Yes I was in the foster care system. When I was three months old in China, I was abandoned due to the one child policy. From there someone found me in the emergency room at a hospital and took me to an orphanage. I lived in the orphanage for 5 years before being in-n-out foster care. Summer of 2014 is when I visited my adoptive family in the United States, I visited for about 3 months then went back to my last foster care family. The next year I was finally adoptive by the family I visited last summer. My name is Kaleb Lindberg and I am an independent 18 year old. I am currently working two minimum wage jobs to help pursue my undergrad education. Over the course of the last 2 years my adaptive parents and I have really fell apart, leaving me to being on my own. Growing up I have always loved sports, I was always in a sport each season. Sports have really made a huge impact in my life, I have made life long relationships and learned really important lessons from sports. With my love and dedication for sports I am planning on getting my degree in Sports and Rec. I plan to become a coach/coordinator and eventually an athletic director. I want to become a coach/coordinator because I want to share my passion and knowledge in sports and make a deference in anybody's life. The coaches I have had has made me the kind of athlete I am today, even the little leagues coaches! Having a coach push you to your limits and believing you or even just being there for you on the hardest days is something I look up to. That is the kind of impact I want to make on somebody, because I know what its like to feel abandoned, invisible and unworthy. There was a little mentioning about my undergrad plan earlier, but I will be attending Millikin University in the summer term of 2025. While attending Millikin I will be on the Men's Track & Field team and my event is pole vault. My degree is going to be in Sport & Rec with a minor in Human Management. My hobbies are: playing sports, working out, playing video games, watching tv, hanging out with friends, meeting new people, shopping and cooking! If you don't find me doing either of these things then you'll find me with my service canine named Cedar!

Hi, I am Kaleb Lindberg. I am 18 years old and living on my own with no support. I have been playing sports since I was a little kid, and ever since I touched a ball, I have fallen in love with any sport. My love for the game has led to my goal of becoming an athletic director. Winning this scholarship will help me not worry about loans or anything that has to do with payment, so I can focus on my education and become the best director I can be. I am currently working two minimum wage jobs to afford college as well as rent/needs. Growing up, I have always dreamed of managing a team or being the guy behind the scenes where all the magic happens. I will be an awesome athletic director because I have a lot of knowledge when it comes to the sports environment. Being able to stay calm in high-pressure moments is important; it is important not to rush things and freak out. Having a high-pressure experience through a nail-biting basketball game or being the anchor in the 4x4 relay helped me learn lessons on staying calm and not rushing. Being a captain on my high school track and field team will help me learn how to be a leader. While being the captain, I had to schedule team bonding time, extra practices, and building good chemistry on different relay teams. Leadership is a big one for directing; you have to take care of many responsibilities, whether it's telling your organization when you have scheduled things or trying to get things together. Also, budgeting is not only important, but it is how you make the most profit. If you don't schedule wisely, then you will make no profit. Knowing what teams or organizations to go after plays a key role in profit; different strategies will help you compete against big underdogs or tough opponents. I will develop good budgeting skills through budgeting classes in college, and practicing good organizational skills in my everyday life is a good start to developing organization. With the help of this scholarship, I will be able to finally fall asleep at night, not having to worry about whether I have enough money for groceries for the week. Also it will help me not get into bigger debt once I am out of college. I currently have to use all my federal loans to cover my tuition fee. I believe I am a great candidate for this scholarship due to all my knowledge in my field and my need for financial support.

One of the ways in which my identity is constructed in unique ways is by being an Asian American. As Asian Americans only make up 5.9% of the U.S. population, I am often a small percentage of the Asian representative. This sense of differentiation is most obvious during Asian holidays when I see around me the empty celebrations and high-energy traditions that few Americans participate in. One of my favorite festivals, the Mid-Autumn Festival, holds a nostalgic childhood memory in China. I still remember consuming all the mooncakes until my belly was full, the thrill of playing with friends under the gentle light of lanterns, and the unforgettable sight of a full moon illuminating the night sky. The exciting dragon dances and the warm sense of togetherness, especially the laughter shared with my foster siblings, made the festival even more memorable—a treasured moment of life that I hold very dearly. Nine childhood years in China is definitely something that I am tremendously proud of; after all, not everyone has had the experience of living abroad. Nevertheless, the journey has not been entirely smooth. Having been left by my biological family at three months old due to the one-child policy, my life began with a question mark. I was discovered in a hospital emergency room and placed in an orphanage where I went through a series of foster families. In spite of these difficulties, however, I encountered tremendous positives: I gained lifelong friends and met individuals who invested their love and care in my life. China is a country that is near my heart. I miss the people's hospitality who saw me through my worst time and the taste of real Chinese food. As I look to pursue my studies further, I am motivated by a fierce determination to prove all my naysayers wrong and show that I can do anything that I put my mind to. The hurt of being bullied as a child, when my peers mocked my heritage with terms like "squinty eyes" or derogatory comments about my ethnicity, still lingers in my head. They would tease me by pulling on their own eyes and telling me silly things like, "Eat your dog/cat," or made fun of my intelligence with the expectation that "You're Asian; you're supposed to be smart." These hurtful taunts were hard to overcome, but they provided a fierce determination within me to work relentlessly toward a future as a successful Asian American.

I am a fan of Sabrina Carpenter because all of her songs are catchy. Every single time I have the radio on at least one of her most recent songs is playing, at first, I hated her music but as time went on and listened to her for a while I started to not mind her music at all. I will say the song that grew on me the most though is gotta be Espresso, I don't know why but the song just has a good tune to it. Another reason why I started to like her is because all my friends started listening to her, so every single time I hung out with my friends they all played Sabrina Carpenter in the background. Her career has impacted my mentality that you can do whatever you want and let no one judge you. Back a few years ago she was an actress, then she became a singer and people were throwing shades at her, but she didn't care and shook all the hate off and kept on doing what she wanted. Reading news about people hating on her and seeing her reactions spoke to me of haters are going to hate and I get to choose if they will affect me or not.

I am a huge fan of LeBron James because he proved to everybody no matter how young you are you can still succeed in the big leagues. I also love his story and how he had a rough childhood, I can relate to a lot of his struggles as a kid and that makes me feel like I am not the only one going through tough things in life. I also love how supportive and respectful he is to his opponents, granted there are times when he doesn't show that but, most of the time he praises his opponents and how good they are instead of taking bad and trash about them. As big of a Lebron James fan as I am, unfortunately, I do not think he is the greatest player of all time simply because he didn't play in the rough era that Michael Jordan played in. In the Jordan era players were literally allowed to punch, slap, push, and shove without a foul being called on them, but in LeBrons it seems like you put a hand on a player and you are called for a foul. With all that said if you put LeBron in the Jordan era, I don't think LeBron is going to be dominant like he is in the modern era.

My favorite athlete to cheer for on Team USA is Sam Kendricks because he is very interesting to watch. Ever since I competed in pole vault I watched hours after hours of the professions and tried to imitate them, but Sam Kendricks really stuck out to me. Kendrick's swinging form is not like everyone else, you are always told by your coaches to never throw your head back to get inverted. But, as soon as Kendricks plants his pole, he immediately begins to throw his head back to get inverted. Kendricks has such a beautiful jump, everything besides the swing looks normal but pole vault is weird there is not only one way to do it, everybody has their own jumping style. Kendricks is a really funny person on and off the track, he is my favorite athlete to cheer for because of the leader he is. I love the way he supports every opponent and shows them with kindness and respect. Kendricks's personality is also really enjoyable to watch, after he clears a big height he will usually do a funny and cool celebration. So, Sam Kendricks is a person I look up to whether it's jumping like him, showing good leadership, and showing respect and support for all opponents.

My hometown is Springfield, IL, and the town is known for poverty, driving downtown you will see a lot of homeless people asking for anything. I have seen this issue since as a little kid in China going through abandonment and had nothing I was very bothered to see so many people on the streets. I wanted to help every single person I saw on the street but that was not possible considering I was a kid and didn't really have money. So, I went through my church and the volunteering director asking her if she would help me, at first she said no due to lack of resources but I was eager to help the homeless. It took a lot of convincing and bugging her but I was able to convince her in the end. Next weekend during the sermon I saw on the screen an advertisement about donations towards the homeless whether it was clothes or food. About 2 weeks later the director contacted me saying a lot of people donated to the cause and needed to come up with a plan for what to do with all the donations. We ended up agreeing to donate to multiple homeless shelters and create a good relationship with the shelters to help them in the future too. I helped accomplish the homeless getting their needs and created a donation opportunity at my church. In the future, I would like to expand what we are donating to the shelters as well as donating to more shelters in our area.

I have been playing sports since a little kid, and ever since I touched a ball, I fell in love with any sport. My love for the game is going to be with me for my career; I want to become an athletic director for an organization or a school. I will be an awesome athletic director because I have a lot of knowledge when it comes to how important strength of schedule is or finding better competition. Some skills that are important in this field are organization, good communication skills, leadership, and good budgeting skills. These skills are such a huge key in an athletic director because being organized will help you not get confused about when your team plays. Also, you need to have good communication with other clubs or schools to schedule a game or meet, or else you will not be able to schedule anything. Leadership is a big one in this field; you have to take care of many responsibilities, whether it's telling your organization when you have scheduled things or trying to get things together. Lastly, budgeting is not only important it is how you make the most profit if you don't schedule wisely, then you will make no profit. Knowing what teams or organizations to go after plays a key role in profit, different strategies will help you compete against big underdog or tough opponents. I will develop good budgeting skills through budgeting classes in college, practicing good organizational skills in my everyday life is a good start to developing organization. Developing leadership over time,e but as I go through internships and other opportunities, I will have the chance to develop the skill. My experience in travel teams, club teams, and intramural sports will help me excel in this field because knowing the difference in the intensity of these different types of competition is important so you don't go overboard. Having experience in the sports environment is another advantage I have, being able to stay calm in heavy-pressure moments is really important, it is important not to rush things and freak out. Having a high-pressure experience through a nail-biting basketball game or being the last leg in the 4x4 relay helped me learn lessons on staying calm and not rushing. Being a captain on my high school track and field team will help me know how to be a leader. While being the captain, I had to schedule team bonding time, extra practices, and building good chemistry on different relay teams. I believe I have a lot of tools and experience to become a successful athletic director.

I am an independent 18-year-old man with no family or support. I am currently working two jobs to save up for college while supplying my dog and myself. The toughest challenges I have gone through were coming to a new country and having to learn a new language and culture. This challenge has shaped me as a hardworking independent and I have never given up. To learn English I had to take extra classes and attend summer school, at first I could not get the hang of it but the harder I worked outside of those classes the better I got. As my hard work paid off, I learned I can do anything as long as I try my hardest and give it my all. My current financial struggles are; having no financial support from anybody, working jobs paying minimum wage, and having no insurance. This scholarship will help me be able to pay for a 4-year university, as well as not having to use all my savings towards college. I want to go into sports recreation and management and become an athletic director. I love sports and want to dedicate my education towards it, I have played sports since 9 years old and have never stopped. My biggest challenge of all is navigating life without a family. I was adopted at 9 years old, and they have begun to stop supporting me over these past two years. Having to deal with this is hard and sad, as I thought they would be my forever family. But, my mindset is I can do anything as long as I give it my all! So, I am currently going strong and don't want to look back.

My definition of success is whatever you want in your life, you will try your hardest and outwork any obstacles in the way. When I want something in my life, my mindset is to dedicate all my time to it and say no to distractions. When my peer's mindset is usually; I will do it later, it's not that big of a deal or not doing their best. I think my mindset will bring success in my life because I never give up and if I fall I get up twice as hard. Also, I am trying my best on everything no matter how small the objectives are. For example, no matter how messy my peers are I clean up the messes with the same effort every single time. It could be putting food away or washing all the dishes, the dedication is the same for both times.