As a first generation student to me means proving to yourself and your family that their sacrifices paid off. This is an expectation and goal for myself that I can make my mom proud, and that I won't end up in a bad position as my dad's side of the family. Since high school started and end, I've kept myself above her standards and kept my grades as high as I could. All my hard work paid off in the end, I made the national honor society for high school scholars. As well as received cords for all my honors classes, stoles from clubs for all my volunteer works and as an officer. When I was in grade school I struggled severely to pass my classes, after I moved out of my dads house and into my moms full time I became an A- B student. My mom always wanted me to be the best version of myself and go to college to get a good job for the future. This scholarship would help me pay for my first year of college so I can start my college education for my planned out future. This scholarship would give me a chance to save as much money as I can from working to pay for my next years of college. My dream is to become a Technical lead in Toxicology for Forensic science, I want to help find causes of death and crime scene samples to protect people. If I could/ can be the reason to find a murderer or missing person, it would prove that I can do anything. I want to help others find closure in someone they love, to help them grieve or to help them move on. I find passion in doing everything I can to help those who need it, I want to become the person to go to when they need an answer to something important.

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I knew I wanted my purpose in life to be someone to comfort others, to give families closure. Growing up I was always the friend people would go to for help, the shoulder to cry on when they had issues going on. I was always there to help cheer them up, to look for the bright side of things. Even now my career I want to go into, I want to help give closure to families who have lost a loved one or to give them a sense of peace. I wish to provide them with the information gained from the forensic test, that their loved one is in a better place or to tell them how they passed. For most families, coming from experience, the knowing what and the how to the passing of someone in their life is better than not knowing. Gaining closure and knowing what happened instead of guessing making griefing easier. I want to be that person for others, I wish to help answer their questions as to what happened. I believe every person deserves peace of mind, and I will work to finding that for them. I would and will work hours to find acceptance for them and their family.

Education is the most important piece to expanding our knowledge and gaining the intelligence for careers we want for ourselves. For me personally pursuing a higher education is going to help me work up to my career of forensic science. Education is a turning point to starting my future career, and lifestyle. Receiving education is important for many as it is a way to overcome difficulties and gain mental health help from school counselors. Many students suffer from exam stress, public speaking, choosing a career path meant for their interests, and time management. Schools provide help for all of these issues, they help us prepare for exams they give us note taking skills to help remember. They provide oral exams to help us with public speaking for the work place. Schools teach us very important life skills whether we see it or not, this is why education is important. They prepare us for real life situations all throughout our lifetime, without school we would have never learned to become our own person. Everything we've learned over time all comes together when we need it most, whether it's to pursue higher education or to start working. Education has helped us in so many ways and we don't even know it yet. I want my legacy that I leave behind for my future children and grand children. I long for them to see that no matter where you come from or how you grow up you can become whoever you want to be. I wish to be the blue print of success, to prove that I struggled and worked my way to the top so that they don't have to. Doing all this work and going to college to enhance my education is all for my future children to rely on my legacy of achievements. My legacy will be a way for my future family to dream big and run after what they want to become in their life. I am working for my life in the future, to tell other not to let other people dim their light or make them doubt themselves. They should only dream big and take negativity with a grain of salt, because of me they can afford to live the way they want, without financial issues. I want my loved ones futures not be limited, they deserve to reach for the stars and gain all the knowledge they wish to gain. I am longing for my legacy to let those I love to be free to dream big and not be keep small, because I believe they can achieve great things.

I chose Forensic Science as my field of study because I am intrigued by biology and I want to be able to help families gain closure helping to find the cause of death or crime scene case of their loved ones. My short term goal is that I am currently enrolled in a community college to gain my associates degree in biology. I plan on completing my first year and/or second year at community to help me financially. After I complete my associates, I plan on transferring to Grand Canyon University to get my bachelors in forensic science. My long term goal is to complete my bachelors degree at GCU and start my Job of lab science for forensics. Helping in the labs, testing to find DNA and/ or causes of death given by cases investigators have given to us. As well as working my entry job for forensics and going to school to gain my masters degree to become a technical leader. I will work hard for 3-5 years to gain my technical skills to become the lead, no matter how hard it'll be. I am devoted to myself and my future to gain more knowledge and help those who were in my position once. Many scientists for forensic usually get over shadowed by the investigators working on cases we have to test. Even if most people don't recognize or know. how much forensics is relied on, despite that I still find passion for it. Research shows that most leads within the labs are usually men, women have hard chances of becoming the leaders due to them "not being smart enough". I would like to change that, I want to work my way up to becoming the lead within the forensics lab. If having to go back to go school to get my masters helps me in the long run I will do just that. I don't believe that racial and gender norms should impact the work place, I believe everyone deserves a chance to become who they want to be. This scholarship will help me pay for my first year of community college, it will help pay for my math and science classes I need for my degree. Coming from a low income family and relying on my FASFA and scholarship money to help me afford school. This will help me get one step closer to getting into my dream career and become who I am meant to be.

I didn't always have one parent growing up, I have a dad as everyone does, but when I was younger they had gotten divorced. My mom only married my dad so she could legally adopt me after my biological mother had her rights removed. My mom believed I needed a mother figure in my life, she was only 16 at the time but she's always done everything to be there for me. After the had gotten divorced I had to spend weeks going back and forth between my mom and dads house. I never enjoyed my dad house he had moved in his girlfriend that he had cheated on my mom with their entire marriage. When I was 11 my dad forced me to choose a parent to live with because he felt driving me to school was too much work. I ended up choosing my mom and he was very against my decision, without him knowing I slowly moved all my belongings to my moms. That was the best decision I've ever made, once I was living with my mom full time, my grade improved significantly. I went from all D's and F's to A's and B's, my test score improved and I got into an art and business high school. With my moms help throughout my life I made it into my dream college, I got into the National Society of High School Scholars. All of the sacrifices my mom made for me, they taught me how to be independent, brave, and stand up for myself. During my last year of high school I decided to cut contact with my dad and his family as I could see who they truly are and how I did not want to be surrounded by them. My mom supported me the entire way and helped me defended myself against them. For many years it was my mom and me against everything, she always helped me in any way she could. She wanted to be a safe space for me to run to, doing so I wanted to be that safe space for her as well. As I grow into who I am in these next years, I want to be who my mom is to someone else, to my future children. My mom is such an amazing person and I truly would never wish for anything better than her. I am so grateful that I was given a mother like her, I aspire to be like her one day. She truly has shaped me into a brave and family oriented soul, I could not imagine a life without her.

My idea for a brand new Love Island Challenge is a painting challenge, the boys and girls will be split apart for this first part. Each group will have to pick on peace of paper out of a mystery box, each paper will have a different place (such as beach, park, etc.), animals, and plants. Depending on what each of them pick they have 10 minutes to paint their topic and then present it to their group. After they've presented their art piece, both groups will come back together and must find their twin who also grab the same piece of paper to paint. They can only show the painting to find their twin, no speaking or giving hints are allowed, their twin must try to find their partner only using the paintings. If everyone has made their choice they can ask each other what their topic was and if they don't match they lose the challenge and will not move on. If the remaining twins have the same topic they can move on to the next challenge. The next challenge is each group remaining must choose a destination to paint together, one downside being they are only allowed to use one arm with the other one behind their back at all times. Each group will have 5 minutes to complete the painting before presenting it to all the Islanders. Once every group has presented, the twist is everyone with a twin must go on a date of the destination they have painted.

I have had my future for higher education planned since my freshman year of high school. My business class at the time had a college day for everyone to see their options, I was captured by Grand Canyon University. A private christian college, they talked about different programs they were known for, a program of Forensic science caught my eye. After that day I looked into the program and what it entailed, I saw that there was two side to it, crime scene investigation and biology labs. I wasn't sure which one I wanted but the career itself, I knew that's what I was meant to do. As the years went one I discovered my love for biology and chemistry, I knew I wanted to opt into the lab portion. As for the college, Grand Canyon University only grew stronger, the programs and classes they offer would help me majorly. Since it is a christian college I would have to take religious classes, which I'm not opposed to. I am part christian and I would love to learn more about God and how the bible fits into life itself. Arizona itself does not have many forensic scientist therefore I want my positive impact on my home state to have more scientist here. To help get rid of the crimes and murders in this state, I want to help be the cause of finding criminals and murderers. Forensic science to me isn't just a career to help find killers or causes of death, to me it is a way to help families gain closure. I want to be the person who identifies what happened to their loved one(s), to tell them whether it was natural causes or it was premeditated. I believe that the forensic studies behind these murder cases and unknown cases are solve because of the science that goes on within forensics. The science within a case especially if chemicals or unknown liquid, etc. was found on their body or crime scene, is usually found because of the forensic teams. I want to help find those causes of death and help families gain the truth on what exactly happened to their loved one. Coming from a family where truth is wanted, I know other families have the same aspects and beliefs. Every family deserves to know the truth despite the good or bad, and as a future forensic scientist I want to be able to give this to the families.

My high school experience did not begin with the school I’m currently attending; I had to transfer in my sophomore year. Although I do not regret that decision at all, the initial transition was difficult because I had no friends at my new school. As a result, I relied on my advisory teacher, Ms. Heather Wallace, for many things. She helped me step out of my comfort zone and try new activities by encouraging me to join clubs, go on school trips, and opt for honors and AP classes. During my first few months with Ms. Wallace, she even submitted an application for me to attend a leadership camp called Spartan Town. The camp lasted for 3 days, and during that time, I learned how to become the perfect leader for others. Without her help, I wouldn’t have learned such amazing skills. Later that year, I saw a message from another teacher offering me the chance to apply to a leadership club. I later found out that Ms. Wallace had mentioned me to that advisor. I went through an interview process and was accepted into the club, which is called Link Crew, a leadership club to help incoming freshmen during their first year. Ms. Wallace helped me choose my classes for the following year; she encouraged me to take honors courses. I did phenomenally, especially with her help; I grew out of my shell and made plenty of friends. As my junior year came to an end, I asked Ms. Wallace if I should join the Student Government, as she is an advisor. I had an interview and was accepted, during which I had plenty of summer training and made plenty of friends. I learned even more skills, such as time management and communication skills. As of now, I have been in Link Crew for a year and a half, and I told Ms. Wallace I wanted to run for an officer position within the club. She agreed and helped me plan my next steps. I am now a senior and am in many clubs. Out of 10 others running for the position of historian 3 others and I were chosen due to our leadership abilities. As well as always offering to help anyone who needs it, whether it’s students or teachers. Now, with all of this, I couldn’t have made it where I am now without Ms. Wallace's help throughout the years. I will always be indebted to her for her help.