I have been working as a mechanic for four years now, and I want to take the next step towards a solid career: college. I am going to study diesel technology so that I can become a diesel master technician after I graduate and enter the workforce. My college of choice has a fantastic course that not only teaches about diesel, but also machinery, hydraulic systems, welding, and even the future technology of electrical construction. I can add on courses of my choice and stop at any year and take what I have already gained. It's my idea of a perfect program. The problem is, it's not in my state. The tuition is already high, but being out-of-state makes it more staggering. My family is not poor, but we can't pay for it all. I want to be able to attend the college that will give me the best for my abilities and not have to be swimming in debt for the rest of my life. So, I have been applying to any scholarships that can help me, large and small. My application is like many others, everyone deserves some help towards their goals. But I am an honors student who has performed highly in my high school. I play two varsity sports, and this year I played three for my little sister to have a team. I also am a 4-H youth leader, and I have been in the organization ever since I was nine. I show livestock and volunteer to better my community and state in the general education of agriculture and trades. I volunteer with my town's rec dept. and use my athletics to help the next generation of kids to love sports just as much as I do. I do a lot, and I hope it can be recognized in some form eventually. I am applying to this scholarship because I need a little help to achieve my goals for my future. Diesel is my passion, and my college of choice is my dream, has been for a few years now. The tuition is difficult for me and my family to look over, so I ask you to at least consider helping a good kid reach their dreams. When I reach my goals, I want to return the favor and help the next generation achieve their own. I grew up doing volunteer work and helping the general public, and I plan to keep that going in my future. Just like people who are helping me, I want to help someone else. It's a good-natured cycle; someone has to keep it going for the next generation of society.

I am not exactly in the automotive industry, but my career has been influenced by it significantly. I am a diesel technician, and currently I work on construction and forestry equipment, not performance trucks like I had first dreamed about. My hometown is not fond of women in manly fields and discourages women like me who wear grease and blood with pride. My high school did have an automotive program, and a very good one at that. When I decided I wanted to work on vehicles and machines, I also decided to take the program on and use it to filter what I wanted to do with my career. I got into the program a year early so I could go to another school in my senior year and take a diesel course there, even though my guidance counselor did everything in her power to make sure my credits wouldn't allow it. From there I learnt many things, like how not every man is cut out to teach high schoolers. We went through three teachers my first year and were stuck with the 'Automotive Electrical Wizard,' and he stayed for good. Because I was already working and apprenticing in a shop, I eventually became a student-teacher, where I was rarely listened to but given my due respect. My two years of the program plus an extra year of private study were very interesting, but they helped me to find my career path and my goals for my future. As I had said before, I wanted to do diesel performance as my career. I wanted to make the best diesel engines better. This field was definitely achievable for me, but in my high school automotive program I realized that I should go for more than one specialty. I was always excellent in my general education classes in high school, so it would have been a waste not to better my education in college. There are very little college courses for diesel performance, but there are much better resources in repair specialties. My school I am currently attending has a great sponsoring partnership with John Deere to help train future master technicians, and I took it up. With the entry into the company, I have already been offered to be certified as a Deere engine specialist. With Deere,I can branch out and achieve multiple new and needed skills to become a more valuable technician. My end goal is still to work in diesel performance, hopefully with my own shop and business. And while it is not exactly in the automotive industry, the industry still played a good part in my career steps. Without my high school automotive program, I would have not learnt to take my steps slow and calculated, instead of just running straight into an expensive and highly skilled field. I also would not have proved to the boys in my town I am perfectly, if not more than, capable of being in a trade field. It only took three years of me correcting their errors for them to realize.

I am going to college to study diesel technology, so that I can get closer to my goal of being a diesel master technician. My passion is diesel and diesel machinery, and I first found it when I went in with my Dad to his new job at the time. It was a local rental shop that he was just hired as a shop supervisor. He took me along because I was helping him shovel snow that morning for his other job. I saw all the other mechanics work on the large machinery, and I fell in love. I applied that summer, and I still work there to this day, as one of the part-time mechanics. Now I'm ready for the next step: college. With my college course, I'll not only gain new knowledge on diesel engines, but also on hydraulic systems and welding. With my degree afterwards, I want to explore more and work in the diesel performance field for a few years. Diesel performance is very advanced and intriguing, its as creative as you can get dealing with engines. Performance only lasts for so long,though, and eventually I want to be able to settle down and either manage a shop or even start my own business. My life has not been so perfect, though. As a woman in this field, it's very difficult to gain recognition and respect. My workplace has been fantastic with supporting my passion, but that doesn't exclude the customers we rent to. I've had many uncooperative people diminish me being the mechanic that works on the machine, saying I'm only an office hand. I work through it, though, it does not bother me so much because I prepared myself for this kind of adversity. What really impacted me was the fact that I had to give up other aspects of my life for this career. All my life I have been in agriculture, when I was nine I joined 4-H and started to show sheep at county fairs. I loved it, it was quite literally my life. I managed to juggle middle school sports with showing, and at the end of middle school I was recognised by most of the region as a very promising sheep owner and shower. I was at my peak, and then Covid-19 hit the world. We had a gap year of showing, I found my new passion for diesel, and I started high school. I played varsity sports and thought all was well, until the next year when fairs started to open up again. It hit me hard, but I couldn't manage everything: the animals, my job, show prep, and varsity sports. So, I had to let one go. It ended up being the animals and showing. My family still has the animals and I still show a small number of sheep, but I lost all recognition. My numbers plummeted, and I was soon forgotten by many. My little sister has taken my place instead as the region's rising star, and as proud as I am of her, it still hurts deep inside. If I had to choose again what to drop, I believe I would have still picked the animals I am now an athlete star, in field hockey I was nominated to go tryout for the Tri-State team and I had one of the best goalie records for Division III. My job is still my passion, and now I'm going to college for it. Even though it hurts for a little bit watching my little sister take my place, it goes away as fast as it came.

I have been working as a mechanic for four years now, and I want to take the next step towards a solid career: college. I am going to study diesel technology so that I can become a diesel master technician after I graduate and enter the workforce. My college of choice has a fantastic course that not only teaches about diesels, but also machinery, hydraulic systems, welding, and even the future technology of electrical construction. I can add on courses of my choice, and stop at any year and take what I have already gained. It's my idea of a perfect program. The problem is, it's not in my state. The tuition is already high, but being out-of-state makes it more impossible. My family is not poor, but we can't pay for it all. I want to be able to attend the college that will give me the best for my abilities and not have to be swimming in debt for the rest of my life. So I have been applying to any scholarships that can help me, large and small. My application is like many others, everyone deserves some help towards their goals. But I am a Honors Student who has performed highly in my high school. I play two varsity sports, and this year I played three for my little sister to have a team. I also am a 4-H youth leader, and have been in the organization ever since I was nine. I show livestock and volunteer to better my community and state in the general education of agriculture and trades. I volunteer with my town's rec dept., and use my athletics to help the next generation of kids to love sports just as much as I do. I do a lot, and I hope it can be recognized in some form eventually. I am applying to this scholarship because I need a little help to achieve my goals for my future. Diesel is passion and my college of choice is my dream, has been for a few years now. The tuition is difficult for me and my family to look over, and if I can't get enough help we have decided together that it is not worth the debt afterwards. It's a difficult choice and it's the last thing I want, so I ask you to at least consider helping a good kid reach their dreams. When I reach my goals, I want to return the favor and help the next generation achieve their own. I grew up doing volunteer work and helping the general public, and I plan to keep that going in my future. Just like people who are helping me, I want to help someone else. It's a good natured cycle, someone has to keep it going for the next generation of society.

I was raised on a farm for all of my life. Most people think it's great, you get to play in the mud and pet animals daily. But it's not. I have been surrounded by death and disease for as long as I can remember, and while I say "I'm fine," I really am not. I love my life, my animals, and my family. But that love is what hurts sometimes. When I was just ten, I lost a very important animal to me. For basically all of elementary school, I had no friends. I was bullied for living on my farm and coming to school in jeans and t-shirts, not dresses and frills. As a kid, I ignored it and just hovered with different kids and friend groups. I got my first sheep in third grade, and she became my best friend. I already had a cow, but she died due to birthing complications a couple years later. Snowbell, my sheep, was everything to me, though. In fifth grade, I met my two best friends, thankfully. By then I had started to get the idea that ignoring the bullying and lashing out aggressively when triggered would never get me friends. So I asked to get new clothes so I could fit in better. I became shy and distrusting, and I clinged onto my few friends like lifelines. But, it didn't last, because Snowbell had died in my arms that year. It crushed my little heart, and I basically adopted her baby as my own. She became a new lifeline, along with my best friends. But it only helped so much. I started having thoughts about hurting myself, and eventually started to cut myself. Never to kill myself, just to hurt and remind myself I deserved it. It went on for many years, until my friends found out and convinced me to stop. Every once in a while, though, the thoughts came back. And they grew worse. I rarely ever cut myself now because I have been able to mature and realize it wasn't worth it. But along the way, I lost several other sheep that were very close to me. Farm life is haunting, I see things most teens can't even fathom. It doesn't bother me much, but it affects my social skills greatly. Covid-19 hit during my eighth grade year, and I rarely saw any of my friends. And then came high school. High School started great. I made many friends and became semi-popular. It only lasted so long, though, until my individuality caused me to be an outsider again. I have been a part of 4-H since I was nine, and during middle school I was regionally known for being a rising star in the sheep industry. But after Covid, I couldn't handle juggling varsity sports, sheep, a career job, and school. I had to drop sheep showing, and I lost all my recognition. My little sister quickly took my spot and is now talked about everywhere in the region. She was able to do what I couldn't, and seeing her success hurts me a little deep inside, even though I'm so proud of her. Then comes senior year, the year that was supposed to be my best. I was injured several times in my field hockey season and I was not recgnized for my work, and then I realized my best friend never really cared about me. That summer I planned to have a big celebration for her birthday, but she lied to my face and celebrated with other new friends. She became distant and insulting, and then she told me "I don't care if we ever see each other again after this year." So, to save my sanity, I dropped her. I hoped she would regret what she said, ask me what was wrong, anything to show she cared. But she went on with life like nothing was wrong. It ended up hurting more than it would ever hurt her. We have since talked and somewhat made up, but our friendship will never be the same. From this, though, I have made new, better friends. Friends I can trust and talk to. I have finally started to care about myself and not about what others think. I've grown and matured faster than the rest of my class from my experiences, and now I can see my future more clearly than the rest of them. It includes college, where I will study diesel technology and become a diesel master technician, my dream career. It includes new friends that will stay with me for the rest of my life, not many being from high school. I now know everything happens with a purpose, and my life has not been without reason. It is like the saying; What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

I have been working as a mechanic for four years now, and I want to take the next step towards a solid career: college. I am going to study diesel technology so that I can become a diesel master technician after I graduate and enter the workforce. My college of choice has a fantastic course that not only teaches about diesels, but also machinery, hydraulic systems, welding, and even the future technology of electrical construction. I can add on courses of my choice, and stop at any year and take what I have already gained. It's my idea of a perfect program. The problem is, it's not in my state. The tuition is already high, but being out-of-state makes it more impossible. My family is not poor, but we can't pay for it all. I want to be able to attend the college that will give me the best for my abilities and not have to be swimming in debt for the rest of my life. So I have been applying to any scholarships that can help me, large and small. My application is like many others, everyone deserves some help towards their goals. But I am a Honors Student who has performed highly in my high school. I play two varsity sports, and this year I played three for my little sister to have a team. I also am a 4-H youth leader, and have been in the organization ever since I was nine. I show livestock and volunteer to better my community and state in the general education of agriculture and trades. I volunteer with my town's rec dept., and use my athletics to help the next generation of kids to love sports just as much as I do. I do a lot, and I hope it can be recognized in some form eventually. I am applying to this scholarship because I need a little help to achieve my goals for my future. Diesel is passion and my college of choice is my dream, has been for a few years now. The tuition is difficult for me and my family to look over, and if I can't get enough help we have decided together that it is not worth the debt afterwards. It's a difficult choice and it's the last thing I want, so I ask you to at least consider helping a good kid reach their dreams. It's super important for other good kids to be inspired to reach their dreams, too. Women in the trades are starting to pop up everywhere, but it's still rare and underappreciated. Inspiring girls to do what they love, regardless of their gender, is very important for them and us as a society. I help kids on the daily with rec. sports and clinics, and I want to use those experiences to help new kids learn their love for trades. I was somewhat lucky: I was raised more like a son than a daughter by my dad, and I make him proud everyday doing it. Not every kid is lucky liek that, though. So they need to be showed that they can do whatever they put their minds to, and I want to help them along the way.

I have been working as a mechanic for four years now, and I want to take the next step towards a solid career: college. I am going to study diesel technology so that I can become a diesel master technician after I graduate and enter the workforce. My college of choice has a fantastic course that not only teaches about diesels, but also machinery, hydraulic systems, welding, and even the future technology of electrical construction. I can add on courses of my choice, and stop at any year and take what I have already gained. It's my idea of a perfect program. The problem is, it's not in my state. The tuition is already high, but being out-of-state makes it more impossible. My family is not poor, but we can't pay for it all. I want to be able to attend the college that will give me the best for my abilities and not have to be swimming in debt for the rest of my life. So I have been applying to any scholarships that can help me, large and small. My application is like many others, everyone deserves some help towards their goals. But I am a Honors Student who has performed highly in my high school. I play two varsity sports, and this year I played three for my little sister to have a team. I also am a 4-H youth leader, and have been in the organization ever since I was nine. I show livestock and volunteer to better my community and state in the general education of agriculture and trades. I volunteer with my town's rec dept., and use my athletics to help the next generation of kids to love sports just as much as I do. I do a lot, and I hope it can be recognized in some form eventually. I am applying to this scholarship because I need a little help to achieve my goals for my future. Diesel is passion and my college of choice is my dream, has been for a few years now. The tuition is difficult for me and my family to look over, and if I can't get enough help we have decided together that it is not worth the debt afterwards. It's a difficult choice and it's the last thing I want, so I ask you to at least consider helping a good kid reach their dreams.

I am going to college to study diesel technology, so that I can get closer to my goal of being a diesel master technician. My passion is diesel and diesel machinery, and I first found it when I went in with my Dad to his new job at the time. It was a local rental shop that he was just hired as a shop supervisor. He took me along because I was helping him shovel snow that morning for his other job. I saw all the other mechanics work on the large machinery, and I fell in love. I applied that summer, and I still work there to this day, as one of the part-time mechanics. Now I'm ready for the next step: college. With my college course, I'll not only gain new knowledge on diesel engines, but also on hydraulic systems and welding. With my degree afterwards, I want to explore more and work in the diesel performance field for a few years. Diesel performance is very advanced and intriguing, its as creative as you can get dealing with engines. Performance only lasts for so long,though, and eventually I want to be able to settle down and either manage a shop or even start my own business. My life has not been so perfect, though. As a woman in this field, it's very difficult to gain recognition and respect. My workplace has been fantastic with supporting my passion, but that doesn't exclude the customers we rent to. I've had many uncooperative people diminish me being the mechanic that works on the machine, saying I'm only an office hand. I work through it, though, it does not bother me so much because I prepared myself for this kind of adversity. What really impacted me was the fact that I had to give up other aspects of my life for this career. All my life I have been in agriculture, when I was nine I joined 4-H and started to show sheep at county fairs. I loved it, it was quite literally my life. I managed to juggle middle school sports with showing, and at the end of middle school I was recognised by most of the region as a very promising sheep owner and shower. I was at my peak, and then Covid-19 hit the world. We had a gap year of showing, I found my new passion for diesel, and I started high school. I played varsity sports and thought all was well, until the next year when fairs started to open up again. It hit me hard, but I couldn't manage everything: the animals, my job, show prep, and varsity sports. So, I had to let one go. It ended up being the animals and showing. My family still has the animals and I still show a small number of sheep, but I lost all recognition. My numbers plummeted, and I was soon forgotten by many. My little sister has taken my place instead as the region's rising star, and as proud as I am of her, it still hurts deep inside. If I had to choose again what to drop, I believe I would have still picked the animals I am now an athlete star, in field hockey I was nominated to go tryout for the Tri-State team and I had one of the best goalie records for Division III. My job is still my passion, and now I'm going to college for it. Even though it hurts for a little bit watching my little sister take my place, it goes away as fast as it came.

I am going to college to study diesel technology, my passion. About four years ago, I tagged along with my dad to his new job at a local rental shop. He was the new shop supervisor. I watched the other mechanics work on the big machines and saw how they worked, and I fell in love. I applied there that summer, and I still work there today as a skilled part-time mechanic. Now I'm ready for the next step: college. With the college course I have chosen, I will reach my goal of master diesel technician faster and more efficiently. I also will study welding, hydraulic systems, and machinery. Having this knowledge and research will help me to become successful in my career. Knowing more than just diesel machines and general maintenance will make me more valuable of an employee. I can start at a better rate and have better security in my job. I can also have the option of not breaking my back until I'm seventy and work as a shop manager or even start my own business. My school also includes introductions to business management, making the dream of having my own shop more of a reality. I can become more successful with the more knowledge and experience I gain. A successful life is one where you can do what you love every day and not have to worry about an unforgiving future. A successful life includes little to no debt and being well-off enough to not have to worry about losing it all in a moment's notice. Success is not about being wicked rich or super famous. It's about having a life you're proud of with supportive family and friends. I can be proud of starting my own business and paying it back towards my community. And to get to that goal of success, college has become a large stepping stone in the path I'm carving out. It's true that I can still be successful even if I don't go to college. College makes it much more possible, though. Without some knowledge on my trade, I will be like every other middle grade mechanic out there, nothing special, yet. Without some knowledge on business management, if I tried to start my own business, I could easily sink it without knowing how to budget or hire good employees. College is very important to me and my success, so I am looking for some help to make those dreams come true.

I have been working as a mechanic for four years now, and I want to take the next step towards a solid career: college. I am going to study diesel technology so that I can become a diesel master technician after I graduate and enter the workforce. My college of choice has a fantastic course that not only teaches about diesels, but also machinery, hydraulic systems, welding, and even the future technology of electrical construction. I can add on courses of my choice, and stop at any year and take what I have already gained. It's my idea of a perfect program. The problem is, its not in my state. The tuition is already high, but the out-of-state makes it more impossible. My family is not poor, but we can't pay for it all. I want to be able to attend the college that will give me the best for my abilities and not have to be swimming in debt for the rest of my life. So I have been applying to any scholarships that can help me, large and small. My application is like many others, everyone deserves some help towards their goals. But I am a Honors Student who has performed highly in my high school. I play two varsity sports, and this year I played three for my little sister to have a team. I also am a 4-H youth leader, and have been in the organization ever since I was nine. I show livestock and volunteer to better my community and state in the general education of agriculture and trades. I volunteer with my town's rec dept., and use my athletics to help the next generation of kids to love sports just as much as I do. I do a lot, and I hope it can be recognized in some form eventually. I am applying to this scholarship because I need a little help to achieve my goals for my future. Diesel is passion and my college of choice is my dream, has been for a few years now. The tuition is difficult for me and my family to look over, and if I can't get enough help we have decided together that it is not worth the debt afterwards. It's a difficult choice and it's the last thing I want, so I ask you to at least consider helping a good kid reach their dreams.

I am going to college to study diesel technology, so that I can get closer to my goal of being a diesel master technician. My passion is diesel and diesel machinery, and I first found it when I went in with my Dad to his new job at the time. It was a local rental shop that he was just hired as a shop supervisor. He took me along because I was helping him shovel snow that morning for his other job. I saw all the other mechanics work on the large machinery, and I fell in love. I applied that summer, and I still work there to this day, as one of the part-time mechanics. Now I'm ready for the next step: college. With my college course, I'll not only gain new knowledge on diesel engines, but also on hydraulic systems and welding. With my degree afterwards, I want to explore more and work in the diesel performance field for a few years. Diesel performance is very advanced and intriguing, its as creative as you can get dealing with engines. Performance only lasts for so long,though, and eventually I want to be able to settle down and either manage a shop or even start my own business. My life has not been so perfect, though. As a woman in this field, it's very difficult to gain recognition nad respect. My workplace has been fantastic with supporting my passion, but that doesn't exclude the customers we rent to. I've had many uncooperative people diminish me being the mechanic that works on the machine, saying I'm only an office hand. I work through it, though, it does not bother me so much because I prepared myself for this kind of adversity. What really impacted me was the fact that I had to give up other aspects of my life for this career. All my life I have been in agriculture, when I was nine I joined 4-H and started to show sheep at county fairs. I loved it, it was quite literally my life. I managed to juggle middle school sport with showing, and at the end of middle school I was recognised by most of the region as a very promising sheep owner and shower. I was at my peak, and then Covid-19 hit the world. We had a gap year of showing, I found my new passion for diesel, and I started high school. I played varsity sports nad thought all was well, until the next year when fairs started to open up again. It hit me hard, but I couldn't manage everything: the animals, my job, show prep, and varsity sports. So, I had to let one go. It ended up being the animals and showing. My family still has the animals and I still show a small number of sheep, but I lost all recognition. My numbers plummeted, and I was soon forgotten by many. My little sister has taken my place instead as the region's rising star, and as proud as I am of her, it still hurts deep inside. If I had to choose again what to drop, I believe I would have still picked the animals I am now an athlete star, in field hockey I was nominated to go tryout for the Tri-State team and I had one of the best goalie records for Division III. My job is still my passion, and now I'm going to college for it. Even though it hurts for a little bit watching my little sister take my place, it goes away as fast as it came.