As I clicked on the Zoom link that had shown up in my brand-new university email account, I fought the urge to turn off my camera. I am a middle-aged mother of two teenagers and I would be joining my first class back at college with a bunch of students who were not much older than my oldest child. Classes that semester were still virtual due to the pandemic. I did leave my camera on, though, and I'm glad I did. The "kids," as I sometimes call my classmates, were lovely, welcoming, and kind. Right out of high school back in 1993, I attended college on a traditional timeline. I majored in English and Early Childhood Education, graduated in 1997, moved to a new city, and worked as a temp, mostly in law firms. I thought I might want to try law school but realized my passion was still reading, writing, and language, so I went to the local university and earned a Master's degree in Writing and Rhetoric while working at the university, a testing company, and a bookstore. I later became a first-grade teacher, got married and started a family. Fast-forward 20 years and, after working and volunteering part-time while fulfilling the duties of stay-home mom, I found myself yearning to accomplish goals I had long held for myself but had never had the time to pursue. I have always been in love with languages and language acquisition and have been studying and practicing Spanish on my own since middle school. Becoming fluent in Spanish has been a big dream my whole life. After looking into various online programs, certificate options, and private tutoring, I took the leap and re-applied to the university from which I'd gotten my Master's all those years ago. I'm majoring in Spanish as well as earning the certificate in Spanish/English Translation and Interpretation. In addition to finally becoming proficient in the language that has always captivated me, I am excited to use that skill to help others who are bravely making their way in a new country and who may not yet have all the English-language skills they need to easily get by. As a school interpreter and document translator, I hope to be able to make the lives of others a little bit easier, to offer some relief and comfort, and to give back to a community that I feel has given so much to me. I can relate to Mr. Stanley in his passion for lifelong learning. I am a bookworm, researcher, and amateur historian. Self-education and formal education have always been important parts of my life and I wish he could have had the chance to continue learning and sharing his knowledge for years to come. I am grateful for this opportunity to return to school while also supporting my son who will be graduating high school this summer and beginning college in Fall 2022. Hopefully by my example, both of my children will see that education is a lifelong journey, and not just for the "kids."

The Greek god Atlas was tasked with holding up the sky for all time. It was his job to keep the whole thing from falling apart. Most mothers would say that life with children often feels the same. Not only does a piece of your heart travel around with these little beings who have been placed in your care by biology or adoption, but the desire to make sure they are successful and protected can sometimes feel like the weight of the heavens. But at what cost are we holding up that sky? How much of the energy that we need to care for ourselves and to follow our own dreams gets diverted into that Atlean task? And how can we help others and take on some of their weighty burdens so they can be freer to follow their own inner paths? An atlas is also a collection of maps named after that same god. Not only do mothers try to hold it all together, but at the same time we are creating maps for our children to refer to when they one day go off on their own. A map they can internalize and add to with their own internal compasses, hopes, and dreams. I chose to leave my teaching job in 2004 to stay home with my children full-time. I worked part-time here and there to supplement our income and keep myself involved in the wider world, but mostly I devoted myself to the development of my children and our family. Often people would ask me what I did with all that free time. I have been asked if I lay on the couch and eat bon-bons all day or watch soap operas, one after the other. Although these are old-fashioned stereotypes that apparently linger in the modern mind, they’re still thoughtless and hurtful. Equally as hurtful are those barbs tossed at mothers who work, either by choice or circumstance. The sky that mothers hold up looks different for every family, but it’s heavy nonetheless. I’m going back to school so I can ultimately help other moms hold up their own skies, to relieve them of some of that burden, whatever choices they have made. Now that my children are 14 and 17, it feels like we are all approaching a launching point. I’m returning to school to earn a degree in the Spanish language and to supplement that degree with a certificate in translation and interpretation. It has always been my dream to be fluent in Spanish, to think in another language and to be able to connect with and help people on a wider plain. It’s time to follow my own internal map, to follow the path I’ve always known was beckoning but haven’t yet made time to follow. Although I want my children to feel cared for and supported, I also want them to see an example of someone who still values her own internal map and dreams for herself. And I want to use my language skills to help other mothers—those seeking refuge from other countries, or those who have been discriminated against within the country of their own birth. This scholarship will help me accomplish my dreams for myself, my children, and for other mothers out there that need help holding up their own skies. Although I have teenagers now, if I were to win, the baby formula portion of the prize would be donated to the Sacred Heart Center food bank in Richmond, Virginia. The food bank began serving the local Spanish-speaking community at the start of the Covid pandemic and continues to serve hardworking families, single parents, and children every week. Although we have different lives and circumstances, different internal compasses and maps, in the end we are all living under the same sky. The best we can do is work together. If one other person had joined Atlas, sharing his burden, who knows what else they both could have accomplished. Together.