My mom would leave for hours to a day at a time, leaving me to cook, clean and change diapers, at nine years old. It got so serious that I didn’t even go to school in third and fourth grade. When she was home, however, she would sleep all day and night, and ramble on about nothing when she was awake. In hindsight, my mother was a broken, drug addicted woman (which at the time my child brain didn’t realize) who passed her mental problems onto her son. Today, things are better than they were. I’m not living with my mother anymore, which hurts but is for the best. I’m at the top of my classes and plan to go to college. I do many extracurricular activities and have great creativity, whether it comes to cooking or making music. I’ve worked on my attitude, on being less antisocial, and re-evaluated my relationships and friendships. But even to this day I still have problems from my past that I don’t even know I can get over. Problems that the average 18 year old shouldn’t have. Even with those problems however, I've pushed through and prevailed. That just goes to show how resilient I am. If you ask people about me, people would say a lot of things, maybe that I’m smart, or that I’m funny, could even say that I’m quiet. But one thing you would likely hear a lot is that I “have heart,” I get up and keep trying no matter how many times I hit the floor. Willing to fight the biggest person in the room if needed. Because if you don’t have heart, you have nothing. As for my future endeavours, I believe that I have everything planned out. I plan to graduate high school with excellent grades, get accepted into college, preferably with a full ride academic scholarship. I then intend to get an associates degree in Liberal Arts and Communication, then have a career in journalism. Any type of scholarship would help me achieve my goals while also helping my family give me an education without any financial debt. I don’t say any of this to gain pity or sympathy but to show why Arkansas State should consider giving me a scholarship, whether it be partial or full ride. Even with me feeling so sure about my plans and goals in life, I know there will always be obstacles. But I have no worries about that. All my life I had bumps in the road, I know I can get through whatever I run into. With that being said I only ask that whoever reads this looks within themselves to consider granting me a scholarship. Thank you for your time. By Antonio Plummer