My name is Ciara Coronado, and I am a high school senior planning to attend the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the fall of 2025. I am of Mexican, African, and Spanish descent. I grew up in a family that has never been wealthy; we have always lived on the lower-income side but are known for our hard work and dedication. My grandparents worked hard in their youth, picking corn and cotton for minimum wage, and often traveled for work. As they entered their twenties, they found jobs that paid a bit better. My grandfather worked in construction, and my grandmother became a welder. They saved their money and, with the help of their brothers, built a house for themselves. While my grandparents have since passed, my mother, twin sister, and I still live in the very house they built about 30 years ago. Before my grandmother passed away from heart failure, she asked me a significant question when I was eight years old: "Mija, I want you to become a doctor so you can fix my heart one day and make good money so we don’t have to live like this anymore." At the time, I didn’t realize the profound impact her words would have on me. However, three years ago, when I started high school, I began to understand. I aimed to get the best grades, gain admission to a good college, and become a doctor, not just because my grandmother wished it, but also because I fell in love with helping, caring for, and supporting people of all ages. I know that furthering my education will set an example for others from minority groups and low-income backgrounds like mine. I aspire to be an inspiration and leave my mark on the world for the good of my community. Despite the challenges our race faces, we can still achieve great things and dream big, just like figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and Frida Kahlo. I have faced my share of difficulties, including being bullied for not wearing nice clothes, working three jobs at one point to support my disabled mother while attending school, and managing the effects of a bleeding disorder that is still under investigation. Despite these hardships, I have maintained a 3.7 GPA and am eligible to be valedictorian of my class, which has 609 students. Life has been tremendously strenuous, exhausting, and burdensome. However, I know that with the help of this scholarship, a weight will be lifted off my shoulders and my mother’s, as it reassures us that support exists and that we can achieve our goals and help our community. As I said earlier, I aim to be the best human being I can be in this broken world. I want to care for the sick and use my earnings to support my mother, build a center for the homeless, hungry, and abused, and much more. I also intend to donate some of my funds to local charities and food pantries. I know firsthand how much pantries have helped my family, and I believe they can assist many others in similar or worse situations. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. This is just the beginning of an exciting, disciplined, and humbling adventure for me and my community! Please join me in helping to save lives. God bless!

My name is Ciara Coronado, and I am a senior in high school. I love spending time with my family and my church group, and I enjoy teaching my Sunday school class every month. I have a strong faith in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I plan to attend the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX, which is a Christian university. My major will be Biology Pre-Med, as I aspire to become a family physician. I am excited, nervous, and a bit stressed as I prepare to start this new journey. Coming from a low-income background, it can be challenging to envision a future for myself, especially since my parents and family cannot provide financial support. However, I am incredibly grateful for the help available in the world, particularly from my grandparents. They taught me invaluable lessons about hard work, discipline, dedication, endurance, and, most importantly, compassion. My grandparents’ experiences are similar to Mrs. Hill’s. My grandmother never attended school and worked in the corn and cotton fields for minimum wage to support her family. My grandfather had a similar background but only completed the seventh grade. Even though they were born and raised in the U.S., they spoke broken English due to their lack of education. One of my favorite memories with my grandma is teaching her how to read "Jack and Jill," her favorite book. She always smiled and encouraged me to be the best person I could be. Despite her inability to read, her love for Jesus shone through. She wanted the best for me, and I made a promise to her when I was eight years old. She asked me, "Mija, will you become a doctor and fix my heart?" She also said, "They make good money, and you can get us out of this life." As an innocent and carefree child, I said yes, not fully understanding what I was agreeing to. To this day, I vow to keep that promise, but I have also grown to love caring for people of all ages, whether they are young or old. I have volunteered at my church as a helper, leader, and hostess for our monthly events. This experience has deepened my love for serving others, as I believe it is often the small things that have the most significant impact on a person's life. The lessons and words of my grandmother encourage me every single day. I aspire to establish my center called Saving Souls Ministries, dedicated to helping, feeding, clothing, sheltering, and uplifting those who are homeless, abused, addicted, ill, in poverty, or simply struggling to get by. I aim to provide shelter, hygienic necessities, clothing, and food. I can confidently say that this scholarship will help me achieve my dream. It will cover my schooling to become a doctor, and I plan to pay it forward through this center. I also intend to create a scholarship fund to support others with big dreams, ensuring they know there is help available, regardless of their race, religion, culture, or gender. Thank you for creating this scholarship in Mrs. Hill's name; may she smile upon you from heaven!

My name is Ciara Coronado, and I plan to attend the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX, where I will major in Biology Pre-Med because I aspire to become a family physician. I come from a low-income background and represent a minority group; I am Hispanic from my mother's side and African from my father's side. Growing up, I heard many stories about my grandparents' lives. Though they were born in the U.S., they had immigrant parents and did not attend school. Instead, they worked in the fields, picking corn and cotton. This is how my grandparents met and fell in love. Eventually, they secured better-paying jobs when they were in their 20s and 30s. My grandfather became a construction worker, and my grandmother became a welder. My grandmother worked until her health began to decline, and she was diagnosed with a heart condition called Atrial Fibrillation (Afib). Growing up, my grandmother raised my twin sister and me while our parents worked. She would often ask me to massage her legs because she was in constant pain. One day, while I was massaging her legs, she asked me, "Mija, will you become a doctor and fix my heart?" She also mentioned, "Doctors make good money, so you can help us get out of this struggle." I agreed because I loved her and wanted to make her happy, though I didn't realize the profound impact that one simple "yes" would have on my life. Unfortunately, I will never be able to help her because she passed away in 2019. After her passing, we had no one to care for us while our mother worked, and my father was rarely home. Eventually, my parents divorced, leaving just my mother, sister, grandfather, and me. My grandfather passed away 1 to 2 years later from heartbreak. With only the three of us left, things worsened. My mother had worked as a janitor for over 24 years but had to step down because of overwork, which led to her becoming disabled. She never attended college due to having an intellectual disability. Now, she cannot help me pay for school. However, I am not upset. Her hard work and dedication inspire me to try harder to succeed, do what I love, and achieve my dreams and goals. Over the past two years, I have had three jobs, maintained my grades at 90% or above, and overcome bullying. I am also eligible to be valedictorian of my class, which consists of 609 students! Unfortunately, I have been dealing with health issues due to the stress and anxiety from everything I’ve experienced. I was recently diagnosed with a heart condition called Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), which is a hole in my heart. Additionally, I am being investigated for a bleeding disorder. I have been on iron supplements for two years, used birth control since I was 13, and have taken muscle relaxers and heart medication, along with receiving iron infusions. Despite these challenges, I am determined not to give up! My experiences have only strengthened my resolve to become a doctor so that I can help others of all ages. Despite my financial background, I know that this scholarship will help me make a difference in my community. Ultimately, I hope to give back by donating to local charities and food pantries, and I plan to open my center for the homeless, hungry, and ill. Thank you for your time!

My name is Ciara Coronado, and I plan on going to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX. I will be majoring in Biology pre-med so that I can become a doctor! I come from a low-income background, my grandparents did not go to school, my mother has an intellectual and physical disability but graduated from high school, my father didn't finish high school, my older sister graduated but never went to college, and my twin sister has an intellectual disability as well. I am the only one in my family who will be the first to go to college to pursue my education. It's been stressful for me because I feel like everything is riding on me. I have put in hours of work and dedication to get the best grades because I want my family to be proud, know that they can achieve their goals, and understand that there are people in the world who are willing to support their education, such as this scholarship. We have faced many hardships throughout our lives, financially, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Financially, my family struggles. My mother worked for 24+ years as a janitor but overworked herself and is physically unable to work now. My father is self-employed but is barely keeping his head above water. I've had three jobs, but I wasn't able to keep up with them and school because I became ill. This is where the physical struggle crept in. I started to have severe anxiety attacks when I began high school. It's tough, but I was bullied, so that made things worse. I was in and out of the emergency room because I would get them so badly I couldn't breathe. I began to also have trouble during menstruation with heavy and irregular bleeding, it got so bad I became anemic and had to take iron supplements, birth control at 13, and had to get iron infusions. I was eventually sent to hematology, and the doctors have found evidence of a bleeding disorder. This is still ongoing, but the stress from everything sometimes becomes unbearable, and I want to give up. I want to make the world a better place, but I feel like I can't, I feel like I'm a failure, from these thoughts to self-harm, I was diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Over the past few years, I've endured a lot, from bullying to mental and physical health problems, and as stated before, my spiritual life. I was raised Christian and was always taught that when in doubt, pray because God listens and answers in HIs timing. My faith has been everywhere, but now it's stronger than ever because God has set me on a path that no man or woman can lead me off of. He's given me the strength and courage that I need to get through the future, and He's never left my side. He's helped me in school, giving me the brain to get A/B honor roll my entire high school experience. He's helped me become more social through amazing organizations such as Beta club, student council, WIT (workforce industry training), and the Honors Society. He's also allowed me to be the Valedictorian of my school! I aspire to help my community through this scholarship, career, and school. I want to become a doctor to keep a promise to my grandmother, who wanted me to become one to help those in her situation, and because the money I'll earn, I want to put it towards charities, pantries, and my organization to help my community! Thank you!

My name is Ciara Coronado, I'm a first-generation college student, my family's lineage goes way back to the Aztecs (from my mother's side) to the African roots imbeded within my fathers blood line, for generations of many, we were told many storied growing up about our ancestors, they worked hard and weren't fortunate to get an education because they had to provide for their families. My grandparents did not attend school, I remember my grandmother always asking me, "Mija, can you teach me how to read? I want my English to get better." Of course, I said yes and would teach her as much as I knew. My great grandparents, whom I didn't get to meet because they had passed, came from Mexico to the US to have a better life. They didn't know how to read or write and barely spoke English, They worked in the field picking corn and cotton for minimum wage every day, from son to daughter. It was hard finding a job because they were born to immigrant parents, so they came from a low-income background. My mother was born in 1973, she was diagnosed with an intellectual disability at a very young age. Hence, she spent her time in the special education class until she graduated. Since she had trouble reading and writing, she couldn't get a good job, so she worked as a janitor for 24+ years until she became disabled and is now unable to work. My father dropped out of high school to take care of his mother, and he never graduated. He now works for himself as a construction worker, but it's not a steady income for him, so he doesn't get paid a lot, and he's barely keeping his head above water. Growing up has been hard; I felt like everything was riding on my shoulders since my older sister didn't go to college after high school, and my twin sister had the unfortunate luck of having an intellectual disability just as our mother has. Many people knew our situation at school because of the clothes we would wear, so it was hard because I was bullied for my appearance. I've had to overcome bullying, pressure from my parents, self-doubt, and mental abuse from peers. This has made me into a strong, independent, kind, and intelligent young lady. My entire life, I've been told I can't achieve my dreams, and I won't because college is expensive and no one will help me, but I've never believed that because of the hard work my family and ancestors put in to achieve their goals. I know that this scholarship will help me achieve my goals and dreams, but it would also make a positive impact on our community because of what I aspire to create. I aspire to do many things for my community, such as opening up my homeless shelter (not just for the homeless) and becoming a doctor! Thank you for your time, God bless! - Ciara Coronado