When I was a small child, I struggled with developmental delays. In fact, I was seven years old when I learned to speak with others. Eventually, I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, sensory processing disorder, and autism. I was taught to strive for my success. My mom, who is legally blind, demonstrated that she could accomplish anything. She has never been able to read an eye chart. She and her guide dog Scooby-Loo traveled everywhere alone. My dad, who developed an aggressive form of Parkinson's disease when I was eight, learned to accomplish things differently. Before this day, dad participated in every activity with my brother and myself. When I was twelve, we had to help care for dad, so he could live at home. Although this does not count as volunteering, I am grateful for the time I spent with my father. One week before my sophomore year my dad died. So, when it comes to volunteering, I do not have many hours. However, I know as a son, I was where I was needed most by my dad and my family. My grandmother now has Parkinson's disease and I use my experience caring for my father to care for my grandmother as well. I help with caring for her and my grandfather, but I also help with driving, lifting, repairs, and so much more. Ten months after Dad died, we lost half our home on May 9th of 2024 in the storms. The only way we were able to return to our home, seven months later, was with dad's life insurance money. Mom knew we would be reimbursed by insurance, but we still are waiting. Our family income for the three of us is $20,000 a year. I'm applying for every scholarship and grant possible to finance college, a computer, and the supplies necessary for school. It is important that I do not get overwhelmed when starting college. I will only be able to work on some weekends at the flea market in Canton. I plan to take the ACT a couple more times, so that I can raise the score a few points which will help qualify for a computer. Currently, I'm working on essays and scholarships on my cell phone, because I do not have a computer. As a sophomore at Pearl High School I began a 2-year construction class at Hinds Community College. I learned quickly and became passionate about Construction Management. I am helping my grandfather build his own repair shop and getting more experience. My goal is to obtain a Bachelor's of Science degree in Construction Management with a minor in business. Taking a piece of wood and turning it into an amazing project that people will enjoy for years to come is amazing. I've spent the past week building a custom mailbox for my grandmother with a flower bed at the base. When I took her to the end of the driveway to see it, and she cried. She will enjoy it for years to come and I'm so honored that I got the privilege to build it for her. I am applying to the Rankin campus of Hinds Community College. Currently I have a 3.987 grade point average and I am ranked number twenty in my class of 320 at Pearl High School. I have enjoyed competing on the archery team for six years. Thank you for taking your time to consider me for the scholarship. I'm very grateful for anything you can do to help me with my future endeavors.

One week before my sophomore year of high school, I lost my dad to Parkinson's disease. He taught me to persevere and to be able to adapt to struggles. Ten months after losing my father, we had a tornado and lost half our home. It took 7 months to move into our home and we only did it with my dad's life insurance money. My mom knew it would take time, but that she would be reimbursed for the life insurance. However, after two years we are still fighting for our money. Mom was debt free with an 830 credit rating. Now, she owes everyone and her credit rating is now less than 500. Because of the two tragedies back to back, she may never have a good credit rating again. After seeing everything my mother has been through financially, I plan to work hard to have a large savings for emergencies to hopefully prevent this in my future. I am working to get a student credit card, so I can begin building my credit. My mom is low vision and has many health issues. our family income is less than $20,000 a year for the three of us. I'm applying for every scholarship I can in hopes to cover college, a computer, and supplies because there will be no other way to get them. When applying for financial assistance, I use my cell phone since I don't have a computer. I am also working to raise my ACT score, so that will help financially with my college well. Most people do not even know that I have high functioning autism and ADHD, because I have worked so very hard to overcome achieve my goals. Currently, I have a 3.987 grade point average and I'm ranked number twenty in my senior classof 320 at Pearl High School. I have enjoyed the archery team since 6th grade. Many students have lots of community service hours and when my church has special activities in the community, of course, I help. However, since my dad did not have nursing care, we had to take care of his needs. As a sophomore, I started a 2-year construction program at Hinds Community College. I learned quickly and became very passionate about Construction Management. Now, I am helping my grandfather build his own repair shop and gaining even more experience. My goal is to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Construction Management with a minor in business. My father was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Parkinson's disease when I was 8 years old. Before this day, my dad participated in every single activity with my brother and myself. By the time I was twelve, I had to help care for my dad, so he could live and die at home. Although I know this does not count as volunteering, I am grateful for the time I was allowed to spend with my father. One week before my sophomore year in high school, my dad passed away. So when it comes to volunteering, I know I do not have huge numbers of volunteer hours. However, I know as a son I was where I needed to be for my dad and the rest of my family. Now, my grandmother has Parkinson's disease and I use my experiences caring for my father, to care for my grandmother. Now that I'm older, I can help with caregiving for her and my grandfather, but I can also help with driving, lifting, repairs, and so much more.

One week before my sophomore year of high school, I lost my dad to Parkinson's disease.  He taught me to persevere and to be able to adapt to struggles. Most people do not even know that I have high functioning autism and ADHD, because I have worked so very hard to achieve my goals. I did not speak to others until the age of seven. Currently, I have a 3.987 grade point average and I'm ranked number twenty in my senior class at Pearl High School. I have enjoyed the archery team since 6th grade. Many students have lots of community service hours and when my church has special activities in the community, of course,I help. However, since my dad did not have nursing care, we had to take care of his needs. The only way my dad could stay home instead of being a nursing home, is we all had to help care for him. So I don't have great numbers of community service hours, those hours were spent caring for dad and creating memories to treasure for a lifetime. As a sophomore, I started a 2-year construction program at Hinds Community College. I learned quickly and became very passionate about Construction Management. Now, I am helping my grandad build his own repair shop and gaining even more experience. My goal is to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Construction Management with a minor in business. I am applying to Hinds Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. My father's battle with Parkinson's disease taught me to work hard, to be resilient, and to adapt my efforts until success is achieved. I plan to work very hard so I can have a degree in construction management with a minor in business. After I own a construction company, I want to work in the community to help after storms, fire, floods, and other tragedies. It is common for some construction companies to take advantage of others' hardships. My construction company will be honest and I will teach all of my employees to do right by the customer with respect and courtesy. After our fire and our tornado, we had more than one construction company take advantage of our family, and two years later even though the company has been paid, all the work is still not complete. My company will complete work and not take full payment until the customer is satisfied. That is so important in this day and time. Due to my mom's disability, the loss of my dad, and a tornado shortly after that, we live on my mom's $1,800 disability check each month. I work for my grandfather and friends to get extra money to help provide my needs. Please consider me for Scholarship. I will be very grateful for anything you can do to help me in my future endeavors.