My adversities started as familial difficulties from as young as I could remember. I was born in a poverty-stricken community of high crime and drug infestation in Washington, DC. My mother became a single parent when I was four years of age. My biological father left us in a typical split family fashion. As a result, financial constraints occurred, and my mother worked three jobs most of my adolescent years while providing early childhood development education outside of school. In addition, financial restrictions toward educational needs or resources such as mentoring, living environments, and maturing through a single-parent lifestyle had all affected my life. As time passed, I understood that education was the key, and I promised and owed it to my mother to accomplish as much as possible to match the hardship and sacrifices she endured solely for my upbringing. I have kept this promise ever since I witnessed my mother give up on her dreams of a bachelor's degree one year away from graduation to provide a better life for us. Allowing myself to feel vulnerable in this time allowed me to redirect and take advantage of my firm determination to reciprocate my mother's sacrifice in my educational success and overcoming school difficulties. This redirection changed my poor grade point average from 2.34 to 3.43 cumulative by the end of my high school career. In addition, I received ten academic excellence plaque awards for achieving a 4.0 or higher GPA within a quarter. These accolades enabled induction into the National Honor Society, Posse Foundation, and my school's newly constructed Academic Hall of Fame. My determination to see past my adversities and change my excuses into results created a passion for success. Life and my past have always humbled me, but I was now passionate and result-driven toward success.

Maturity, result-driven passion, and humbleness were traits and skills that enabled me to overcome adversities from adolescence and struggles in my educational growth due to limited resources. In my perspective, adversity is a three-tier process; first, pain or uncertainty, reaching the second tier provides humbling mental strength, usually obtained from the function of the first tier. I was able to experience both sides and offer a third tier which I genuinely believe is the best. To understand the third tier, I must speak on how I used the first two tiers to overcome obstacles in my past. The experience of adversity has enabled me to develop skills for future obstructions, adversity, and complex future challenges. My adversities started as familial difficulties from as young as I could remember. Those difficulties started with my biological father's excuses for abandoning my mother and me, as well as my mother's divorce from my stepfather years later. In addition, financial restrictions toward educational needs or resources, living environments, and maturing through a single-parent lifestyle had all affected my life. Nevertheless, maturity allowed me to keep levelheaded during higher-level school struggles where I could not afford tutoring services that I needed and could have significantly benefited. This trait enabled me to look inward to acknowledge the pains of not living fully in a single-parent household and redirect it into looking toward success. The vulnerability relieved me of frustrations that added to excuses I created for self-comfort in my inabilities and redirecting blame for life's fairness. I remembered my mother's sacrifice to abandon her bachelor's degree to make our lives better financially at five years old in my vulnerable state. Self-reflection allowed me to redirect and take advantage of my firm determination to reciprocate my mother's sacrifice in my educational success and overcoming school difficulties. Although I struggled to maintain my reputation of being an Honor Roll student during my early years of high school, with the help of advanced placement courses, I changed my grade point average from 2.34 to 3.43 cumulative by the end of my high school career. In addition, I received ten academic excellence plaque awards for achieving a 4.0 or higher GPA within a quarter. These accolades enabled induction into the National Honor Society, Posse Foundation, and my school's newly constructed Academic Hall of Fame. My determination to see past my adversities and change my excuses into results created a passion for success. Life and my past have always humbled me, but I was now passionate and result-driven toward success. In closing, I believe adversity is a three-tier process. The first tier is where consumption to frustration and uncertainty lies. If one can reach the second tier, it creates humbling mental strength, the ability to reflect and redirect around one's adversity. However, only with the third tier can one reach mastery of maturity and endless passion. The skill of maturity and unrelenting passion enables embarking on any accomplishment placed in view. The third option is far more rewarding. This journey accomplished reaching both tiers of the adversity process and receiving my most proud accomplishments at the end of my high school enrollment. I developed maturity, a result-driven passion for success, humbleness, and ultimately the best version of myself with the third tier. My obstacles have led me to better even the best version of myself as I return to school. I would love to replace my proudest high school and post-secondary achievement with a bachelor's in cybersecurity and information assurance. That would be another incredible feat and exhibit how I utilized a well-versed set of tools to overcome obstacles in life.

The idea of mentorship has become a lost art. I felt it was tough to obtain mentorship at the start of my career. However, recently mentorship has become a concept where individuals "apply" for mentorship, and I feel as though the process of mentorship could be simplified. After obtaining excellent guidance, maneuvering in my career within the secure government realm of employment, and discussions with the seasoned employees who occupied cybersecurity roles, I felt entitled to reciprocate the help given to others and use my educational goals to uplift the community. The inspiration to impact the community started with my current mentorship with my mentees, constantly thinking of how I could provide a resource for them to be successful and stress-free. Brainstorming led me to how to uplift the information technology community and mentorship. Inspiration set in, and one of my current goals is to finish planning logistics and funding for the "excITed for Information Technology" program. The program is an idea I considered creating to simplify the mentorship process and would supply students guidance, tutoring, and non-profit funding for the enrollee to reach IT-related milestones toward a sought career path. My standard for entry into such a program would include active students pursuing IT-related careers that could maintain the time for discussions, tutoring, or in-person scheduled mentoring dates. In addition, mentees acquire vouchers for certifications, boot camps, resume-writing services, study hall, and all expenses paid directly from the program. I know that open discussions and questions on growth in their aspiring career and the resources provided in the program could drastically change or motivate many individuals in the community. Voicing, strategizing, and learning from like-minded individuals is crucial to an individual's growth, which is why I hope to create this program one day.

An inspirational business magnate once said, "have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become", Steve Jobs. Likewise, cybersecurity is where my passion and heart lies, ranging from the abundance of tools used for thwarting malicious cyber threats to interpreting network or security infrastructures to increase preventative measures. My passion, goals, and reciprocating the help received in my process are why I pursue a career in STEM. My career has led me to set various dreams ranging from short and long-term goals at the start. For example, my work environment is a Windows and Linux systems hybrid. The Linux environment, however, is entirely new to me. Therefore, I set a short-term goal to learn the Linux environment to become more efficient and effective in increasing my workplace productivity. Additionally, I researched the various paths and highly sought skills in cybersecurity roles to further my career. The research led me to an interest toward the goal of obtaining multiple certifications such as the Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), Penetration Tester (PenTest+), Certified Ethical Hacking (CEH), and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) certifications. The previously mentioned certifications would set the foundation and prove knowledgeable application of principles learned throughout my career. Research led me to Western Governor's University (WGU) to enroll in a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity and information assurance while obtaining fourteen different certifications to increase overall knowledge in the cybersecurity industry. WGU's program would allow me to continue learning, growing, and sharing within the cybersecurity industry to express the importance of security and threat mitigation. The road to my research for fulfilling my aspiration was unclear; I felt a mentor could simplify the process. After obtaining excellent guidance, maneuvering in the secure government realm of employment, and discussions with the seasoned employees who occupied cybersecurity roles, I felt entitled to reciprocate the help given to others and use my educational goals to uplift the community. Inspiration led me to finish the logistics and funding for the "excITed for Information Technology" program, an idea a colleague and I thought to create. The program would provide guidance, tutoring, and non-profit funding for the enrollee to reach IT-related milestones toward a sought career path. Eventually, I wish to create a cybersecurity firm or business structured around information security that provides excellent customer service, ensures the best ethical security practices, and, most importantly, offers outstanding security architecture or posture for defense agencies/customers. My short-term and long-term goals are structured or heightened by obtaining a degree. First, a bachelor's in cybersecurity and information assurance would increase overall morale toward acquiring my aspirations in my career. Ultimately, a degree will allow me to reach my career's ultimate goal, obtain a Certified Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification, occupy a managerial role, and later replace the CISSP with a Certified Information Systems Manager (CISM) certification. Additionally, a degree would demonstrate that I am a well-versed and evolving cybersecurity professional, giving individuals the conviction to trust the mentoring process in "excITed for Information Technology," closing the gap between aspiration and success. My goals seem to be plentiful, and it will be a challenge. I am using the strength of those I inspire through mentorships and determination to better the process for other individuals in my community who are actively working toward their goals or dreams to fuel my non-failure drive. However, I am a determined and passionate result-driven individual, so I know that I will reach fruition in my short-term and long-term goals.

In October 2020, I knew I wanted to pursue a cybersecurity and information assurance degree. I was offered a position with the Department of Defense. To qualify for the job, I had to obtain a clearance, so the process began. I was finally in a position that offered me the opportunity to further my career in a secure environment and all of its responsibilities. During this process, I received a briefing to ensure I understood the associated responsibilities and maintained awareness to perform duties accurately and securely. The briefing was an excerpt of the Osama Bin Laden operation from the documentary released within recent years. It was my first time watching this documentary, and I was very impressed by all parties' knowledge and dedication, specifically the cybersecurity team. The cybersecurity department worked tireless hours. Members vigilantly communicated information to team members and utilized various cyber-related methods that were at their disposal to capture Osama Bin Laden. Watching this excerpt was highly inspirational; I was experiencing concepts and methods that I was familiar with and experienced throughout my career. I had a security-based information technology background, but it was comprehensive in focus. This experience allowed me to narrow my career path, and I felt ecstatic because I had now realized what I wanted to pursue with a particular direction. In the past, I could not narrow down and never gravitate to any specific focus in life. Following this briefing, I sought and acquired mentors within this industry, researched the cybersecurity analyst role countless times, and mimicked its steps for pursuit. In addition, I utilized free-open source applications to be more acquainted with tools for future courses taken with the program. This field took my brain by storm, and I wanted to learn more. All in all, the time to pursue my degree in cybersecurity and information assurance is now. All of my spare time has transpired into using this time for research in the field, getting accustomed to software, learning new technical concepts, and reading technical articles from companies about their advancing practices within the industry. I am very focused on continuing my education, and I am in the right place now! I understand the demands and financial responsibilities of pursuing a degree, and I am ready to tackle it. The passion, drive, and motivation that fills my body thinking of the endless possibilities of my future has awakened similar to first taking amusement to the information technology field. I love voicing my passions with other like-minded individuals as I could speak on the subject for hours. Enclosed in this essay, I have expressed why a scholarship board should offer me the opportunity and support to achieve my future aspirations. If given the chance of a scholarship, I am confident that I will obtain the degree and be a tremendous asset to a cybersecurity department team.