As a child, I underestimated the value of volunteering. I thought it was strange that people chose to work for free. However, just like Lauren Czabatul, I also struggled with my mental health. It wasn't until I hit a low point in my mental health that I fully understood the value of volunteering. Growing up, my mother used to work as a manager for a Habitat for Humanity Restore. During my summers, I would go to work with her because we couldn't afford a babysitter. Whenever work was slow, I helped around the store and started interacting with her co-workers and volunteers. Most volunteers were college students, high school students, and people who had court-mandated community service. However, there was one outlier. He was a retired man in his 90s that would come every Friday. He was referred to as Mr. Ben, and he changed my perspective on volunteering. Mr. Ben was friendly to everyone and interacted with me whenever I was there. During slow hours and when there wasn't much to do for volunteers, we would play games, fly kites in the parking lot, and get ice cream. He always went above and beyond in his work, not because he had to but because he wanted to. He reasoned that as a retired man in excellent health for his age, he had a lot of free time, and instead of being lazy, he wanted to give back to his community. He stopped volunteering a few years ago. He's not dead; he recently turned 103, but his body couldn't keep up with the physical demands of volunteering. Although my mother no longer works there, his sentiment stays with me. Years later, in high school, I struggled with my mental health. To distract myself, I joined my school's Health Club. We focused on different types of health, including physical, emotional, mental, and environmental health. We scheduled school-wide events to advocate for certain types of health. For example, we had a mental health day that advocated and gave resources for mental health. Although many of our scheduled activities got canceled due to COVID-19, I most enjoyed volunteering at local food banks. It wasn't a requirement for Health Club, but it was encouraged. Whenever I volunteered at food banks, it distracted me from my mental health issues. It filled my life with purpose, improving my mental health. Volunteering between going to therapy and taking anti-depressants changed my life. Now that I am mentally stable, I realize that volunteering was one of the few lights that steered me from going down a dark path. Getting this scholarship would bring me one step closer to achieving my educational goals and be financially relieving for my family. I need this scholarship financially because my financial aid from my school doesn't fully cover my expenses. I'm also a first-generation student, so this is a new and unfamiliar experience for my family. On top of that, my single mother was without a steady income for a year and a half, and we had to go on Medicaid. She recently got a job a month ago, so we don't have any money saved. I am also moving from Louisiana to Washington, DC, for college, so I'm working two summer jobs to help afford moving and school expenses. This scholarship would cover most of what I owe left in tuition and help me buy textbooks, making this transition easier for my family and me. It would prevent me from getting a second job on top of federal work-study, distracting me from my studies.

My future self is so successful that it impresses those who doubted my abilities or didn't believe in me, including past versions of myself.

As anyone raised by a single parent knows, your parent will do anything for their child. Parents want what's best for their children and to give them a better life than their own. At least, that's what my mother wants for me. My mother grew up in a low-income household. By the time she was in high school, her parents divorced, and she had to get a part-time job to help afford any personal expenses and to help around the house. Since she grew up poor, she couldn't afford to explore many extracurriculars that interested her. One of those interests was dancing. When I was two years old, I was put in dancing. My mother was lucky enough to be friends with someone who worked as a dance studio secretary, and that friend offered to pay for my classes. Although I was too young to remember anything or know what I was doing, my first memory was of performing at my first dance recital. All I can currently remember were the bright lights, the dark crowd, my pink tutu, and the dancer next to me that was invading my personal space. Although these conditions may sound uncomfortable to some, I loved it. I loved how dancing made me feel, and I never quit. Dancing has shaped my life and taught me so much about myself and as a performer. Dance brings out a side of my personality that's not always expressed in words or in my everyday life. Dance allows me to get lost in a character and temporarily get lost in a world. Dance allows me to communicate with my body and face that I can't easily explain with words. Historically dance can be used to celebrate and express each other's cultures. It's used to bond with one another. You don't need technical training to express yourself through dance. Dance comes from the heart, and because of that, I love watching other people dance. It's expression in its wordless but purest form. In other words, dance is an expression of the human condition. As great as dance is, dance was not always cheap. There were expenses that my mom's friend couldn't always cover, but my mom made so many sacrifices for me. As a kid, I didn't always understand the sacrifices she made, like getting multiple jobs or living on a tight budget, instead of forcing me to cut back on dance. It filled me with guilt. Now that I'm older, I understand she was giving me the life she never had. A life that was better than her own and for her, that was worth it.

As a child, I was considered gifted. I was academically advanced compared to my peers. I was a talented writer, a comprehensive reader, and a curious scientist, but my only weak spot was math. Seeing my peers excel in math while I struggled with long division damaged my self-esteem in elementary school. One time, whenever I had a math question, sometimes my peers laughed at me. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be good at it. And at some point, I convinced myself I was a lost cause. That was until I took a dual enrollment algebra class in high school at my local community college. People underestimate the value of community colleges. They're an affordable way to get your undergraduate-level courses, helping underrepresented communities get degrees and better job opportunities. They're also full of compassionate professors willing to help their students. My algebra class had people that dropped out of high school, people in their 40s and 50s, and people with varying levels of math experience. Because of this, my professor was patient with us and ensured no one was left behind. She assured the class understood the material before moving on and even postponed tests to ensure we were ready. Because of her, I was confident in my math skills after years of confusion and insecurity. As nerdy as it sounds, I eventually found doing my math homework fun. Whenever I made mistakes, instead of feeling bad about myself, I could take a problem and work it backward to see where I went wrong. This deepened my understanding of algebra. I ended the class by getting a 100% on the final. After that class, I chose math electives in areas I was less successful than before. These subjects were trigonometry and statistics. I enjoyed statistics so much that I considered going into the business field. And now, I am about to start college as a business major. I'll be taking a business statistics course in the fall and am excited about it. It takes one teacher to change your perspective on life and make you learn things about yourself. The right teacher will teach the material and go beyond to help students. The right teacher will not make you feel like a lost cause.

My first memory was performing at my first dance recital at three years old. I remember my tutu with itchy sequins, which made me feel glamorous. I remember the bright lights shining in my tiny eyes. I remember the crowd that was so dark and ominous from afar. Although I can not remember what any audience members looked like (I was three, after all), I can remember the impact that day and performance had on me. From that day forward, my life became consumed with sequins (that were unfortunately still itchy), bright lights, stage presence, and a deeper understanding of myself and the world around me. I explored different types of art I could get my hands on, including painting, acting, singing, sculpture making, and guitar playing, with all varying ranges of success. Something spoke to me about each of those art forms. However, they all allowed me to express my thoughts and feelings in a way that just words could not. I had a creative spirit that couldn't be tethered down with words or contained within one art form. In other words, I was an artist. My name is Ezra McAdams. I am a first-generation student with a single mother. I graduated high school with my diploma and associate's degree all in four years. I am from Lafayette, LA, and will attend American University in Washington, D.C. I am majoring in Business & Entertainment, specializing in music performance with a minor in audio technology. I am a part of American University's Cornerstone Program, which allows me to intern in D.C. in any field as a freshman. I hope to intern at a record label or a local theatre/music venue. If I were to win this scholarship, I would put the money towards my first year of tuition. Although my school gave me a great financial aid offer, it only covers some things, and I want to minimize the amount of loans I take out. It would cover almost all of what I owe my school. It would help out my mother, who recently got a job but was unemployed for years. It would help us navigate a new and uncertain time since I am an only child and she never attended college. This scholarship can get me one step closer to achieving my career goals. I could focus more on my education and internship than worrying about how to afford it. It would also give me a creative outlet in my free time. I would love to be able to join the performing arts clubs on campus. No matter what form the medium of art, art changes lives. It lets people express themselves and move others in an impactful way. For some, the arts are a temporary escape from any hardships in their lives. For others, the arts make people feel comfortable with themselves. The arts have varying levels of impact on a person's life, but for my life, they have meant everything and have been all I have ever known.