Hello my name is Katie Moore I am a high school Senior in Sparks, Nevada I am committed to attending Colorado State University with a major in political science and a minor in ASL interpretation. I believe these 2 specializations together could help death and hard of hearing people that do not usually have a voice in a political setting gain one. As well as being bilingual is a very important skill. Politics has interested me from a very young age. In fifth grade my teacher hosted a mock election with the presidents for that year Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I did not have a clue who either of these people were so I went home and asked my dad. He proceeded to tell me that because he was a felon his right to vote got taken away so he does not keep up with politics. This piqued my interest and over the years the events of our country that will no doubt be in history books such as Covid, the BLM protests, and the Roe vs. Wade controversies has made me passionate enough that I would like to pursue a career in public policy. I chose political science as my major to achieve this goal because it will not only help me understand the history of the country but it will also help me learn what the country needs in the future. Politicians usually do not have their constitutes best interest at heart and is more focused on the money that can be achieved. I would want to work for an organization that would help correct these decisions. I believe that politics should make people have better lives and opportunities and help bridge the gap of inequality and inequity that is riddled throughout America. I believe having the hunger to keep learning will help make future politicians better than the ones we have today. Politics is a mix of data and researching and those are two of my biggest interests. This might sounds strange but paper work and reading is a tedious activity that calms me so I believe my desire to help people mixed with my excitement over the day to day operations makes me the perfect candidate to make the world a better place through political science. Thank you so much for considering me for this opportunity as well as your family offering this scholarship to students like me who do not have the financial means to achieve their goals.

Hello, my name's Katie Moore. I am a high school senior in Sparks, NV. I transferred here for my senior year due to family issues but before that I attended school in Lovelock, NV which has a population of about 2,000 and is very rural. Going from a small town to a bigger city was a culture shock but I am maintaining my grades with a 3.89 unweighted GPS as well as maintaining 2 part time jobs where I work at 50-60 hours a week. I am very interested in reading and just learning more in general, I also enjoy shopping, hanging put with my friends, as well as spending time with my family. I played varsity volleyball for 2 years and JV volleyball for 1 year but had to quit to help support my family. I've been involved in many clubs including Jobs for American Graduates, Future Business Leaders of America, and Future Farmers of America. Which I held the title of Vice president for the JAG and FBLA. I am committed to attending Colorado State University in the Fall with a major in Political Science and a minor in ASL interpretation. Politics and the way the government works is very intriguing to me and I want to build my career in it. I am passionate about learning how to improve the inequalities and inequities within our country. ASL also interests me because being bilingual is very useful today as well as knowing a language that is underrepresented would be a great learning opportunity. Something that I am very passionate about is closing the gap in educational inequality. In poorer areas the students do not get the same education and opportunities as people in more wealthy environments. So as a charity I would provide books, supplies, and more advanced training and seminars for the teachers. This would not only benefit the students well being but also help the teachers reach their career and educational goals. Dolly Parton is a huge inspiration to this she has a charity that sends kids books for free but I would like to take it to the next level by providing the teachers and schools as a whole with the technology needed to ensure that the educational gap closes. I would have people working for a salary as well as volunteering at my charity. The volunteers would not only do the ground work when it came to finding students and schools that need assistance but also be making connections with them to find the individual needs for each school. This scholarship would help me make my career dreams come true so thank you so much for considering me and I appreciate the opportunity your family is providing to students like me with this scholarship.

I have always been smart. I am a bookworm, have been on honor roll almost every semester of my academic career, and been involved in so many extracurriculars it makes my head spin. That was before my senior year. Looking at the expectations of everything around me whether that was my school, my peers, or the media. I often thought to myself, "am I still smart?” This was a major upheaval for me and made me doubt myself. It also made me learn that it is okay to not be “smart.” I have always been able to jungle anything and everything. From having two jobs to playing varsity volleyball to striving for academic success always. I felt average compared to my peers because I could be doing more to be the poster child of a “smart” person. I had an identity crisis that made me question if I would even be able to achieve and succeed in my higher education and career goals in the future. I have been dreaming of being involved in the government and making an impact on the communities around me, but because I was comparing myself so heavily to the people around me, I did not think that was a feasible possibility anymore. That is when I realized that although I worked extremely hard to be “smart,” I was not nourishing myself or the relationships around me in an impactful way. When every second of my day is scheduled down to the minute with club meetings, school, sports, and work there was no time for my friends, going to and from my dad and mom's houses was almost impossible. I missed weddings, reunions, graduations, football games, and watching my siblings grow up because I had to prove that I was smart enough. After many hours of therapy and looking inward I found that becoming “well rounded” by society definition and my own are two vastly different things. Having healthy relationships with not only myself but the people around me as well as meeting what my definition of “well rounded” is and the expectations that I put on myself, not looking at what my peers, counselors, and colleges definition was. Changing my belief that even though I could be smarter, I could join more clubs, I could play more sports, I could volunteer more, I could work more. Does not mean that I must, meeting society’s standards is no longer important to me if I meet my own. I am going to go to college and facilitate a flourishing career with the new outlook that I can be “smart” and “well rounded” but on my own terms. Getting this scholarship will not only be able to let me reach my goal of higher education but also help me achieve my goal of proving to myself that I can meet my own definition of smart and achieve anything even though I come from a low-income family.

Growing up my father struggled with substance abuse issues so that left my mother to care for me and my two siblings all by herself. Being a single mom is immensely difficult but being the daughter of a single mother is equally as hard. Watching my mom struggle not only financially but mentally was eye-opening at a young age and it showed me that no matter how hard you try you might not ever succeed. That was a tough pill to swallow because my mother always told me that I could grow up and do whatever I wanted and to "dream big no matter what" but watching her not be able to achieve the things she wanted like getting a higher education changed my perspective. One of my most core memories as a child was going with my mother to the federal housing office or the WIC office and sitting for hours waiting for our turn. Going to the grocery store was one of my favorite things because her food stamps allowed her to get my siblings and me each a treat of our choosing. At the Safeway, we shopped at they had little kid shopping carts and we would push them around with our one treat in them and feel all grown up, even though we definitely were not. Knowing the value of a dollar from a really young age helped me when I turned 15 and was able to get a job to help support my family. When I got my first job at the local sandwich shop in my town I would save all of my tips in hopes that I could pursue a higher education. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away and the only way we could travel to the funeral was by using my savings. It was bittersweet because I knew without my savings I would have to find alternate means to pay for my college but going to my grandpa's funeral was more important for my family. Nobody else in my family has gone to college so being a first-generation college student can feel lonely at times. My mom tries her hardest but she does not really know what to do either. Getting this scholarship would not only alleviate some stress off of my shoulders when it comes to my financial planning but it would also help my mom not have to worry because I can "dream big no matter what".

Barbie is iconic in itself but the dream house is what every little girl aspires of having so believe me when I say that I have thought about this excessively. The dream location for my dream house would be near a city but with a beautiful view like Cannon Beach, Oregon. The exterior is a white farm style ranch with pink pops of color. So pink shutters and a pink mailbox the resembles the house. I would like it to be humble in the outside but vast with imagination on the inside. I would prefer 5 bedrooms and 4-5 bathrooms. Each bedroom would have its own theme not in a tacky way but maybe a different color scheme or interest in each. The living room would have a glass wall that can be retracted so you can walk straight out to the backyard that is about 2-3 acres long. The backyard includes a pool, a fire pit, and an outdoor eating area with a wrap around porch. Some cool features I Would love is a library with all my favorite books and the best reading nook anyone has ever seen. I love relaxing so an indoor hot tub would be amazing as well as a tv/recreational room. With expansive couches arcade games and foosball. Last but certainly not least I would like a guest house so my friends and family can come over and feel like they are at a hotel.

Rich, that might sound cliche but being able to live comfortably, support the people around me, and give back to my community is my dream version of my future self.

A book that shocked me to my core that I would love everyone else to read is “Love and Other Words” by Christina Lauren. This book is about Macy a pediatrics resident and Elliot a book publisher. Told in past and present it shows the intricate dynamic of childhood first loves that haven’t seen each other in 10 years. After Macy’s mom died her dad got a “weekend” house on the outskirts of San Fransisco. Elliot and his family were her neighbors. When they were in high school they fell in love. The way Christina and Lauren portray their young love is truly inspiring and realistic. The awkwardness of it and the trials that you face throughout. In the present timeline that is shown Macy is getting married to another man and Elliot has been in a long term relationship with another women. They run into each other at a coffee shop and Elliot breaks up with his girlfriend immediately after because after seeing her he realizes that he’ll never and has never loved anyone like he loved her. The symbolism and loyalty that he shows towards Macy is an amazing thing to witness. The honesty that they have with each other is truly inspiring. They share their favorite books and talk on the roof and it’s truly the epitome of love. Macy realizes that her fiancée is just their to fill a void and they have an amicable breakup. Macy and Elliot have a long talk about their past and their all-consuming love reignites. I have read many books and the reason I believe that everyone should read this one. It’s filled with honesty, innocence, and best of all love. Everyone should experience what it feels like to read this book.

The book I read are mostly non-fiction. My exceptions for that are books with topics that I am passionate about. The reason for this is because reading is a form of escaping reality for me. Reading the kind of books I do, have taught me that it is okay to escape reality and go to a different world just for a minute and experience another world. Another thing I have learned is the community that can be formed through books. An example of that is “booktok”. It’s a community of book lovers on TikTok that recommend their favorites and share their opinions. This allows people to not only reach their peers that are likeminded but in some circumstances the authors can also participate and hear what their readers are saying in real time and can take the advice with them for future endeavors. On the other hand reading nonfiction books is what helps shapes my goals. Books like “Know My Name” by Chanel Miller helped me realize that the world is unfair. This started my journey to figure out how I could help/change that, I decided that studying public policy was my best chance to achieve my goals while helping people. Other goals that have been impacted by my love for books is a forever moving one, stabilizing my anxiety. I have severe anxiety and that means I tend to over think or get overstimulated often. When i’m feeling especially anxious I can grab a book and dive right in and listen to other peoples dilemmas fake or otherwise to calm myself down. It works like a charm everytime and helps me to understand ways outside of reading that I can utilize as well. Being the first in my family to apply to college has felt like a huge mountain that I need to climb over. Reading other people’s experiences in their college struggles has helped immensely and made me feel less alone. Books, no matter what kind I read have taught me many things including the ability to escape reality and shows me the community that can be built through a shared mutual love. It has helped me understand my passions as well as maintain my anxiety. The cherry on top of it all is the help that I have received from my books on the struggles of being a first generation college hopeful. Books can be anything for you.