As a child, my parents would often find me lying on my stomach, head propped in one hand, scouring through their encyclopedias. Like Patrick, I have always had a love of learning. I took pride in my grades and when I got to the University of Texas at Austin, I started off in the business school. My sophomore year, though, I was selected as a Normandy Scholar, which gave me the opportunity to study World War II in depth and finish the semester in Europe. That experience expanded my whole perspective. I changed my major to Humanities, which at UT Austin is a program that allows students to design their own major, if they can prove it does not already exist, and present a thesis at the end to earn a Bachelor’s degree. I studied child development through music and wrote my thesis on the crisis in funding for music education in California’s public schools in the late 1990’s. Sadly, funding for arts education in public schools has only decreased nationwide since then. It is heartening to see the STEM movement now embracing the arts to become STEAM. After graduating in 2000, I pursued careers as a musician and a project management consultant. I especially enjoy the constant learning that comes with being an independent artist, wearing all the hats, from accountant to zipper-sewer. I have also been able to mentor others through teaching and volunteering. Lately, though, there has been a sea change in my life and a calling to return to more formal education, so I can have a deeper impact in my community. Last fall, I was having chest pain and a baseball-size tumor was discovered in my lung. Seven weeks later, a surgeon removed the entire upper left lobe of my lung. Pathologists have been unable to identify the tumor. They tell me it is the subject of a study that will be published in a medical journal later this year! Throughout the challenging time of discovery, surgery, and recovery, it felt like my whole world stopped spinning. I learned in a more personal way about grief, mind-body connections, and especially about the power of love, friendship, and community to help us get through hard times, whatever the outcome. I am incredibly fortunate to have a prognosis that gives me the chance to live many healthy years ahead. In those first scary days, though, some things became very clear in my heart and mind. I thought less of what others would think and more about what I feel led to do. What legacy will I leave behind? As poet Mary Oliver asks, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Getting my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is the realization of a desire that has tugged at my heart for many years. As a licensed professional counselor (LPC) specializing in art therapy, I will help others as they face their own challenges, as my counselors have helped me. Since graduate students are not eligible for Pell grants or subsidized loans and my recent medical care exhausted most of my savings, I am seeking this scholarship to lessen my unsubsidized loan burden for my tuition this year. The balance is $12,496 after a $2,300 grant from my school and a $1,000 gift from friends. As a 46-year-old with a family, returning to school after a 24 year gap, I am proud to follow Patrick’s inspiring example. Thank you for considering my application.

Doctors say they have never seen anything quite like it before. They tell me it is the subject of a report that will be published in a medical journal later this year. It all started in the fall of 2023, when I went to see my physician because I was having chest pain. Seven weeks later, a surgeon removed the upper left lobe of my lung, which contained a baseball-size tumor. Pathologists from the best cancer centers in the world have been unable to identify the tumor. What caused it or how long it had been growing is still a mystery. My whole world seemed to stop spinning. Throughout that challenging time of diagnosis, surgery, and recovery, filled with uncertainty and physical pain, I learned in a more personal way about grief, about somatic mind-body connections, about the power of words and beliefs, and especially about the power of love, friendship, and community support to help us get through hard times and come out stronger on the other side. Even though there are still a lot of unknowns, I am fortunate to have a prognosis that gives me the chance to live many healthy years ahead. In those first days, though, when I thought I was dying, some things became very clear in my heart and mind. I thought less of what others would think and more about what I feel led to do. What legacy will I leave behind? As poet Mary Oliver asks, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Until then, I never thought of it as a calling, but friends and strangers have always confided in me - and I have loved being a sounding board for them. When I was traveling a lot for work, I spent hours on airplanes each week, listening to the stories and confessions of the people who happened to be sitting next to me. It is truly amazing, the personal details people are willing, even eager, to share with a complete stranger. Sometimes I offered advice. Other times I just listened and tried to provide a comforting ear. Those brief anonymous informal exchanges showed me how deeply people need to feel heard, even if just for the time it takes to fly from Dallas to Chicago. To be witnessed in a space where we feel safe sharing with someone else gives us courage to face difficult things and not feel so alone. As I faced my own mortality in a new way with my tumor diagnosis, I also needed to be heard, witnessed, and supported. As it all began to unfold, my longtime counselor passed away after her own long illness. I think she would have joked that her timing was terrible, but I was able to draw on the many lessons and great wisdom she had shared with me over the years and identify the resources I would need to get through such a difficult chapter. As I gathered my friends around me, I also prioritized finding a new counselor to hold space for the roller coaster of emotions throughout my healing journey. It is an interesting relationship, one that is professional, yet profoundly personal at the same time. It has helped me stay grounded and centered. Getting my master’s degree in a Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is the realization of a desire that has tugged at my heart for many years. With my recent experiences, it has blossomed into a true calling. Now, I want to help others as they face their own challenges, as my counselors have helped me. Success, to me, is living a life fully aware of the gift of our time on earth, with all its uncertainty and challenges, and being able to use my skills and resources to help others do the same. This scholarship will help me achieve my goal of becoming a licensed professional counselor (LPC), giving people from all walks of life a safe space to explore their lives and inner worlds, to bring lasting change and healing to themselves and their families. I have a special interest in working with creatives, veterans, and people who are grieving or facing a difficult medical diagnosis, and I look forward to seeing where my interests and the needs of my community intersect. Since I exhausted my savings to pay for medical care, I am relying on student loans to pay my tuition. This scholarship will help defray the burden of that cost. Thank you for taking the time to consider my application.