According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions)”. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). There are different types of disabilities, I was born with a learning disability; however, I never let that define me. In this essay, I will write about the education I’ve had so far and how it impacts my focus and drive to face unique circumstances in life. Also, I will be laying out my goals and how my upcoming season at Ball State University can support me with my goals and passion for my career in construction management. I learned very early on to put a strong value on my education and hard work. The values and encouragement I learned from my parents and teachers were essential to get me where I am today. My parents identified early on that there was something different about the way I learned. I was intelligent but had difficulties with language and reading. The answer to our concerns came through my ophthalmologist, also a dyslexic herself. We were encouraged to seek help with the school system and in 1st grade we were able to start our journey to overcome the learning disability. I have an amazing mother who encouraged me and sought resources from the school, but I give the credit to the day to day to special education teachers I had along the way. They were essential in making me feel included and capable, their encouragement did not allow the learning difficulties to take the best of me. From a very young age, I learned how to use the resources I had available. During my academic career, the IEP helped a lot. My mother encouraged me, she always said that dyslexia was not an excuse for me not to be my best. A lot of times, my teachers would help me in 1:1 in the classroom as well. Their dedication paid off: year after year, my Lexile number would improve. I used it to my advantage, and I learned how to identify and manage my strengths, and my learning style. She made me realize that dyslexia made me unique, and I embraced the opportunity to be me. I love books, so I make use of audiobooks. I did not like to read or speak in public, so I worked on my confidence in reading books to service dogs, and I used to prepare my speeches way in advance, so I did not need to rely on reading cards. Modeling and acting classes to help with confidence and professionalism. My “disability” taught me that I just had a different ability, I just needed to find my strengths. In learning about my strengths and resources, I was introduced to learning styles. My teachers helped me identify and included that in my learning plan. They allowed me to explore it by listening, discussing, and leading activities in class. Also, being kinesthetic, I need hands-on experiences, and I need to touch and feel; therefore, I picked Construction as a career path. It is powerful to see the results of the work of my hands. It is beautiful to build something out of nothing, and it is even more powerful to be a successful female in a male-dominated career. My goal is to help other women to be successful in a career in construction.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions)”. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). There are different types of disabilities, I was born with a learning disability; however, I never let that define me. In this essay, I will write about the education I’ve had so far and how it impacts my focus and drive to face unique circumstances in life. Also, I will be laying out my goals and how my upcoming season at Ball State University can support me with my goals and passion for my career in construction management. I learned very early on to put a strong value on my education and hard work. The values and encouragement I learned from my parents and teachers were essential to get me where I am today. My parents identified early on that there was something different about the way I learned. I was intelligent but had difficulties with language and reading. The answer to our concerns came through my ophthalmologist, also a dyslexic herself. We were encouraged to seek help with the school system and in 1st grade we were able to start our journey to overcome the learning disability. I have an amazing mother who encouraged me and sought resources from the school, but I give the credit to the day to day to special education teachers I had along the way. They were essential in making me feel included and capable, their encouragement did not allow the learning difficulties to take the best of me. From a very young age, I learned how to use the resources I had available. During my academic career, the IEP helped a lot. My mother encouraged me, she always said that dyslexia was not an excuse for me not to be my best. A lot of times, my teachers would help me in 1:1 in the classroom as well. Their dedication paid off: year after year, my Lexile number would improve. I used it to my advantage, and I learned how to identify and manage my strengths, and my learning style. She made me realize that dyslexia made me unique, and I embraced the opportunity to be me. I love books, so I make use of audiobooks. I did not like to read or speak in public, so I worked on my confidence in reading books to service dogs, and I used to prepare my speeches way in advance, so I did not need to rely on reading cards. Modeling and acting classes to help with confidence and professionalism. My “disability” taught me that I just had a different ability, I just needed to find my strengths. In learning about my strengths and resources, I was introduced to learning styles. My teachers helped me identify and included that in my learning plan. They allowed me to explore it by listening, discussing, and leading activities in class. Also, being kinesthetic, I need hands-on experiences, and I need to touch and feel; therefore, I picked Construction as a career path. It is powerful to see the results of the work of my hands. It is beautiful to build something out of nothing, and it is even more powerful to be a successful female in a male-dominated career. My goal is to help other women to be successful in a career in construction.

Malgorzata’s story inspires me so much, as well as my mother’s story. I am the daughter of an immigrant mother from Brazil. She arrived in 2001 with a couple suitcases and a dream. She fell in love with my father and left everything behind was an international student. I learned as a child to put a strong value on my education and in hard work. The values and encouragement I learned from my parents were essential to get me where I am today. My parents identified early on that there was something different about the way I learned. I had difficulties with language and reading. My mother did a lot of research, consulted with professionals in the USA and Brazil I was diagnosed with dyslexia in my 1st grade, and I started my journey to overcome the learning disability. My mother was the one who encouraged me the most, she did not let my difficulties take the best of me. I was young when I learned how to use the resources available to me. I have an IEP, and the accommodations helped a lot. Homework was hard. My mother encouraged me, she always said that the dyslexia was not an excuse for me not to be my best. I learned how to identify and manage my strengths, and my learning style. She made me realize that dyslexia made me unique, and I embraced the opportunity to be me. I did not like to read or speak in public, I worked on confidence reading books to service dogs that used to come to the library, and I used to prepare my speeches way in advance. My mother also signed me up to modeling and acting classes to help with confidence and professionalism. My “disability” taught me that I just had a different ability, I just needed to find my strengths. In learning about my strengths and resources, I was introduced to learning styles. I learn better by listening, discussing. Also, I need hands on experiences, I need to touch and feel; therefore, I picked Construction as a career path. It is powerful to see the results of the work of my hands. It is beautiful to build something out of nothing, and it is even more powerful to be a successful female in a male-dominated career. My goal is to help other women to be successful in a career in construction. As a result of embracing myself, I was able to learn the tools necessary to develop excellent communication and leadership skills. I believe because I had these struggles, I became more empathetic toward other people's struggles; therefore, I can lead by example and also by identifying others' communication styles. I take that into consideration reaching and bringing out what is best in others. I was nominated for two very important leadership positions. I was the president of my show choir as well as the ambassador of the construction trades program. Both programs experienced very good years. In my construction program, we increased the number of female students from two to seven this year. I believe this is a direct result of my hard work and leadership Not only have I experienced interpersonal accomplishments, but I also have other accomplishments worth mentioning. They are as follows: • Technical Honors Society • National High School Scholars • JAJobSpark student speaker, and MC VIP breakfast and tour

My name is Joanna Wuestefeld. Most people know me as Jojo. I know this is normally not a way to start an essay; however, I am proud of who I am, and my dedication and advocacy for the future of women in construction. I am only a Senior in High School, but in very two short years in construction, I have accomplished a lot. You will see I have the qualities you are looking for as a scholarship recipient and someone that has already created a platform and has advocated for a better working environment for women in the field. In middle school, my goal was to be a special needs teacher. I had so many of them who made a huge impact on my life since I live with dyslexia. My goal at the time was to help other children like me. That objective changed after in 8th grade I attend JA Job Spark with my mother. Brownsburg Schools do not participate in Job Sparks, but as a volunteer, my mom thought it was important. She was right. I was exposed to so many different hands-on experiences, but the Construction and Engineering cluster caught my attention. Hard hat on my head, going up on the excavator, it was powerful. The thought of being able to work with my hands, and the beauty to build something out of nothing made me consider a career in construction. At first, as an architect, but now in Construction Management. I am excited to start at Ball State this fall. As mentioned before, I am a Senior in high school, I was encouraged by my Interior Design teacher to pursue the technical honors route and be a part of the Area 31 Construction Trades Program in Indianapolis IN. In the construction trades program, I was exposed to the day-to-day work in a typical work site and learned the skills necessary to become a professional in the field. During this time, I felt the difficulties women may experience working in a male-dominated field. Because of that, I made my goal to at first, increase the number of female students in my program; then provide a safer environment for us to work. Since my first year in the Construction Trades program, I demonstrated the desirable leadership skills to lead my fellow students and was named the Program Ambassador for the school. Under my leadership, the program experienced an increase in the number of females in the program and we went from 2 last year to 7 this year. At the beginning of February 2023, I was honored to be part of the ICRF connection where I was able to share my story and my perspective as a young female working on a job site. It was an amazing feeling to be able to be part of that collective voice. As a female in a male-dominated career, success will look like advocacy, success will look like a positive change, success will look more colorful and inclusive, and success will look safer. This is my goal and will be achieved while building beautiful structures, making history, and creating a legacy. In life we don't realize how short life can be! This week I lost the teacher and the person who inspired and made me believe it was possible to be successful as a female in a male dominant career. I will miss our conversations and sharing of ideas. In a week we will put her to rest, I just cannot believe she will not be here to share this moment with me!

My name is Joanna Wuestefeld. Most people know me as Jojo. I know this is normally not a way to start an essay; however, I am proud of who I am, and my dedication and advocacy for the future of women in construction. I am a Senior in high school, but I am a part of the Area 31 Construction Trades Program in Indianapolis IN. In the construction trades program, I was exposed to the day-to-day work in a typical work site and learned the skills necessary to become a professional in the field. During this time, I felt the difficulties women may experience working in a male-dominated field. Because of that, I made my goal to at first, increase the number of female students in my program; then to provide a safer environment for us to work. My first exposure to construction was listening to my grandfather's stories of the amazing projects he was part of as a drafter, calculating, and detailing them for fabrication and construction. He showed me libraries, and bridges – most specifically, the second-largest bridge in Latin America. I always found it fascinating that he was a little part of history, and all these cool projects would better the lives of people every day and would be part of his legacy. I was little, I did not know I could do the same. Because of my dyslexia, I learn better by experiencing, touching, and listening; therefore, I decided to explore the hands-on experiences of building something, to have a better perspective when would be time for me to design it as a future Architect. I started in my Junior Year in the Area 31 Construction Trades Program. Since my first year in the Construction Trades program, I demonstrated the desirable leadership skills to lead my fellow students and was named the Program Ambassador for the school. As an Ambassador, I am responsible to promote the program to area students and establish outreach presentations that highlight the advantages of a career in Construction. We developed an interactive presentation that would spark more interest. Also, if girls were watching the presentation, I made sure to follow up with them at the end and get some special attention and shared my experiences. My goal was to inspire other females and spark their interest in a career in construction. Under my leadership, the program experienced an increase in the number of females in the program and we went from 2 last year to 7 this year. I was excited to see positive results arising from our strategy. At the beginning of February 2023, I was honored to be part of the ICRF connection where I was able to, not only share my story but to bring awareness and my perspective as a young female working in a job site. We were able to bring up the issues of not having a separate bathroom close to the job site, changing the area, and feeling sometimes unsafe to report any issues if necessary. It was an amazing feeling to be able to be part of that collective voice. As a female in a male-dominated career, success will look like advocacy, success will look like a positive change, success will look more colorful and inclusive, and success will look safer. This is my goal and will be achieved while building beautiful structures, making history, and creating a legacy.

The year was 2001, she was just 22 years old and have never lived away from home. She took the 12-hour journey by airplane and arrived in Indianapolis IN. The year before she had just met the love of her life, he was American from a tiny town in IN. They both embraced the opportunity to get to know each other further, and the way to do it was to become a college student in the USA under an international student visa. The goal was to start her studies at IUPUI. Her life was forever changed. You might be wondering “the year 2001?” and you are correct. I am not the young woman in the story; however, I was deeply affected by her story. She is my mother. My mother’s name is Carolina, she is originally from Brazil. My parents met in Brazil when my dad was doing voluntary work with Habitat for Humanity in the interior of Rio de Janeiro. My mother was working in the same town, and she helped him and his friends to buy beer while in the local festival. They dated long-distance for a while, she was in Law School in Brazil. Due to the difficulties in obtaining a tourist or fiancée visa, they decided that she should finish her studies here in the USA. My mom and dad married in 2003. My mom was in the middle of 1st degree in the USA. She was a very dedicated student and was working towards graduation in Business Finance with honors at IUPUI. I was born in 2004, I was always with her as a baby. Her teachers would allow her to bring me sometimes since she was still breastfeeding me. When she was nominated Top 100 students at her whole school, she took me with her to receive the award, I was only 9 months old. When she graduated in 2006, she was pregnant with my brother. I grew up witnessing my mother making sacrifices and choices to be the best student while also being an amazing mom. She returned to school in 2009 to become a nurse. Both, my brother and I, learned about dedication and professionalism. I am driven because of the example my immigrant mother provided to me. I am successful because she was relentless and advocated for me when I was diagnosed with a learning disability. I am strong because she helped me to find my strengths and to develop strategies to overcome my weakness. I was convinced that it was possible because she did it first. As you see, I can relate to Malgorzata’s challenges as an international Student because I witness the challenges and successes of my mother’s journey studying and learning everything in a foreign language while raising a family. My mother was fierce, brave, and determined. I hope one day she realizes that all the sacrifices she has made and every obstacle she faced, it was always observed and admired by her children. Today, I am on the path to pursuing higher education. I was accepted into my dream school, Ball State University, and will be majoring in Construction Management. I thank my mother for being an example for me. I hope her story inspires the committee of this scholarship as much as it has inspired me.

• My dream is to be a professional who can inspire others to be their best selves. • My dream is to be an individual who can live a balanced life, where my professional and personal identities are being properly nurtured. • My dream is to be able to learn from my mistakes and be kind to myself, understanding that life is a journey, and we have to enjoy it while we live. • My dream is when I am old, and I reminisce on my life, I can be proud of my choices and accomplishments.

My trade journey is an interesting one. When I was in 8th grade, I was exposed to this amazing Junior Achievement program called JA JobSpark. “Job Spark is a two-day, hands-on career expo impacting over 10,000 Indianapolis eighth graders… JobSpark is meant to “spark” an interest in students and get them excited for their future." They learn skills needed for jobs that will be in demand when they graduate. "Students will have a better understanding of the courses they will need to take in high school, a track for post-secondary and a clear career pathway for what they find they are interested in.” (JA JobSpark, 2022). It has been a few years and thinking back to 8th grade, my objectives were different. I wanted to be a Special Education teacher. I wanted to help kids that had the same difficulties I had. I am dyslexic. At the time, I was on the right path, volunteering with Best Buddies in my school, and being a teacher’s aide in the Special Education classroom. When I got to JA JobSpark, I was excited to explore the hands-on experiences, hoping to learn more about careers in Special Education; however, there were no hands-on experiences for special education offered that year. So, I explored other things. They offered, within other things, an amazing construction and engineering area. Hard hat on my head, I went up on the excavator, I was sold! That was a powerful experience. Seeing and doing those things opened my eyes to different opportunities not related to my original goal. Yesterday I had the honor to, years later, return to JobSpark as a student speaker and share my story to leaders of our community and important donors. I shared that when I enter the workforce, I want to work with Construction Management. I always loved to work with my hands, I learn by experiencing, touching, and listening. As a dyslexic, I learned at a very young age how to use the resources I had available. I learned how to use my strengths. It is powerful to see the results of the work of my hands. It is beautiful to build something out of nothing. And it is even more powerful to be a successful female in a male-dominated career. As a professional female in construction, I want to inspire other females and encourage them to choose a career path that brings them joy despite the obstacles. Since JobSpark opened my eyes to the possibility to work in Construction, during High School I chose to pursue the technical honors program and enroll in the Construction Trade Program with the Area 31 career Center. I am proud to be a part of an amazing program and to be the Ambassador for the Construction Trade Program. Construction would probably not be a career I would pursue if it wasn’t for the hands-on immersion I experienced at JA JobSpark. Attending JobSpark helped me believe that I can do anything I set my mind to. It helped me to understand the value of work, that with a little bit of elbow grease, some callouses on my hands, and passion, I can be anything I want. Also, since I am in my 2nd year in the High School trade Program, the next step is higher dreams. I am excited to announce that I just got accepted to Ball State University in the construction management program. This scholarship will help me to finance and further my education. References JA JobSpark. (2022). Retrieved from JAJobSpark.org: https://www.jajobspark.org/

I am the daughter of an immigrant mother. I learned as a child to put a strong value on my education and in hard work. The values and encouragement I learned from my parents were essential to get me where I am today. My parents identified early on that there was something different about the way I learned. I had difficulties with language and reading. My mother did a lot of research, consulted with professionals in the USA and Brazil I was diagnosed with dyslexia in my 1st grade, and I started my journey to overcome the learning disability. My mother was the one who encouraged me the most, she did not let my difficulties take the best of me. I was young when I learned how to use the resources available to me. I have an IEP, and the accommodations helped a lot. Homework was hard. My mother encouraged me, she always said that the dyslexia was not an excuse for me not to be my best. I learned how to identify and manage my strengths, and my learning style. She made me realize that dyslexia made me unique, and I embraced the opportunity to be me. I did not like to read or speak in public, I worked on confidence reading books to service dogs that used to come to the library, and I used to prepare my speeches way in advance. My mother also signed me up to modeling and acting classes to help with confidence and professionalism. My “disability” taught me that I just had a different ability, I just needed to find my strengths. In learning about my strengths and resources, I was introduced to learning styles. I learn better by listening, discussing. Also, I need hands on experiences, I need to touch and feel; therefore, I picked Construction as a career path. It is powerful to see the results of the work of my hands. It is beautiful to build something out of nothing, and it is even more powerful to be a successful female in a male-dominated career. My goal is to help other women to be successful in a career in construction. As a result of embracing myself, I was able to learn the tools necessary to develop excellent communication and leadership skills. I believe because I had these struggles, I became more empathetic toward other people's struggles; therefore, I can lead by example and also by identifying others' communication styles. I take that into consideration reaching and bringing out what is best in others. I was nominated for two very important leadership positions. I was the president of my show choir as well as the ambassador of the construction trades program. Both programs experienced very good years. In my construction program, we increased the number of female students from two to seven this year. I believe this is a direct result of my hard work and leadership Not only have I experienced interpersonal accomplishments, but I also have other accomplishments worth mentioning. They are as follows: • Technical Honors Society • National High School Scholars • JAJobSpark student speaker, and MC VIP breakfast and tour • 3.5 GPA working 30 hours per week, and volunteering In short, I believe I am a great candidate for this scholarship. I struggled with a disability, and I overcame it. I thank my teachers and family who helped me to transform my disability into new abilities. I learned through perseverance, and hard work how to become successful and thrive academically despite my struggles. I would be honored to be the recipient of this scholarship.