My awkward thing growing up is actually something that doesn't bother me anymore, this thing being my height and weight combination. Since I was young, I have always known that I was shorter than my peers. I found this out by my love for sports, and realized that in the positions that I played. I was very undersized when I played basketball because my skills only allowed me to play big man. In football, I was always heavier set, so I played on the offensive line. Besides sports, this made me very insecure in general interaction. This stems from a lack of confidence in my body. My lack of self-confidence and social anxiety causes me to see myself as less than compared to my peers. It took a long while to realize that God made me the way I am for a reason, which is something that still reminds me to this day. However, sports changed my perspective on how I see my body. I have loved playing football since I was 8 years old, but as I said, I was always undersized. Initially, this feeling didn't register in my mind until I got to high school. That's when I realized that I was undersized compared to the rest of my teammates at my position. As I said before, I play on the offensive line. For content, most guys at my position are around 6 feet or taller and weigh over 280 pounds. I am only 5'8 and weigh 240 pounds. However, this made me work even harder to become the player I wanted to be. I love football so much that I wasn't going to give up on my dream of becoming a college football player just because the odds were stacked against me. This forced me to be happy with how God created me and work towards my dream. My dream started to become a reality when I received my first collegiate offer from Albright College last July. When I realized that I was at the doorstep of my dream, I honestly couldn't believe it. When I was able to play that season, I had a great senior season, which allowed me to receive an offer from the school that I am committed to, which is Juniata College. My football ability allowed me to go to a school where I am valued both on the field by my coaches and team, and in the community by admission and fellow students.

Being able to become a first-generation college student is more than a dream to me; it is a promise that I made to my parents when I first started school. To add context, my parents' story of how we got to where we are now is pretty unconventional. For my mother, her family's background was extremely rough; that situation caused her, my aunt, and my nana to move from South Carolina to Chicago to New York, and finally to Washington DC. When they finally settled down, they met my grandfather, whom I call PopPop, who was the man who saved my family. He gave my mother, aunt, and nana a place to live and call home. However, things were still very rocky for my mom; her potential journey into college was cut short after becoming a mother to my eldest sister at 17. However, if you asked her, this was a blessing in disguise because it shaped her into the best person she can be. My father lived in DC for the majority of his life. His ability to persevere is something that I admire. When he was around my age, he would admit that he was not focused on his grades, which caused him to try to enroll in trade school. However, he was unable to seize his opportunities and later became a truck driver. This is really where we see the breakthrough for both of my parents after many years of marriage. My mom was finally able to find a government job that fit her schedule and allowed her to work from home. This gave us a good income for a family of four with two private school students on scholarship. However, in August of 2025, my mother suffered a stroke. Since she has been completely out of work, and we are down to one income again, it has been difficult to find colleges that gave us the financial assistance that we truly need. This scholarship can greatly chip away at the burden of college debt in my family and help me get the education that my parents

Being able to give back to my community has always been important, especially to my local community here in Beltsville, Maryland. Over the years, I have been closely tied to my nearby Beltsville Boys & Girls Club since I was eight years old. I was an athlete for both the flag football and tackle football teams until the end of my eighth-grade year. The amount of love that they showed me throughout my time there was the main factor in why I decided to come back and help out. I often came back to coach younger athletes that I once played with, and I was a part of game day staff, such as setting up concessions, being a part of the chains team during games, and cleaning the field and surrounding area of the field. This was more than just something to do on the weekends or something that helped me receive service hours for a graduation requirement; this was a recreation of the love that was given to me and my family when I was eight and for years after that being replicated, and this is the reason I enjoy giving back to my community, love. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." This verse from the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians speaks to how important it is to love properly. Think about it. If you didn't love someone, would you serve them for any reason? God calls us to love one another. This is the kind of love that you need to serve, and not just to serve, but to serve with dignity and genuine care for those you are serving. Another reason community service is important to me is the philosophy of quality over quantity. Sadly, once I became more involved at my school, they offered more service opportunities that put my faith into action, which in turn left me with less time to spend at my community center. However, I know that I can't be everywhere at once as much as I would like to be, so I have been changing my perception of that matter. Instead of trying to carve out my plans on how I want to serve, I allow God to guide me and show how He wants me to serve. Whether that meant going to the community center the only time that I was allowed, or being a part of big service projects with my school's Campus Ministry as a Union Leader and a Bible Club member. However, above all else, the reason why service matters to me the most is being able to see the fruits of labor, which only comes from good and honest work. For example, as a Union Leader, I have been a part of multiple retreats as a student rector, which includes a Kairos Retreat. The most revealing parts of those retreats were when a student asked to pray with me privately, and a different student wanted to discuss the Bible with me. Moments like these make service more rewarding and more powerful than any type of monetary or physical gain.

Being able to give back to my community has always been important, especially to my local community here in Beltsville, Maryland. Over the years, I have been closely tied to my nearby Beltsville Boys & Girls Club since I was eight years old. I was an athlete for both the flag football and tackle football teams until the end of my eighth-grade year. The amount of love that they showed me throughout my time there was the main factor in why I decided to come back and help out. I often came back to coach younger athletes that I once played with, and I was a part of game day staff, such as setting up concessions, being a part of the chains team during games, and cleaning the field and surrounding area of the field. This was more than just something to do on the weekends or something that helped me receive service hours for a graduation requirement; this was a recreation of the love that was given to me and my family when I was eight and for years after that being replicated, and this is the reason I enjoy giving back to my community, love. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." This verse from the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians speaks to how important it is to love properly. Think about it. If you didn't love someone, would you serve them for any reason? God calls us to love one another. This is the kind of love that you need to serve, and not just to serve, but to serve with dignity and genuine care for those you are serving. Another reason community service is important to me is the philosophy of quality over quantity. Sadly, once I became more involved at my school, they offered more service opportunities that put my faith into action, which in turn left me with less time to spend at my community center. However, I know that I can't be everywhere at once as much as I would like to be, so I have been changing my perception of that matter. Instead of trying to carve out my plans on how I want to serve, I allow God to guide me and show how He wants me to serve. Whether that meant going to the community center the only time that I was allowed, or being a part of big service projects with my school's Campus Ministry as a Union Leader and a Bible Club member. However, above all else, the reason why service matters to me the most is being able to see the fruits of labor, which only comes from good and honest work. For example, as a Union Leader, I have been a part of multiple retreats as a student rector, which includes a Kairos Retreat. The most revealing parts of those retreats were when a student asked to pray with me privately, and a different student wanted to discuss the Bible with me. Moments like these make service more rewarding and more powerful than any type of monetary or physical gain.

One time when I had to rely heavily on my faith was when my mother had a stroke three days before the start of my senior year. The entire situation didn't make any sense to me at the time. She is young and takes very good care of herself, even though she has four kids and was taking care of my twin sister and me. On top of having the duties of a regular mother, and then some, she has her own hair business and has a job at NIH. So when she had the stroke, our family's lives changed completely. She isn't just the pillar of our family; she is also the best friend to a lot of people, including me. I have always felt as though she was someone whom I could go to about anything, and who won't judge me about what I tell her. She is the most caring person that I know, and she has always had a soft spot for Jesus. She would always want us to go to church to be in community with others, and she would always tell us to pray over any situation in our lives, whether good or bad. Losing her for a while meant a loss of valuable family income, having a gracious mother down for a while, and putting one of the Lord's strongest soldiers on the shelf, so to speak. So when her stroke happened, I was stuck mentally and spiritually. To be completely honest, I started drifting away from Jesus. I started asking questions like, "Why would He do this?" "How could He let this happen?" and "Why now, during the most important year of my life?" These were genuine questions that I asked myself during this time because I didn't know how to navigate what was happening to our family. All of this was happening while I was in the middle of my football season, and I was also trying to handle my other extracurricular activities at the same time. Trying to do all of this without Him started to break me down. So one night after a long day of practice, I collapsed to my knees and started crying to Jesus. I was sobbing so much that I could barely breathe, and I could barely get my words out to him. During this time, I had many more prayer nights just like this, and I truly believe that these are the most impactful prayers, because they feel the most authentic and heartfelt. Having these genuine moments with the Lord gave me spark back. This is when I found out that I can't make it without His guidance. I started praying over the entire process of senior year. College applications, football recruitment, scholarship opportunities, and stronger extracurricular activities. Now that I have received my diploma, I wish that I had leaned on his guidance even more. He has answered my prayers and has shown me the best opportunity to receive the education that I want and play collegiate football, which is at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, where I plan on studying Kinesiology and Pre-Physical Therapy. Without Him, I now know that I am nothing and would continue to stray away from His plan for me. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear nor be dismayed. For the Lord our God is with you wherever you go." I plan to continue living out His faith and be a beacon of God's light for others. My socials are @jfaison71 on Instagram and @JohnFaison70 on Twitter.

To say that my family and I have been through struggles would be an understatement. Including financial struggles, hardships, and medical emergencies. To speak for myself, I have dealt with anxiety, depressive thoughts and actions, and other things that I am not proud of at all. However, through it all, we have continued to persevere, even though the odds are still stacked against us. Which is why I truly believe that scholarships like this will help my family out tremendously. The biggest challenges in my life have been internal, which, in retrospect, seem to be the hardest ones to battle. For context, I have played football since I was nine years old. This sport was my first love and still is to this very day. However, in the summer leading up to my sophomore year, I almost quit. I allowed my anxiety to get the best of me, and I lost my spark for the sport. However, my loved ones pulled me out of my slump and convinced me to give it another try. However, my biggest mental slumps came from losing my grandfather, losing one of my teammates from youth football, and seeing my own mother have a stroke that has kept her in and out of hospitals. As a young Christian, these were some of the worst experiences of my life. I say this because in each one of these situations, I asked God, "Why would you let this happen?" Being in a spiritual slump is extremely difficult to get out of, but Jesus has seen fit to pull me out of these dark situations, because he knows what I was doing to pass the time, rather than going to him immediately and being around people that I shouldn't be around, and indulging in things that I shouldn't be indulging in. I started praying over the entire process of senior year. College applications, football recruitment, scholarship opportunities, and extra strength in my extracurricular activities. Now that I am in my last semester of high school, I wish that I had leaned on his guidance even more. He has answered my prayers and has shown me the best opportunity to receive the education that I want and play collegiate football. Which is at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, where I plan on studying Kinesiology and Pre-Physical Therapy. Without Him, I now know that I am nothing and would continue to stray away from His plan for me. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear nor be dismayed. For the Lord our God is with you wherever you go." I plan on continuing to live out His faith and to be a beacon of the light of God for others. To speak on our financial hardship currently would take a long time to lay out fully. To keep it short, however, I think it is important to mention that my parents had always had their difficulties trying to pay for my sister and me to attend private school. If it weren't for other scholarships, we would be in public school. However, it got even worse when my mother went down, because she and my father would be able to split the bills evenly with two paychecks coming in, but now my father has to pay all of these expenses by himself, which makes us wonder if he would be able to pay for my sister and me to go to college. I just know that scholarship opportunities like this would help us out completely.

My life story starts pretty ordinary. I am an only son with three sisters, and both of my parents have been present in my whole life. I have played football since I was nine years old, and I have a love for working out and helping my body transform. However, you wouldn't know that right off the bat because I have struggled with anxiety since I was eight years old. Because of this, I was a very shy and nervous kid. This anxiety has kept me from being an outgoing kid, which made me a chronic over-thinker, someone who thought about a decision more times than they had to, someone who second-guesses every decision that they make, someone who is scared to step into new opportunities, and someone who fights his own conscience time and time again. Once I got into high school, this anxiety got worse. Being homeschooled until going to high school made it very difficult to fit in at first. I was scared of being seen as an outcast, so I lied to many people about being homeschooled and what kind of "experiences" I had in middle school. Deep down, however, I knew that I was lying, and I still didn't fit in as much as I wanted to. This made school feel like a task, even though I was a football player and had good grades. The good thing about high school at this point was that I was succeeding, and I started to put my name out there, finally. Freshman year made me realize that I can grow into my own and become the man that I have always wanted to be. However, in between the last semester of my freshman year and the summer of my sophomore year, I was in the loneliest season of my life. School was rough, I started distancing myself from people again, and I was losing love for my sport. I allowed my anxiety to get the best of me, and I lost my spark for the sport. However, my loved ones pulled me out of my slump and convinced me to give it another try. However, my biggest mental slumps came from losing my grandfather, losing one of my teammates from youth football, and seeing my own mother have a stroke that has kept her in and out of hospitals. As a young Christian, these were some of the worst experiences of my life. I say this because in each one of these situations, I asked God, "Why would you let this happen?"These were genuine questions that I asked myself during this time because I didn't know how to navigate what was happening to our family. Being in a spiritual slump is extremely difficult to get out of, still, Jesus has seen fit to pull me out of these dark situations because He knows what I was doing to pass the time, rather than going to him immediately and being around people that I shouldn't be around, and indulging in things that I shouldn't be indulging in. All of this was happening while I was in the middle of my football season, and I was also trying to handle my other extracurricular activities at the same time. Trying to do all of this without Him started to break me down. So one night after a long day of practice, I collapsed to my knees and started crying to Jesus. I was sobbing so much that I could barely breathe, and I could barely get my words out to him. During this time, I had many more prayer nights just like this, and I truly believe that these are the most impactful prayers, because those prayers feel the most authentic and heartfelt. Having these genuine moments with the Lord gave me spark back. This is when I found out that I can't make it without His guidance. I started praying over the entire process of senior year. College applications, football recruitment, scholarship opportunities, and extra strength in my extracurricular activities. Now that I am in my last semester of high school, I wish that I had leaned on his guidance even more. He has answered my prayers and has shown me the best opportunity to receive the education that I want and play collegiate football. Which is at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, where I plan on studying Kinesiology and Pre-Physical Therapy. Without Him, I now know that I am nothing and would continue to stray away from His plan for me. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear nor be dismayed. For the Lord our God is with you wherever you go." I plan on continuing to live out His faith and to be a beacon of the light of God for others.

Pursuing higher education has always interested me throughout my life. Since I was young, I have planned to go to college, earn a degree, then enter grad school, and get a job that I truly want out of that field. However, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to pursue when I got to college. There have been multiple times when I thought I knew, but that just wasn't the case. For example, ever since I was younger, I have always had a soft spot for science and mathematics. These have been my two favorite subjects since I started school. However, I knew that this love for these subjects was limited to solving theorems and crunching numbers, so I knew that pursuing a degree in this matter would not be ideal. The degree in question was hardware engineering. This is what I believed that I wanted to do until I got to high school. During this time, there have been two separate instances that made me change my mind on what I wanted to major in and what I wanted to do after. The first instance comes from when I started working out with my high school football team before the beginning of my freshman year. My teammates had noticed that my ability to work out with proper form and intensity was far greater than that of any other incoming freshman on the team. So it was suggested by one of my coaches that I continue to learn more about health and fitness because of how much I already knew on a basic level, without taking any prior classes in middle school. I thought that the knowledge that I had was basic because I would watch YouTube videos of people working out for hours on end, and that was enjoyable to me. Working out in of itself has always been enjoyable to me, because that's where I feel safe and happy, and I want to be someone who can help others find that same happiness through working out and bettering their lives. The second instance comes from the summer before my senior year. It comes from the fact that my mother had a stroke in August, three days before the start of my senior year. I had seen her in multiple hospitals and rehab centers, and each time I noticed the number of therapists who worked with her. Whether it was for speech therapy, occupational therapy, or physical therapy, many different personalities came through to help my mother. This had me thinking because I mentioned how I want to be a kind of person who can better the lives of others. Well, wanting to major in Kinesiology could help me become a Physical Therapist. Again, being able to restore others to strength will always be something that I am striving for, but the main reason I want to become one is that I want to help my mom recover fully. The reason why I want to do that is that she was always there to help me recover, mentally and physically. She always seemed to be able to help in any circumstance. Now, I want to turn it around and do the same for her.

Honestly, I haven't been the most open person in the world growing up. I was extremely shy, and have dealt with anxiety since my elementary school years. I wasn't involved in many activities, and I haven't put my name out there as much as I should have. The lack of opening up to new opportunities is due to the fact that I was homeschooled all the way up to 8th grade. I didn't believe that I would have much involvement in the outlook of my school, because I only planned on being an athlete who got good grades, which in retrospect, is an outlook that I regret to say that I had. However, once opportunities lined up, I decided to take them without expecting the result that I wanted. Between my freshman and junior years, I was accepted into my school's National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society chapters, named a Pallotti Pal Student, which is the students tasked with leading Open House and shadow visit hosts, being an all-conference football player and team captain, named a campus ministry union leader, being a Beltsville Boys & Girl Club leader, while maintaining a 3.9 GPA. To this very day, I believe that I have made that shy and timid kid proud. Seeing where I have grown from is inspiring and keeps me going every day. As many good things have happened in my life, it feels like the same amount of hardships have come to bite my family and me. On August 22nd, 2025, my mother, Aiysha Adams-Faison, suffered two very serious strokes. This happened hours before I was scheduled to play in my team's first game of the season in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ever since then, I have suffered from more anxiety and have dealt with depression. I have been stuck in this since then because now my family's financial situation is completely in shambles. It has gotten to the point where I don't believe I will be able to even go to college this year. This scholarship would help take one step closer to chasing my dreams of majoring in Kinesiology and Pre-Physical Therapy, being a collegiate athlete, and becoming a Physical Therapist in the future. With our financial uncertainty, I have been worried about my future more than someone my age should. The more I pray for situations like this to pop up, the more I believe that opportunities like this scholarship are heaven-sent. I pray that the committee will give my family and my situation good consideration, but I also pray for the other applicants as well. Thank you so much for your consideration, and God bless.

Pursuing higher education has always interested me throughout my life. Since I was young, I have planned to go to college, earn a degree, then enter grad school, and get a job that I truly want out of that field. However, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to pursue when I got to college. There have been multiple times when I thought I knew, but that just wasn't the case. For example, ever since I was younger, I have always had a soft spot for science and mathematics. These have been my two favorite subjects since I started school. However, I knew that this love for these subjects was limited to solving theorems and crunching numbers, so I knew that pursuing a degree in this matter would not be ideal. The degree in question was hardware engineering. This is what I believed that I wanted to do until I got to high school. During this time, there have been two separate instances that made me change my mind on what I wanted to major in and what I wanted to do after. The first instance comes from when I started working out with my high school football team before the beginning of my freshman year. My teammates had noticed that my ability to work out with proper form and intensity was far greater than that of any other incoming freshman on the team. So it was suggested by one of my coaches that I continue to learn more about health and fitness because of how much I already knew on a basic level, without taking any prior classes in middle school. I thought that the knowledge that I had was basic because I would watch YouTube videos of people working out for hours on end, and that was enjoyable to me. Working out in of itself has always been enjoyable to me, because that's where I feel safe and happy, and I want to be someone who can help others find that same happiness through working out and bettering their lives. The second instance comes from the summer before my senior year. It comes from the fact that my mother had a stroke in August, three days before the start of my senior year. I had seen her in multiple hospitals and rehab centers, and each time I noticed the number of therapists who worked with her. Whether it was for speech therapy, occupational therapy, or physical therapy, many different personalities came through to help my mother. This had me thinking because I mentioned how I want to be a kind of person who can better the lives of others. Well, wanting to major in Kinesiology could help me become a Physical Therapist. Again, being able to restore others to strength will always be something that I am striving for, but the main reason I want to become one is that I want to help my mom recover fully. The reason why I want to do that is that she was always there to help me recover, mentally and physically. She always seemed to be able to help in any circumstance. Now, I want to turn it around and do the same for her.

To be completely honest, my personal experiences with finances come from a lack of knowledge regarding this topic. For a very long time, my parents have been the ones who buy everything for me, whether it was a need or a want, they always found some way to help me out. I have not had many opportunities to learn financial literacy. However, when the opportunity finally presented itself, I made stupid mistakes. Two summers ago, I was involved in a two-month internship that paid a good sum of money. The problem is that once I got that money, I made very dumb purchases that I didn't need. While I still use some of the things that I bought, other things were temporary and didn't bring much value. My parents have been such a big help in terms of finances. They have bought me a lot of fun and exciting things, but they have also provided for a lot of needs that my sister and I have, including scraping together money to make our tuition payments on time. However, we lost our mom's salary. She had a stroke back in August, and since then, we've been trying to find ways to minimize the costs of items that we need, like groceries, transportation, and shelter, on top of having to work through a ton of bills on one income. With that loss of valuable income, we are currently living paycheck to paycheck and have no idea how much money we will be able to pay for college. When thinking of ways I could help out my father with some of my own expenses, I have turned in a ton of job applications, applied to a ton of scholarships, and have even started taking a personal finance class during my last semester of high school. I haven't heard back any from any of my job or scholarship applications, but I have been continuing to submit them over and over again until I hear something. The personal finance class has taught me a lot about how to budget my money, different types of savings, how credit cards work compared to debit cards, and scholarships and grants versus student or parent plus loans. My plan for the future is to take a degree in Kinesiology, become a physical therapist, and build a better and more sustainable future for myself in terms of financial literacy. The reason why is that I want to become a father someday, and I want to build generational wealth for my family, and be a strong provider, just like my mother and father. However, the ultimate goal for me is to be able to take care of my parents. I want them to retire happily and be able to live out the rest of their lives without having work, and being able to enjoy themselves again.

To say that my family and I have been through struggles would be an understatement. Including financial struggles, hardships, and medical emergencies. To speak for myself, I have dealt with anxiety, depressive thoughts and actions, and other things that I am not proud of at all. However, through it all, we have continued to persevere, even though the odds are still stacked against us. Which is why I truly believe that scholarships like this will help my family out tremendously. The biggest challenges in my life have been internal, which, in retrospect, seem to be the hardest ones to battle. For context, I have played football since I was nine years old. This sport was my first love and still is to this very day. However, in the summer leading up to my sophomore year, I almost quit. I allowed my anxiety to get the best of me, and I lost my spark for the sport. However, my loved ones pulled me out of my slump and convinced me to give it another try. However, my biggest mental slumps came from losing my grandfather, losing one of my teammates from youth football, and seeing my own mother have a stroke that has kept her in and out of hospitals. As a young Christian, these were some of the worst experiences of my life. I say this because in each one of these situations, I asked God, "Why would you let this happen?" Being in a spiritual slump is extremely difficult to get out of, but Jesus has seen fit to pull me out of these dark situations, because he knows what I was doing to pass the time rather than going to him immediately. Being around people that I shouldn't be around, and indulging in things that I shouldn't be indulging in. To speak on our financial hardship currently would take a long time to lay out fully. To keep it short, however, I think it is important to mention that my parents had always had their difficulties trying to pay for my sister and me to attend private school. If it weren't for other scholarships, we would be in public school. However, it got even worse when my mother went down, because she and my father would be able to split the bills evenly with two paychecks coming in, but now my father has to pay all of these expenses by himself, which makes us wonder if he would be able to pay for my sister and me to go to college. I just know that scholarship opportunities like this would help us out completely.

One time when I had to rely heavily on my faith was when my mother had a stroke three days before the start of my senior year. The entire situation didn't make any sense to me at the time. She is young and takes very good care of herself, even though she has four kids and was taking care of my twin sister and me. On top of having the duties of a regular mother, and then some, she has her own hair business and has a job at NIH. So when she had the stroke, our family's lives changed completely. She isn't just the pillar of our family; she is also the best friend to a lot of people, including me. I have always felt as though she was someone whom I could go to about anything, and who won't judge me about what I tell her. She is the most caring person that I know, and she has always had a soft spot for Jesus. She would always want us to go to church to be in community with others, and she would always tell us to pray over any situation in our lives, whether good or bad. Losing her for a while meant a loss of valuable family income, having a gracious mother down for a while, and putting one of the Lord's strongest soldiers on the shelf, so to speak. So when her stroke happened, I was stuck mentally and spiritually. To be completely honest, I started drifting away from Jesus. I started asking questions like, "Why would He do this?" "How could He let this happen?" and "Why now, during the most important year of my life?" These were genuine questions that I asked myself during this time because I didn't know how to navigate what was happening to our family. All of this was happening while I was in the middle of my football season, and I was also trying to handle my other extracurricular activities at the same time. Trying to do all of this without Him started to break me down. So one night after a long day of practice, I collapsed to my knees and started crying to Jesus. I was sobbing so much that I could barely breathe, and I could barely get my words out to him. During this time, I had many more prayer nights just like this, and I truly believe that these are the most impactful prayers, because those prayers feel the most authentic and heartfelt. Having these genuine moments with the Lord gave me spark back. This is when I found out that I can't make it without His guidance. I started praying over the entire process of senior year. College applications, football recruitment, scholarship opportunities, and extra strength in my extracurricular activities. Now that I am in my last semester of high school, I wish that I had leaned on his guidance even more. He has answered my prayers and has shown me the best opportunity to receive the education that I want and play collegiate football. Which is at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, where I plan on studying Kinesiology and Pre-Physical Therapy. Without Him, I now know that I am nothing and would continue to stray away from His plan for me. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear nor be dismayed. For the Lord our God is with you wherever you go." I plan on continuing to live out His faith and to be a beacon of the light of God for others.

The movie that had the greatest impact on my life is actually named Greater. It follows the true story of the fallen Brandon Burlsworth. Before his passing, he was an aspiring National Football League lineman hopeful who spent years training himself mentally, physically, and spiritually to become the best football player he could be and the best Christian man he could be. He was slandered for years because of his lack of talent on the football field and his dream of playing for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Even though he was doubted by coaches, his peers, and even his own family, he worked hard every day regardless of the noise. However, all of the success he had on the football field to that point is minuscule compared to how amazing his faith in God was. He led Bible study sessions with his teammates and seemed to try to be a beacon for others, as God would want us to be. All of this hard work granted him the opportunity to be picked in the early second round of the NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, and he was also allowed to become a starter on the team. Sadly, however, he passed away in a car accident months after achieving his dream and making his family proud. His legacy lives on in college athletics, where they named an award after him for the best player who started their career as a walk-on, and the foundation named after him has a motto: "do it the Burls way," meaning always do the right thing when no one is watching. This movie has had such a great impact on my life because I feel like I have gone through similar experiences to his. For example, I have been told my entire Football career that I won't make it very far. Being an undersized player for my position, which is the same position that Brandon played, I have been told so many times that I can't do this, or I won't make it to the college level. His story of defying the odds time and time again is powerful and a daily reminder that chasing your dreams never comes easily. His model of living your life to the fullest is another inspiring aspect that he has lived his life to the fullest. That motto for his foundation was not just something that his family came up with; that was genuinely how Brandon lived. I try to follow this kind of example by involving myself in everything that brings me joy. Whether that means holding leadership positions in four extracurricular clubs or being involved in my community, I strive to follow these kinds of examples because I want my name to be honored, as I want to honor others. However, above all else, I want to be the best Christian man I can be. Brandon's example of living out his faith as a collegiate athlete speaks volumes to how important it is to him. Especially with the kinds of temptations with such a status. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear nor be dismayed. For the Lord our God is with you whether you go." Brandon lived his faith in God without fear, and I continue to strive for the same working faith every single day.

There has many challenges in my life that I have faced, but the greatest challenge I have ever faced in my life was my mother having a stroke. For content, this woman is the strongest person I have ever met in my life. She has quite literally done everything for me in my life, like teaching me how to cook and cooking all the time herself, cleaning every part of the house if she needed to, and most importantly, teaching me about my faith and why it is important. I always use an analogy to describe how important both she and my father are in life. I describe my life and well-being as a table, I describe Jesus Christ as the biggest pillar in the middle, and my parents as smaller pillars on opposite sides holding me up. Growing up, I couldn't imagine ever losing my mother. I always believed that she was someone that if I were to lose, my whole life would go crumbling down. I remember having a conversation with her when I was ten years old. I asked her if she thought that I would be able to thrive if she were gone. She told me not to think about it and worry about what we can control right now. Years later, I enter high-school as a freshman, and I had to learn this lesson the hard way. As I mentioned before, I have had many experiences that tormented me in my life, many of them had come during this time of my life. However, the person whom I always went to when I was in pain, trouble, or distraught was Jesus, and then it was my mother. I have always known to keep Jesus first, but my mom was definitely second, she knows a lot about me that nobody else knows. I have always loved her for the fact that she doesn't tell other people about my business, and keeps that loving and caring between us. There has been a level of secrecy that we have, but we will always pray about any situation that troubles us. With her guidance, I was able to come into my own in high school. I became an NHS representative, the Spanish National Honor Society Vice President, a 2-time All Conference Football and Team Captain, and a Campus Ministry Union Leader at St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland. I was glad that she was able to see all of those accomplishments because she is one of the biggest reasons why I continue to endure challenges. In the summer before my senior year, she went to Football Camps with my father and me. During one of those camps, she was there to see me receive my first college offer. Seeing her cry tears of joy afterwards was the most heart-warming moment I remember while in a sports setting. Seeing how proud she was made the 3-hour morning camp in 90-degree heat worth it more than she could imagine. My team and I took a trip down to Tennessee to play a team down there. Having that trip with my teammates was worth it because we had fun, and the parents were having a lot of fun the night before as well. The morning of, we had meetings before the game, and my mom, who was a team mom, was having a discussion while we were eating after the game, but I noticed that something was wrong with her. Her words were slurred, and she didn't know where she was. My team's trainer and another parent who is an EMT noticed what was wrong and called the ER. When they arrived and tried to get my mom on a gurney, she was stumbling and didn't have her balance at all. Right then and there, I started bawling. The strongest person I knew was now weak, and I didn't know what was going to happen to her. My sister, my father, and I stayed behind in Tennessee to be with her for a day. That's when I found out that she had a stroke. Two days after this, senior year started. This was the most difficult school year I have experienced so far. For the first 3 and a half months of school, I couldn't see my mom because she was in a Hospital in Chattanooga. I lost myself during that time. I was living life on autopilot, and every day felt pointless without her. I had to teach myself how to cook meals for my family, learn how to clean up better, and manage school, college apps, and football by myself. Jesus is truly the only reason why I have persevered. I was able to get another All-Conference Award in Football, be named a student ambassador, and become a member of the Bible Club. I knew that she would want me to persevere through this difficulty with Jesus. He has given us countless blessings throughout this time, and He kept going through everything. From His blessings, I have been able to say that I am committed to Juniata College for Football. I know that He's going to continue to bless my family and me because His grace and mercy for us is amazing and should be taken advantage of. I believe that this scholarship can help me pay for the school that chose to not only excel in the classroom and on the field, but also as a Disciple of Christ.