I attended NIACC in the 2019-2020 year, I majored in journalism. In my sophomore year's first semester I became unsure of what I was doing. I didn't feel motivated at all. This was the year COVID took over and I was fully online. I believed I was wasting everyone's time because I didn't know if journalism was what I wanted to do. So I left college and started working at Walmart full-time. A year and a half ago I was working and I became severely depressed. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life and felt like it was hitting a dead end. My friends were all attending college, some graduated, and others started their families. I became ashamed I felt everyone had their whole lives planned out and I was running out of time. It wasn't until I met up with a former peer and asked him what he was up to. He graduated from NIACC with a degree in Graphic Communications and told me what his day-to-day was like in his job. He inspired me and when I went home I looked up everything about design. I felt like there was finally light at the end of my dark tunnel! I had the motivation to continue being me and start working toward myself. I started a Google course on Ui design and became invested, I created small projects for mobile and desktop websites. At this point, I figured this was something I could do. When I was a kid I was extremely artsy. I drew all the time, painted and played with legos. It wasn't until middle school that I became disconnected from art. So I was nervous about applying for an art degree because I'd feel completely behind in terms of my skills. I was working at Walmart as a team lead so I was earning decent money I decided to return to NIACC and major in Graphic Communications. Here I am halfway done with the first semester and I'm loving it. I've created self, portraits, painted abstract paintings, worked with an art laser and have started compiling everything onto my art portfolio. I deserve this scholarship because I am committed to my education I have to earn my degree so I can get a career. I used to take everything for granted when I was immature and in high school now three years later I've realized that being an adult is extremely hard. If I wanted to have a different life I'd have to make a change myself. Only I could do this no one else. I'm not only committed but I'm also motivated. During a dark time in my life I became motivated and created projects granted they might not be the best visually but they gave me enough confidence to return to NIACC. Self-motivation and hard work are going to take me far and I know it.

I attended NIACC in the 2019-2020 year, I majored in journalism. In my sophomore year's first semester I became unsure of what I was doing. I didn't feel motivated at all. This was the year COVID took over and I was fully online. I believed I was wasting everyone's time because I didn't know if journalism was what I wanted to do. So I left college and started working at Walmart full-time. A year and a half ago I was working and I became severely depressed. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life and felt like it was hitting a dead end. My friends were all attending college, some graduated, and others started their families. I became ashamed I felt everyone had their whole lives planned out and I was running out of time. It wasn't until I met up with a former peer and asked him what he was up to. He graduated from NIACC with a degree in Graphic Communications and told me what his day-to-day was like in his job. He inspired me and when I went home I looked up everything about design. I felt like there was finally light at the end of my dark tunnel! I had the motivation to continue being me and start working toward myself. I started a Google course on Ui design and became invested, I created small projects for mobile and desktop websites. At this point, I figured this was something I could do. When I was a kid I was extremely artsy. I drew all the time, painted and played with legos. It wasn't until middle school that I became disconnected from art. So I was nervous about applying for an art degree because I'd feel completely behind in terms of my skills. I was working at Walmart as a team lead so I was earning decent money I decided to return to NIACC and major in Graphic Communications. Here I am halfway done with the first semester and I'm loving it. I've created self, portraits, painted abstract paintings, worked with an art laser and have started compiling everything onto my art portfolio. I deserve this scholarship because I am committed to my education I have to earn my degree so I can get a career. I used to take everything for granted when I was immature and in high school now three years later I've realized that being an adult is extremely hard. If I wanted to have a different life I'd have to make a change myself. Only I could do this no one else. I'm not only committed but I'm also motivated. During a dark time in my life I became motivated and created projects granted they might not be the best visually but they gave me enough confidence to return to NIACC. Self-motivation and hard work are going to take me far and I know it.

I attended NIACC in the 2019-2020 year, I majored in journalism. In my sophomore year's first semester I became unsure of what I was doing. I didn't feel motivated at all. This was the year COVID took over and I was fully online. I believed I was wasting everyone's time because I didn't know if journalism was what I wanted to do. So I left college and started working at Walmart full-time. A year and a half ago I was working and I became severely depressed. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life and felt like it was hitting a dead end. My friends were all attending college, some graduated, and others started their families. I became ashamed I felt everyone had their whole lives planned out and I was running out of time. It wasn't until I met up with a former peer and asked him what he was up to. He graduated from NIACC with a degree in Graphic Communications and told me what his day-to-day was like in his job. He inspired me and when I went home I looked up everything about design. I felt like there was finally light at the end of my dark tunnel! I had the motivation to continue being me and start working toward myself. I started a Google course on Ui design and became invested, I created small projects for mobile and desktop websites. At this point, I figured this was something I could do. When I was a kid I was extremely artsy. I drew all the time, painted and played with legos. It wasn't until middle school that I became disconnected from art. So I was nervous about applying for an art degree because I'd feel completely behind in terms of my skills. I was working at Walmart as a team lead so I was earning decent money I decided to return to NIACC and major in Graphic Communications. Here I am halfway done with the first semester and I'm loving it. I've created self, portraits, painted abstract paintings, worked with an art laser and have started compiling everything onto my art portfolio. I deserve this scholarship because I am committed to my education I have to earn my degree so I can get a career. I used to take everything for granted when I was immature and in high school now three years later I've realized that being an adult is extremely hard. If I wanted to have a different life I'd have to make a change myself. Only I could do this no one else. I'm not only committed but I'm also motivated. During a dark time in my life I became motivated and created projects granted they might not be the best visually but they gave me enough confidence to return to NIACC. Self-motivation and hard work are going to take me far and I know it.