I was not raised by a single father my self. My father struggled with addiction my whole childhood and most of my adult life. From this I had to make myself grow up at early age and do what I could to help my mother where I could. I started working at the age of 13. Although my father was not the best role model, I did see an example I did not want to follow as a father myself. At the age of 26, I became a father to my son Charles. He is the greatest gift I have ever received. My son's mother and I split up when Charles was 6 months old. We divorced when he was just a little over a year old. After Charles' mother and I split up, I had to move back in with my mother, into a one bedroom, one bath house. Moving in with my mother was the biggest and hardest challenge I have ever faced in my lifetime. For the first 6 months we lived with my mother, we had to sleep on blankets on the floor. As a father, that was the most heartbreaking thing I had to endure. To watch my 6 month old son have to sleep on a blanket on the floor because I was not able to provide as a father was a difficult and eye-opening moment for me. We lived with my mother in that situation for two and half years. After teaching him to sleep in his own toddler bed at a earlier age, I began sleeping on the couch, all in a small living room. I started welding in 2012 at a factory in Alabama. I have worked at many different plants welding since I started. After becoming a single father, it made it much harder to hold down a job. I lost jobs because I did not always have child care and would be unable to go into work. I was also fired from jobs due to going to court during my divorce for child custody. I have always been the parent that would have to take my son to all his doctor appointments. I would have to work night shift on a lot of my jobs and give up all my sleep so I could make sure he had someone to watch him or take him to his appointments. I decided to go back to school at the age of 30. I go to school full time and work full time on the weekends. I am going to school for an Associate's Degree in Applied Technical Management with a Diploma in Welding and Joining Technology. I have always been over looked for promotions and management positions due to my lack of college education or because I was too good at my position to be moved. I know after completing my degree it will open up so many doors that were not a option before. After school I plan to find a job with very little travel, so I can spend time with my son. However, being able to travel some will allow me to make a lot more money, which will help me be able to buy a home for me and my son. It will also help me send him to the private schools in our town, giving him a better education for his future. If I receive this scholarship, it will help a lot with my financial needs, which will relieve a ton of my own personal stress. It will allow me to work less overtime, which will give me more time to spend with my son. I am usually in class from 8:30 in the morning to 12:30 in the afternoon. At least 1 to 2 days a week, I am receiving some type of tutoring from about 1:00pm to 3:00pm after class. On the days I am not doing that, I try to work on side jobs using my own pressuring washing business until time to pick my son up from daycare. I am working very hard to be successful in school. I was not always the best student, but want to do well through this program. At the moment, I have a 4.0 GPA, which is way better than the 2.3 GPA I had in high school. I am making efforts and putting in time I never did before for school. I am doing all of this because I want to be the best father I can be to Charles and show him that hard work and determination can help you accomplish anything. Thank you for considering me for this scholarship award. If chosen, I will strive to represent Little Bundle well, as a student and a father.