I knew if I wanted to attend college I would need to shoulder the financial burden by myself. My family was not in a position to afford helping me. Knowing that, I began working as soon as I was able, whether that be mowing lawns and helping out with odd jobs in my hometown before I was old enough for formal employment. Once I was old enough for formal employment, I worked every summer and as much as I could during the school year. I saved every dollar I made with the expectation that I would need it when I went to college. This process taught me the value of hard work and helped me appreciate the opportunities I did have in front of me. I would have never been able to get through this without the support and sacrifices of my family and close friends. They knew what my goals were, and always encouraged me to follow them, no matter where that took me. Having my family and friends' unconditional support, even during difficult times, has always helped me to continue working toward my goals. Without them, I would not be where I am at today in pursuit of higher education. With how much time and effort I put into achieving my goals, I started to gain a feeling of wanting to give back to people in similar situations as well. I started volunteering my time to coaching and umpiring youth sports in my hometown, as well as participating in local community clean up events and spending time during weather events shoveling snow and cleaning up for individuals throughout my hometown who were unable to do so themselves. I especially enjoyed coaching and umpiring for my hometown youth as I was able to help another generation develop the same passion for basketball and baseball as I did. This scholarship will help me to make a greater difference in the broader community by easing my financial burden, allowing me to work fewer hours. This would allow me to spend more time on my schoolwork, and give me the time to start getting back into coaching and umpiring again. Since I started back up in college again during fall term of 2025, I have not had near as much time to coach and umpire since the majority of my time is spent working and focusing on my education. This scholarship would help allow me to dedicate more time giving back to my community while successfully completing my degree.