Every person goes through something tough in life at some point. Some more than others and some less. I can say for myself that I have been through a number of tough trials throughout my life, but I don’t let it determine who I am as a person or let it bring me down at anytime. The toughest trail I have gone through that forced me to overcome adversity would have to be when my mother had a stroke in August 2019. My step father had passed away in 2018 but before he passed away, my mom had quit her job so she could take care of him full time. So, throughout the year of 2018 and nearly half of 2019, she was stressed and constantly worrying about how the bills were gonna get paid because the job she was working just wasn’t paying enough at the time. As of right now, my mom is disabled and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and is unable to work at all. Yet, she is still waiting for her disability to come in so she can have some sort of financial help. Ever since August of 2019, life for my sister and I have been kind of tough, considering my biological father is in prison and can’t do anything to help. I have pretty much been on my own since then and working for my own money and responsibilities. My sister just got her a job this summer, too. I could consider this as somewhat of a blessing because if it didn’t happen like this, I probably would still be getting spoiled by my mom and step dad and have no clue about the real world. I have high goals for myself and one is to finish college with my Bachelor’s Degree in Science to become a travel Registered Nurse, I know I could get it done as long as I stay focused and keep my mind on track. That would also be considered my main personal goal. I expect myself to pay off my student debt, if any, and to be able to live a comfortable lifestyle without having to worry about bills getting turned off or etc.

Growing up, I knew about Jesus, I knew he was our Creator and our Father. I went to a Baptist church while in elementary up to junior high and I really enjoyed it. I thought learning about God and Jesus was very interesting and it caught my attention every time we talked about him. It wasn't until four months ago when I actually accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and got baptized. I had never been baptized before and doing it on October 17, 2020 was a serious life changer. Ever since that day, I have conversations with Jesus. I pray once I wake up and throughout the day until I fall asleep. Learning more about Him now, I understand so much more and reading the bible has taught me things I would have never imagined. For example, the book of Daniel. That chapter in the bible really caught my eye when I heard about it then read about it. I thought to myself, "How did the lion not eat him alive?" Then Jesus tells me "Because through me, anything is possible." I strongly believe that because if God wasn't with Daniel in that exact moment, he would of been eaten alive by the hungry lions. Another example is when Sadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were going to be thrown into the fire pit because they refused to worship the gold idol Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to. The fire was so hot that it killed the soldiers Nebuchadnezzar had got to throw them in the furnace. The King had saw four men walking around in the fire and thought the fourth man looked like an angel, so he shouted for Sadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come out. They then all came out of the fire. When they got out, the satraps, governers, prefects and loyal advisors crowded around them. They could see that the fire had not burned Sadrach, Meshach, and Abedngo. Their bodies weren't burned at all. Their hair was not burned and their robes were not burned. They didn't even smell as if they were just thrown into a fire. These three men trusted their God and refused to obey Nebuchadnezzar's command. In fact, they were willing to die instead of worshipping or serving any other God. Those two stories in the bible are two that will forever blow my mind and amaze me at the same time. In any other story or movie you see that in, you would think either the lions ate him or Sadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have burned alive, right? That just shows how powerful our God is and with him by our side, we can get through any trial in our life because he has it set up that way. He knows what each and every single one of us are capable of, that's why he takes us through these paths. I am glad to say God has my full trust. My life belongs to Him and he is my Father. When I encounter a stressful situation, a fearful situation, a worried situation or a confused situation, I ask God to take whatever I am going through and to do whatever he thinks is right. The confusion, stress, worry, or the fear goes away within seconds because I know whatever God has planned for me is the way it's supposed to be whether I think it's right or not. Another thing, God's timing is perfect, he works in mysterious ways, and there is power in the name of Jesus.

Imagine being 8 years old and your favorite person, your Dad, gets sentenced to prison for 2 years. That was me! I remember being in the fourth grade and crying in the classroom as my teacher was teaching because I couldn’t stop thinking of my Dad and his mistakes he had made. My mother was in a relationship with my step dad at the time. She got with him when I was about 3 years old. He was the best thing that could of ever happened to my mom and my sisters. He was a man that didn’t do drugs, stay in the streets, come and go when he wanted, or make any crimes like my father did. Instead, he gave us anything and everything we ever wanted and even things we didn’t want. In fact, he spoiled my sisters and I more than he should’ve! Skip a few years, my Dad gets out of prison and is still the same person he was when he went in. He would come and go and would get our hopes up. During the time my Dad was coming and going out of mine and my sisters lives, my step dad was doing the Dad part of raising us when he didn’t have to, yet, he chose to. He loved my sisters and I like we were his own. I am so thankful for him. However, my Dad does something that leads him to being sentenced 15 years in prison. My Dad is currently still in prison serving for his crimes. About three years ago, my step dad got sick and he was the type of man that didn’t like to show that he was hurting or in pain. He tried and tried to be strong and not show any weakness until one day it got really bad. He asked my mom to take him to the hospital because he couldn’t bear the pain. Come to find out, he got diagnosed with liver and colon cancer. He was okay in the beginning, but once he started radiation and chemo, was when he started getting weak. Skip two years of him staying strong and trying his hardest to be healthy, he was put in the hospital for two weeks. He got bad and even weaker. He came home on hospice and within two days of him being home, laying in my moms bed, he finally took his last breath. After him passing away, my mom was super stressed out because of bills to pay. She had quit her current job to take care of him so she really didn’t have a lot of money to her name. With eight months of him being gone, my mom had a stroke which had left the right side of her body numb. She couldn’t talk well and her mouth was left crooked for about two weeks. Thank God, he pulled her out of that mess. She is now diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and can feel her legs only on her good days. My mother knew who God was her whole life, but just six months ago, we attended a church for the first time. Not the first time ever, but it was the first time we had gone to that church. She found God and that is certainly the best thing that could of happened because she now has so much faith. She has become such a faithful person and I love the person she has become. She is definitely the strongest person I know and is worth a million dollars! I give all props to my mother for being so strong for us and herself. With my step father passing away, it has taught me that tomorrow isn’t promised and to be thankful for each and every day. To never take anything for granted and to always thank God because there is always someone that has had it worse. It taught me to be an open minded person, I feel like before, I was very closed minded and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I sort of depended on my step dad to be here my entire life. I never thought we would lose him. Now, I know what I want in life, and that is to go to college and receive my Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) and become a Registered Travel Nurse. I believe I can do it, I am strong and I have a really strong mind. Also, with God, anything is possible. So, along the ride of me achieving my dreams and goals, God will be my person, he will be my best-friend, my go-to, my everything. Not that he already isn’t, but he’s going to be by my side so much more than he already is!

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a nurse. My Aunt has been a nurse for over twenty years and she has been my inspiration since I was a little girl. During my junior year in high school, I took a CNA class just so I could get a few steps ahead of the game. To reach my goals, I realize that I must complete four years of college plus one to two years of training in my specialty before I can become a travel nurse. I am extremely excited for my future and I feel that your scholarship could be put in good use with me. The feeling of making someone feel better or comfortable just sits somewhere in my heart. I have a strong desire of wanting to help save lives. Like I mentioned before, while taking the CNA classes through my high school, we of course, had clinicals. We went to a nursing home in a town twenty minutes away, and their nursing home had the best staff and super great residents. I mean, they were so welcoming and helpful when you needed help. I believe that experience at that nursing home boosted my desire of becoming a Registered Nurse even more! I truly believe I am made to be a nurse. I have a caring, passionate heart. Unfortunately, I am going to need all the help possible. I already have the moral support from my family and friends, but it’s not quite enough to make my dream come true. I hope that your organization can help me reach my dreams by awarding me your scholarship.

The quote I find that is the most motivational is "Jesus receives honor in your success". This quote inspires me so much because Jesus died on the cross for us/our sins, meaning he took his own life in order for us to be here. The last thing someone should want is for him to receive honor for something. It doesn't have to be for our success or for our lifestyle but the quote just really stood out to me. Imagine fulfilling your dreams and finally getting to where you want to be in life and our Creator receives honor. Couldn't that be the best feeling ever? Seriously! I cannot wait to become an RN, BSN travel registered nurse. I inspire people to do things for Jesus because our world we live in is so negative and discriminated. I wish every human could read the bible or worship our God because that is all he wants. He wants us not to worry, but to put all of our worry, sorrow, discouragement etc. in his hands. He is our master and can move mountains. There is power in the name of Jesus and it is so true.

Are you a first generation student too? I know there are a lot of trials you had no clue about! I’m here to tell you that you aren’t the only one! In fact, there are more people than you think that are first generations. I’m going to list some trials we go through to show you that you aren’t alone! First, we really don’t have a clue on what the whole college process of like. We need help!! Second, we don’t really know exactly what to expect through the college journey. All the paperwork and applying for scholarships and/or grants can get really agitating because you don’t know if you’ve gotten accepted right off the bat. Trust me, I know the struggle!

If money wasn’t an issue, what I would do with my time is fly across the world to help those living in poverty. Hundreds of thousands, even millions of people starve every single day. Why? Why do we get food, drinks, a home, a car and so much more but some people get literally nothing? I will never understand, but what I could do is travel to where there are starving people with not even one dollar to their name and feed them, provide them with clean, fresh water, teach them simple math or how to read a book. It is so unfair how some people get everything they want in life but other people get literally nothing. I would try my complete hardest to give them everything they want and more because they don’t know what being spoiled feels like. People deserve to be loved and to be happy, we are all human. Wondering when you’re going to eat your next meal or drink some water that isn’t out of a puddle must be the worst feeling ever.