I practice bravery and live boldly because I have become comfortable with being uncomfortable. I suffer from social anxiety and what seems like normal everyday tasks for other people, put me through a tremendous amount of anxiety. I have suffered with this since I was in middle school, but I have always been desperate to change. I never imagined myself doing the things I do now. I'm and c-ray technologist going back to school to become a radiation therapist that will treat patients with cancer. I believe that I am brave because everyday I have to do things that make me very uncomfortable, but by pushing myself through it, I've found a sense of accomplishment I never thought I'd find. To other people this might not seem like such a big deal, but to mean its taken a tremendous amount of effort and perseverance to get to this point, and I don't plan on stopping now!

My ultimate goal is to get my degree in radiation therapy. Using that degree, I want to help as many people as I can that are struggling with cancer. If I can help even one person and make an impact on their life for the better, I'll know that I'm doing the right thing. I started off with wanting to be an x-ray technologist. After delving into the world of radiology and learning about all of the opportunities for me, I learned about radiation therapy. I wanted a rewarding career, that I can actually use to make a direct impact on peoples lives. As a radiation therapist, I will be able to help get rid of tumors in a persons body, by using high powered radiation. I want to do this so I can help as many people as I can that I know are struggling in the world. However, if I can help even just one person, I will know that I had a positive impact.

1. First of all, let me just say how much I hate puppies. Now that I have that off of my chest, I think I deserve this scholarship because I have a large fortune and don't really need a scholarship. 2. My academic goals are to just get by with the absolute bare minimum I need to complete my degree. My career goals are to find a way to mooch off of other people, or if I HAVE to get a job...just do the bare minimum to get by. 3. I've never had to get over any obstacles in my life, usually I am the obstacle for other people.

I have learned how to see from someone else's point of view. For a majority of my life I only saw myself, and thought that everyone else were in similar situations. I believed that everyone was like me, that there were no differences, no prejudice. I was blinded by ignorance and had no real sense of empathy. As I've gotten older, the real world has opened my eyes and taught me a real sense of empathy to my fellow man. I understand that not everyone is treated equally. Minorities and women have much harder and different obstacles to go through than I do. With this in mind, I am able to see from a different kind of perspective and respect and empathize more with more people. Learning this has not only changed my perspective in my life, but makes me want to strive to educate other people into seeing it as well.

The most important lesson I have earned in life was learned on my own. Throughout my life, I have become comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Why? Because that is where we grow the most as a person. During high school, I didn't do much. I kept to myself, and avoided any situation that I thought was uncomfortable. I was like this all throughout high school and the years following it. As a result, I didn't change much. I didn't grow, I just stayed alone in my shell, not caring about much at all. In 2018, I fell in love with a girl who I wanted to marry and be able to give her everything she wanted. So I slowly started to change and went back to school to pursue a degree and become an x-ray technologist. This is where I learned the lesson to grow comfortable in uncomfortable situations. I started doing things I never dreamed I would be doing. Helping patients in the ER, taking initiative as a leader in my classes, using my critical thinking skills to solve complex problems. All of these things I never saw myself doing only continued to grow as I progressed through my schooling. It finally clicked before I graduated that I had grown quite a bit as a person, and I didn't even recognize the person I saw in the mirror. I mean this in the best way possible. I was more confident, I smiled more, I wasn't afraid to truly be myself. That's when I realized, that being in uncomfortable situation had an extremely positive effect on me, and caused this to happen. Now, I welcome all sorts of new and exciting things into my life. I graduated in 2020 and got my first job as an x-ray tech working in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once again, I felt myself becoming nervous my first couple of weeks at work, but I knew I deep in my heart I would emerge a stronger, different person from before. Once again, I'm returning to school and entering a radiation therapy program to be able to help cancer patients. I'm ready to enter a new environment and experience new, exciting challenges along the way. I am ready to be uncomfortable in situations, and grow in them. I know that when I finish with my bachelors degree in radiation therapy, I will have grown into another different, stronger person than I am right now.

I began drinking when I was 18 years old and started doing cocaine when I was 21. I used this as a coping mechanism to deal with going through life after the sudden death of my grandfather. Whenever I had the opportunity to do one of these things, it's like I was set on autopilot. I couldn't say no, I had no willpower or desire to change. It felt as if I had put myself on cruise control, and just let someone else take over the wheel. Somehow, by the grace of God, throughout all those years of substance abuse, I never overdosed. I was never hurt in a drunk driving accident, and I'm still alive today. Although nothing every damaged me physically, I still lost years of my life due to addiction. The span of 2014-2018 doesn't exist in my mind. To me, those years are a blur of random, spastic memories, involving alcohol and cocaine. Thankfully, my life has changed since then. I'm lucky enough to say I met a woman who not only I was able to rely on to get me through those tough times, but more importantly taught me how to rely on myself. She helped me set small goals for myself, that gradually got bigger. In 2018, I decided to go to school and get a degree so that I could get a good job. I became an x-ray technologist in 2020 and got married in 2021. I am now returning to school to complete my bachelors in radiation therapy and help treat people with cancer. I have been inspired, through my own downfall and redemption to do my best to help others. Not only the sick at my job but the ones going through times that I have gone through myself. The biggest reason I went through what I did was I had no goals. I was spiraling out of control with no end in sight, because I thought I had nothing to live for. Thankfully, before I hit rock bottom, I started putting together those goals. Education saved my life, and can save others. I am hoping that throughout the rest of my career, I will have the ability to speak on my past and inspire more people, who are in a similar situation, to set goals for themselves. After struggling with addiction and setting goals for myself, it felt more like a domino effect, with bigger and bigger goals. Every time one of those goals were accomplished I felt better and better. That's the power we all have to change ourselves.

I have been on a war path ever since the death of my grandfather, who raised me as his own after my parents decided they didn't want to. Weeks before he succumbed to his illness, he gave me advice that will serve me as a blessing for the rest of my life. "You're strong, so help others in whatever way you can." I struggled with finding meaning in this for a long time, but now I'm close to reaching what I believe will help me do just that. His death was in 2014, and since then, I have been on a war path. My end goal was to pursue a career in radiation therapy, and help cure patients with cancer with the use of radiation. But first, I applied to x-ray school in 2018, where I graduated with a 4.0 GPA in 2020. As soon as school ended, I immediately enrolled in pre-requisite classes for my radiation therapy degree, ang got a job at a hospital. I maintained my fighting spirit as I was immediately thrown into the midst of working at a hospital throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As soon as I made enough money to pay for housing and application fees, I applied for the radiation therapy program and got in. I'm close to achieving my goals that my grandfather has instilled within me. I think back on what he said and can't wait to be helping out as many people as I can. Family was important to him , and its important to me. My wife and I have worked hard and fought for everything we have. Whenever I need inspiration for the future, I think of him, his words, and everything he meant to me.