When I was growing up I lived on a single-parent income. I wouldn't know when my next meal was and I would never ask for anything extra. My mom was the parent I lived with, she was a very bad alcoholic. When I would see my dad on the weekends I would wish I lived with him. I soon was able to live with him. I moved in with my dad when I was in fifth grade and I was finally able to not worry about money. Unfortunately, my mother passed away during my freshmen year of high school. It was devastating. My grandparents showed me how far in debt my mom was, and there I was that little girl who was stressing about where her next meal was coming from. Money has always been a hard topic for me. I take pride in the money and the amount I earn. When applying for colleges money was the biggest factor in what college I would choose to pursue my higher education at. I looked at community colleges, private colleges, in-state, and out-of-state. Once I narrowed down my list I made a 'decision' the school that I am going to hopefully attend is a private school. Attending a private school comes with a very expensive education. When I got my award letter and saw exactly how much I would be paying in a year; my stomach turned into knots. All that was running through my head was that little girl and not knowing how to come up with the money. I knew my next was to apply to as many scholarships as I could and that's what I am doing. If I were to win this scholarship I would put it toward my school fund. I would be able to know that the money I get would let me subtract that amount from possible loans I would have to open. My goal is to graduate with very few loans so I am not in debt my entire life. I want to be a traveling pediatric nurse and with that comes, always working. I want to be able to jump straight into my career and not have to worry about the financial burden of my college education. This scholarship would also help my parents out by not having to loan me as much money as they are budgeting for. The scholarship will ease some of my stress about the money aspect of my college education.

I have experienced many servant leadership roles in my life. I went through some very hard things when I started club soccer. my freshman year I lost my mom due to a drug overdose. It was the darkest thing in my life. When I say soccer was the only thing keeping me going it was. My team captain at the time of my mom's loss made sure I was 'ok' and loved and never lose my shine. When I was named captain of my club team, in the last two years of my high school club career I was over the moon happy. I wasn't the best on the team, and I wasn't the most skilled and or talented but I do have an uplifting attitude and a leading personality. I can be stern but also fun to be around. I would make sure that if people were struggling with something I would help them through it. I would run workouts and make sure the team was staying on task. When I became a captain in my junior year I made sure that my team was mentally 'ok' and was my number one priority. I never wanted soccer to feel like a ‘job’ but a hobby to go to, to get my mind off of what happened that day and or night before. Soccer means the world to me and if I'm not loving it, then that means something is wrong. I try not to reflect my poor attitude or sadness onto my team. I try to stay upbeat and happy. I try to always have a smile on my face and a positive attitude. I have had girls from both of my years playing soccer reach out to me and say they were grateful to have me as not only a teammate but also a leader. I have had referees, coaches and even parents say that I am a very supportive teammate and captain. I always say that its nothing to do with me but with how the team feels about each other. I try to eliminate drama and make sure that everyone feels involved and included. Of course, there are ‘clicks’ and ‘best friends’ on the team but when we step on the field we are one. My hope after each season is that people learn from each other. They not only learn skills but also how to treat other people. If you give a negative attitude others tend to have a negative attitude. It's all about perspective and the leadership you have and experience. I am grateful to have the leadership opportunity with my club team so it can not only make me a better person but a better leader.

My coach for club soccer has inspired me beyond imaginable. He is a very successful entrepreneur. He started the soccer program at Union High School and he also has his own company. He helped shape me, not only into the player I am today but the person I am today. He is selfless and always made sure us girls were okay and being our absolute best. He showed me that hard work does pay off. After I lost My mom he made sure I wasn't going to fall into a horrible depression. He checked on me and made sure I was still going chasing my dreams. He would make sure I wasn't letting anything get in my way. If I had a bad day he would uplift me and show me just because you have a day doesn't mean you need to continue to have a bad day. He also lost both his parents one year during our soccer season and he opened up about how hard it was on him. It made me feel better knowing grief comes in all shapes and sizes. Just because I lost my Mom at 15 it wouldn't have been any different if I lost her at 64. The pain is still there. When I started my first year of club soccer, I had this thought I was a decent player but I was not. He worked with me for hours. He taught me soccer is only 25% skill and 75% mental and trying to get past a mental block with a sport is so hard. After my first year, I was officially the player I had thought I was. I was even better than I thought. Then came our second year and I was excelling and I owed it all to my coach for believing in me. I would have never imagined a coach would have this much impact on me until I met my club coach. He did not only make me fall back in love with my sport but he also was my inspiration. I look up to him and can know, no matter what your goal, in life can be achieved. You have to work so hard to achieve the goal but give it time and it will happen. Having the influence of someone like my coach made it easy to not lose tunnel vision of achieving goals in soccer and academically.