I am Avery Meyerkorth and I am a high school senior. I am a very active individual, always involved, and keep myself busy year-round. I am a 3-sport athlete and am training, practicing, or competing all year, with little breaks or days with nothing to do. I am in a numerous clubs, where I am president in majority of the ones I partake in. I am very much a people person, and love doing things as a team or group effort, and try my best to be a leader amongst the activities I choose to participate in. I try my best to be inclusive and positive throughout all the sports that I participate in and encourage those I have the opportunity to play with. I take it upon myself to stay positive, be loud, and get the team rallied whether we are just at practice, or competing for a state title. I give the team locker room speeches, pray for our athletes, and simply try to be a good role model for those around me. I truly believe energy is contagious, therefore I always try to be positive and encourage others to do the same. I never do things halfway, and am very driven when going after things I want, always for the betterment of not only me but also my teammates and peers. I rarely have free time, considering sports take up the majority of my time, however when I do have free time I try to fill it with things I love such as babysitting, spending time with my family, and hanging out with my friends. However, when keeping busy and staying active it is easy to run out of time for things such as having a job that pays well, and keeping my status of being a well achieved student as much as I am as an athlete. It is a tough load to carry alone, therefore I am looking for any assistance I can get that will help me continue to stay active doing the things I love without having to worry about debt during these next exciting few years. I am looking forward to this new and exciting chapter of my life, where I will continue to stay active, volunteer, and make friends along the way, however I am seeking financial help to help make my dreams become a reality, and assist me in pursuing the life I want to accomplish. With this financial help, I can focus more on those things I enjoy filling the little free time I have with, for instance babysitting. I love kids and am very encouraging within the lives of the kiddos around me. I try my best to be the example they can follow, worthy of their trust to come to me in times of need. With the help from this scholarship, I will be able to spend less of my time worrying about paying for my education and instead spend my time helping those younger than me so that their futures may be as bright as they can be. For all these things and more have shaped me into the confident, hardworking, driven and fun person that I am today, and I will continue to show these characteristics both in college and throughout my life after school.

My favorite memory of refereeing has to be the long elementary tournament days hosted at our own school. My friends/teammates and I spend the day volunteering by reffing, running the score, and keeping the book for each of the games. I enjoy having the opportunity to watch the young and motivated kiddos compete for the title of tournament champs, watching them all have fun with whatever sport they are choosing to participate in. I have been a ref for volleyball, basketball, and soccer, and I ran the pit for our schools track meet, where I would get runners assigned to their lanes and getting them to the correct spot. I love doing this because not only is it helpful, I also get to be a part of the learning aspect of athletics. Especially at the age level I ref for, there are plenty of mistakes made because they are still trying to get the hang of things, learn the rules, and slowly but surely better themselves for future play. I try to always be positive when reffing, especially when trying to explain why what they did is being called against them. Reffing games opens my mind for my own athletic career, reminding me that refs are just people, and also make mistakes. I feel I tend to get mad or upset with a referee, so by putting myself in their shoes I helped better my temperament thanks to my experience of being a ref myself. I truly believe everything can and will teach us a lesson in some way, shape, or form if we let it. I think the biggest lesson I have learned from reffing is the importance of growth, being coach-able, and staying patient and calm. By losing your cool it only makes you look like a fool, therefore I try, whether I am the athlete participating or the ref officiating, to be as positive and level minded as I possibly can. This not only is good for me, it is also way more enjoyable for the fans, team members, and people around me. Although I have spent the past few years reffing for my school and club team activities, I do not have any plans as of right now to continue being a referee. However, I will consider signing up for a weekend tournament or two when the opportunity approaches, keep in mind the numerous lessons I have learned through referring, and encourage others to do the same.

I am Avery Meyerkorth and I am a high school senior. I am a very active individual, always involved, and keep myself busy year-round. I am a 3-sport athlete and am training, practicing, or competing all year, with little breaks or days with nothing to do. I am in a numerous clubs, where I am president in majority of the ones I partake in. I am very much a people person, and love doing things as a team or group effort, and give my best efforts to be a leader amongst the activities I choose to participate in. I take it upon myself to stay positive, be loud, and get the team rallied whether we are just at practice, or competing for a state title. I truly believe energy is contagious, therefore I always try to be positive and encourage others to do the same. I never do things halfway, and am very driven when going after things I want, always for the betterment of not only me but also my teammates and peers. However, when keeping busy and staying active it is easy to run out of time for things such as having a job that pays well, and keeping my status of being a well achieved student. It is a tough load to carry alone, therefore I am looking for any assistance I can get that will help me continue to stay active doing the things I love without having to worry about debt especially during these next exciting few years. I am looking forward to this new and exciting chapter of my life, where I will continue to stay active, volunteer, and make friends along the way, however I am seeking financial help to help make my dreams become a reality, and assist me in pursing the life I want to accomplish. With this financial help, I can focus more on those things I enjoy filling the little free time I have with. I will be able to spend less of my time worrying about paying for my education and instead spend my time pursuing the dream job. I am more than excited to pursue my field of choice because I truly believe this is the very best career path for me and I think I will make the biggest difference in the world by doing what I love every day for the betterment of others around me that may be affect by my work. I plan to attend school and get a bachelors degree in Event Management where I will strive to be the very best I can be and help any individual or company who may need my assistance. I think I am a good applicant for this because I will need all of the assistance I can get to help me with my education at the next level. I am a dreamer who has big goals I am determined to accomplish however realistically I need financial aid to help me do so. I promise to not be a let down, and work my very hardest to do my very best to stand out among the rest wherever I may be and wherever I may someday work in the future. I truly believe there isn't a soul out there more excited to pursue a further education and that is because I will be studying something I truly love, and I truly believe I am more than capable of doing all of these things and am excited to learn as much as I can when furthering my knowledge.

I am Avery Meyerkorth and I am a high school senior. I am a very active individual, always involved, and keep myself busy year-round. I am a 3-sport athlete and am training, practicing, or competing all year, with little breaks or days with nothing to do. I am in a numerous clubs, where I am president in majority of the ones I partake in. I am very much a people person, and love doing things as a team or group effort, and give my best efforts to be a leader amongst the activities I choose to participate in. I take it upon myself to stay positive, be loud, and get the team rallied whether we are just at practice, or competing for a state title. I truly believe energy is contagious, therefore I always try to be positive and encourage others to do the same. I never do things halfway, and am very driven when going after things I want, always for the betterment of not only me but also my teammates and peers. However, when keeping busy and staying active it is easy to run out of time for things such as having a job that pays well, and keeping my status of being a well achieved student. It is a tough load to carry alone, therefore I am looking for any assistance I can get that will help me continue to stay active doing the things I love without having to worry about debt especially during these next exciting few years. I am looking forward to this new and exciting chapter of my life, where I will continue to stay active, volunteer, and make friends along the way, however I am seeking financial help to help make my dreams become a reality, and assist me in pursing the life I want to accomplish. With this financial help, I can focus more on those things I enjoy filling the little free time I have with. I will be able to spend less of my time worrying about paying for my education and instead spend my time pursuing the dream job. I am more than excited to pursue my field of choice because I truly believe this is the very best career path for me and I think I will make the biggest difference in the world by doing what I love every day for the betterment of others around me that may be affect by my work. I plan to attend school and get a bachelors degree in Event Management where I will strive to be the very best I can be and help any individual or company who may need my assistance. I think I am a good applicant for this because I will need all of the assistance I can get to help me with my education at the next level. I am a dreamer who has big goals I am determined to accomplish however realistically I need financial aid to help me do so. I promise to not be a let down, and work my very hardest to do my very best to stand out among the rest wherever I may be and wherever I may someday work in the future. I truly believe there isn't a soul out there more excited to pursue a further education and that is because I will be studying something I truly love, and I truly believe I am more than capable of doing all of these things and am excited to learn as much as I can when furthering my knowledge.

I have chosen Event/Hospitality Management as my field of interest because I feel this occupation is best suited for my personality, accommodates best with the things I like and enjoy doing, as well as requiring skills I am able to sufficiently demonstrate and use to my best ability throughout this career. Some qualities of successful personnel within this profession include having satisfactory organizational skills, being an adequate communicator, always social and friendly with everyone, and capable of creating as well as following a budget. These are just a few of the many important skills that help with standing out and becoming successful within this career. All of these qualities I feel I have, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue growing these skills by living out this passion of mine. To fulfill this dream, I am pleased to announce I will be furthering my education at Iowa State University and joining their Event Management program. I have high hopes it will be most beneficial for future me, and am I have high hopes for this incredible opportunity to study here for the next four upcoming years. However, I am in need of help through scholarships considering I am an out of state resident. I feel this is the place for me and will be most helpful for my course of studying. I will work hard for my goals to be accomplished and my professional passion to be achieved, all with the generous help of this scholarship. I am more than excited to pursue my field of choice because I truly believe this is the very best career path for me and I think I will make the biggest difference in the world by doing what I love every day for the betterment of others around me that may be affected by my work. I will strive to be the very best I can be and help any individual or company who may need my assistance, not only will I be an extra helping hand, I will also bring life to the work place, always stay positive and simply be happy to be there considering I will be on the path to fulfilling this dream I've had ever since I was a little girl. I am and always have been a dreamer who has big goals I am determined to accomplish these lifelong dreams in these upcoming years of education. I am excited for the all of the possibilities of the future, and I promise to not be a let down, and work my very hardest to do my very best to stand out among the rest wherever I may end up. I truly believe there isn't a soul out there more excited to pursue a further education and that is because I will be studying something I truly love. I think I am more than capable of doing all of these things and I am excited to learn as much as I can when furthering my knowledge.

I am more than excited to pursue my field of choice because I truly believe this is the very best career path for me and I think I will make the biggest difference in the world by doing what I love every day for the betterment of others around me that may be affect by my work. I plan to attend school and get a bachelors degree in Event Management where I will strive to be the very best I can be and help any individual or company who may need my assistance. I think I am a good applicant for this because I will need all of the assistance I can get to help me with my education at the next level. I am a dreamer who has big goals I am determined to accomplish however realistically I need financial aid to help me do so. I promise to not be a let down, and work my very hardest to do my very best to stand out among the rest wherever I may be and wherever I may someday work in the future. I truly believe there isn't a soul out there more excited to pursue a further education and that is because I will be studying something I truly love, think I am more than capable of doing and excited to learn as much as I can when furthering my knowledge. A successful life to me isn't just being wealthy, having loads of money, or having luxuries such as a big house or a fancy car. To me, I don't want to have all of those items, those temporary things, unless I had people to share them with. To me, I believe success comes from the not-so-little, little things in life such as family, strong friendships, understanding the importance of time, and taking time to live in the moment. Although it is a great thing to have goals, you do not want to spend the entirety of your life chasing. I think that if you are rich with not things, but relations, I believe you will get farther in life and be more successful. Therefore, being able to do what I love, study what I want to study, and create my own success and business, I believe I will be successful in life not with things, but with the values that come with living intentionally, doing the things I love, and hopefully one day inspiring others through my career.

The movie that has had the greatest impact on my life as an individual may sound silly to most, however it truly has changed how I want to live my life, and the person I want to become. Mamma Mia, has changed my life for the better. From the catchy music, to the entertaining actresses and actors, to the beautiful scenery, Mamma Mia is my all time favorite movie. From the moment I saw it, it lifted my mood, and inspired me as a person to simply live life to the fullest, find what makes me happy, and reminded me the importance of family. I love the mother-daughter relationship in this movie, and it has helped me grow my relationship with my own mom. Not only has this movie impacted me and my mom, it has also given me another reason to bond with my favorite grandma. My nana Patti and I share the love for this movie as well as many other things that make us so similar. Any time we are together the Mamma Mia soundtrack plays in the car, always resulting in a mini dance party and karaoke, leaving us in historical laughter. When trying to decide on a movie to watch, always choose Mamma Mia, which we have yet to get bored of. Not only has this movie helped me grow in my relationships with the people I love the most, it has also helped me grow as a person, and been an example of how I want to be. I am inspired by Sophie, the way she looks and dresses, her want to include everyone around her, and her contagious joy throughout the film. Like Sophie, I try to live my life to the fullest by doing things I love, surrounding my self with people that are most important to me, and being inclusive to any and everyone around me. The place I want to travel to most is Greece all thanks to this movie, where I will hopefully someday get to live out this dream of mine. Until then, I plan to live like Sophie, dressing the way that displays my personality, being a joy to the people around me, working hard to grow my relationships with the people I love, and simply living life to the fullest is how I strive to live. Thanks to Mamma Mia, I have been inspired for the better, and I cannot wait for these years to come when I will have the opportunity to live my life the same way Mamma Mia has inspired me to do.

My family's cancer journey has impacted not only who I was, but also who I am today. It took out the man who was the glue to my family. Seeing such a horrible disease slowly and painfully take away someone who used to be so strong, tore each one of my family members apart, including myself. My Papa Rick recently passed away from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. My family and I were very close with my Papa Rick, and his death has had a lasting impact on us. He was a hardworking man, always putting others before himself, and was very straight forward. He always followed the rules and gave his all in everything he did. He knew right from wrong, good from bad, and taught us the way of life. For many years, he headed our family farm, always keeping everyone in check and on track. In 2019 he passed away, which meant my dad, next in line, had some big shoes to fill. This was unfortunately the same year the Missouri river flooded, making life much harder for us farming families. Without Papa Rick's leadership and authority, it was a rough year for the farm. Although my dad does an amazing job carrying on Papa's legacy, he struggles with his loss the most. Seeing my dad come home on days he's really missing his dad is hard to see, and I wish there was something, anything, I could do to help. "Just one more phone call to him would mean the world", my dad will say, after returning from a lengthy day at work. Papa Rick was a man of God. He lived every day for the glory of him, and was an inspiration to those around him. He was friendly and always wanted to share the gospel and the love there was to offer. He wanted everyone to read, and love, and live for the Lord, just as he tried to do. He did this by being a trustworthy and reliable man within our small town's community, providing guidance to his three children as well as the many grand kids, and being a good example of how a husband should honor his wife. He led by example, and taught me, my siblings, and my many cousins the way things should be done, valuable life lessons, and showed us the importance of our last name. He was and still is a positive influence in my life, and every day I try to live for the Lord, just as my Papa did, in hopes one day I will know I did a job well done, and the one who taught me it all is proud of my efforts of carrying on his legacy. Cancer cut my Papa's life short, and made for years of mourning for me and my family, but also encouraged me to live like him. Although cancer is an evil thing and has affected the people I love the most, I am thankful for the lessons I have learned along the way, the relationships I've grown, and now truly understanding the importance of time, and how valuable and precious it can be. With your much needed help, I plan to use this scholarship money, pursue my dreams by furthering my education in hopes I am making my Papa proud.

A high school teacher who has deeply influenced me as a person is Mr. Jones. Not only has he changed me as an individual, he has also inspired me as an athlete, encouraged me as a student, and has been a positive influence throughout my years in high school. Mr. Jones is a Rock Port graduate, and could not be prouder to be a Blue Jay, which has influenced me to try and display the same love for my school as Jones does. He has been my coach for track, summer weights, and assisted with basketball during my earlier years, all of which he pushed not only me but as well as the other athletes for the betterment of us as individuals as well as a whole for our school. My favorite memory with Mr. Jones was 2024 track season where the Blue Jays earned many accomplishments, one of which was winning state as a team. Every day, Coach Jones assisted in the girls track practice, as well as training me to be the girls long jumper for our team. He is the reason I made it to state in the long jump, as well as breaking the school record this past year. No matter how many times I failed, he'd encourage and push me to get back up and try again, never letting me settle for failure. This is just one of the many things he has done in my life, and I look forward to this final season of long jump which is looking promising all thanks to Coach Jones. Not only has he helped me in my journey as an athlete, he has also led the Blue Jays to football boys quarterfinals this year, never settling for less than what he knows is accomplishable. He is selfless in the many wins under his name as head coach, and always looking for what he can do to better his athletes. I as well as many other would agree Mr. Jones is an outstanding coach that is there to simply inspire young athletes and push their limits, just as he has done for me. Aside from just sports, even in the classroom he relates and connects to students on a different level that some teachers just are not able to do. He always has something to say, whether that be encouragement when I am down, advice for my life for the betterment of me as a person, to even just a sarcastic comment when passing by. To this day, I have only taken one class with Mr. Jones, however it is still my favorite class I have taken throughout my four years of high school. My freshman year current events class was memorable, both educationally and emotionally, where I can remember the many debates we had in his class, the funny learning material, and the crazy stories we were able to research still remains as a core memory during my years at Rock Port. Mr. Jones has truly had a positive influence on me as an individual and I have him to thank for the student, athlete, and individual I have become. I cannot wait to continue growing as a person in these years to come, and thanks to the teacher/coach who has impacted me the most, I will take the many life lessons he has taught me and put them to use in my life outside of high school.

I am Avery Meyerkorth and I am a high school senior. I am a very active individual, always involved, and keep myself busy year-round. I am a 3-sport athlete and am training, practicing, or competing all year, with little breaks or days with nothing to do. I am in a numerous clubs, where I am president in majority of the ones I partake in. I am very much a people person, and love doing things as a team or group effort, and try my best to be a leader amongst the activities I choose to participate in. I try my best to be inclusive and positive throughout all the sports that I participate in and encourage those I have the opportunity to play with. I take it upon myself to stay positive, be loud, and get the team rallied whether we are just at practice, or competing for a state title. I give the team locker room speeches, pray for our athletes, and simply try to be a good role model for those around me. I truly believe energy is contagious, therefore I always try to be positive and encourage others to do the same. I never do things halfway, and am very driven when going after things I want, always for the betterment of not only me but also my teammates and peers. I rarely have free time, considering sports take up the majority of my time, however when I do have free time I try to fill it with things I love such as babysitting, spending time with my family, and hanging out with my friends. However, when keeping busy and staying active it is easy to run out of time for things such as having a job that pays well, and keeping my status of being a well achieved student as much as I am as an athlete. It is a tough load to carry alone, therefore I am looking for any assistance I can get that will help me continue to stay active doing the things I love without having to worry about debt during these next exciting few years. I am looking forward to this new and exciting chapter of my life, where I will continue to stay active, volunteer, and make friends along the way, however I am seeking financial help to help make my dreams become a reality, and assist me in pursing the life I want to accomplish. With this financial help, I can focus more on those things I enjoy filling the little free time I have with, for instance babysitting. I love kids and am very encouraging throughout the lives of the kiddos around me. I try my best to be the example they can follow, worthy of their trust to come to me in times of need, and protective of things such as bullies whatever that may look like. With the help from this scholarship, I will be able to spend less of my time worrying about paying for my education and instead spend my time helping those younger than me so that their futures may be as bright as they can be.

A challenge I am currently facing in my life as an athlete is a knee injury, which may sound minor, and when looking at the big picture it probably is, however what I once knew as my whole world now revolves around my injury. I am a high school senior this year, and since my elementary days I have been competing in a numerous amount of athletics both with my school as well as with travel clubs and teams over the years. I am a 3-sport year round athlete and am/always have been very competitive, accomplishing a good amount throughout my many athletics. Unfortunately, this summer during summer play, I dislocated my knee, tearing my patella tendon. I went from every year starting on varsity, playing almost every minute, to having to watch from the sidelines. To some, this may sound irrelevant, however this took a mental toll on me as an athlete. I felt like I lost my athleticism, the year I was supposed to shine, my senior year, the year I have looked forward to all my career, swept away within seconds. I was determined to make my return and do what I could to recover, but unfortunately pushed too soon and resulted back in square one for a longer time outside of the court lines. After countless nights of pain as well as mental strain, I finally made it my point to be positive through this misfortune and step back to realize sports are not everything. I have moved my focus from solely sports to other things that hold importance to me in life such as family, my education, and my future. Unfortunately, my future of sports is not looking as bright as I have always planned, but on a positive note I now have time to work on things such as scholarships that will hopefully help me pay for college whereas before I had banked on my athletics to help me through. Sports will always have a place in my heart, and don't get me wrong, I am still participating as best I can, and do my best to continue to be loud and positive even if it has to be from the sidelines. I will continue to be a leader and do my best to live up to the my title as captain, however this obstacle has taught me the importance of other things in life and cleared my distraction and helped my focus on my future become more clear. I plan to use my future education to be a living example of someone who can and has overcome a challenge, and be a positive individual throughout my experience at college in the years to come. Sports have taught me so much and I cannot wait to take my years of experience as a student athlete and being able to balance the heavy load that comes with both academics and athletics, and use these skills to my advantage while I work towards my goals far into the future.

I am Avery Meyerkorth and I am a high school senior. I am a very active individual, always involved, and keep myself busy year-round. I am a 3-sport athlete and am training, practicing, or competing all year, with little breaks or days with nothing to do. I am in a numerous clubs, where I am president in majority of the ones I partake in. I am very much a people person, and love doing things as a team or group effort, and try my best to be a leader amongst the activities I choose to participate in. I try my best to be inclusive and positive throughout all the sports that I participate in and encourage those I have the opportunity to play with. I take it upon myself to stay positive, be loud, and get the team rallied whether we are just at practice, or competing for a state title. I give the team locker room speeches, pray for our athletes, and simply try to be a good role model for those around me. I truly believe energy is contagious, therefore I always try to be positive and encourage others to do the same. I never do things halfway, and am very driven when going after things I want, always for the betterment of not only me but also my teammates and peers. I rarely have free time, considering sports take up the majority of my time, however I try to think of never having free time as a positive thing, considering how lucky I am to be healthy enough to do this, motivated enough to never quit, and finding so much joy in doing sports and activities I love. For all these things and more, I am beyond grateful for how being a student athlete has impacted my life in so many ways. Despite all of these wonderful positives, when keeping busy and staying active it is easy to run out of time for things such as having a job, staying on top of grades, and keeping my status of being a well achieved student as much as I am as an athlete. I do my best to study even after a long day, use my time at school to my advantage, and ask for help when I need it, because being a good student athlete is a tough load to carry alone. I am looking forward to this new and exciting chapter of my life, where I will continue to stay active, volunteer, and make friends along the way, where I will also prioritize my education because I have learned from being a student athlete, education is just as important. Whether I am participating in numerous sports, or even just expanding my knowledge through my education, I plan to be driven, excel in the things I love, learn from failure, and spread kindness. Being a student athlete all of my life has taught me all of these things and more, and I cannot wait to use the many lessons I have learned to help shape my future, my goals, and me as an individual.

Without God, my life would be flipped upside down, falling apart, and an all around hot mess. I would be lying if I said I had it all figured out, however I am thankful for the numerous things God has done for me in my life. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been raised to be a christian and to walk by faith just as my parents did growing up and in their later stages of life. Encouraging me on my journey with Christ, my parents have done an abundance in efforts to teach me what they know and to inspire me to learn more and more everyday. As I continue to grown older, I have explored and am exploring more with my faith, by reading the Bible, going to church with my family, being a leader through my youth group, and trying my best to live like the Lord designed me to and to fulfill my purpose here on this beautiful Earth with the little time I have to do so. Even though doing all of these things are great, I understand these alone are not what make me christian. I have given my life to God when I was eight years old, however I have blossomed in my faith and am astonished with all the Lord has done for me. My blessings are countless and I want others around me to experience the same joy I have through Christ my Lord and savior. With my goal to encourage and bring others along my faithful journey with me, I strive to be a light in this world and be a leader to those around me, all for the glory of the Lord. I believe I can do this especially in this next year when I have the incredible opportunity to become the person I was made to be. I am beyond excited to grow as a person and I know God will be there holding my hand along the way no matter what this crazy life may throw at me. I think my beautiful faith in God will assist me in my career by giving me patience when times are tough, encouragement through the let downs, ability to let go and let God throughout these next stages of life, and to just be there with me along the way so that I am able to be there for others and lead them to God just as I am told to do. Without the Lord, I would not be where I am today, and with the absence of God something as big as the future may have scared me, however instead I could not be more excited for the great things to come and see all that the Lord has in store for me.

I am more than excited to pursue my field of choice because I truly believe this is the very best career path for me and I think I will make the biggest difference in the world by doing what I love every day for the betterment of others around me that may be affect by my work. I plan to attend school and get a bachelors degree in Event Management where I will strive to be the very best I can be and help any individual or company who may need my assistance. I think I am a good applicant for this because I will need all of the assistance I can get to help me with my education at the next level. I am a dreamer who has big goals I am determined to accomplish however realistically I need financial aid to help me do so. I promise to not be a let down, and work my very hardest to do my very best to stand out among the rest wherever I may be and wherever I may someday work in the future. I truly believe there isn't a soul out there more excited to pursue a further education and that is because I will be studying something I truly love, think I am more than capable of doing and excited to learn as much as I can when furthering my knowledge. Some individuals who I admire and have inspired me are Jennifer Aniston, Joanna Gaines from the HGTV show Fixer Upper, and my mom Becky Meyerkorth. Although none of these ladies work in my field of interest, I have looked up to them because of not only their success in their workforce, but also the people these women have made it out to be. All of these women are motivated, inspirational, and have lived as my example for as long as I can remember. They have social skills that I myself strive to acquire, are thankful for the not-so-little little things in life, and are passionate about who they are and what they do. Even after accomplishing so much, they do not settle for what they have but continue to work hard, chase dreams, and accomplish goals, which is what I plan to do. I cannot wait for my opportunity to be more like these women, and make my dream a reality, in hopes to become someone else's inspiration in life, and encourage them to chase their dreams as I am chasing mine.

My family and I have lost someone of extreme importance to evil cancer, which led to an unexpected journey of ups and downs that has impacted not only who I was, but also who I am today as a person. It took out the man who was the glue to my family. Seeing such a horrible disease slowly and painfully take away someone who used to be so strong, tore each one of my family members apart, including myself. My Papa Rick recently passed away from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. My family and I were very close with my Papa Rick, and his death has had a lasting impact on us. He was a hardworking man, always putting others before himself, and was very straight forward. He always followed the rules and gave his all in everything he did. He knew right from wrong, good from bad, and taught us the way of life. For many years, he headed our family farm, always keeping everyone in check and on track. In 2019 he passed away, which meant my dad, next in line, had some big shoes to fill. This was unfortunately the same year the Missouri river flooded, making life much harder for us farming families. Without Papa Rick's leadership and authority, it was a rough year for the farm. Although my dad does an amazing job carrying on Papa's legacy, he struggles with his loss the most. Seeing my dad come home on days he's really missing his dad is hard to see, and I wish there was something, anything, I could do to help. "Just one more phone call to him would mean the world", my dad will say, after returning from a lengthy day at work. My Papa Rick was a man of God. He lived every day for the glory of him, and was an inspiration to those around him. He was friendly and always wanting to share the gospel and the love there was to offer. He wanted everyone to read, and love, and live for the Lord, just as he tried to do. He did this by being a trustworthy and reliable man within our small town's community, providing guidance to his three children as well as the many grand kids, and being a good example of how a husband should honor his wife. He led by example, and taught me, my siblings, and my many cousins the way things should be done, valuable life lessons, and showed us the importance of our last name. He was and still is a positive influence in my life, and every day I try to live for the Lord, just as my Papa did, in hopes one day I will know I did a job well done, and the one who taught me it all is proud of my efforts of carrying on his legacy. Cancer cut my Papa's life short, and made for years of mourning for me and my family, but also encouraged me to live like him. Although cancer is an evil thing and has affected the people I love the most, I am thankful for the lessons I have learned along the way, the relationships I've grown, and now truly understanding the importance of time, and how valuable and precious it can be. Knowing all of this I believe has shaped me into the person I am today. With your much needed help, I plan to use this scholarship money, pursue my dreams by furthering my education in hopes I am making my Papa proud.

A challenge I am currently facing in my life is a knee injury, which may sound minor, and when looking at the big picture it probably is, however what I once knew as my whole world now revolves around my injury. I am a high school senior this year, and since my elementary days I have been competing in a numerous amount of athletics both with my school as well as with travel clubs and teams over the years. I am a 3-sport year round athlete and am/always have been very competitive, accomplishing a good amount throughout my many athletics. Unfortunately, this summer during summer play, I dislocated my knee, tearing my patella tendon. I went from every year starting on varsity, playing almost every minute, to having to watch from the sidelines. To some, this may sound irrelevant, however this took a mental toll on me as an athlete. I felt like I lost my athleticism, the year I was supposed to shine, my senior year, the year I have looked forward to all my career, swept away within seconds. I was determined to make my return and do what I could to recover, but unfortunately pushed too soon and resulted back in square one for a longer time outside of the court lines. After countless nights of pain as well as mental strain, I finally made it my point to be positive through this misfortune and step back to realize sports are not everything. I have moved my focus from solely sports to other things that hold importance to me in life such as family, my education, and my future. Unfortunately, my future of sports is not looking as bright as I have always planned, but on a positive note I now have time to work on things such as scholarships that will hopefully help me pay for college whereas before I had banked on my athletics to help me through. Sports will always have a place in my heart, and don't get me wrong, I am still participating as best I can, and do my best to continue to be loud and positive even if it has to be from the sidelines. I will continue to be a leader and do my best to live up to the my title as captain, however this obstacle has taught me the importance of other things in life and cleared my distraction and helped my focus on my future become more clear. I plan to use my future education to be a living example of someone who can and has overcome a challenge, and be a positive individual throughout my experience at college in the years to come.

I exemplify a spirit of excellence in my everyday life by setting goals for myself, leading by example, and trying to be the best version of myself for the benefit of others. By doing these things, I believe I stand out amongst my peers in a positive way, which I hope inspires individuals around me to live up to their potential, be an inspiration to other throughout their own lives as well, and to simply live as the example they seek to see. In my opinion, to gain the spirit of excellence a person must gain the spirit of gratitude. Being generous has little faults, and leaves not only the person or organization you are assisting better off, but also you as a person, which makes you want to give more and continue to help the best you can. In the end, giving in any way, shape, or form, benefits others throughout your life even if you have little to give. For instance, I am a broke, busy, high school senior who has little possessions or money to give however, I try to make a difference by donating my time and efforts to people both within my community and to people I may be able to affect outside of just my town. Although it may be minor, it is better than nothing, I'm sure you know the saying. I encourage you to do the same, as it has so many positives and takes only a little bit of effort to make a helpful difference in the world. For instance, I try to consistently give back to my community by being as involved as possible in a numerous amount of organizations and businesses. I play a major role in multiple different clubs such as FBLA, FCCLA, NHS, Peer Counselor, Mass Media, and Jays for Jesus to name a few, all of which strive to play a role in the betterment of our community. Although all of these clubs and more keep me busy, I make it a priority for myself to be sure to create time to volunteer, donate what I can, and give back to my town to the best of my ability. I find importance in helping others, building personal relationships, and being generous, all while truly trying to be a leader throughout the time spent doing these things in hopes to influence younger personnel in my life and throughout my town and community.

I am a fan of wicked because it takes the beautiful essence of the original Wizard of Oz, which is ultimately a fan favorite, and turns it into its very own masterpiece. The classic movie inspired by a modern twist, really grabbed watchers' attention by featuring famous actresses and artist such as stunning Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo who both performed with such incredible talent. I enjoy following them on other social platforms as well, seeing their friendship blossom after both working so hard to make such a production. To me, it is astounding to see these inspiring characters in their real lives, and watch the transition from reality to acting become so real and believable. Not only did they have attention grabbing celebrity appearances, they also had jaw-dropping costumes, perfectly put together special effects, and a powerful story line, all of which made the new Wicked so unique and well loved by not only me, but a majority of the movie loving world. One of my favorites of this production is the absolutely gorgeous costumes that truly made the actresses become the character and display the personality of the witches. Ariana's perfect soft pink dress sparkled on, and made the watchers behind the screen fall in love with her character. Erivo on the other hand gave watchers such as myself, such a strong feeling towards her and her wickedness, creating a powerful sentimental bond between the people and the actresses behind the screen. In summary, I recommend this beautiful production, and hope you can be just as inspired by the hard work as I was.

I am Avery Meyerkorth and I am a high school senior. Like Kalia, I am a very active, very involved, and a very busy person. I am a 3-sport athlete and am training, practicing, or competing all year round. I am in a numerous amount of clubs, where I am president in majority of the ones I partake in. I am very much so a people person, and love doing things as a team or group effort, and try my best to be a leader amongst the activities I choose to participate in. I never do things halfway, and am very driven when going after things I want, always for the betterment of me and my peers. I rarely have free time, considering sports take up majority of my time, however I try to think of never having free time as a positive thing, considering how lucky I am to be healthy enough to do this, motivated enough to never quit, and finding so much joy in doing sports that I don't get easily burnt out. For all these things and more, I am beyond grateful for how these things have impacted my life. Despite all of these wonderful positives, when keeping busy and staying active it is easy to run out of time for things such as having a job, let alone one that pays good. For this, I am seeking financial aid from this generous scholarship in hopes it will help cover some of the cost of college. I am looking forward to this new and exciting chapter of my life, where I will continue to stay active, volunteer, and make friends along the way, however to do these things I am seeking help with these intense expenses. I feel I will have less time to volunteer, workout, and simply finding time for myself if I am spending that time working. To me, I do not want to spend these precious years of my youth working and earning money, I am sure I will have plenty of time to do that later in life. I feel if I were to be granted this scholarship, I would be able to start figuring out who I want to be, become the positive influence to those around me, as well as encourage those who may be seeking to do the same. In honor of sweet Kalia Davis, I promise to strive to be the person she was, and carry her kind legacy throughout my multiple activities. Whether that be the many sports I play, or even just expanding my knowledge through my education, I plan to be driven, excel in the things I love, learn from failure, and spread kindness, just as Kalia did.

My favorite athlete to cheer for on Team USA is miss Anna Hall. Anna Hall is an outstanding athlete that specializes and competes in the Heptathlon. She is not only extremely dedicated and hardworking, she displays the love of her sport through her style, aesthetic content, and words of affirmations to the many that follow her on this athletic journey. She is inspirational to many young athletes including myself, and leads by example, on how to be the best of the best. Her positive energy shines through whether it be during competition day, practices or training, and even on her rest and reset days, Anna tends to look at the bright side. She is goal oriented and knows what she wants, how to get it, and what she is going to do about it. She is loyal to her family and shows how to juggle spending time with them as well as staying dedicated and locked in with her sport at all times. Unfortunately for Anna, she has been recovering from a horrible injury, and all though she could have given up, she worked twice as hard, every single day, to better herself so that she could come back better than ever before, and she did. In the same way, I am struggling with an injury, that has been not only mentally strenuous, but also a painful journey. Inspired by Anna, I am working towards getting better to continue playing the sports I love for the remainder of my senior year. Thanks to Anna, I have gotten back on track and plan to follow in her footsteps, recover correctly, and strive to be the best athlete I can be, just like Anna Hall.

Success. Being wealthy, having loads of money, a big house and fancy car, right? This is what a majority of our world believes is what makes you a successful person. When you have these things, you have to be doing something right, and although they may have worked towards having those nice things, many are left broken, and feeling like there is just something missing. Personally, I wouldn't want to have all of those items, those temporary things that make you appear successful in someway, unless I had people to share them with. To me, I believe success comes from the not-so-little, little things in life such as family, strong friendships, understanding the importance of time, and taking time to live in the moment. Although it is a great thing to have goals, you do not want to spend the entirety of your life chasing. I think that if you are rich with not things, but relations, I believe you will get farther in life and be more successful. So, do what you love, study what you want to study, and create your own success not with things, but with the values that come with living intentionally.

I love to write, whether for an assignment or for fun, I feel writing is my forte. From the moment I began learning even the basics on how to write, I was fascinated by the creativeness of this skill. I enjoy the freedom the author has when creating a story. I was astounded at the fact that when creative writing, there were no wrong answers. Unlike my least favorite subject, mathematics, you do not have the stress of finding the correct solution, instead you create it. You are in control of where the story goes, how it begins and ends, the characters, the plot, all of it. Immediately, I fell in love with the subject. The difficulty level continues to increase as I age, however I feel so has my level of writing. This year I have expanded my writing horizons by taking the new creative writing class my school is offering for the first time this year. Hearing there is a new class just for writing stories, essays, and other creative projects, doesn't catch the eye of others as much as it did mine. I immediately signed up for this class, and so far I have had no regrets. Not only is creative writing about just writing papers like most students think, it is also expanding your imagination by working together to create a masterpiece. In this class, there are 4 students including myself, taking this course and so far we have wrote multiple Halloween short stories, wrote about and analyzed films we watched, and my personal favorite of creating a children's book. Throughout this class we get the opportunity to experience the ups and downs of being an author, from things such as writers block and how to work around it, to using real world situations in the stories we create, to even just letting go and writing what we're feeling rather than writing textbook good answers but instead choosing to be descriptive and inspirational. Our creative writing teacher has paved the way by giving us all the help we can get, providing examples and tactics shes liked or disliked, and what has made her so successful in writing as well as how to become better every single day. I am looking forward to all of the exciting new techniques, tools, and new forms of writing I will soon learn as I continue my education, as well as writing success in college.

My family's cancer journey has impacted not only who I was, but also who I am today. It took out the man who was the glue to my family. Seeing such a horrible disease slowly and painfully take away someone who used to be so strong, tore each one of my family members apart, including myself. My Papa Rick recently passed away from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. My family and I were very close with my Papa Rick, and his death has had a lasting impact on us. He was a hardworking man, always putting others before himself, and was very straight forward. He always followed the rules and gave his all in everything he did. He knew right from wrong, good from bad, and taught us the way of life. For many years, he headed our family farm, always keeping everyone in check and on track. In 2019 he passed away, which meant my dad, next in line, had some big shoes to fill. This was unfortunately the same year the Missouri river flooded, making life much harder for us farming families. Without Papa Rick's leadership and authority, it was a rough year for the farm. Although my dad does an amazing job carrying on Papa's legacy, he struggles with his loss the most. Seeing my dad come home on days he's really missing his dad is hard to see, and I wish there was something, anything, I could do to help. "Just one more phone call to him would mean the world", my dad will say, after returning from a lengthy day at work. Papa Rick was a man of God. He lived every day for the glory of him, and was an inspiration to those around him. He was friendly and always wanting to share the gospel and the love there was to offer. He wanted everyone to read, and love, and live for the Lord, just as he tried to do. He did this by being a trustworthy and reliable man within our small town's community, providing guidance to his three children as well as the many grand kids, and being a good example of how a husband should honor his wife. He led by example, and taught me, my siblings, and my many cousins the way things should be done, valuable life lessons, and showed us the importance of our last name. He was and still is a positive influence in my life, and every day I try to live for the Lord, just as my Papa did, in hopes one day I will know I did a job well done, and the one who taught me it all is proud of my efforts of carrying on his legacy. Cancer cut my Papa's life short, and made for years of mourning for me and my family, but also encouraged me to live like him. Although cancer is an evil thing and has affected the people I love the most, I am thankful for the lessons I have learned along the way, the relationships I've grown, and now truly understanding the importance of time, and how valuable and precious it can be. With your much needed help, I plan to use this scholarship money, pursue my dreams by furthering my education in hopes I am making my Papa proud.

I have chosen Event/Hospitality Management as my field of interest because I feel this occupation is best suited for my personality, accommodates best with the things I like and enjoy doing, as well as requiring skills I am able to sufficiently demonstrate and use to my best ability throughout this career. Some qualities of successful personnel within this profession include having satisfactory organizational skills, being an adequate communicator, always social and friendly with everyone, and capable of creating as well as following a budget. These are just a few of the many important skills that will help you stand out and become successful within this career. All of these qualities I feel I have, and am excited to continue growing these skills by living out this passion of mine. To fulfill this dream, I am pleased to announce I will be furthering my education at Iowa State University and joining their Event Management program. I have high hopes it will be most beneficial for future me, and am looking forward to this opportunity to study here for the next four upcoming years. However, I am in need of help through scholarships considering I am an out of state resident. I feel this is the place for me and will be most helpful for my course of studying. I will work hard for my goals to be accomplished and my professional passion to be achieved, all with the help of this scholarship.