Hello, my name is Geremias, and I’m an African boy who moved to the United States at younger age. Being from a family where parents never finished high school due to financial issues, I was raised with strong values of hard work, faith, family, and caring about others. Their perseverance inspired me to seek a better future and serve what is right. My cultural background teaches me to respect others, help my community, and never give up when things get difficult to face. When I arrived, I didn’t know a word of English. On my first day of high school, I felt completely out of my element, facing not just a new school, but a new language and culture. Questions raced through my mind: "How will I ask for help if I don’t even know how to say ‘I don’t understand’?" It wasn’t easy. I looked around and saw my classmates sharing their goals; some wanted to be doctors, others going to college, etc. They seemed so confident in their plans, while I felt like I was lost. I had my own dreams, but they felt far away and almost unrealistic. My biggest goal is to become something that my parents never had the opportunity to become. On the same day, I was placed into programs for immigrant students like me, and this program helps students to learn English, but for me, everything was disorienting. I struggled to keep up and sometimes even leaned on others for help. There were days in class when I didn’t understand what was going on, I broke down crying out of pure frustration. It was tough, feeling as if I might never achieve my goals, and the fear of being lost in a new country. Over time, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself, so I started focusing on learning English more seriously. I became more active during classes, and asked tons of questions. Even though my grades weren’t great at first, I never gave up. By the end of my 10th grade, my grades improved, and I gained confidence. As I moved into my 11th grade, I was still in that program, and often felt sad, I still worked harder. One day, I asked a student for directions, but he spoke so quickly that I didn’t understand a single thing, and that was embarrassing. Still, I learned that perseverance was essential. With a semester left in the program, I decided to challenge myself further by enrolling in an International Baccalaureate English class; it was intense! The material was tougher than anything I’d faced before, and there were times when I felt like I was drowning; often found myself just standing there in class wanting to speak, but freezing in fear. I didn't give up. I worked hard, searched for help, and somehow, I passed the class. That experience taught me a deep lesson about perseverance, an essential element that will guide me in the future. Now that I have graduated from high school, I realize how important it is to push through challenges. Many people give up when things get difficult, but for those who persist, they always reach their goals. My objective is not only to improve my family's circumstances, but also to serve as a source of inspiration and support for others experiencing similar challenges. Going to college is not a dream it is an essential pathway to achieving what I want. Receiving this scholarship would significantly contribute to my educational journey, alleviating financial burdens and fostering my commitment to make a meaningful impact. Thank you for considering my application.

My name is Geremias Ndongala. I like to study and experience things I'm excited to know. I am a black African American boy from Africa. I would like to share with you about something that influenced my decision to pursue a college education. A meaningful experience that influenced my decision to go to college that happened in my family. When I was in my own country, Angola, my family always worked very hard so that they could feed me and my sisters, and their parents. It wasn't an easy thing for them; they were always working from morning to night, and from spring to winter. Also, to make it worse, they didn't have a chance to continue their education because of our income issues and life difficulties. When we came to the U.S.A., it was still the same thing; working from morning to night, and from winter to spring. I saw how difficult life could be without a college degree or a high school diploma. There are a lot of jobs oppostunities that are being offered to them, but they can't because they don't have their college and high school diplomas. Throught this experiences, it made me want to study more and create better opportunities for myself, and do something that they didn't have the opportunities to do so. Another important experience came from my community. Many people around me encouraged me to keep learning and told me that education could open doors. Their support helped me to believe in myself. After all of these experiences, I learned that in life, there are always people who work hard and decide to stop doing things that they believe could be helpful and bring great profit for them. Just not to stop there, I also learned that we must be appreciative of our parents because they are always ready for us, and they can do everything for their children, so that those kids could be satisfied and stronger, even though they must also sacrifice things that could benefit them and help them in the following days. Because of these experiences, I decided that going to college is important for my future and for helping my family, so I decided to work hard at my academic life, finish high school, get my high school diploma, go to college, get my Law and business administration degree, and start a life that my parents didn't have the chance to have.

My name is Geremias. I live with my parents, and I am a black African American boy whose life is full of adventure and full of curiosity. During my free time, I like to spend time with my sisters talking and laughing, and sometimes, I like to read, drawing and do other things. I love to pray because I believe that without God, no one is alive as we are now. Throughout my life, I have liked to explore things that I always been excited to know. When I was living in Brazil, I started to be always on my own and quiet because even though I understood the language, no one liked to be my friend, but one day at school, I met a african brazillian boy called Lucas, and then we became friends. He was the only friend that I had during my life in that country, but one day, he left and went to France, leaving me all alone and without any hope that one day someone would become my friend as he was to me. When Lucas left, I was always sad and hopeless, except when my sisters were there to support me. During this time of sadness and hopelessness, I learned that, when we realize that we don't have any place to run when things got upsidedown, there is always someone who is always there for us to support, to help, and to console, and this person is called GOD, the greatest friend for a human being. After all these sad moments of sadness moments, I didn't write a journal of this or try any meditation, but the only thing that I had to do was talk to God and keep moving forward with my life, and this helped me because even though I was still alone and without friends, I realized that even though Lucas left me alone, there is a reason why he did that, and the reason is because as human, he and his family wanted to have a different life. I decided to go to college because I want to create a future where all of this sadness and hopelessness could disappear. Also, the reason why I want to go to college is that even though I don't know what path I should take in the future, I want to keep studying because I want to do something greater than my father and my mother never had the opportunity to do -- go to a college or finish high school and be someone in the future. During my academic life, I met a lot of different types of people, and most of them had inspired me. The only people who had inspired me to always keep dreaming and take riskswere my father and my mother. They are always persistent and stronger when things get confusing and complicated. Also, even though they both never finished school, both took hard decisions and risks that also shaped their lives negatively and positively. I'm very thankful for both of them, principally because they were the ones who inspired me to keep moving forward in my academic life and my dreams. Thank ypu mom and Dad. I appreciated you.

My name is Geremias Ndongala, I'm a black African boy who his lifes is full of adventure and curiosity. I like to study, read, and discover things that cross my path. Usually, my hobby is discovering things that I get excited to know. The thing that inspired me to pursue my higher education in the United States States it's my dreams for the future. I'm planning to study business entrepreneurship, but I am not sure about what exactly I should do. I am a type of person whose life is full of adventures and curiosities, but also a person whose life is full of challenges. Since I started growing up, my life has been a little different. When I started a sophmore year, I was struggling to choose which path I should take for my future life, and it was very hard, because sometimes it was very complicated; during my academic life, I tried to ask some family members for feedback about what I should do, and unfortunately, they started to give me a lot of opitions, that even now are difficult to deal with them---my dad, told me to study electrician, my mom enginnering, etc... but still don't know which one is the best. Another challenge I faced wasn't just deciding which path to take, but also overcoming other obstacles. Another challenge that I had to face was about my future, and telling you the truth--it's not an easy thing to deal with, because as humans, we are all always afraid of what will happen tomorrow or next year, and that was what I was afraid of. Sometimes I'm always asking myself, what should I do tomorrow? Will my future be good or not? and the rest. I'm always afraid of my future, but just the destiny will know what will happen to me. I have a lot of challenges that I had to face, but for now, those are the ones that I can share. During those challenges that I had to face, I learned something called Destiny. Everyone has a destiny, and during my life challenges, I realized that all of those things that are happening to me are because that's how my destiny is, full of challenges, but also full of learning. After finishing my studies, including high school and college, I'll start a new chapter to create my own future, and start to explore more about what destiny is preparing for me.

Jack Terry's story had inspired me to see how strong we can become when our lives are turned upside down. Also, it had inspired me by showing that as a person, we had moments in our lives that are not just to destroy us, but to encourage us to stand up and fight for our personal legend or dreams, and those moments don't matter or care if you are from a different country, language or religion, but they are just there to see what kind of person you can became when hard moments crosses you path. When I started high school, I was placed into programs for immigrant students like me. These classes aimed to help beginners learn English, but at first, everything was disorienting. I struggled to keep up and sometimes even leaned on my older sister for help. There were days in class when I didn’t understand what was going on, and after school, I broke down in my room, crying out of pure frustration. It was tough, feeling as if I might never achieve my dreams, and the fear of being lost in a new country weighed heavily on my heart. But over time, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. I wanted to change my situation, so I started focusing on learning English more seriously. I became more proactive in class, asking tons of questions—sometimes embarrassing ones. Even though my grades weren’t great at first, I didn’t let that stop me. Instead, they motivated me to work harder. By the end of my second year, I was feeling good about my progress; my grades improved, and so did my confidence. As I moved into my junior year, I was still in the newcomer program, but my sister had moved on to more advanced classes. I often felt proud of her, but I couldn’t help but feel the pressure myself. One day, I asked a student for directions, but he spoke so quickly that I didn’t understand a single thing. I froze—I was overwhelmed with embarrassment. It was moments like that that made me want to retreat from conversations. But deep down, I knew I had to keep trying. With one semester left in the program, I decided to challenge myself further by enrolling in an International Baccalaureate (IB) English class. Let me tell you, it was intense! The material was tougher than anything I’d faced before, and there were times when I felt like I was drowning. I often found myself just standing there in class, wanting to speak but feeling frozen in fear. But I didn't give up. I worked hard, sought help after school, and somehow, I passed the class. That experience taught me a profound lesson about perseverance, an essential trait that I believe will guide me in the future. Now that I am close to graduating from high school, I realize how important it is to persevere through challenges. Many people give up when things get hard, but I’ve learned that those who persist can reach their dreams. My objective is not only to improve my family's circumstances but also to serve as a source of inspiration and support for others navigating similar challenges. I plan to utilize my experience in law and business to create opportunities and empower individuals in challenging situations. For me, going to college is not a dream; it is an essential pathway to achieving what I want to. Receiving this scholarship would significantly contribute to my educational journey, alleviating financial burdens and fostering my commitment to make a meaningful impact. Thank you for considering my application.