At the start of my freshman year at Hug High School, I never envisioned myself on a college readiness track or even considered college as a possibility. This mindset stemmed from a lack of structure in my life, I frequently found myself tardy during my freshman year, and my family has faced ongoing financial struggles. Growing up, money has always been tight, and I did not have a lot. My mom could not work because she was dedicated to caring for my four siblings and me. My older brother has Down Syndrome, which has added both emotional and financial challenges for our family. Despite these difficulties, my dad works tirelessly to provide for us, ensuring we have food on the table, a roof over our heads, and a sense of security. I have a big family, there are seven of us in total, five siblings, my two parents, and my dad has taken the responsibility of providing for all of us. As I grew older, I began to understand the challenges my family faced. We are a low-income household, often struggling to make ends meet. When I turned 16, I started looking for a job and got hired at McDonald's to help provide for my family and pay bills. My mother also sacrificed whatever free time she had by working part-time with a friend, cleaning houses. My parents have instilled in me the value of hard work and I have a lot of pride being able to give back my family in anyway that I can. I have always cared about my grades. Throughout middle school and high school, I worked hard to get good grades, striving for A’s and B’s to make my mom proud. I have been committed to my grades as I have often sacrificed time with friends to focus on homework, study, and I have dedicated extra hours to classes I find difficult. I do my best to not feel discouraged when I struggle academically. To be a better student I have found success in asking questions when I do not understand something, staying motivated, and putting my best effort into every class. I believe this commitment to learning will prepare me to succeed when I get to the University of Nevada, Reno. There are many reasons why I want to go to college. First, I want to pursue my goal of becoming a nurse, and second, to achieve my dream of providing my family with a better place to live and access to resources. The ones that have helped me the most are my mom and my dad, they have been my biggest supporters. Without their constant motivation to stay in school and do my best, I would not have this opportunity to pursue higher education. I plan to major in nursing and use my education to make a meaningful impact. After becoming a nurse, I hope to work at Renown, where I can help patients and use my skills to contribute to my community in a meaningful way. My interest in giving back to my community started with a simple act of kindness, I started cleaning up trash around my apartment complex with my uncle. Unaware that this self-driven volunteer project would allow me to help improve my community, making it a better place where people can feel safe and proud of where they live. We did this every Saturday for a few hours a day for about six months. Through this experience, I gained a lot of insight into how small efforts can make a big difference. It inspired me. Thank to everyone

At the start of my freshman year at Hug High School, I never envisioned myself on a college readiness track or even considered college as a possibility. Growing up, money has always been tight, and I did not have a lot. My mom could not work because she was dedicated to caring for my four siblings and me. My older brother has Down Syndrome, which has added both emotional and financial challenges for our family. Despite these difficulties, my dad works tirelessly to provide for us, ensuring we have food on the table, a roof over our heads, and a sense of security. I have a big family, there are seven of us in total, five siblings, my two parents, and my dad has taken the responsibility of providing for all of us. As I grew older, I began to understand the challenges my family faced. We are a low-income household, often struggling to make ends meet. When I turned 16, I started looking for a job and got hired at McDonald's to help provide for my family and pay bills. My mother also sacrificed whatever free time she had by working part-time with a friend, cleaning houses. My parents have instilled in me the value of hard work and I have a lot of pride being able to give back my family in anyway that I can. There are many reasons why I want to go to college. First, I want to pursue my goal of becoming a nurse, and second, to achieve my dream of providing my family with a better life. My mom and my dad have been my biggest supporters. Without their constant motivation to stay in school and do my best, I would not have this opportunity to pursue higher education. I plan to major in nursing and use my education to make a meaningful impact. After becoming a nurse, I hope to work at Renown, where I can help patients and use my skills to contribute to my community in a meaningful way. My interest in giving back to my community started with a simple act of kindness, I started cleaning up trash around my apartment complex with my uncle. Unaware that this self-driven volunteer project would allow me to help improve my community, making it a better place where people can feel safe and proud of where they live. We did this every Saturday for a few hours a day for about six months. Through this experience, I gained a lot of insight into how small efforts can make a big difference. It inspired me with new ideas about how to make our community cleaner, more beautiful, and more comfortable for everyone. This experience showed me the value of giving back. Helping in our community not only improves the environment around us, but it also makes us feel good about ourselves and encourages us to continue serving others. I want to earn as many scholarships as possible to be the first in my family to attend and graduate from college. Achieving this dream would give motivation and inspiration to my little brothers and sister. They would see that with dedication and effort, they can achieve their goals too. It would show them that no matter the obstacles they face, they can overcome them and turn their dreams into reality. I want to be the change for my family. I want to be the first to pave the way for a generation to come. Thank you for considering me for this scholarship and for the opportunities it will provide.