I am a 60-year-old, partially disabled woman, and I am just three classes away from completing my Library Services and Technology Associate in Applied Science. I was able to begin this journey thanks to the Michigan Reconnect Scholarship, and I hope that this scholarship will help to cross that finish line and get back in the game. Once I graduate, I will work every day to defend the First Amendment Right to Information and the Right to Read, as a proud Library Technician. I am a firm believer in our right as United States citizens to read whatever we are interested in learning about, and I believe that this right should extend to the entire world. As humans, our lives can only be enriched by education and reading, and it is of great and lasting importance that we each do whatever we can to protect and defend these rights. I think that too many people in the U.S. have gone in the wrong direction in recent years; banning books, threatening library staff with violence, and picketing in protest in front of our institutions of higher learning. It is simply terrifying to think of a society without the freedom to read. It would be worse than dystopian, it would be dysfunctional. Without education and access to books, our social structures would crumble and our society would surely sink into further darkness. Public libraries depend on government funding, in addition to private donations and gifts. In these dark and uncertain days, it seems that the denial of government funding is leaving many of our important social institutions in grave danger. After I graduate from Oakland Community College, I will find a job in a library, or a museum, or another type of cultural institution, as a Library Technician, or some other customer service position. But wherever I end up working, I would like to make it my business to work on finding and developing new and creative ways to raise funds in support of the library system. I hope to be a real fighter and to address this crucial social issue with fervor and zeal. I hope to be able to continue my education until I die, and never stop learning and growing, even as I grow old. As long as there is funding for education like the Pell Grant available to me, and as long as I can qualify for private scholarships like this one, I will continue my journey by earning my Bachelor degree in Library Science, and maybe even go on to the Masters level.

I have been a single parent since I was 17 years old. I now have 3 adult sons. I am now a 60-year-old woman earning my very first college degree ever. I was born in Detroit and have lived in Michigan my entire life. For most of these years, college was just not an option because there was no funding, and raising three sons on my own meant I had to work two and sometimes three different jobs simultaneously just to get by and to provide for my children's basic needs. I tried going to college for just one term when I was 18, but it ended with a $10,000 student loan debt - which I did repay, by surrendering my income tax returns to cover the loan. It was rough, and my only skills landed me in the service industry, where it is impossible to make a decent living, or ever "get ahead." In 2021, thanks to the creation of the Michigan Reconnect Scholarship, I became eligible to go to college and earn my Associate's degree for free. I began my studies at Henry Ford College because one stipulation of the scholarship is that you enroll in a community college within your own home district, and I am a resident of Dearborn, MI. At HFC (100% Online/Remote Learning) I excelled academically, making the Dean's List for several terms, and being inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honors Society. After completing my general education requirements, I transferred to Oakland Community College, to complete my Associate in Applied Science degree in Library Services and Technology. I hope to reenter the workforce after being unemployed due to illnesses and poor health issues, since August 2020. When I transferred, I lost my eligibility for Reconnect, since OCC is out of the district. So I rely on my Pell Grant and am responsible for any balance, or materials, books, etc. And since I have had no steady income since 2020, I have been living off of my "nest egg" and literally depending on the kindness of dear friends and donations to feed me until I can complete my degree and get back to being an earner. I worked in the service industry for 40 years and, although I was an excellent Host, I do not want to go back to restaurant/bar employment, unless I can one day own my own! Once I earn my degree I hope to work in a library, a museum, or other cultural institution, preferably behind the scenes, because of all my health issues, including respiratory and cardiology ailments. But in order to cross that finish line and make my sons proud, I really need help financially, so I can stay in the game! My three adult sons do appreciate all of the sacrifices I made while they were growing up, and they are very happy to see me this active and eager to move forward at age 60! But they are not well-off, by any means, so none of them can offer me any assistance, and I have no other family to speak of. I am partially disabled, but I am not defeated - only challenged a bit more than a lot of people. I do walk with a cane now due to the combination of severe osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, but I still move pretty fast, and my brain is eager to continue to learn and grow. This scholarship will help me make a positive impact on my community by getting me back to work, making me more self-sufficient, and serving the public by defending the right to information.