I did not inherit a roadmap. I am creating one. As a first-generation college student, I entered higher education without anyone in my family who could tell me how to navigate it. I had to learn about applications, financial aid, classes, deadlines, and everything in between by figuring it out along the way. But I wasn't doing it with a built in support system. I was doing it while raising three children. My husband and I have built our family without a village. We don't have a large “tribe” to call when life gets overwhelming, school demands more of me, or one of our children needs us. We have learned to support each other and keep moving forward, even when there is no one else to step in. There have been late nights studying after my children were asleep, assignments squeezed between family responsibilities, and plenty of moments when giving up would have been easier. I keep going because I have a reason bigger than a degree. My nephew is one of the biggest reasons I chose social work. Walking through difficult circumstances with him opened my eyes to how deeply systems can affect a person's life, especially when that person does not have the power or knowledge to advocate for themselves. I experienced firsthand how complicated it can be to fight for someone you love and how easily people can become lost in systems that are supposed to help them. That experience changed the direction of my life. It gave my education a purpose. I am pursuing my Bachelor of Social Work at Jacksonville State University and plan to continue my education through a Master of Social Work. I want to advocate for people who feel unheard and work toward improving the systems they are forced to navigate. I want the difficult experiences in my life to become something useful not simply something I survived. Being a first generation student has taught me that I don't need to come from a family of college graduates to become one. Being a mother has taught me perseverance. My nephew taught me the importance of advocacy. And my experiences have taught me that people deserve someone willing to stand beside them when they feel like they are standing alone. This scholarship would help ease some of the financial burden of completing my education and bring me one step closer to the career I have worked so hard to build. More than that, it would support a journey that I hope will ultimately allow me to help others navigate paths that once seemed impossible. I started this journey without a roadmap. I am determined to finish it by becoming someone who helps create one for others.

Mental health has shaped my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I watched my mother struggle with bipolar disorder, and later I witnessed my brother's battles with both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Those experiences gave me an early understanding that mental illness is not a character flaw or a personal failure. It is a health condition that affects not only the individual but also the people who love them. As a child, I did not always understand what was happening. I only knew that there were difficult days, unexpected challenges, and situations that felt different from what many of my friends experienced. Looking back, I realize those experiences taught me empathy, patience, and the importance of supporting people without judgment. My understanding of mental health became even more personal in 2014 after the birth of my child. I began experiencing severe emotional and physical symptoms that dramatically affected my daily life. I repeatedly expressed concerns about how I was feeling, but my symptoms were largely attributed to postpartum changes. Eventually, I reached a breaking point and attempted suicide. Later, it was discovered that my thyroid levels were approximately four times higher than normal. The medical issue that had been contributing to my symptoms had gone unrecognized despite my efforts to seek help. While I take responsibility for my actions during that difficult period, the experience forever changed the way I view mental health and healthcare. It taught me how important it is for people to be heard, believed, and treated as partners in their own care. Surviving that experience gave me a different perspective on the struggles that so many people face. I learned that mental health challenges do not always have a simple cause and that people who are suffering often need compassion more than judgment. I also learned how powerful it can be when even one person takes the time to listen. These experiences have shaped my relationships by making me more understanding and less likely to make assumptions about what someone may be going through. They have also influenced my goals. As a social work student, I hope to work with individuals and families facing difficult circumstances, including mental health challenges. I want to be the person who listens, advocates, and helps connect people with the support they need. Mental health affects millions of people, yet stigma continues to prevent many from seeking help. My family's experiences and my own journey have taught me that healing often begins when people feel safe enough to talk about their struggles without fear of judgment. Because of what I have experienced, I am committed to helping create a world where mental health is treated with the same compassion, understanding, and urgency as physical health. While my journey has not always been easy, it has given me a deeper understanding of resilience, empathy, and the importance of human connection. Those lessons continue to guide both my personal life and my future career in social work.

Growing up, I always felt a little different, but not in the obvious ways. I wasn't the smartest person in the room, the most athletic, or the most outgoing. If I had to describe my "awkward" thing, it would be that I have never seemed to take the easy path. Somehow, I always find myself choosing the harder road, whether I mean to or not. While many people follow a fairly predictable timeline through life, mine has looked more like a winding back road with plenty of detours. I've spent years balancing responsibilities that often felt bigger than me. Between raising children, managing a household, helping care for a loved one with dementia, helping another loved one take care of a farm, while working through challenges, and trying to build a better future, there have been plenty of moments where giving up would have been easier than continuing forward. What makes me stand out is my ability to keep going, even when life gets messy. Boy can it get messy. As a nontraditional college student pursuing a degree in social work, I sit in classrooms with people whose lives look very different from mine. Sometimes I am studying after a long day while also helping with homework, managing my children's schedules, or handling the endless list of responsibilities that come with being a parent. It can be exhausting, but it has taught me discipline, resilience, and determination in ways a textbook never could. One thing people might find unusual is that I genuinely enjoy helping others, even when I have my own struggles to work through. Social work wasn't a random career choice for me. It comes from a place of understanding what it feels like when life is difficult and how important it is to have someone who listens, supports, and believes in you. Those experiences shaped me into someone who wants to make a difference for others. Another thing that makes me stand out is my commitment to growth. Over the last year, I have worked hard to improve my health and have lost over sixty pounds. The weight loss itself is something I'm proud of, but what matters more is what it represents. It represents consistency. It represents showing up for myself on the days I didn't feel motivated. It represents believing that small steps eventually lead somewhere meaningful. If I had to sum up my "awkward" thing, it's that I'm a person who keeps rebuilding. When life gets hard, I adapt. When obstacles appear, I find another route. When something seems impossible, I keep working until it isn't. That may not be as obvious as being exceptionally tall, left handed, or holding a pencil differently, but it is the thing that makes me who I am. My ability to persevere through challenges, continue growing, and use my experiences to help others is what truly sets me apart.

Growing up, I did not have a clear example of what a healthy relationship looked like. My childhood was shaped by instability. My mother struggled with drug addiction, and our home was often filled with uncertainty, with different people coming in and out of our lives. There was no sense of consistency, safety, or structure, only unpredictability. As a child, I learned quickly how to adapt, but I also learned what I did not want for my future. By the time I reached high school, I was already working to create a different path for myself. Then in December of 2007, during my junior year, I met my husband. At the time, I did not realize how significant that relationship would become, but I knew early on that it was different from anything I had experienced before. For the first time, I experienced consistency, respect, and genuine support. Our relationship was not built on chaos, but on trust and mutual effort. That foundation gave me something I had never truly had before, a sense of stability and belonging. Two days before my eighteenth birthday in June of 2008, I made the decision to move out of my childhood home. It was not an easy choice, but it was necessary. I moved in with my husband, and shortly after, in July of 2008, we were married. During my senior year, I worked two jobs while finishing school, determined to build stability in my life. That same year, I graduated high school in May of 2009. While many people questioned those decisions, for me, it was the beginning of breaking a cycle. Now, nearly eighteen years later, our marriage has become the most meaningful relationship in my life. It has shaped not only who I am as a partner, but who I am as a person, a mother, and someone who understands the importance of connection. Through our relationship, I learned that healthy connections are built intentionally. They require communication, patience, and the willingness to grow together. Coming from a background where relationships were unstable, I had to unlearn what I thought was normal and relearn what it meant to build something strong and lasting. As a mother of three, I now carry those lessons into the way I raise my children and my nephew. My goal is to provide them with the stability I did not have growing up. I want them to understand what healthy relationships look like, to feel safe, supported, and valued within their own home. In doing so, I am not only building a better life for my children but actively breaking generational patterns. My relationship with my husband has also influenced how I connect with others outside of my family. It has taught me empathy, patience, and the importance of showing up for people in meaningful ways. Whether it is supporting family members, helping care for loved ones, or pursuing a career in social work, I carry those values into every interaction. As I work toward my degree in social work, I am driven by the understanding that strong, healthy relationships can change lives. I have lived both sides of that reality, the instability of broken connections and the strength that comes from meaningful ones. My goal is to help individuals and families build those connections, especially those who may not have experienced them before. The most meaningful relationship in my life did more than support me, it changed the direction of my life. It showed me that where you come from does not have to define where you are going. Through that relationship, I found stability, purpose, and the foundation to build a different future. And now, I am committed to helping others do the same.