Ever since I remember, my main goals in life have been to help others and make their lives as easy as possible. This drove me to get involved with volunteering early and spreading positivity to everyone I meet, and this goal is one of the main reasons I've chosen to become a civil engineer. The first place I really got into volunteering was my church. I've been there since I was in elementary school and although I couldn't do much then, as I've grown older I have done everything I can to help support them. I have set up chairs for Sunday mornings, set out games and tables for youth, helped run livestreams from the sound booth, been a coach for our track league, VBS, and much more. You may notice something interesting from that list, and that is the fact that most of what I've done is behind the scenes work. This is because I choose to work in the area I can be of most use. I'm a very organizational, detail-minded person, but not an incredibly social one. That's not to say that I don't value or build personal connections, but the place I can generally be of most use is behind the scenes making the space for people to have fun or do their job without any worries. Although I prefer to work behind the scenes, I do help out people directly whenever I can. I've always been known as kind of an unofficial tutor, because I love helping people understand difficult topics at school. Never charged anything, just hate to see people struggle so I help them out whenever possible. The place I've been most directly involved is cross country in high school. My first two years there was a steady decline in the program because people weren't united or supporting each other. At the start of my junior year I decided to change this. I made a concerted effort to make people feel welcome, feel seen and heard, and to let them know that I was here to help if they needed anything. It made an immediate difference. People started enjoying themselves, looking out for each other, and started performing better in races. The program grew immensely, and I enjoyed my second two years far more than my first two. This experience cemented the importance of being positive and helping those around you. When it came time to choose what career I wanted to pursue, I made sure to keep my strengths in mind and to choose something that would help people. I looked, and looked, and then I stumbled upon civil engineering. Civil engineers are responsible for creating and maintaining the infrastructure we all use daily, making sure the buildings we live and work in are safe, and much more. I fell in love with the idea because it was everything that I was looking for. I got to use my gift for math, and I got to make people's lives easier so that they can focus on the important things instead of worrying about trivial issues that are solved by the infrastructure I help create. I need your help to get through school so I can help these people though. I want to thank you for considering me for this scholarship, and thank you even more for your generosity in offering this scholarship.

Coming from a small town, community has always been extremely important to me. My dad is a pastor, so I basically grew up in a church so I have seen the difference a supportive community can make in someone's life, and what a toxic community can do to tear someone down. Since I've seen the effects a community can have I've done my best throughout my life to support those communities making a positive difference in people's lives, and to try and change the culture of those that are tearing people down. As I've said, I grew up in churches so as I've grown older I have done everything I can to help support them. I have set up chairs for Sunday mornings, set out games and tables for youth, helped run livestreams from the sound booth, been a coach for our track league, and much more. You may notice something interesting from that list, and that is the fact that most of what I've done is behind the scenes work. This is because I choose to work in the area I can be of most use. I'm a very organizational, detail-minded person, but not an incredibly social one. Because of these characteristics, I figured out that I can do the most good by making a space for the ministers and those that can connect with people to show their skills. This realization is a major part of the reason why I chose my field of study, but we'll get to that later. Although my last church has shown me a fantastic example of the positive impact of community, I saw the opposite in high school cross country. There was a complete lack of unity and drive, which made everyone underperform and be miserable. I decided to change that. At the start of my junior year I made a decision to be intentional and change the culture. I provided a positive example, welcomed the new people, and made sure everyone felt seen and heard and the difference was immediate. We formed a community where everyone was supportive and driven, we started performing far better, and grew immensely. This change further reinforced the notion that a strong community will push you to be better, and give you support when you're struggling. When it came time to choose what I wanted to study in college, I thought back to my experience volunteering at the church and the lesson I had learned there. With that in mind, I started looking for jobs that were able to help give those around them the opportunity showcase their skills, and what I found was civil engineering. As a civil engineer I will be able to improve infrastructure so that those around me will able to devote less energy to mundane tasks, and more to living their lives and strengthening the community. I implore you to help support me by helping fund my education so I can make even more of a positive difference than I can right now, and I thank you for your generosity in offering this scholarship

I’ve always been a curious person who wanted to know everything about what was happening in the world around them, and as a kid the thing I was most curious about is where all the bridges and utilities and roads came from. Who created them? Who fixed them? Turns out it was Civil Engineers who made sure all of this infrastructure was safe and durable, and allowed communities to flourish. So, when I started choosing careers Civil Engineering was first on my list I’ve always wanted to help people with my work, but I’m not the most socially or emotionally skilled so when given the option I chose to work behind the scenes. I make the space ready for others, support them and make sure things are running smoothly so that the social people can fully focus on helping those that need it instead of worrying about all the organizational details. This experience is a large part of the reason I chose to pursue Civil Engineering. I wanted to choose a job that actually helps people, and the best way I can do this is just like I explained above: make the space so that everyone else can perform their best. I want to help make the infrastructure that makes people’s lives easier, so they can put their full focus into their work and just improve the quality of their lives. Thank you for taking the time to read my application and your generosity in offering the scholarship, have a great day!