When I was nine I started mowing lawns in my neighborhood. It was just a few but it showed me what it felt like to earn money and learn how to save it. Over the past decade I have grown my business to over 22 lawns a season. I was introduced to a family friend who owned a financial business and after talking with him, I knew I wanted to earn a degree in Finance and become a Financial Advisor. My goal is to manage and own my own Financial Firm that is one day known worldwide. I believe I am deserving of this scholarship because there hasn't been a moment in my life when I wasn't in an activity. Since I can remember, I have always been an athlete who strives to be the best in what I'm doing. During my freshman and sophomore years, I was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball, and baseball. After my sophomore year, I made the mental decision to no longer pursue basketball to focus on baseball because that was the sport I wanted to play at the next level. I consider myself a high academic student athlete, as I have taken Advanced Placement classes while maintaining a 3.95 grade point average. In the fall of 2025 I was awarded Academic All-State for the Milford football team. This award was only given to the top three seniors for their grade point average on the team. This was a big accomplishment that I was really proud of because it rewarded my years of hard work and dedication that I put into my education. I have also been awarded the Lakes Valley Scholar award in both football and baseball over the last three years. I am also deeply involved in Milford's DECA organization, DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. This is my third year in a row being a state qualifier. DECA has helped me with my communication and business skills, and it's something that I’ll never regret signing up for. It's given me experiences that nothing else could, and I'll use the skills I've learned from DECA for the rest of my career. My family has faced some pretty significant challenges that have really shaped my perspective—my father was diagnosed with throat cancer in April of 2019, he had several surgeries to remove the tumors, and lost his voice for most of that summer. In June of 2022, after 30 years in automotive, his company downsized, and he lost his job. His health wasn’t the greatest, but he wasn’t ready to retire so he became a substitute teacher for the school. However To make matters even harder, in December 2022, his cancer came back, and he spent the beginning of 2023 with multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. It was a very hard time for my family financially, as we are still affected by the amount of money treatment costs. This scholarship will help ease some of the financial burden during my freshman year.

For as long as I could remember, my father was always my coach in any sport that I did. Football, Basketball, Baseball. My father was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. He had throat cancer, even though he never smoked. Coaching wasn't going to be in the cards for him anymore. After two separate surgeries they had the cancer removed. He was out of work for 6 months and it was pretty quiet around the house since he didn't do a lot of talking. In June of 2021 his company did a big layoff and he lost his job of 31 years. He was in the auto industry and it was devastating to our family and household income. In December of that same year, his cancer came back. So not only did my dad lose his job he got cancer in the same year. It's ever easy to hear those words, and now again we were going to face a difficult time. This time he had to go through 35 treatments of radiation and 8 weeks of chemotherapy. My father was a big strong man weighing in about 250lbs, after all his treatments were done, he was 180lbs. Cancer took a big toll the second time on our family. I was playing basketball at that time and he wasn't able to see many of my games. It was hard for me to see his pain and suffering daily. My mom would have to miss work to take him to his appointments. I wanted to help him out any way that I could whether it being shoveling snow or helping mom grocery shop. My mother was the only one that could work. I started mowing lawns to help make some money to help out with the bills and also help pay for my sports. A few years ago, my father introduced me to his friend whom is in the finance business. I immediately fell in love with how the finance world worked and knew that I wanted to pursue that degree. Being able to help families invest their money and build up their financial portfolio was my goal. If I can help them make money they will be able to do the things they want to do when they retire. I also want to be able to help my family. The medical bills were enormous. My parents have always had a retirement plan but had to use some of that savings to pay for the bills. I know that with the right tools, I can make a positive impact on my future and also help my parents so they can retire.

When I was born I had clubfeet on both of my feet. The first two years of my life I was in casts, then I was moved to the Ponseti braces and finally at 4 had surgery to help straighten my feet out. I started playing flag football when I was five. I never let my disability deter me from playing sports. I wanted to play football and basketball and baseball. The bond and friendships that I formed over the years has taught me a lot of thigs. Football is a sport that requires you to depend on your teammates. You have to trust in them and encourage them daily. In middle school when I started playing tackle football the body changes. You have to be bigger and faster and stronger to help out your teammates. My dad played college football and is still in contact with his teammates. My dad is a strong man. He has battled cancer not just once but twice. This was a very hard time for my family, but we all stuck together and supported each other during the process. My football team also had my back on days that were hard for me to stay focused due to my father's condition. My mother is a coach at my high school and has been for over 10 years teacher volleyball. She has built a great program at the freshman level and her overall record is very impressive. I love being able to watch my mom coach the athletes, she has a passion for understanding and learning. I have adapted those qualities when I volunteer each year to help out at the high school football camps to teach the younger generation the skills needed to be successful in football. I was never the fastest runner or the biggest but I did make an impact for my teammates. I never gave up on plays and always wanted to get better for the program. I would work out in the off season on building up muscle and also running faster. While our team never won a district title the program has built up some solid athletes. Our program has several players that have gone on to play college football. While I don't see myself playing football at the next level I do hope to play some sport in college. Having teammates help you stay focused for academics, training and also be on the winning team with friendships.