Although it is important for anyone to manage their finances well at any stage of life, learning to properly manage money as a student is especially crucial. It is a financial time in your life that can have long-lasting effects based on your decisions made for acquiring loans and credit card debt. This sets the tone for the ability to control your money rather than having it control you. Student debt is a crisis that cripples millions of students across the nation, and being financially literate along with employing effective financial strategies can give me a large advantage so that I may get ahead of this growing issue and not fall into the cracks like many other students. Once submerged in debt, it is very difficult to escape, and some people spend their entire lives trying to free themselves of these financial burdens. With these conditions, it is impossible to generate wealth, and it is an area of financial hardship that I plan to avoid at all costs. One way to get ahead is to open a savings account and replenish it at a steady pace, which is one of the first and biggest steps to becoming an independent adult. My financial status must be a solid foundation for me to stand upon if I want to effectively go out into the world and do the things that I want to do. What I do to make this happen is to assess my current financial situation. Once I am aware of exactly what my financial status is, I use this knowledge to make a plan. This requires me to set obtainable and reachable goals for how to increase my financial status so that I can repeat the cycle to newer heights. I spend only on necessary things and avoid excessive spending on frivolous things. Throughout my life, money has never been something that I had in excess, and I believe that this has helped me to instill mindfulness in spending and respecting money. Keeping a careful eye over my finances gives me the ability to plan ahead, make goals, and perhaps even invest so that I can begin to generate wealth in a steady stream to supply all my future financial needs. It is of extreme importance to properly manage your finances as a student as this is the time that many emerge into adulthood where financial stability is a must.

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Why did the chicken want to get to the other side? So it could go to KFC. Why did the chicken want to go to KFC? Because the chicken was secretly a spy and KFC was the last place where they would expect to find him. It was a long story, but suffice it to say, Agent Cluck didn’t like people. More specifically, he didn’t like people who ate chicken. It had been a long, hard road from the poultry farm to get to where he was now, but he was determined. He bobbed across the parking lot, trying his best to look like a normal rooster that didn’t have clandestine operations being acted upon under the place that deep-fried his kin. After a scan of the area to make sure that nobody was looking, Cluck used his beak to open a metal flap that covered a number pad on the side of the building. He pecked in the code. A rumble, a grumble, then a whoosh of mist spilled out from an opening in the wall. It had been a pain to get the mist makers installed, but Cluck felt it was well worth the effect. With a dexterous twist of his feathers, he slipped on a pair of miniature sunglasses and stepped down into the Henquarters, the wall closing behind him with a soft click. Cluck heard the clacking of the keys before reaching the bottom of the stairs and nodded in satisfaction. Porky was hard at work. Before entering the hub, Cluck stopped at a poster of Colonel Sanders adorned with hand-painted horns on his head and V-shaped eyebrows between his eyes. A bestial rage bubbled within Cluck’s gizzard, reminding him of what he fought for every day. He squawked softly and entered the hub. Porky was bent before his computer, face buried in a pull-pork sandwich. Pink rolls of fat jiggled with every motion, wiggling his tattoo of an arrow-pierced heart containing the words “I Luv Bacon.” He noticed Cluck and waved a hoof. “Cock-a-doodle-do!” he said in cheerful greeting, food flying from his mouth. He took another bite of his sandwich. Cluck ruffled his feathers. He didn’t like Porky, only tolerating him because he was the smartest one on his team. “Is it ready?” he asked. The pig nodded. “Just about. Give me a sec.” He turned back to the computer. “I’m going to go see the Kid,” Cluck said. “Sure thing, Cluckers.” “Agent Cluck.” “Right.” Cluck sighed. Porky didn’t understand. He tried giving the pig a pair of sunglasses but later found them covered in teeth marks. Some animals never learned. He entered the hall where they kept the Kid. One wall was made of Plexiglas and looked in on a human infant swaddled in a bundle of blankets. Once, when Cluck wasn’t careful enough, the manager of the KFC discovered the Henquarters. There was only one way to keep him in check, and now his child lay in the center of a massive dinnerplate, surrounded by a plus-sized fork and knife to act as a reminder. The infant didn’t seem to mind, though, giggling at every little thing that passed by the window. “Is everything ready,” a deep, feminine voice uttered. Cluck looked up to regard Madame Moo, a paragon of bovine sexuality. High-heel pumps supported her gigantic thighs hugged by hot-pink fishnet leggings. Cluck never did figure out how she applied her lipstick with those ungainly hooves of hers. He nodded grimly. “Yes.” The Cluckening was about to begin.

A challenge that I had to overcome was of procrastination. Something that has helped me a lot in overcoming this issue was to set short-term goals for myself so that I could complete tasks in digestible chunks. Another thing that has helped me was to force myself to be in the mood needed to complete the task. Oftentimes, I would sit around, telling myself that I would get something done when I felt like it in a couple of hours, or sometimes days, but I eventually realized that time would never come. What I do now is tell myself how much happier and well-off I would be if I completed a task. Much of the time, these tasks were not even that strenuous to finish. This has helped me in many aspects of my life, and I learned that the best thing to do is to simply do it. The excuses that I made up for myself do not matter, only the work that I have ahead of me and the rewards that come with doing a good job. I will use this scholarship to help further my education in filmmaking and creative writing. It is my dream to tell stories to people that inspire and move them to help make the world a better place. I have a lot to say, whether that be through writing novels and screenplays, or producing and acting in films, but I find it difficult to do so because of my limited education, and money to put towards education. This scholarship will be invaluable in taking me one step up my climb to victory and success. I love classical music and I am currently teaching myself to play piano. I also like to cook and consider my skill to be respectable despite never having had a formal cooking course. I used to take fencing classes but had to stop a few years ago because there was not enough money to continue lessons. I would love to pick it up again when I have more time and money. Something that has recently sparked my interest is videos on the internet that revolve around making paludarium and vivarium tanks. These are self-contained ecosystems living in harmony inside a glass enclosure. However, the equipment to build one seems expensive, so maybe I can start on that later. Winning this scholarship will help me get closer to pursuing this hobby.

Everyone faces hardships in their lives to varying degrees. Some are born into a life of wealth and opulence, while others are born into poverty and destitution. Some people are encircled by loving friends and family while others have to suffer through destructive relationships. Many people even have to go through the grief of a loved one passing. This division of hardship is something that we cannot control no matter how hard we try. We simply must take the best of what we are given and strive forward for a better life. Throughout my childhood, my mother and my siblings have moved from house to house, being forced to survive with what little we had. For many years, we even lived in a house that was such in disrepair that we dubbed it "The House of Horrors". Living this reality and having to see family members come and go does not make for a happy life. But I believe that I am lucky because things could have been a lot worse. I had a loving mother who provided a roof over my head and food for me to eat. Strange that it may seem to me to say, I consider myself blessed for all the hardships that I have experienced throughout my life. Having lived my life thus far with all of its hardships and struggles, I wouldn't want to exchange that even for a life free of financial worry. My experiences have taught me far more valuable lessons than I would expect from the greatest universities because there is no better school than that of life. It has taught me to always be humble and to never take anything for granted because the second you abuse what is given to you, it can just as easily be taken away. I learned to enjoy life to the fullest because every day presents a golden opportunity to make something better of yourself. My relationships have improved because I have come to prefer being around people who challenge me. Having a relationship that consists only of superficial pleasure and enjoyment isn't fulfilling for me, because while that may seem exciting at first, with time it will begin to feel, stale, meaningless…empty. Sometimes the reason why the people who love us the most are difficult to live with is that they force you to confront your greatest faults and help you overcome them. Though I would never want to go through what I had experienced in the past again, I am very grateful for having done so. I embrace these hardships as they have made me who I am today and given me a reason to find deeper meaning in my life.

Music is a wonder, having the ability to draw emotions from me that I could not name. Many pieces speak to me on such a profound level that it brings me considerable anguish to shorten the list to just one. The key to physical well-being is to enjoy a diverse and colorful diet and I believe the same is true for music regarding one's emotional state. Depending on the day, different pieces of music may feed my soul. It may be Mozart, who fills me with exuberant joy or Beethoven, whose music shakes me to the very core or perhaps Chopin, who makes me feel nostalgic for those who have come and gone in my life. However, the one piece that I continually find myself coming back to is Bach's Chaconne. Though there can be an infinite amount of interpretations, to me this profound and expansive piece for solo violin portrays a deeply personal journey of someone struggling with immense grief. The violin weaves a grand tapestry, depicting a story that plumbs the depths of the human soul. The opening chords ring out as if in denial, the violin transforming the main theme into something fluid, the melody flowing like water, note to note, emotion to emotion. From denial to frustration to blinding desperation and sadness, the music then resolves into acceptance which I feel is a certain transcended joy in all the wonders that life has to offer. It tells me that no matter how difficult things seem in life, there is always a ray of hope. You just have to push yourself to reach for it. I hope this explains why the Chaconne is my favorite piece of music and that you may someday listen to it yourself if you haven't already.