My name is Kennedy Davis, I am a freshman at Shawnee State University. I am one of 6 children. This scholarship will help to pay part of my tuition. I left high school with a 4.25 GPA, and hope to continue that into college. In high school I was the Vice President of the student body and delivered our closing prayer at graduation. This summer I spent time in Honduras with part of our youth group from church providing shoes to children in orphanages there. It was certainly a life changing experience and made me more grateful for the things I have here at home. I am eager to go back next year and see the kids that I met this year. It was an emotional week and one that I won't forget. Here at home, I also volunteer with Special Olympics. My mom has been running the softball throw event for the last 20 years. Every year we go and help her and the athletes. It is always so exciting to see the athletes receive their medals and cheer for them. Personally, I play softball for SSU. I am excited for the year to begin and start working with my new teammates. In high school I played softball and volleyball. I have played sports since I was 3. All my siblings play a sport or participate in theater. I have grown up at the ballfields and gyms in my community. My mom has coached in the community for 25 years. I have helped to clean, paint, mop, sweep our gym at home a number of times. I have volunteered at softball and volleyball camps teaching younger girls how to play the sports I love. I have "old lady" hobbies my friends like to say. I like to sew and I make sweatshirt designs for my friends and family. Many of my friends are going away to college and I made many of them shirts for their new schools. I have my own sewing machine and sew my teammates uniforms when they get ripped or torn. I also alter my dresses and some of my friends prom or homecoming dresses. My goal in college is to major in Chemistry and then continue on to Physicians Assistant school after graduation. I am very interested in neuro science and neuro anatomy. During my junior/senior summer I attended to "nerd" camps Neuro and Anatomy Camp. They both fascinate me. I would be honored to receive this scholarship to help alleviated my tuition costs. Thank you for taking time to read this.

Throughout my entire life I have been involved in sports. I have been on a countless number of teams, and I have played alongside even more teammates. However, I have only had one teammate that has not failed me in even the slightest way, God. To me, a good teammate means to reflect the actions of the one who is faithful to everyone. To be a good teammate does not always mean you have to be the best player. I grew up playing basketball, volleyball, and softball. In all three sports I can admit that I was not the best out there. I can remember when I was eight years old playing travel softball, and I sat on the bench more than anyone else on our team. Most games I would not get in until the third or fourth inning. I’m not saying that I was a better teammate than all the other girls, they were great, but I always tried my best to be the loudest in the dugout when my teammates did anything good, I wasn’t mean to another girl because I wanted her spot, and I never complained to a coach about what I didn’t get. A good teammate can work hard on their sport while also picking up the people around them and reflecting a positive attitude. A few of the best teammates I have had come from a travel team called the Ohio Hawks. This was a travel team I played on during the summer of 2022. This team was especially important to me because I gained three girls that are still important to me to this day. Their names are Paige, Khamil, and Kaliah. If I had never been on this team then I would not have gained three girls who still text me to check up on me even though we live thirty minutes from each other, girls who support me, and three amazing girls who help me see the positives in life. However, what I adore most about them is that whenever I come to them about a genuine problem, they always tell me they are praying for me. I often forgot that I have people who are willing to tell me that my life is in Gods hand, but that is why this team became the most important to me over my eleven years playing sports. One of my biggest battles throughout my time playing sports was my recruiting process. My hardest decision was having to pick a school, but all the pieces started coming together when I realized I was not the one in charge. When I thought I had made my decision about where I wanted to go, God presented me with information I did not have before. I went on a visit to this school and experienced what the player to coach interaction was. After seeing what I had seen that day, I was crushed. This was the school I was dead set on, and I was devastated. On the way home after talking to my mom I decided to commit to my second option at the time. I did not know it then, but it was the best decision I had ever made. I kept reminding myself this is what God has planned for me, and that is what got me through the overthinking and sleepless nights. Ever since then I have received signs of why it all worked out this way. The only other thing that can get me through a tough game are the words, “Play Hard, Don’t Suck.” In the end, God will provide.