Wrenching has always been one of my favorite things to do. My step-dad used to sit me down on the shop floor with some tools and a carburetor to take apart for his race car. At a very young age, I became a mechanical thinker. Questions like "Wait how does that work?" and "Is this fixable?" are always on my mind. Electrical work is also something that I've dabbled in over the years and find exciting. I can't wait to learn more about it in automotive diagnostics and apply this knowledge to help others achieve their goals. I want to be a successful automotive technician, with the opportunity to help people struggling financially to keep their vehicles going. Having functioning transportation makes a lot of the world go around and keeps food on the table for many Americans. I'd like to use my mechanical talent to support my own family and help other families provide good lives for themselves and their children. I'd like to run my own shop that pays enough to keep my family above water but also helps vulnerable members of the community stay mobile. I can see myself offering some free or reduced services to needy families trying to overcome hardship. Maybe mentoring a group of youth who are interested in the trades and foster that giving back spirit. We could have some weekend free classes that teach people how to do basic automotive maintenance. Hopefully even be able to raise some money to help some young people to get a safe and reliable car. I'm not the type of person who needs flashy things or spends money on vacations or a second home. Kindness, acceptance, safety and compassion are the things I care most about in life. Taking stress off of people who are struggling would be very rewarding for me and a lot of the monetary gain will go back into helping more people. This is a goal that I believe is well within my reach, if I found some like-minded technicians we could really make a difference for a lot of people and that would spread to their families which would set their children up for success a bit more as well. The reason I feel so passionate about this is because I have struggled a lot over the years; with abuse, and homelessness, and I've experienced a great deal of discrimination. I'm still growing emotionally and will continue to grow as a scholar and humanitarian for as long as I live simply because it makes me happy. Though I still struggle, I have had a lot of help and overcome a lot of obstacles to get where I am today. When I think back to what it was that helped me the most; I realize the people who helped me to help myself were the most impactful. The people who unconditionally helped me on my own path. This scholarship will help me get some of the more expensive diagnostic tools required to work on modern vehicles. Please consider me for this scholarship I'd like to pay it forward, spreading that beautiful unconditional love and support to help other humans become their authentic selves and share their special gift with the world.

Contemplating the nature of our universe is something I've caught myself doing on many occasions. I'm fascinated by the interconnectedness of people, space, religion, physics and the environment. I love how taking one bite of knowledge makes you realize it was just a crumb and each investigation leads to a bigger and bigger cookie jar that draws you in like a hungry toddler. A lot of what I was taught growing up was black and white; this causes that. Crime deserves a punishment, success is equal to the input, happiness is wealth and, ones life can be measured in accolades. This simply isn't true. Some of the happiest most worldly people I've ever met just live simply and help others. To understand the vast universe I think we have to go inward. Find out what makes us tick and find similarities in nature. I'm interested in the study of plants lately, how they are likely sentient beings. Its funny how when we are very young we believe everything is sentient. Our pets are our best friends who know when we are sad. Kids feel safe and calm under an old oak tree. When I was a kid I talked to wild animals like it was my job, I remember being able to tune in emotionally with an animal, in a way telling them without speaking that I was safe for them. I walked right up to many wild deer, I picked up a field mouse on the open palm of my hand when I was 5 years old only to have my mom scare it away yelling off the porch. I wonder what other things out there can feel the energy I give off? I know I feel the energy they give. I remember feeling the warm sun on my skin as a child and soaking up its energy, knowing it was good. Was it giving me that energy purposely? It sounds crazy now but if plants have feelings maybe the rays of sun knows I'm depressed? It remains to be seen exactly how much we really are connected. I think this connection with the universe is taught out of us by a society that values material wealth. Its really sad to watch people slaving away at a job they hate. They feel insignificant and get depressed when we know we need to get out in the sun. While I celebrate authenticity, I caution people against becoming to driven to create distance ahead of each other. After all the penthouse is really far from the ground that gives life and energy to so much of our planet. I think we should do better to hold onto each other and realize that everything on this planet is all different but unbelievably the same. At an anatomic level we are everything and everything is us. As I age and pull away from the societal norms, a more knowledgeable me is of the impression that everything is on a spectrum. Each of these spectrums weaved together. We are all important threads in the universal linen and we are so much stronger together. We need emphasize our energetic connection with the physical so not to make holes in the linen. Energy sucking, black holes in the universal linen. I think having compassion and understanding for one another as well as the earth and sky crucial for learning as much as we can about the universe. I believe that the more you learn about the mental the more of the physical is explained. Though I don't think its possible to uncover all secrets of the universe, the ones most likely to do it are getting closer and closer by the second.

Inspiring technology is everywhere. I love automotive technology which is my field of study but for this one i'd like to talk about a different type of mobile tech. My daughters dad became a double bilateral amputee after losing his legs in a fire when he was in high school. Though we're no longer together, I remember going to his appointments with the Hanger Clinic, the place where he got set up with a prosthesis. I helped him apply to Ottobock a German company who builds cutting edge prosthetics and orthotics. He applied to have a microprocessor knee (c-leg) and was able to receive a brand new top of the line computer leg. Let me tell you I was absolutely blown away by this technology. It uses microprocessors and gyroscopes to help balance its user and maintain a healthy gate. The people using this tech were once unable to walk and can now not only walk but leg over leg go up stairs, climb hills, run and even swim! The leg learns form you as you use it. It learns your gate and helps correct unhealthy movements reducing back strain. It can be wirelessly synced to your devices to be operated through an app. Settings like Tennis and running or swimming were already programmed to the leg and it knows what movements you're attempting to perform and can anticipate them to reduce the users likelihood of falling significantly. This type of tech is just as important in transportation and mobility as any automobile. Both types of tech seek to increase the users quality of life. The C-Leg reduced his fear, increased his courage and helped his mental health so much. He finally felt like himself again and it was a joy to witness. It was the same smile of a high school kid going outside and finding the old family car with a big red bow on top.

As I sit here and type this i'm having a hard time. Mental health is just a really complex thing to talk about. Everyone's got some solution to offer that's magically going to heal you. Everyone has something to say to you that's just supposed to change your mind instantly. "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, exercise more, therapy, go to the Dr. get some pills, eat better, if you don't like it just leave." It's funny how people who don't get it think they do. Depression is not a condition, or a mindset or even an illness really. It's everything and nothing, this culmination of your past present and future weighing down on you making it physically hard to breath. Its heavy, realization of trauma and trying to work past it, having little to no energy to do anything for your future, just staying afloat is hard enough. Some people say its sadness, depression is beyond sadness it's more like all of the feelings at once and too much to take at times. When you are depressed you have hope to feel better later, you're happy when you get to spend some quality time with the kids, guilty for not spend more time doing things you love, resentment toward yourself for being "lazy". You punish yourself for missing your therapist appointments and scoff at them thinking if I could get my ass up and go to therapy 3 times a week I certainly would not spend spend my precious spoons on that. Drs. think giving you all of these meds is going to help and some do, don't get me wrong, but the experimentation is terrifying especially when you're on the brink and the side effects are suicidal tendency's. Constant fear and shame basically drive the depression truck right over top of you. Someone who has depression or other mental illness has to fight every day, has to make a real choice to be here, to keep treading water with bricks in their backpack. It gets so heavy, and after a long time it seems heavier and heavier and all you want is a break, just to be able to put the weight down for 5 minutes and relax but no amount of sleeping is restful. Sometimes the idea of that weight off of you can get really tempting and a person can lose sight of themselves. All it takes is a small lapse in judgment to make a forever impact. As someone who experiences depression and mental health issues I would like scientists and psychology to delve deeper into that moment. See what we can do to prevent that moment from happening and work backwards from there. Most of these people need some help with regular things and are drowning in everyday life so work next on setting them up for success with no strings attached. Take the stress off of them in a way that doesn't just postpone stress. End judgment and allow them to find their most authentic self and help set them up for that. Take away the guilt and meet them where they are. Even physically. Express an abundance of love and gratitude for what they do accomplish every day just making it out of the shadows; which at times is harder than most people will ever know. I want so badly for poor mental health to be eradicated and I pray that someone comes up with the solution. I think it has something to do with the fast paced expectations in this world that perhaps its a social issue and keeping up is impossible for some of us. Here I am fighting my fight, trying to be a person in a world that's way too fast and mean for me. The setbacks just get heavier with age and i'm trying to find a new path entirely. As a society i think we are going to need to let these people cut through the field in this race, so to speak. A lot of people I know with depression are super lost. We as a society have to make a path that people can travel on their own but that is just more simple, straight forward. We need to forgive as a society emotionally, forgive the "laziness", credit issues, criminal offences in some cases, things that follow and haunt you, sometimes financially forgive even. Some people really need a clean slate and that's what i think happens in that moment. It just gets heavy and messy and there's no way out and they just need to be free. A lot of the situations that depressed people experience were not their fault but they pay that debt daily. I'm still in a big hole myself and have to dig out unfortunately but I'm getting help I can tell you that if someone would just pick me up and put me on level ground again i'd probably rise. I think there needs to be a program where you can just start fresh with only the people you love, a few things you want, and be who you truly are, loved unconditionally with all your debts and sins forgiven.... Sounds like heaven.

Wrenching has always been one of my favorite things to do. My step dad used to sit me down on the shop floor with some tools and a carburetor to take apart for his race car. At a very young age I became a mechanical thinker. Questions like "wait how does that work?" and "is this fixable?" are always on my mind. Electrical work is also something that I've dabbled in over the years and find exciting. I cant wait to learn more about it in automotive diagnostics and apply this knowledge to help others achieve their goals. I'd like to enter this field and be the lady mechanic that other women and young people can trust. As a woman I've experienced a surprisingly high amount of discrimination in this industry as well as the construction industry. I've seen the old boys club in action at several automotive parts stores, I've been quoted a huge line of things that "need to be done today" when I specifically asked for the essentials only in a time of financial hardship. When I was in high school I was riding with a friend and her car made some very unusual sounds, I commented how uncomfortable riding in the vehicle was for me. As a result of industrial manipulation a lot of women don't know when an automotive issue is a must and how to prioritize repairs over other necessities it in their budgeting. She knew she didn't have the money for a huge repair bill so going into the shop was just asking for it, regardless of the actual damage it seems that a lot mechanics will make it worth their time. I believe that if women or anyone really were able to take their vehicle into the shop for a very reasonably-priced, honest check up they can make an informed decision and budget for upcoming maintenance. This would make the roads safer for everyone and be more eco friendly in the long run. It turned out that my friend's car had a catastrophic suspension failure and she was in genuine danger along with others on the road near her. She thanked me up and down for warning her. Other friends in high school came to me for some vehicle maintenance advice and I'd helped on many occasions. It makes me feel good knowing I helped keep them safe. Being that go to person, friend who knows cars that is honest is already who I am but I would feel much more comfortable offering my two cents if I had qualifications and formal training. I'm sure I would get a lot of business as well. Additionally I'd encourage other women to learn more about mechanics and basic vehicle maintenance perhaps offer some classes and allow job shadowing for youth. Getting this degree and my certifications will help people especially women and youth get back on the road safely and with confidence. I intend to use this scholarship for the purchase of required materials and tools for my courses. Please consider helping me to help others. Thank you.

Wrenching has always been one of my favorite things to do. My step dad used to sit me down on the shop floor with some tools and a carburetor to take apart for his race car. At a very young age I became a mechanical thinker. Questions like "wait how does that work?" and "is this fixable?" are always on my mind. Electrical work is also something that I've dabbled in over the years and find exciting. I cant wait to learn more about it in automotive diagnostics and apply this knowledge to help others achieve their goals. I'd like to enter this field and be the lady mechanic that other women and young people can trust. As a woman I've experienced a surprisingly high amount of discrimination in this industry as well as the construction industry. I've seen the old boys club in action at several automotive parts stores, I've been quoted a huge line of things that "need to be done today" when I specifically asked for the essentials only in a time of financial hardship. When I was in high school I was riding with a friend and her car made some very unusual sounds, I commented how uncomfortable riding in the vehicle was for me. As a result of industrial manipulation a lot of women don't know when an automotive issue is a must and how to prioritize repairs over other necessities it in their budgeting. She knew she didn't have the money for a huge repair bill so going into the shop was just asking for it, regardless of the actual damage it seems that a lot mechanics will make it worth their time. I believe that if women or anyone really were able to take their vehicle into the shop for a very reasonably-priced, honest check up they can make an informed decision and budget for upcoming maintenance. This would make the roads safer for everyone and be more eco friendly in the long run. It turned out that my friend's car had a catastrophic suspension failure and she was in genuine danger along with others on the road near her. She thanked me up and down for warning her. Other friends in high school came to me for some vehicle maintenance advice and I'd helped on many occasions. It makes me feel good knowing I helped keep them safe. Being that go to person, friend who knows cars that is honest is already who I am but I would feel much more comfortable offering my two cents if I had qualifications and formal training. I'm sure I would get a lot of business as well. Additionally I'd encourage other women to learn more about mechanics and basic vehicle maintenance perhaps offer some classes and allow job shadowing for youth. Getting this degree and my certifications will help people especially women and youth get back on the road safely and with confidence. I intend to use this scholarship for the purchase of required materials and tools for my courses. Please consider helping me to help others. Thank you.

Hearing about your moms experience is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry you are going through this. Hopefully you find some glimmers of her in every day life and are reminded of how much she loves you. I can relate to the hidden illnesses, depression has really been a struggle of mine for as long as I can remember. I'm so fortunate to have been able to keep a little candle burning in my times of darkness. As I sit here and type this i'm having a hard time. Mental health is just a really complex thing to talk about. Everyone's got some solution to offer that's magically going to heal you. Everyone has something to say to you that's just supposed to change your mind instantly. "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, exercise more, therapy, go to the Dr. get some pills, eat better, if you don't like it just leave." It's funny how people who don't get it think they do. Depression is not a condition, or a mindset or even an illness really. It's everything and nothing, this culmination of your past present and future weighing down on you making it physically hard to breath. Its heavy, its realization of trauma and trying to work past it, having little to no energy to do anything for your future, just staying afloat is hard enough. Some people say its sadness, depression is beyond sadness it's more like all of the feelings at once and too much to take at times. When you are depressed you have hope to feel better later, you're happy when you get to spend some quality time with the kids, guilty for not spend more time doing things you love, resentment toward yourself for being "lazy". You punish yourself for missing your therapist appointments and scoff at them thinking if I could get my ass up and go to therapy 3 times a week I certainly would not spend spend my precious spoons on that. Drs. think giving you all of these meds is going to help and some do, don't get me wrong, but the experimentation is terrifying especially when you're on the brink and the side effects are suicidal tendency's. Constant fear and shame basically drive the depression truck right over top of you. Gosh Cal, I wish there was something I could say to bring back your mom, I wish there was something I could do for my kids when I get depressed. Just know that she loves you, so much. Instead of reminiscing the pain of lost time try to understand that each and every day she chose you. Someone who has depression or other mental illness has to fight every day, has to make a real choice to be here, to keep treading water with bricks in their backpack. It gets so heavy, and after a long time it seems heavier and heavier and all you want is a break, just to be able to put the weight down for 5 minutes and relax but no amount of sleeping is restful. Sometimes the idea of that weight off of you can get really tempting and a person can just lose sight of themselves. All it takes is a small lapse in judgment to make a forever impact. As someone who experiences depression and mental health issues I would like scientists and psychology to delve deeper into that moment. See what we can do to prevent that moment from happening and work backwards from there. Most of these people need some help with regular things and are drowning in everyday life so work next on setting them up for success with no strings attached. Take the stress off of them in a way that doesn't just postpone stress. End judgment and allow them to find their most authentic self and help set them up for that. Take away the guilt and meet them where they are. Even physically. Express an abundance of love and gratitude for what they do accomplish every day just making it out of the shadows; which at times is harder than most people will ever know. I want so badly for poor mental health to be eradicated and I pray that someone comes up with the solution. I think it has something to do with the fast paced expectations in this world that perhaps its a social issue and keeping up is impossible for some of us. Here I am fighting my fight, trying to be a person in a world that's way too fast and mean for me. The setbacks just get heavier with age and I'm trying to find a new path entirely. As a society I think we need to let these people cut through the field in this race, so to speak. A lot of people I know with depression are super lost. We have to make a path that people can travel on their own but that is just more simple, straight forward. We need to forgive as a society emotionally, forgive the "laziness", credit issues, criminal offences in some cases, things that follow and haunt you, sometimes financially forgive even. Some people really need a clean slate and that's what I think happens in that moment. It just gets heavy and messy and there's no way out and they just need to be free. A lot of the situations that depressed people experience were not their fault but they pay that debt daily. I'm still in a big hole myself and have to dig out unfortunately but I'm getting help. I can tell you that if someone would just pick me up and put me on level ground again I'd probably rise. I think there needs to be a program where you can just start fresh with only the people you love, a few things you want, and be who you truly are, loved unconditionally with all your debts and sins forgiven.... Now that sounds like heaven.

I'd like to be a successful automotive technician, with the opportunity to help people struggling financially to keep their vehicles going. Having functioning transportation makes a lot of the world go around and keeps food on the table for a large portion of Americans. I'd like to use my mechanical talent not only to support my own family but to help other families provide good lives for themselves and their children. I'd like to run my own shop that pays enough to keep my family above water but also helps vulnerable members of the community stay mobile. I can see myself offering some free or reduced services to needy families trying to overcome hardship. Maybe mentoring a group of youth who are interested in the trades and foster that giving back spirit people of people Slater and myself. We could have some weekend free classes that teach people how to do basic automotive maintenance. Hopefully even be able to raise some money to help some young people to get a safe and reliable car. I'm not the type of person who needs flashy things or spends money on vacations or a second home. Kindness, acceptance, safety and compassion are the things I care most about in life. Taking stress off of people who are struggling would will very rewarding for me and a lot of my monetary gain will either go back into helping more people. This is a goal that I believe is well within my reach, if I found some like minded technicians we could really make a difference for a lot of people and that would spread to their families which would set their children up for success a bit more as well. The reason I feel so passionate about this is because I have struggled a lot over the years; with abuse, homelessness, and I've experienced a great deal of discrimination. I'm still growing emotionally and will continue to grow as a scholar and humanitarian for as long as I live simply because it makes me happy. I have had a lot of help and overcome a lot of obstacles to get where I am today. When I think back to what it was that helped me the most; I realize the people who helped me to help myself were the most impactful. The people who unconditionally helped me on my own path. I'd like to pay it forward, spreading that beautiful unconditional love and support to help other humans become their authentic selves and sharing their special gift with the world.

In five years I'd like to be a successful automotive technician, with the opportunity to help people struggling financially to keep their vehicles going. Having functioning transportation makes a lot of the world go around and keeps food on the table for a large portion of Americans. I'd like to use my mechanical talent not only to support my own family but to help other families provide good lives for themselves and their children. I'd like to run my own shop that pays enough to keep my family above water but also helps vulnerable members of the community stay mobile. I can see myself offering some free or reduced services to needy families trying to overcome hardship. I'm not the type of person who needs flashy things or spends money on vacations or a second home. Kindness, acceptance, safety and compassion are the things I care most about in life. Taking stress off of people who are struggling would will very rewarding for me and a lot of my monetary gain will either go back into helping more people. This is a goal that I believe is well within my reach, if I found some like minded technicians we could really make a difference for a lot of people and that would spread to their families which would set their children up for success a bit more as well. The reason I feel so passionate about this is because I have struggled a lot over the years; with abuse, homelessness, and I've experienced a great deal of discrimination. I'm still growing emotionally and will continue to grow as a scholar and humanitarian for as long as I live simply because it makes me happy. I have had a lot of help and overcome a lot of obstacles to get where I am today. When I think back to what it was that helped me the most; I realize the people who helped me to help myself were the most impactful. The people who unconditionally helped me on my own path. I'd like to pay it forward, spreading that beautiful unconditional love and support to help other humans become their authentic selves and sharing their special gift with the world.