I was born to a family with a history of bipolar disorder and mental disability. I was diagnosed with autism before second grade and put onto medication until I was 15 with no say. During that time, I had been pushed into dark places that led to suicide attempts and days of isolation with no end in sight. Raised by a mother whose mental state had degraded significantly year by year, whose behavior relied on simple, unpredictable moments in a day, who dictated my daily life. My mental health during that time was extremely poor. Alongside behavioral medication, I was on anti depressants until my late teens and had been seeing therapists repeatedly. This developing process of my life made me who I am now. I do not see the world as I did years ago, I do not view my mother, or my father remotely the same as I did then. Growing up around unstable individuals showed me how unstable the world flatly is. Most relationships I had developed ended in failure until early in high school, where I freed myself of medication and distanced myself from parental figures, where I was able to make a few friends, including my current best friend. My world view from then allowed me to develop a passion to show the world a better place, and to ultimately make it one too. The friends I have made from my periods of poor mental health have stuck with me until today, where we look onto a future together. My experience with mental health was frankly horrifying and disgusting. I had extreme lows frequently, that culminated into highs that resulted in improved relationships, goals, and a clearer understanding of the world and what's to come.

I am going to Suffolk Country Community College in Long Island, New York for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (H-VAC). I have found myself in love with the business and industry since I began working last year at Quogue Sinclair Fuels. I have been given the opportunity to explore each and every aspect of the job, including some unincluded volunteer work that I have strongly appreciated. I truly enjoy working in the field and in the office, allowing myself to meet new people, learn from existing ones, and make money while doing so. My experience in the LGTBTQ+ community, or rather my experience as being gay, can be described both complex and simple; for me, I experienced homophobia from the earliest aspects of my life. I found out and accepted I was gay at around thirteen, after finding that a girl who liked me I did not like back, not because she wasn't gorgeous, but because I could not foster an attraction to her, romantically or sexually. I did not want to foster anything with her. This would remain a constant for the rest of my life. I did felt attracted to my male friends, to the people I grew up with an didn't know how to feel. Most of those people were homophobic and do not talk to me anymore once I accepted who I was. I lost a lot of friends growing up for being myself. I tried to fit in, but teachers and classmates would not treat me the same, as if who I had attraction to was different. Around that time, I was also groomed by another gay person and my body was used without my complete knowledge. I found that isolation worked but only for a few months before I felt enclosed completely. When I got into high school, they had offered a "Gay-straight alliance" club broadcasting the LGTBTQ concept. I had joined and was welcomed in open arms for the first time in school. It was this opportunity that allowed me to see myself, and ultimately become who I am today, and live my life with a passion, with my loving boyfriend whom I will soon marry. My experience in the LGTBTQ community was warm and welcome, but it was also dark and depressive. Nonetheless, it made me who I am today. I truly see myself as someone who cares about the person next to, and in front of me. regardless of what others may think. I try to help whoever I can, whenever I can. I was raised by a very caring and compassionate mother, who believed wholeheartedly in "Karma" and found that the only way to live life, was to give life to others. I try and volunteer and advocate for people when I can, and always find ways to work with others to improve their lives, and my own life, so that we may all achieve success together. I live with my twin sister, my divorced mother, and my mothers boyfriend. We struggle financially and are in debt from the layoffs of Covid. My mother had to cash in her 401k last year and it hit us like a truck. FASFA did not offer me more than $100 and tap only offered $500 a semester. I do not know how I will end up paying for college without taking a loan out, which I want to be the last option possible. This scholarship would provide me a giant leg-up for my future education. Thank you.

I am interested in pursuing the HVAC field as I come from a line of HVAC technicians who worked for several years each in similar fields to make money for themselves in their families. I got lucky and was employed at Quogue Sinclair Fuels where I fell in love with the handy-work and technical aspects of repairing, installing, and maintaining HVAC equipment. I had started slow with filling propane tanks, to slowly learning more by watching videos on how to handle them, moving up to RVs and even larger tanks such as forklift tanks and 30' pounders. Making it past that I learned how to fill bobtails and dispense propane safely in nearly every manner, filling commercial tanks, residential tanks, and even filling tanks for deliveries. I went out on ride-along with our technicians over the long summer and truly realized my passion for this career, I was able to slowly, but surely service boilers and burners, mainly oil and assist technicians like never before. I had to overcome my mental disability and my strong medication use that halted my educational and physical progress for many years, battling myself for control of my body and mind with high doses of varying medications and behavioral therapies alongside years of educational blocks with un-needed special education classes. For most of my childhood, I was too heavily medicated to engage with other people, including my family and teachers. I had frequent outbursts and was extremely fragile and emotional in reaction with my day-to-day life. It was when I was around 14 that I tried to turn my life around by looking in the mirror and realizing that there was more to life then I would ever come to know. I began to cut off my medication and forced my teachers and school staff to treat me as a normal student, and to drop all my special-education requirements and classes so I could begin to live life in a new way. By 16 I was a different person completely off medication and near acing all my classes compared to the dullness of my previous schooling years. By 17 I was on the Board of Education as an ex-officio member and worked a part-time job that led to this career. If one of my bosses were to review my performance, they would certainly say that I am reliable, get things done and is consistently willing to assist and learn in any way possible. Over my almost a year of employment I have demonstrated excellence and proficiency in nearly every regard. I have not yet disappointed my colleagues or management and have only surprised and been encouraged by them to continue onwards.