My mother and father had split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. I will be the first in my family to attend college. My interest in STEM stems from my passion for real estate. In order to pursue this dream, my research has shown that the most eligible degrees include, finance, accounting, and business, in which I will all attempt to go after. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. Finance careers lay the foundation for a variety of high-paying jobs that are currently in demand. I dream of starting my own real estate company and selling homes for the poor and the wealthy. My mother, who struggled to make ends-meet, was sold our dream home out in the country of Texas for a reasonable price. I want to provide that opportunity of security for family and loved ones through my future finance degree. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and repay her for rescuing me.

My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put us through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I and we ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. He kept us down financially and forced us to struggle to survive. He may have served his country, but he forget to serve his family. My father is the military veteran in this story. I wish I had some fond, heartwarming tale to express to the distributor of this scholarship, but I don't. I can say that I find humor in the experiences I shared with my father. They were usually brief and miserable, but they made the success that I am academically. Before I was ten years old, my father informed me that my role in life would be nothing more than a housewife. Instead of becoming academically successful to make myself "eligible for marriage", I worked relentlessly to ensure I would become an independent, prosperous African American woman that would make my mother proud. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed.

My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. I maintain an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've been accepted to four colleges. I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed.

The furthest back that my memory travels into my childhood was when I became consciously aware as a toddler. I recall gaining this consciousness in a motel with only my mother, my two-month-old brother, and my seventeen- year-old sister. As a toddler, I could only put together what I understood; which was that my father wasn't present, and we were no longer sleeping in a house at night. My mother and father had split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly, along with the help of my grandfather who resided in this town, to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. My mother has been present for my educational growth from the moment she enrolled me in preschool as a two-year-old. From there, she pushed me to attend the most difficult classes and maintain A's in every single one of them. I wouldn't have been able to succeed if it wasn't for the strength that my mother had for the both of us. I'll never understand how a woman could endure being homeless and own a home less than 10 years later with two high-achieving students to speak for. My mother can "turn it up 11" for us, so I am doing the same for her. My main motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed.

My name is Amori Shelling and I come from a small, rural town in Texas known as Atlanta. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. Business careers lay the foundation for a variety of high-paying jobs that are currently in demand. We need leaders and business owners to brighten our future, and I plan to be a part of the movement. I dream of starting my own real estate company and selling homes for the poor and the wealthy. My mother, who struggled to make ends-meet, was sold our dream home out in the country of Texas for a reasonable price. I want to provide that opportunity of security for family and loved ones through my future business degree. I have worked my entire life for this moment. This moment in time that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which two I've been accepted to. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching the education I need for a comfortable life, and my financial situation is no exception. I plan to let my light shine through my mother and her happiness. Using these morals, I have perfected my high school performance. My 3.91 college four-point GPA and my drive for a better life for my mother and I has allowed me to overlook my financial situation and all trials. My dream is bigger than just me. All of my work and all of the financial aid I can retain will be for my mother who sacrificed to put me in this moment in time. That is what success looks like to me. My success is hers and her success is mine.

My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. I'll never understand how a woman could endure being homeless and own a home less than 10 years later with two high-achieving students to speak for. I would do anything for my mother, and I always intend to make it evident in my actions. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.91. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which four I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed. I know that I deserve the Nell's Will scholarship, but I don't necessarily want it for me. All of my work and all of the financial aid I can retain will be for my mother who sacrificed to put me in this moment in time. This moment in time that I am in makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future, so that her success is for a reason. That is what success looks like to me. My success is hers and her success is mine.

My name is Amori Shelling and my main motivation in life has been to somewhat avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise me and my brother single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. I do this in order to inspire my younger brother who has had to overcome our trials along with us and to show him that our situation has nothing to do with our future. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have worked my entire life for this moment. This moment in time that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.91. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which four I've been accepted to. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching the education I need for a comfortable life, and my financial situation is no exception. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. Business careers lay the foundation for a variety of high-paying jobs that are currently in demand. We need leaders and business owners to brighten our future, and I plan to be a part of the movement. I dream of going into real estate and selling homes for the poor and the wealthy. My mother, who struggled to make ends-meet, was sold our dream home out in the country of Texas for a reasonable price. I want to provide that opportunity of security for family and loved ones through my future business degree.

My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. He kept us down financially and forced us to struggle to survive. I resonate with Jack Terry and his heartwarming journey. I, too, was rescued and given a chance at a happy and successful existence. I have not struggled nearly as much as he had, but I understand the drive and passion that is obtained when you know you have to repay those who open your doors. Mr. Terry was given a chance at redemption, and undoubtedly made the best of it. I plan to do the same with my education. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and repay her for rescuing me.

My name is Amori Shelling and I come from a small, rural town in Texas known as Atlanta. With a population of less than 5,500, there isn't much to partake in other than watching the trees blow in the wind. Everyone knows one another and seems to know everything about each other. It isn't unusual to say hello or have a passing wave with at least five people in our local, and only, Walmart. If you're looking for some exciting activities, you can sit outside at Sonic or even walk around Dollar Tree. With all of this "exhilaration" we have to offer, you would think residents would want to venture out and discover how thrilling the world outside of our community can be. But you see, that's the problem. Generations upon generations of people have lived and died here without interest or knowledge of what goes on outside of our county. It even gets to the point where it becomes strange to leave and even stranger to stay away. It would be difficult for me to describe a specific time when my goals varied from those of the individuals around me, because they always have. Growing up in the rural area I've described, no one thought the way I was raised to think. I was raised by a mother who was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, who had a "big-city mentality" and always pushed the idea of leaving the nest onto me. Doing so is very unusual around here, and most don't go very far and attend the local community colleges. I love the people that I've grown alongside, but it is so lonely in a place where no one has the same vision for the future as I do. I want to prove that it is possible to leave the "crowd" and move to your own beat. The future generations that I create will know the world and its beauty through my pursuits. I simply want my community to have the courage to choose. I've lacked friends due to this separation of mindsets, but it never really bothered me. I need to make sure that my family and I make it out eventually despite our financial situation. My mother has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her. With this in the back of my mind, I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday. I will pursue my dreams regardless of where I come from and my financial situation.

My name is Amori Shelling and I come from a small, rural town in Texas known as Atlanta. With a population of less than 5,500, there isn't much to partake in other than watching the trees blow in the wind. Everyone knows one another and seems to know everything about each other. It isn't unusual to say hello or have a passing wave with at least five people in our local, and only, Walmart. If you're looking for some exciting activities, you can sit outside at Sonic or even walk around Dollar Tree. With all of this "exhilaration" we have to offer, you would think residents would want to venture out and discover how thrilling the world outside of our community can be. But you see, that's the problem. Generations upon generations of people have lived and died here without interest or knowledge of what goes on outside of our county. It even gets to the point where it becomes strange to leave and even stranger to stay away. It would be difficult for me to describe a specific time when my goals varied from those of the individuals around me, because they always have. Growing up in the rural area I've described, no one thought the way I was raised to think. I was raised by a mother who was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, who had a "big-city mentality" and always pushed the idea of leaving the nest onto me. Doing so is very unusual around here, and most don't go very far and attend the local community colleges. I mean, A honor roll students with perfect academic records attend the closest two-year community college just to stay around here when they have Harvard potential. When I told my school counselors where I wanted to attend college, which was Howard University in Washington D.C, they couldn't believe it. They laughed at me and questioned my capability of being so far from here. "If you really think you can make it away from home...", they would continuously interrogate. I love the people that I've grown alongside, but it is so lonely in a place where no one has the same vision for the future as I do. Even if I don't go to the specific school that I stated, I want to prove that it is possible to leave the "crowd" and move to your own beat. The future generations that I create will know the world and its beauty through my pursuits. I want to show everyone that it is okay to be different. I've lacked friends due to this separation of mindsets, but it never really bothered me. I need to make sure that my family and I make it out eventually despite our financial situation. My mother has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her. With this in the back of my mind, I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday. I will pursue my dreams regardless of where I come from and my financial situation.

Success, to me, would include paying my dues to the people I love. I have been attempting to pay back someone through success my entire life. I owe this person for my entire existence and academic success. My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. I'll never understand how a woman could endure being homeless and own a home less than 10 years later with two high-achieving students to speak for. I would do anything for my mother, and I always intend to make it evident in my actions. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed. I know that I deserve the Redefining Victory scholarship, but I don't necessarily want it for me. All of my work and all of the financial aid I can retain will be for my mother who sacrificed to put me in this moment in time. This moment in time that I am in makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future, so that her success is for a reason. That is what success looks like to me. My success is hers and her success is mine.

My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have worked my entire life to reach this chapter. This chapter that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which two I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this.

Mental health is something that I can definitely say I have had my fair share of difficulty dealing with. In my family, I was always declared the "sickly" child. I was the sibling that refused to eat because I had an eating disorder before the age of ten. I was the child who would end up vomiting if I had to eat in public or around strangers because I had, and still have, Deipnophobia. I have social anxiety, and I tend to avoid situations where I have to interact with others which has led to a lack of friends. At the age of seventeen, I still struggle with managing my thoughts and fears, but my mother has been there to work me through it. I know that in order to ever have peace in life, I must grasp my feelings and learn to use my mind to control unwanted thoughts. The state of mind of an individual is the most important aspect to one's future and the path they take in life. Using this conclusion, my mother and I came up with a way to distract myself with what brings me the most tranquility. My mother taught me two ways to divert my thoughts: She taught me to focus on my schoolwork and to fixate on my future. My schoolwork is something that I have always been able to succeed in and manage successfully. I use this skill to distract myself and keep my mind focused on college and doing all that I can to ensure my future such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. All of these contributions to my mental health are meant to assist my future, but they also include my mother's. I would do anything for my mother, and I always intend to make it evident in my actions. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. Mental health cannot be managed alone. I would still be fighting my thoughts every moment of everyday if it weren't for my mother and her love for me. Mental wellness can be retained with a passion and loved ones. The people in our lives that care for us and focusing on our strengths are the key to a healthy psychological state.

Underestimated. When first requested to construct a college essay over the prompt of a certain identity or defining aspect of myself, my mind went blank. I sat in dead silence directly in the middle of my English classroom as I observed with jealousy the automatic diligence of my fellow classmates. The thought that everyone else had such an identifying characteristic that flowed from their fingertips to the keyboard without hesitation was discouraging. I was finally approached by the teacher after mentally and physically remaining stationary for the majority of the class period. When I presented my dilemma to her, she seemed to be just as perplexed as me and stood in her thoughts for a few moments. Finally breaking the awkward silence, she presented a single word to me; underestimated. This is the title of the chapter of my future. I can infer that in order to assist someone in fully comprehending the decision to describe myself with such a negative connotation, I must elaborate what makes me deserving of my “estimation” being maximized. I described myself with such a word because most people have no clue about my academic history and accomplishments because of my reserved personality. I will not say that people assume that I am incompetent because most assume nothing and therefore are unable to form an opinion on me. The teacher that attempted to explain this to me simply suggested that most peers and faculty only know me for my academic achievements. Most just know me as a student at Atlanta High School and some barely know that. Therefore, my future is unforeseen as well as my potential in life. The definition of the word underestimated means to regard someone as less important or capable than they actually are. Relating this definition to my life, really changed my perspective on my life and who I am to others. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. Now that I have been given a word that presents itself as an advantage in my identity, I am finally able to see my potential. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have worked my entire life to reach this chapter. This chapter that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which two I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I will not be underestimated any longer.

Mental health is something that I can definitely say I have had my fair share of difficulty dealing with. In my family, I was always declared the "sickly" child. I was the sibling that refused to eat because I had an eating disorder before the age of ten. I was the child who would end up vomiting if I had to eat in public or around strangers because I had, and still have, Deipnophobia. I have social anxiety, and I tend to avoid situations where I have to interact with others which has led to a lack of friends. At the age of seventeen, I still struggle with managing my thoughts and fears, but my mother has been there to work me through it. I know that in order to ever have peace in life, I must grasp my feelings and learn to use my mind to control unwanted thoughts. The state of mind of an individual is the most important aspect to one's future and the path they take in life. Using this conclusion, my mother and I came up with a way to distract myself with what brings me the most tranquility. My mother taught me two ways to divert my thoughts: She taught me to focus on my schoolwork and to fixate on my future. My schoolwork is something that I have always been able to succeed in and manage successfully. I use this skill to distract myself and keep my mind focused on college and doing all that I can to ensure my future such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. All of these contributions to my mental health are meant to assist my future, but they also include my mother's. I would do anything for my mother, and I always intend to make it evident in my actions. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. Mental health cannot be managed alone. I would still be fighting my thoughts every moment of everyday if it weren't for my mother and her love for me. Mental wellness can be retained with a passion and loved ones. The people in our lives that care for us and focusing on our strengths are the key to a healthy psychological state.

I have been attempting to help someone my entire life. I owe this person for my entire existence and academic success. My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. I'll never understand how a woman could endure being homeless and own a home less than 10 years later with two high-achieving students to speak for. I would do anything for my mother, and I always intend to make it evident in my actions. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed. I am aware that the basis of this scholarship involves having "helped" someone, but all good things come in time. The day that my intentions become evident to my mother, will be the day I accomplish everything I need to in life.

My mother and father split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. He kept us down financially and forced us to struggle to survive. He may have served his country, but he forget to serve his family. My father is the military veteran in this story. I wish I had some fond, heartwarming tale to express to the distributor of this scholarship, but I don't. I can say that I find humor in the experiences I shared with my father. They were usually brief and miserable, but they made the success that I am academically. Before I was ten years old, my father informed me that my role in life would be nothing more than a housewife, and that I was to make myself as eligible as possible through his "lessons". He taught me to remain quiet, soft-spoken, and to maintain high grades so that a husband would find me tolerable, and not so I would find success on my own. I took these lessons and did the complete opposite. Instead of becoming academically successful to make myself "eligible for marriage", I worked relentlessly to ensure I would become an independent, prosperous African American woman that would make my mother proud. My motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed.

The furthest back that my memory travels into my childhood was when I became consciously aware as a toddler. I recall gaining this consciousness in a motel with only my mother, my two-month-old brother, and my seventeen- year-old sister. As a toddler, I could only put together what I understood; which was that my father wasn't present, and we were no longer sleeping in a house at night. I wasn't informed of what was actually occurring until several years later as a teenager. My mother and father had split after only two years of being married due to the verbal abusive that my father put her through, to the point where she contemplated suicide. She fled with my siblings and I after meticulously waiting for the moment my father left the house. We ended up 8 hours away in the small town we currently reside in, where we made our temporary residence in a $30 a night motel. From there, my mother worked relentlessly, along with the help of my grandfather who resided in this town, to retain an apartment in low-income housing. Fifteen years later, we reside in a house that my mother owns. My brother and I are A-honor roll, Honor Society high school students who appreciate our mother's efforts every single day. My mother raised us with our heads held high despite our financial situation, and continuously reminded us that we were destined for greatness despite what our father believed. My mother has been present for my educational growth from the moment she enrolled me in preschool as a two-year-old. From there, she pushed me to attend the most difficult classes and maintain A's in every single one of them. I wouldn't have been able to succeed if it wasn't for the strength that my mother had for the both of us. I'll never understand how a woman could endure being homeless and own a home less than 10 years later with two high-achieving students to speak for. My main motivation in life has been to avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction, and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship whenever I can and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. I cannot waste any time, and I barely have time because of my job and schoolwork I have to maintain at the same time. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. I promised myself that all of my hard work would not be in vain, and I hope that the administrator of this scholarship helps to ensure this. I intend to show my mother how much I love her, and show my father that he was never needed.

My name is Amori Shelling and I come from a small, rural town in Texas known as Atlanta. With a population of less than 5,500, there isn't much to partake in other than watching the trees blow in the wind. Everyone knows one another and seems to know everything about each other. It isn't unusual to say hello or have a passing wave with at least five people in our local, and only, Walmart. If you're looking for some exciting activities, you can sit outside at Sonic or even walk around Dollar Tree. With all of this "exhilaration" we have to offer, you would think residents would want to venture out and discover how thrilling the world outside of our community can be. But you see, that's the problem. Generations upon generations of people have lived and died here without interest or knowledge of what goes on outside of our county. It even gets to the point where it becomes strange to leave and even stranger to stay away. It would be difficult for me to describe a specific time when my goals varied from those of the individuals around me, because they always have. Growing up in the rural area I've described, no one thought the way I was raised to think. I was raised by a mother who was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, who had a "big-city mentality" and always pushed the idea of leaving the nest onto me. Doing so is very unusual around here, and most don't go very far and attend the local community colleges. I mean, A honor roll students with perfect academic records attend the closest two-year community college just to stay around here when they have Harvard potential. When I told my school counselors where I wanted to attend college, which was Howard University in Washington D.C, they couldn't believe it. They laughed at me and questioned my capability of being so far from here. "If you really think you can make it away from home...", they would continuously interrogate. I love the people that I've grown alongside, but it is so lonely in a place where no one has the same vision for the future as I do. Even if I don't go to the specific school that I stated, I want to prove that it is possible to leave the "crowd" and move to your own beat. The future generations that I create will know the world and its beauty through my pursuits. I don't want anyone who wants to stay where they are familiar feel pressured or ashamed. I simply want my community to have the courage to choose. I've lacked friends due to this separation of mindsets, but it never really bothered me. I need to make sure that my family and I make it out eventually despite our financial situation. My mother has had to raise my brother and I single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother, and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her. With this in the back of my mind, I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday. I will pursue my dreams regardless of where I come from and my financial situation.

My name is Amori Shelling and my main motivation in life has been to somewhat avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise me and my brother single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. I do this in order to inspire my younger brother who has had to overcome our trials along with us and to show him that our situation has nothing to do with our future. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have worked my entire life for this moment. This moment in time that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which two I've been accepted to. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching the education I need for a comfortable life, and my financial situation is no exception. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. Business careers lay the foundation for a variety of high-paying jobs that are currently in demand. We need leaders and business owners to brighten our future, and I plan to be a part of the movement. I dream of going into real estate and selling homes for the poor and the wealthy. My mother, who struggled to make ends-meet, was sold our dream home out in the country of Texas for a reasonable price. I want to provide that opportunity of security for family and loved ones through my future business degree.

My name is Amori Shelling and my main motivation in life has been to somewhat avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise me and my brother single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. I do this in order to inspire my younger brother who has had to overcome our trials along with us and to show him that our situation has nothing to do with our future. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I have worked my entire life for this moment. This moment in time that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which two I've been accepted to. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching the education I need for a comfortable life, and my financial situation is no exception. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. Business careers lay the foundation for a variety of high-paying jobs that are currently in demand. We need leaders and business owners to brighten our future, and I plan to be a part of the movement. I dream of going into real estate and selling homes for the poor and the wealthy. My mother, who struggled to make ends-meet, was sold our dream home out in the country of Texas for a reasonable price. I want to provide that opportunity of security for family and loved ones through my future business degree.

Being resilient, to me, means to play the cards you've been dealt regardless of where you're from, what people think of you, and any obstacles in your way. My main motivation in life has been to somewhat avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise me and my brother single-handedly with a current annual income of around $27,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. I do this in order to inspire my younger brother who has had to overcome our trials along with us and to show him that our situation has nothing to do with our future. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I know that I deserve the Hester Richardson Powell Memorial Service Scholarship because I am the definition of resilience and have worked my entire life for this moment. This moment in time that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. I have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which two I've been accepted to. No matter how hard I have worked, I have always been underestimated. I can infer that in order to assist someone in fully comprehending the decision to describe myself with such a negative connotation, I must elaborate what makes me deserving of my “estimation” being maximized. I described myself with such a word because most people have no clue about my academic history and accomplishments because of my reserved personality. I will not say that people assume that I am incompetent because most assume nothing and therefore are unable to form an opinion on me. The teacher that attempted to explain this to me simply suggested that most peers and faculty only know me for my academic achievements. Most just know me as a student at Atlanta High School and some barely know that. Therefore, my future is unforeseen as well as my potential in life. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. Now that I have been given a word that presents itself as an advantage in my identity, I am finally able to see my potential. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching the education I need for a comfortable life, and my financial situation is no exception.

Being a high achiever, to me, means to play the cards you've been dealt regardless of where you're from, what people think of you, and any obstacles in your way. My main motivation in life has been to somewhat avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise me and my brother single-handedly with a current annual income of around $28,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I know that I deserve the Janean D. Watkins Overcoming Adversity Scholarship because I am the definition of a high achiever and have worked my entire life for this moment. This moment in time that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which two I've been accepted to. No matter how hard I have worked, I have always been underestimated. I can infer that in order to assist someone in fully comprehending the decision to describe myself with such a negative connotation, I must elaborate what makes me deserving of my “estimation” being maximized. I described myself with such a word because most people have no clue about my academic history and accomplishments because of my reserved personality. I will not say that people assume that I am incompetent because most assume nothing and therefore are unable to form an opinion on me. The teacher that attempted to explain this to me simply suggested that most peers and faculty only know me for my academic achievements. Most just know me as a student at Atlanta High School and some barely know that. Therefore, my future is unforeseen as well as my potential in life. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. The definition of the word underestimated means to regard someone as less important or capable than they actually are. Relating this definition to my life, really changed my perspective on my life and who I am to others. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. Now that I have been given a word that presents itself as an advantage in my identity, I am finally able to see my potential. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching the education I need for a comfortable life, and my financial situation is no exception.

My main motivation in life has been to somewhat avenge my mother and the struggles she has had to grapple with for the past 17 years of my life. She has had to raise me and my brother single-handedly with a current annual income of around $28,000. The amount of unmet financial needs in our household has crushed my mother and I intend to repay her with a promising education and a future life where I can provide for her and I. With this in the back of mind, there will be no time for distraction and I will attend college with a strong and dedicated mindset to accomplish my goal. I know that I deserve the Jerzee Foundation Scholarship because I am the definition of a high achiever and have worked my entire life for this moment. This moment in time that I am in that makes or breaks my entire future. It is time for me to leave my high school years behind and apply all of my progress to my future. I can’t do that without scholarships such as this one because of my financial needs. have always done everything I could to promise this future for us, such as maintaining an almost perfect academic record and a college-4-point GPA of 3.9166. I intend to attend one of the historically black universities I have been accepted to in the fall of 2024 with the same integrity and near-perfect academic record I have maintained in my high school years. apply for a different scholarship almost everyday and I've applied to 5 colleges, in which three I've been accepted to. No matter how hard I have worked, I have always been underestimated. I can infer that in order to assist someone in fully comprehending the decision to describe myself with such a negative connotation, I must elaborate what makes me deserving of my “estimation” being maximized. I described myself with such a word because most people have no clue about my academic history and accomplishments because of my reserved personality. I will not say that people assume that I am incompetent because most assume nothing and therefore are unable to form an opinion on me. The teacher that attempted to explain this to me simply suggested that most peers and faculty only know me for my academic achievements. Most just know me as a student at Atlanta High School and some barely know that. Therefore, my future is unforeseen as well as my potential in life. I want to get an education that would bring forth my potential and allow me to present it to the world in a way that would benefit everyone. The definition of the word underestimated means to regard someone as less important or capable than they actually are. Relating this definition to my life, really changed my perspective on my life and who I am to others. I always perceived myself as being incapable and I knew that others perceived me as less important than others due to a lack of a genuine social status. Now that I have been given a word that presents itself as an advantage in my identity, I am finally able to see my potential. I take only Dual Credit and Advanced Placement classes for my senior year of high school, while working over 20 hours a week to save money for college. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching the education I need for a comfortable life, and my financial situation is no exception.