My name is Garrett, and I am currently enrolled as a freshman in the Business Honors Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte pursuing a degree in finance. My goal is to become a financial manager or a financial investigator for an international company. I have always done well in Mathematics and enjoy my studies with the German language. Finding a career where I can utilize both skills together is a logical decision for me. I personally view education as a pathway to personal growth and professional achievement. However, my intentions are to go beyond a four-year degree and attain even higher education such as a Master’s, Ph.D., or possibly attend law school. Receiving a scholarship would be much more than financial assistance, it would be a life-changing opportunity that would enable me to focus on both my academic and personal development. It would remove the financial pressures that often distract and limit one from reaching their full potential. Instead of having to work part-time, I would be able to join clubs, attend seminars, complete internships, and engage in professional networking. These activities are critical in a competitive field such as finance, where academic excellence and continuous learning are paramount. Beyond my career, I hope to work with nonprofits and volunteer organizations to help improve the lives of others. A scholarship has many other benefits. It promotes a sense of validation and confidence. Knowing an individual or organization is willing to invest in me is incredibly motivating. It would serve as a constant reminder of my capabilities and fuel my determination to succeed. My aspirations in finance extend beyond personal success. I want to develop financial literacy skills that can be shared with the community, particularly among populations that have traditionally been underserved by complex financial systems. A scholarship would not just support my individual journey but would ultimately contribute to broader economic empowerment. While I have developed leadership skills through seminars and working as a martial arts instructor, I hope to continue and improve these abilities and apply them in a modern work setting. Finding the balance between efficiency, ethics, and individual happiness is always a challenge in the workplace. Being a good leader involves more than just the title. A leader must also be respected and relatable to one’s peers. One aspect that I find beneficial as a leader is my community engagement. Despite being somewhat introverted, I find it vital to connect through social and community interactions. Through my organizations in high school, I have implemented several service projects to tackle challenges within the community. These included organizing a winter coat drive, helping the local police prepare winter preparation kits, and re-establishing visibility to the peer tutoring program for the National Honor Society members. I also worked to increase engagement for the two German clubs by organizing events that brought students and faculty together while promoting cultural awareness and appreciation of different cultural perspectives. My community involvement continues through volunteering efforts as part of the Business Honors Program. This past year has ranged from helping in a soup kitchen, organizing shipments of clothes and shoes to other countries, and volunteering at one of the local animal shelters. Along with my activities around anti-bullying prevention and self-defense, these recent experiences have truly helped me realize the value of community engagement and have made me strive to actively contribute to causes in the future.

Throughout my school classes, I have always loved math. Something about it always made sense to me unlike other fields of study. While science is constantly changing, history can be biased (depending on the perspective) and English is very interpretive (especially poetry), it didn’t matter what process you used, math would always come down to a solid, undebated, non-arguable answer. I started basic math using the common core process which confused my parents more than me. With homework, my dad would always say that math was math and then show me the way he was taught how to solve it. However, I had to explain to him how we were shown to solve the problems so I would get full credit. It wasn't until I was in 4th grade when I started playing a math-based video game called Prodigy that I realized I was good at math. I quickly reached a high school level problem and got stuck, but even then, I was still wanting more. By my junior year of high school, I thought I could not advance any further after taking AP calculus courses. However, I somehow went to an AP physics class during my lunch period and saw that they were using applied mathematics to solve problems. Now as a senior, I am these AP physics classes as well as AP statistics and AP Discrete mathematics. I have also discovered that my math skills can be used in the business and financial sectors. What better way to translate your math experience than through working with money? I cannot wait to see what college brings.