My favorite memory from my experience as a referee is my first tournament. I was super nervous because it was my first time refereeing at a large tournament and I was surrounded by more experienced refs. But, after I finished my first match, I started to relax, and eventually, I was becoming more comfortable and confident in myself. Then, after it was all over, I had a young wrestler come up to me and tell me thank you. That ment so much to me and from then on I decided to continue being a referee. As someone who also wrestles, I am constantly surrounded by the wrestling world, Sunday through Friday I’m either at practice or participating in a tournament, then on Saturdays I’m reffing youth tournaments. Before I started reffing, I was a very reserved and “background” person. But, being able to ref has given me so much confidence in my abilities and allowed me to grow so much as a person. Now, because of the confidence that I gained through reffing, I am the captain of the girls varsity and I can confidently encourage and teach the other girls. I have learned to be strong and to believe in what I say. And, I have learned to stand up for myself and others. If you’re someone who has ever been a ref or umpire, you know that people are going to disagree with you and even argue with you pretty consistently. But, because I have been able to handle these types of things through reffing, I have been able to stand up for not only the girls in wrestling but many people throughout my life. I have became an advocate and supporter for people who haven’t been able to stand up for themselves. In the future, I plan on going to a four year college to get my degree in education. This decision has been deeply influenced by my participation in reffing, I have found that though supporting people, I have fallen in love with education and shaping the next generation. So, throughout college, I plan on continuing to ref. Not just to support myself financially, but to be involved in my community and to continue something that I love so much. In conclusion, because of reffing, I have been able to grow in so many ways and, I have discovered what I want to do for the rest of my life. After I graduate from college, I plan to still continue to ref because, where I live it is such an understaffed job and I want to continue to serve in that role. I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have got to be able to be a referee and grow so much through that.

Hello, my name is Grace Ford, I am a senior at Alexander High School. I’m in the Leo club, 4-h and, FFA. I am also working as a referee for youth and middle school wrestlers, and I volunteer at Christ Community Wesleyan Church in Albany as a teacher. I am not currently receiving any financial support. If I am selected for as a winner for this scholarship, I will be using the funds to support my dream to go to a four year college to get a degree in childhood education. The funds from this scholarship would be solely going to tuition. I have decided to do this because, throughout my work at my church, I have fallen in love with making a difference in people’s lives, just like you are doing with offering this scholarship to young people in Athens county.

After I graduate, I plan on going to a fur year college to get my bachelor’s degree in education. This career has always been a very big part of my life, but I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do until a couple of years ago. With both of my parents being teachers, I’ve always been surrounded by school, from sorting books after school in the library to taking care of the science teacher’s fish, school has always been important to me. But, until I decided to try something new and scary, I didn’t know who or what I wanted to be. A couple of years ago, I was asked to be a counselor for an overnight church camp. I said yes, only because it felt like the right thing to do. But, through those couple of days, I fell in love with educating kids. I spend went four hours a day with these girls and I got to answer a million questions, fix scraped knees and explain a hundred bible stories. I had never felt such a passion and a purpose than I had felt in those couple of days. So, when we all got home, I decided to ask if I could start volunteering for weekly Sunday school. I got to start about a month later. The first couple of days I was so nervous, but I started sitting down with kids and making connections. Eventually, I was allowed to start teaching a class individually. So, I woke up early and stayed late to make sure that every Sunday was something to look forward to for the kids. Now, three years later, I have gained so much confidence in my ability to educate the future generation. Having kindness and compassion for each and every one of the kids is so important to me. And, although I was hard work, volunteering each week has lead me to cement my love for teaching and allowed m to decide who I wanted to be and what career I am excited to pursue. In the end, I couldn’t be more thankful for the privilege that I have to be able to serve my community as well as grow in my career, specially with something that I have such a strong passion for. I am so thankful that both of my parents are teachers because they have allowed me to see and experience what it looks like “behind the scenes” and now I believe that I have an expectation and goal for my future. I believe that teaching and education is one of the most rewarding and important jobs in this world, and I am so excited to begin my journey next year.

Growing up with both of my parents being teachers, I truly never thought a career in education would be for me. I was constantly surrounded by educators and students. As a kindergartener, after school me and the elementary janitor, Chad, walked down to the library so I could wait until my mom and dad finished grading papers or completing lesson plans. But, rough serving my community in many different ways, it has allowed me to fall in love with the career and my future in education. About five and a half years ago, I decided to dedicate my life to Christ, and through that I got connected to my current church. When I was in ninth grade, I was asked to help with an overnight camp for our children’s ministry. I decided to say yes, only because I felt like it was the right thing to do. But, during those four days, I felt a passion and purpose like I never have before. I was a councilor for five little girls and I spend 24 hours a day with them. I was absolutely dumbfounded about how this could be such an amazing thing for me. So, after the camp ended and we all went home, I asked if I could sign up to volunteer to serve weekly with the kid’s ministry. My first day I was so nervous, but I sat down with a little girl and we started talking and I ended up helping teach her class. Eventually I was teaching class on my own. When I tell you standing up and teaching a bunch of third graders was the scariest thing I ever did, it would be an understatement. But, through volunteering on Sunday I found out that I loved teaching kids and helping them to become better people. Now, I really enjoy waking up early and getting to go into church and make sure my lesson plans are ready and my room is cleaned up for the kids. Throughout my whole life I have been impacted by teachers, from taking care of the science teacher’s fish to sorting books for the librarians, I’ve always been connected to school. So, to say that teachers have changed my life would be an absolute understatement. I have been able to make life long and lasting connections with a lot of amazing teachers. Also, because both of my parents are teachers, I’v been able to see some behind the scenes and get a specific expectation for my future career. I have been one of the luckiest people to be able to gain so many meaningful experiences through the field of teaching. And, volunteering within my church has further inspired me to go to college and further my education to be able to teach the new generations. I think that being given the opportunity to do that is the biggest honor to hold. I am so excited for my future and I have been absolutely blessed to be able to grow each year.

This year, I have gown in so many ways. A couple of year ago, I decided to take up wrestling. As someone who is very introverted, I was super nervous. It was a completely new place and I didn’t know anyone. Putting myself out there and trying to make new friends was nearly overwhelming. But, through wrestling, I have became involved in teaching the youth team in my spare time and even becoming a certified referee to be able to ref around the state. I’ve always been a more reserved person, preferring to stay in the background rather than standing out. But I got the opportunity to join a 4-h club with my dog, Nutmeg. So, through many days of training and certification, we were officially cleared to start t visit nursing homes and schools. At first I had a really hard time going, I made my mother come into every room with me and I couldn’t find the words to talk to all of these people. But, in realizing how important of an impact me and my dog created, I grew. Not just as a 4-h participant, but as a person. I started to sit down with people and visit with them for as long as I was allowed. Soon, I was watching videos of people grandchildren while my dog was asleep on their beds. Through the experience I have learned to be strong and confident in myself, as well as to have compassion and love for others. I also recently started to serve as a teacher for my church. So, every Sunday I get to spend about an hour with twenty third graders. And while that might sound like a very daunting task. It has allowed me to find my purpose and determine what I plan to do in the future. Through serving in my church, I have discovered that I want to be a teacher. I have been able to step very far out of my comfort zone and grown my ability to advocate for what I believe in and support others in a kind and courageous way. So, even though meeting new people and having new experiences can be hard for me, pushing myself to try new things through serving my community has allowed me to become a better and more confident person. I couldn’t imagine the person I would be without all of the opportunities within the community to serve. I can now confidently say that I have grown into a much happier person and I’ve found a sense of family within each moment.

To me, wrestling means change. I don’t man the scary life changing things but I mean a thousand small details throughout the many years I have spent in the wrestling room. When I first started wrestling in third grade, I didn’t really understand anything about it other than that I got to push people around a win medals. So, when I got “bored” of it, I decided to quit. Then, five years later, I walked into the big, scary high school wrestling room. I decided to just sit and watch for one practice, just to see what it was like. Well, I ended up talking to the coaches and decided to join the team in the spring. I went to my first official practice and ended up getting paired with the only other girl, who had been wrestling since she was four. That day I got beat up to say the least, but I also fell in love with the sport. So, three practices later I was asked if I wanted to go to a national tournament to be on a team. (They just needed another weight class) So, I said yes and went to my first “adult” tournament. Although I didn’t do great, I got to feel that sense of community, with about twenty girls cheering me on even though I lost every time. Wrestling was a big adjustment for me, I wasn’t a very touchy person and if you know anything about wrestling you know that won’t work out well. So, I had to change. Then, I wasn’t focused enough, I thought that playing around when it was time to work would be ok, but I realized that doing that wasn’t going to get me very far. So, I changed. I started to come to practices early and stay late. And, through those and many more small changes I have became a whole different person. I can now stand up for myself and others confidently. I have became an advocate and supporter for many others just because of wrestling. I have found my best friends because I decided to just sit through one practice five years ago. I couldn’t imagine the person I would be without wrestling. It has allowed me to adapt and grow in so many different ways. And, through wrestling, I decided to work with the youth team an that has lead me to find my passion for teaching, something that I plan to get a degree in and do for the rest of my life. Also, I have became and certified class three referee for wrestling and been able to travel around the state to ref tournaments. So, wrestling means change, change within yourself and the ability to change your world.