To me, being a first-generation student means an opportunity that you have that possibly your parents did not have, or other people in your family did not have. Because of this, you should not let this opportunity go to waste because it is such a big one going to be one of the most important things in someone's life. Not only is being a first-generation student an opportunity for me, but also for other people who are on the fence about deciding whether to attend school or not, and hopefully me going to school encourages people, whether they know me or not, or even if they are not a first generation to take furthering their education seriously just like me. How to overcome challenges i have stayed focused and driven to keep my goals in mind and on track to complete them because everytime something goes wrong or I do not feel like it i remind myself and motivate myself that to give up would be disappointing and i would never want to disappoint the people around me because they care to much about me and or disappoint myself because that is one of the worse things that can happen. This scholarship would help me continue and move closer to my goals because becoming because it is giving me a chance to continue my education career with a little ease and not worry next year if I am able to continue school, because I do not know if I could afford the cost to continue going to school. That is why this opportunity would be so helpful, so it can not only help me out but also help my family out because they are trying really hard to give me the chance they never had or took advantage of, so that I can eventually help my family and friends out the way they helped me.

An impact I want to make has always been giving back to my community, although it may be basic and would have a lot of people saying it is the best thing for people to do because it is what makes a person who they are, and helping my community is one of the best things someone can do, no matter what they do if that is to pick up trash, talking to strangers, or just by helping better the community in general. Because to me, any impact is a big impact no matter how much anyone helps out, as long as people are helping, that is the best thing that can happen. My education could help me give back to my community by helping me further my career to becoming a lawyer because I can help the people who are less fortunate by becoming a public defender and helping the people who can not fight the case themselves or possibly do not have enough to get the most expensive lawyers or even afford one. Also, I would want to give back to the kids like me who are not able to get that much help through school and make a scholarship of my own so kids who are similar to me growing up have a better chance at getting through school than me or other people in my similar situation. The people who inspire is everybody around me, but one of the biggest, I would have to say my mom, because she is the reason I am able to go to school. She always is trying her best to push forward in every situation so that I can be the best version of myself that I possibly can, be because she knows how important my goal of becoming a lawyer is. She is always trying her best to make it succeed. The other main group of people that inspire me is my friends because they also do a lot for me to succeed in my goals, and they also try their best in their own goals, which motivates me also to do my best so we all can succeed. This helps encourage me to make a change in every way for everybody and myself so that everything improves for the people, like me and the people, not like me, so everybody succeeds and has a chance to be better overall and have a fair chance to complete their goal, similar to me trying to complete my goals.

My name is Demarco Shields, and I am currently a senior at Lockport Township High School. My dream/ goal is to study criminal justice and eventually become a criminal defense lawyer. I have applied to Florida State University, the University Of Alabama, Carthage College, and the University Of Georgia. I currently have been accepted into The University of Alabama and Carthage and will be attending the university of Alabama in the fall to further my education with a major in criminal justice. Over my four years attending Lockport township highschool I took three AP classes my junior year I took AP Pre calc AB and AP U.S. history and my senior year I am only taking AP Psychology but are taking various honors classes and a college level course to also better prepare me for college. My favorite AP class I have taken would be AP Psychology with Mrs. Doornkaat although the class is very note heavy it seems to me to be the most beneficial to my goal later in life and throughout college. However non AP class that would be my favorite is a college class taken through joliet junior college to earn dual credit would be criminal justice at the wilco area career center in joliet, Illinos. Taking challenging courses Impacted in various ways. First taking multiple challenging classes has impacted me is balancing my life in school and outside of school teaching me how to be more organized and prepared for school and work to make sure i do not fall behind in the class. Next, experiencing challenging classes impacted me to better overall in school to turn in better work and also improve overall in all subjects to adjust to more challenging classes. Finally to maintain this level if rigor in college I have taken a difficult and long path to meet my goal of becoming a criminal defense lawyer so nothing would be easy so I will have to maintain a balanced life and also constantly improving to be better than what I previously was. As I look forward in going to the university of Alabama I am most excited to be given the opportunity to be attending such a beautiful campus and a amazing school with a huge community. I am also excited to improve academically and personally while I am there and create strong relationships and connections with people from all over. Thank you for taking your time to read my essay I appreciate it and thank you.