My name is Cannon Johnson and I am pursuing a career in welding. I became interested in welding when I was 11 years old. My dad was a welder, and he brought me out in the yard and taught me how to weld a pipe fence we building. I have struggled in a few subjects in school, and of course teachers look down on people that do not excel in common core classes. However, I had one teacher that changed that for me. My FFA teacher. My dad was my role model and I have always wanted to be like him, but with the teachers I had talking down on it I lost hope of that. Well, my FFA teacher put me in welding and it felt great. It brought back those memories of the years me and my dad worked together. Right then I knew that's what I wanted to be. I was in SPED when I was younger for testing anxiety, slower reading level, and I struggled with some classes. I didn't know this was actually a thing until they looked into why I was failing test. I always did great on my work, so my teachers did not understand. I used to always feel worried when I was the last one with my test, so I would just turn it in so no one was waiting on me. I know it does not sound like a good thing to say, but I was embarrassed when I first got put in there. I was scared that I would get picked on, I felt like I was just a dumb kid that did not belong in a class room, and I felt like I was not going to succeed in life. I did struggle in a few classes and my teachers made me feel like I would not be anything in life. My SPED teacher helped me see my potential. Now, I take my full time and try my hardest.SPED helped me by allowing me more time and separate testing for classes. SPED helped me so much, and I don't know how I would've done without them. Now, I am comfortable taking test, and I do not have to take them separate. I also was shown by my SPED teacher that just because I may not be great at some subjects does not mean I will not succeed in life. I have other great skills that will make me successful and I will not have to settle for a low end job that I hate. I plan on going to a trade school to become a welder. I have been accepted in to Arkansas Elite Welding Academy. I have done great in my FFA classes improving my skills. I may only be average in the core subjects that teachers make you believe you have to be perfect at, but I am great at welding. I know that I will be successful, and if it were not for my SPED teacher I may have given up on myself. She gave me the confidence to find my passion in life and use it. I am so thankful that they stepped in and put me in SPED. I hope that many other students are able to get the help that I did. I hope that other people like me, or other people with more advanced disabilities will find the passion that makes them find what they love. I hope that the stigma around being in SPED is dropped. Just because we do not fit into the academic norm, does not mean we are not smart, capable, weird, or will not be able to go far in life.

My name is Cannon Johnson and I am pursuing a career in welding. I am from a very small town in Bradley, AR, and I will graduate with only 20 people in my class. As you mentioned the opportunities for financial support is very little. It is even lower for someone who struggled in academics growing up. I became interested in welding when I was 11 years old. My dad was a welder, and he brought me out in the yard and taught me how to weld a pipe fence we building. Since then we have welded so many things together and he has taught me everything I know. He started working doing different trades at 18 he has done welding, pipe fitting, crane-operator, he walked on those beams really high in the sky welding, and worked his way up to being a project manager for Altair Strickland. He does not just sit at a desk, manage, and go to meetings like many other people that are promoted do. He still gets out there and works with the guys. He is my inspiration. He is hardworking, and I plan to follow in his footsteps. I have struggled in a few subjects in school, and of course teachers look down on people that do not excel in the core classes like Math and ELA mainly. I sort of lost hope in being as successful in a career as my other classmates. You get compared a lot more in a small town like ours. I had one teacher that changed that for me. My FFA teacher. Well, my FFA teacher put me in a welding class, and it felt great. It brought back those memories of the years me and my dad worked together. Right then I knew that's what I wanted to be. This past year I lost my best friend to suicide. His dream was to also be a welder like me. Losing him was really hard, but I chose to push myself to accomplish "our" dream. I have been accepted into Arkansas Elite Welding Academy which is 5 hours away from where I live. I want to specialize in Tig welding and there are not any schools close by that offer that. I did a lot of research to find this school. I read reviews, toured, and asked as many questions as I could to each place I went to. I have met all the requirements and have been accepted to start in the fall this year, after I graduate in May.

My name is Cannon Johnson. I lost my best friend Tanner Stacy December 4, 2024. He was 15 years old, and would have been 16, February 13, 2025. I debated on applying for this scholarship, because I have not opened up to anyone about the depth of my feelings. I chose to do this scholarship to help myself heal by laying it all out in this essay. There was not a single day that I went without talking to Tanner. We were together so much that he went on every family vacation with us, because he was just that FAMILY. At the age of 18, I carried the casket of my best friend and that is by far the worst thing I have ever had to do. I have had to go every day since then wondering what I could have done differently, and why he did not show me any signs or ask for help. He was the life of the party, a great friend, a helping hand, and someone I shared everything with. Depression is unique, because it can be hidden well. We think people are depressed when we see them cry, when they are not social, and many other things. Depression can be hidden with a mask. A mask that smiles and makes everyone laugh. Sometimes, there truly are no signs people that are suicidal give. Denial was and is still a struggle I go through. There are tons of "why's" all of them are selfish on my end, I know that. I am back and forth between sadness and anger. Though those can be consuming, I also go through the moments of memories we made. “The Happy's," is what I like to call them. The memories that remind me of who he was, and not how we lost him. Trying to over power that memory, because suicide does not define who he was. Those memories are what helped me get through this and return to school. Those memories are what give me strength and hope for the future. My reasoning for needing this scholarship is to help financially chase “our dream.” We both have wanted to be welders our whole lives. I plan to follow through and keep his memory alive. I have never really wanted to travel far, but Tanner did. First thing, I will have to move 5 hours away to go to the trade school he wanted. After that, I plan to look for a job all the way in Wyoming. It was his dream and now it is mine. What I have learned from this is to always be kind, hold your people tighter, be supportive, and to pay close attention to the people that are always smiling and laughing. I learned the hard way that depression can wear a mask. Thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to share my experience and story.

My name is Cannon Johnson and I am pursuing a career in welding. I became interested in welding when I was 11 years old. My dad was a welder, and he brought me out in the yard and taught me how to weld a pipe fence we building. I have struggled in a few subjects in school, and of course teachers look down on people that do not excel in common core classes. However, I had one teacher that changed that for me. My FFA teacher. My dad was my role model and I have always wanted to be like him, but with the teachers I had talking down on it I lost hope of that. Well, my FFA teacher put me in welding and it felt great. It brought back those memories of the years me and my dad worked together. Right then I knew that's what I wanted to be. A difficult choice I have had to make was actually in my FFA class. We were welding deer stand frames, and selling them to make money for our organization. We were getting a ton of orders, and deer season was right around the corner so of course everyone wanted them soon. We only have so many welders, and so much room. I had to decide to cutoff orders or to keep taking them. Cutting off orders would mean me make less money, but we would be able to get the deer stands out in time. Taking them would mean more money, but deer stands would come later. I chose to cutoff the orders. Rushed work tends to look lazy, and we wanted our work to be great. I stand by my decision. We got great reviews on them, and were able to get them out in time. The year after we opened up the ordering date earlier. We were able to take more orders, and almost doubled our money that year. This scenario allowed me to show leadership, build my skills in welding, show team work, and develop my decision making skills. I have been accepted into Arkansas Elite Welding Academy which is 5 hours away. I want to specialize in Tig welding and there are not any schools close by that offer that. I did a lot of research to find this school. I read reviews, toured, and asked as many questions as I could to each place I went to. I have met all the requirements and have been accepted to start in the fall this year, after I graduate in May. There are a lot of opportunities in Lake Charles, LA that I want to look in to. My dad is a project manager down there for Altair Strickland which works under Citgo. They are always in need for Tig welders specifically, as well as many other companies. If you were to call my FFA teacher he would recommend me. He knows I am honest, hard working, dedicated, and always a team player. I will do whatever it takes to take advantage of the program by learning the most I can while in there. This scholarship would help me take care of tuition, and housing. I want to be able to focus all my attention on this without coming out in debt or having to work extra jobs so that I can afford it.

My name is Cannon Johnson. I am from a small school in Arkansas where there are not many trade schools unless you are willing to drive an hour or more. I am moving five hours away to an amazing school Arkansas Elite Welding Academy to become a welder. This school certifies me in every type of welding, and I want to focus on tig welding which is a harder type of welding. This move, and the tuition alone is expensive. A time that I had to make a decision was when we were welding deer stand frames to raise money for FFA. We had a lot of people ordering to support our program. As great as that sounds, we only had so many kids that could weld. Deer hunting season was right around the corner so the people ordering them wanted them fast. I had to make the decision to have stands finished later than the start of hunting season so that we could raise more money, or stop taking orders so that we could finish in time. I chose to stop taking orders. Rushing the stands would have lowered the quality because most of the time rushed work is not as good as well paced work. I also did not want our organization to get a bad reputation for not getting our orders out in time. We did not make as much money as we could have, but we got great feedback and were able to raise more money the next year. It was tough, but I still stand behind my decision to stop orders. The next year we started taking orders earlier so that we could have plenty of time to make more stands. We almost doubled the amount that we got the year before. Thank you for your consideration!

I was in SPED when I was younger for testing anxiety, slower reading level, and I struggled with some classes. I didn't know this was actually a thing until they looked into why I was failing test. Other than the subjects I struggled in, I always did great on most of my work. My teachers did not understand why my tests did not reflect what I know. I used to always feel worried when I was the last one with my test, so I would just turn it in so no one was waiting on me. I know it does not sound like a good thing to say, but I was embarrassed when I first got put in there. I was scared that I would get picked on, I felt like I was just a dumb kid that did not belong in a class room, and I felt like I was not going to succeed in life. I did struggle in a few classes and my teachers made me feel like I would not be anything in life. My SPED teacher helped me see my potential. Now, I take my full time and try my hardest. SPED helped me by allowing me more time and separate testing for classes. SPED helped me so much, and I don't know how I would've done without them. Now, I am comfortable taking test, and I do not have to take them separate. I also was shown by my SPED teacher that just because I may not be great at some subjects does not mean I will not succeed in life. I have other great skills that will make me successful and I will not have to settle for a low end job that I hate. I plan on going to a trade school to become a welder. I have been accepted in to Arkansas Elite Welding Academy. I have done great in my FFA classes improving my skills. I may only be average in the core subjects that teachers make you believe you have to be perfect at, but I am great at welding. I know that I will be successful, and if it were not for my SPED teacher I may have given up on myself. She gave me the confidence to find my passion in life and use it. I am so thankful that they stepped in and put me in SPED. I hope that many other students are able to get the help that I did. I hope that other people like me, or other people with more advanced disabilities will find the passion that makes them find what they love. I hope that the stigma around being in SPED is dropped. Just because we do not fit into the academic norm, does not mean we are not smart, capable, weird, or will not be able to go far in life. This scholarship would mean so much to me. It will help me achieve those goals that my SPED teacher helped me set. I will be able to use my skills to help others that I know and others that are like me that we are more than the stigma society and the school system make us believe. We are capable of just as much as anyone else. It may take us longer and it make take more work to become better at subjects or skills we struggle with, but we are just as important and can be just as successful as any other person at the school. Thank you for your consideration.