me in times when it seemed no one else was. My friends are always at the front of my mind. My friends are... my family. We're quick to label a friendship as close when we see people living out the biggest moments of their lives with someone. We always like to look at other people's friendships on social media. "Look! Jessica and Nichole went to the beach together, I wish we could do that." But it's the smallest moments that give you the title of friend. You're not my friend until I've called you at 5 a.m. crying about everything that's built up over time. Until you're the one I call when times get rough. A friend is always there, no matter what.

When I started driving, I realized how impatient people are. I'd be driving five over the speed limit and someone will be riding my bumper. Sometimes people will get so impatient that they drive around me, even when it's against the law. I think when people are impatient, they start to get frustrated with everything and they start to irrationalize. When people are impatient, they start to get frustrated. Have you ever been having the best day ever, but it gets ruined by someone growing impatient? Think about it like this, you just got told that you and some of your family members are going to your most favorite restaurant ever. You get to the hostess stand and she tells you that it's going to be a twenty-minute wait. Then for the entire twenty minutes your little brother complains that he's hungry and that he wants to go somewhere else. When you finally get seated, you're a lot less happy than you were before. This is because a person was being impatient and negative about something totally harmless. This leads me right into my next topic: being irrational. When people get impatient, they start to irrationalize situations. Like your little brother complaining about having to wait for food, saying "I'm going to die if I don't eat right now!" A lot of people blow things out of proportion. No, you aren't going to die if you don't eat for the next twenty minutes. Irrationalizing can also cause harmful situations. Take the person passing you in an illegal zone, that person can cause a fatal car crash just because they were being impatient. Writing this, I started to realize a trend. People that are impatient also tend to be more negative. The world just needs to be a more positive place.

My ambition paired with my adventurous nature have inspired huge dreams for my life. I have dreams of travel, love, family, religion, and so much more! For starters, there are so many places I plan to travel. I've been all over my country, but never to another country. One of my major plans is to visit colorful places such as Costa Rica or Brazil. I've always dreamed of seeing the vibrant colors of the rainforest. I also plan on visiting places like Rome, Paris, and London. These old cities have been around for centuries and its historic past calls for my curious mind. Another part of my dreams is my want to find true love. I know that nobody is perfect, but my grandparents have taught me that everyone has a perfect person. My big hope is that I will meet my person that complements my good and bad. Family is a big part of my life and I wish nothing less than a big family. I wish to have four kids after achieving a steady relationship and job. I pray that we will be close in all ways that families are. The last major part of my dream is that I will live a life that honors God. My main goal on this earth is to as inspirational and godly as the women before me. I hope that when I die, I will have a filling life that accomplishes my biggest dream of going to Heaven.

My favorite book is the Mark of Athena from the Heroes of Olympus series. The Heroes of Olympus series is the sequel to Percy Jackson, both of which are written by Rick Riordan. It's about a group of friends that fight together to save the world from evil. I started reading Percy Jackson my first year of middle school, it was the second series I ever really enjoyed reading. The adventure and unique world that was introduced early in the book captivated me as a young reader. I got to grow up alongside the characters and watch them grow into amazing young adults. As I continued to read the books my personality began morphing into the personalities of the characters in the book that I looked up to the most. In the Mark of Athena, we see a lot of characters' growth, as well as characters dealing with challenging topics. The book really dives into dealing with depression, anxiety, hubris, and even making tough decisions. This book has taught me how to make rational decisions even when the choices don't seem fair. In the Mark of Athena there's a character that reflects just about every personality type. I hope that when people read this book, they can find a character that they feel has a lot of the same personal problems. I hope that when they find that character it will teach them how to face their problems head on. Annabeth Chase is the character that I related to the most. We both struggle with immense pride. She helped me realize that I can be wrong, that I am not perfect all the time. She taught me that it's okay to not always have the right answer or the best project. She taught me that it's okay to be human.

The song that inspires me the most is an old Baptist hymn called 'Just a Closer Walk with Thee.' This song is about wanting a closer walk with God, and it was also my great-grandmother's favorite song. We even played it at her funeral two years ago. My great-grandmother inspired me with the way she cared for her family and the way she trusted in God with all her heart. Her trust in what she believes has inspired me, even today, to take that leap of faith because God has my back through thick and thin. Though this song reminds me of my great-grandmother, she reminds me of my grandmother (her daughter). My grandmother is the one person in my life who I strive to be more like every day. She reminds me that God gives and true love does exist. She assures me that I am loved, not only with her words, but through her actions as well. Her kind, pure, godly soul pushes me to be the best I can be. 'Just a Closer Walk with Thee' reminds me of the inspirational and godly women that are the reason I'm here today.