Growing up, it was just us, my mom and I against the world. We didn’t have much, but she made sure our little apartment always felt like home. When she couldn’t afford a new toy or the field trip I wanted to go on, she’d still find a way to turn the regular day into a movie. Despite all the hardships my mom was going through, she always smiled. Watching her find joy in moments that others might stress over taught me something: happiness is a choice, and perspective is everything. I am determined to make the day great. My mom had nothing to be happy about but still smiled every day. I remember in 3rd grade when my mom first started working at a gas station because it was all she could get at the time. This transition was tricky for us because this meant she worked ALL the time, mornings, nights, even holidays. But I understood that this was something she HAD to do. Her working mornings meant I had to start waking myself up for school in the morning. My parents always told me school was the way to success, so every morning I woke myself up at 7 o’clock to a dark apartment with silence almost louder than my alarm. Even with such a big change in routine, I never missed a day of school. The darkness outside was always the scariest part for me. I was so paranoid that someone would break in that I would literally have to watch the front door while getting ready. Nine-year-old me was so convinced that if I was watching the door and someone actually broke in and saw 4-foot little ole me, they would just get intimidated and close the door. Eventually realized that being so scared wasn’t fun, so I taught myself to think more positively. Instead of imagining someone breaking in, I told myself to think about my friends knocking on the door to see if I was ready to walk to the bus. Even if this wasn't realistic because my friends weren’t usually the ones knocking because I left earlier, I told myself this to make me feel better. Now that I'm older, I've realized this was the first time I taught myself about a positive perspective. Looking back, I realized that moment changed the way I see everything now. I didn’t know it then, but I was teaching myself how to find light in the dark, something I still do every day. This experience not only taught me perspective, but it also taught me determination. And it shows how passionate I am about school. I will use perspective and determination to get through college. I am determined to be great. When things get hard for me, I do not give up; I push through because I know what I’m working toward. In college, I will make sure I use a positive perspective to get through hard times. I know there will be nights when I’m tired from studying, days when I feel like giving up, or moments when things just don’t go my way. Yet, I will remind myself of how far I’ve come and how much my education means to me and my family. Keeping perspective helps me see that even on my hardest days, there is still something to be thankful for. The chance to learn, to grow, and to make my mom proud. Perspectives will keep me determined, and hopeful no matter how tough things get. I’ll carry my mom's strength with me and use it to make her proud.

As someone who has decided to major in social work, I am constantly evaluating my community and trying to make it better. A lot of people don’t notice how much our government overlooks people with low incomes. Low-income communities are treated differently. They don't have the same resources other communities do. I plan to become a mental health and behavioral social worker, and work to achieve these goals and values for low-income communities across the world. I will use my power as a social worker to change inequalities by advocating for more resources and social justice. Most low-income communities don't have appropriate resources for things like mental health and food insecurity. As a social worker, I am also going to fix this problem by helping my clients with free or cheap counseling and pointing them to things like food banks. Speaking of food banks, I've already taken action in this problem of food insecurity by donating to my local food banks and helping the homeless in my community. I still remember when I was a little girl and went to a toy drive with my mom for Christmas. This is something I will always remember because it made my whole Christmas. I want to be a person that donates to these things to make other little kids' Christmas like they did for me. But the problem with this is that we had to drive a little bit of a long way to go this toy drive; this is because they only did it for one community. As a social worker, this is a problem I want to fix. The other kids in my neighborhood still didn’t have a chance to get a Christmas because their parents probably couldn’t take them that far. Toy drives and food banks are a very good resource for low-income households, but there are simply not enough. We know this because there are still families that live with hungry days and toyless Christmases, but I plan to fix this. Another critical issue in low-income neighborhoods is mental health challenges. These families usually suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and anger issues, but don't have resources to deal with these issues. I've witnessed this firsthand in my own family; my cousin clearly struggles with anger issues and PTSD but can't access the help he needs. Without help he just lives with these issues, which just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not fair that help is so expensive. As a future social worker, I am committed to changing this by helping low-income families identify and access alternatives to traditional therapy. I've noticed specific activities that calm my cousin, like certain activities, sports, and community-based functions. I'll work to connect families with free or affordable resources that address their unique mental health needs without the barriers of cost or side effects. I'm driven to help because no one should have to work harder simply because of their income. I’ve watched my community struggle with this problem for too long. I plan to use this as my foundation in social work to dig deeper into how power structures create these divides. I want to advocate for these low-income neighborhoods because I will never forget where I came from. Through my major, I'll keep turning my observations into action, volunteering even more hours, researching local policies to push for equity so my low-income neighbors get the equality they deserve because as a sociology student, this is my passion and I will do everything in my power to make sure these injustices are heard.

As someone who has decided to major in social work, I am constantly evaluating my community and trying to make it better. A lot of people don’t notice how much our government overlooks people with low incomes. Low-income communities are treated differently. They don't have the same resources other communities do. I plan to become a mental health and behavioral social worker, and work to achieve these goals and values for low-income communities across the world. I will use my power as a social worker to change inequalities by advocating for more resources and social justice. Most low-income communities don't have appropriate resources for things like mental health and food insecurity. As a social worker, I am also going to fix this problem by helping my clients with free or cheap counseling and pointing them to things like food banks. Speaking of food banks, I've already taken action in this problem of food insecurity by donating to my local food banks and helping the homeless in my community. I still remember when I was a little girl and went to a toy drive with my mom for Christmas. This is something I will always remember because it made my whole Christmas. I want to be a person that donates to these things to make other little kids' Christmas like they did for me. But the problem with this is that we had to drive a little bit of a long way to go this toy drive; this is because they only did it for one community. As a social worker, this is a problem I want to fix. The other kids in my neighborhood still didn’t have a chance to get a Christmas because their parents probably couldn’t take them that far. Toy drives and food banks are a very good resource for low-income households, but there are simply not enough. We know this because there are still families that live with hungry days and toyless Christmases, but I plan to fix this. Another critical issue in low-income neighborhoods is mental health challenges. These families usually suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and anger issues, but don't have resources to deal with these issues. I've witnessed this firsthand in my own family; my cousin clearly struggles with anger issues and PTSD but can't access the help he needs. Without help he just lives with these issues, which just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not fair that help is so expensive. As a future social worker, I am committed to changing this by helping low-income families identify and access alternatives to traditional therapy. I've noticed specific activities that calm my cousin, like certain activities, sports, and community-based functions. I'll work to connect families with free or affordable resources that address their unique mental health needs without the barriers of cost or side effects. I'm driven to help because no one should have to work harder simply because of their income. I’ve watched my community struggle with this problem for too long. I plan to use this as my foundation in social work to dig deeper into how power structures create these divides. I want to advocate for these low-income neighborhoods because I will never forget where I came from. Through my major, I'll keep turning my observations into action, volunteering even more hours, researching local policies to push for equity so my low-income neighbors get the equality they deserve because as a sociology student, this is my passion and I will do everything in my power to make sure these injustices are heard.

As someone who has decided to major in social work, I am constantly evaluating my community and trying to make it better. A lot of people don’t notice how much our government overlooks people with low incomes. Low-income communities are treated differently. They don't have the same resources other communities do. I plan to become a mental health and behavioral social worker, and work to achieve these goals and values for low-income communities across the world. I will use my power as a social worker to change inequalities by advocating for more resources and social justice. Most low-income communities don't have appropriate resources for things like mental health and food insecurity. As a social worker, I am also going to fix this problem by helping my clients with free or cheap counseling and pointing them to things like food banks. Speaking of food banks, I've already taken action in this problem of food insecurity by donating to my local food banks and helping the homeless in my community. I still remember when I was a little girl and went to a toy drive with my mom for Christmas. This is something I will always remember because it made my whole Christmas. I want to be a person that donates to these things to make other little kids' Christmas like they did for me. But the problem with this is that we had to drive a little bit of a long way to go this toy drive; this is because they only did it for one community. As a social worker, this is a problem I want to fix. The other kids in my neighborhood still didn’t have a chance to get a Christmas because their parents probably couldn’t take them that far. Toy drives and food banks are a very good resource for low-income households, but there are simply not enough. We know this because there are still families that live with hungry days and toyless Christmases, but I plan to fix this. Another critical issue in low-income neighborhoods is mental health challenges. These families usually suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and anger issues, but don't have resources to deal with these issues. I've witnessed this firsthand in my own family; my cousin clearly struggles with anger issues and PTSD but can't access the help he needs. Without help he just lives with these issues, which just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not fair that help is so expensive. As a future social worker, I am committed to changing this by helping low-income families identify and access alternatives to traditional therapy. I've noticed specific activities that calm my cousin, like certain activities, sports, and community-based functions. I'll work to connect families with free or affordable resources that address their unique mental health needs without the barriers of cost or side effects. I'm driven to help because no one should have to work harder simply because of their income. I’ve watched my community struggle with this problem for too long. I plan to use this as my foundation in social work to dig deeper into how power structures create these divides. I want to advocate for these low-income neighborhoods because I will never forget where I came from. Through my major, I'll keep turning my observations into action, volunteering even more hours, researching local policies to push for equity so my low-income neighbors get the equality they deserve because as a sociology student, this is my passion and I will do everything in my power to make sure these injustices are heard.

As someone who has decided to major in social work, I am constantly evaluating my community and trying to make it better. A lot of people don’t notice how much our government overlooks people with low incomes. Low-income communities are treated differently. They don't have the same resources other communities do. There are things we can do to help this problem, and with my values of giving back, togetherness, and equality, I have been constantly doing community service to help try to help this problem. I plan to become a mental health and behavioral social worker, and work to achieve these goals and values for low-income communities across the world. I will use my power as a social worker to change inequalities by advocating for more resources and social justice. Most low-income communities don't have appropriate resources for things like mental health and food insecurity. As a social worker, I am also going to fix this problem by helping my clients with free or cheap counseling and pointing them to things like food banks. Speaking of food banks, I've already taken action in this problem of food insecurity by donating to my local food banks and helping the homeless in my community. I still remember when I was a little girl and went to a toy drive with my mom for Christmas. This is something I will always remember because it made my whole Christmas. I want to be a person that donates to these things to make other little kids' Christmas like they did for me. But the problem with this is that we had to drive a little bit of a long way to go this toy drive; this is because they only did it for one community. As a social worker, this is a problem I want to fix. The other kids in my neighborhood still didn’t have a chance to get a Christmas because their parents probably couldn’t take them that far. Toy drives and food banks are a very good resource for low-income households, but there are simply not enough. We know this because there are still families that live with hungry days and toyless Christmases, but I plan to fix this. Another critical issue in low-income neighborhoods is mental health challenges. These families usually suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and anger issues, but don't have resources to deal with these issues. I've witnessed this firsthand in my own family; my cousin clearly struggles with anger issues and PTSD but can't access the help he needs. Without help he just lives with these issues, which just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not fair that help is so expensive. As a future social worker, I am committed to changing this by helping low-income families identify and access alternatives to traditional therapy. I've noticed specific activities that calm my cousin, like certain activities, sports, and community-based functions. I'll work to connect families with free or affordable resources that address their unique mental health needs without the barriers of cost or side effects. I'm driven to help because no one should have to work harder simply because of their income. I’ve watched my community struggle with this problem long enough, and solutions start locally: advocating for justice, community input in decisions, better resources for low-income neighborhoods, and policies targeting vulnerable spots. I plan to use this as my foundation in sociology to dig deeper into how power structures create these divides. I want to advocate for these low-income neighborhoods because I will never forget where I came from. Through my major, I'll keep turning my observations into action, volunteering even more hours, researching local policies to push for equity so my low-income neighbors get the equality they deserve because as a sociology student, this is my passion and I will do everything in my power to make sure these injustices are heard.

Growing up, it was just us, my mom and I against the world. We didn’t have much, but she made sure our little apartment always felt like home. When she couldn’t afford a new toy or the field trip I wanted to go on, she’d still find a way to turn the regular day into a movie. Despite all the hardships my mom was going through, she always smiled. Watching her find joy in moments that others might stress over taught me something: happiness is a choice, and perspective is everything. I am determined to make the day great. I remember in 3rd grade when my mom first started working at a gas station because it was all she could get at the time. This transition was tricky for us because this meant she worked ALL the time, mornings, nights, even holidays. But I understood that this was something she HAD to do. Her working mornings meant I had to start waking myself up for school in the morning. My parents always told me school was the way to success, so every morning I woke myself up at 7 o’clock to a dark apartment with silence almost louder than my alarm. Even with such a big change in routine, I never missed a day of school. The darkness outside was always the scariest part for me. I was so paranoid that someone would break in that I would literally have to watch the front door while getting ready. Nine-year-old me was so convinced that if I was watching the door and someone actually broke in and saw 4-foot little ole me, they would just get intimidated and close the door. But I eventually realized that being so scared wasn’t fun, so I taught myself to think more positively. Instead of imagining someone breaking in, I told myself to think about my friends knocking on the door to see if I was ready to walk to the bus. Even if this wasn't realistic because my friends weren’t usually the ones knocking because I left earlier, I told myself this to make me feel better. Now that I'm older, I've realized this was the first time I taught myself about a positive perspective. Looking back, I realized that moment changed the way I see everything now. I didn’t know it then, but I was teaching myself how to find light in the dark — something I still do every day. This experience not only taught me perspective, but it also taught me determination. And it shows how passionate I am about school. I will use perspective and determination to get through college. I am determined to be great. When things get hard for me, I do not give up; I push through because I know what I’m working toward. Keeping perspective helps me see that even on my hardest days, there is still something to be thankful for. The chance to learn, to grow, and to make my mom proud

As someone who has decided to major in sociology, I am constantly evaluating my community and trying to make it better. A lot of people don’t notice how much our government overlooks people with low incomes. Low-income communities are treated differently. They don't have the same resources other communities do. There are things we can do to help this problem, and with my values of giving back, togetherness, and equality, I have been constantly doing community service to help try to help this problem. I plan to become a social worker to work to achieve these goals and values for low-income communities across the world. I will use my power as a social worker to change inequalities by advocating for more resources and social justice. Most low-income communities don't have appropriate resources for things like mental health and food insecurity. As a social worker, I am also going to fix this problem by helping my clients find free or cheap counseling and pointing them to things like food banks. Speaking of food banks, I've already taken action in this problem of food insecurity by donating to my local food banks and helping the homeless in my community. I still remember when I was a little girl and went to a toy drive with my mom for Christmas. This is something I will always remember because it made my whole Christmas. I want to be a person that donates to these things to make other little kids' Christmas like they did for me. But the problem with this is that we had to drive a little bit of a long way to go this toy drive; this is because they only did it for one community. As a social worker, this is a problem I want to fix. The other kids in my neighborhood still didn’t have a chance to get a Christmas because their parents probably couldn’t take them that far. Toy drives and food banks are a very good resource for low-income households, but there are simply not enough. We know this because there are still families that live with hungry days and toyless Christmases, but I plan to fix this. Another critical issue in low-income neighborhoods is mental health challenges. These families usually suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and anger issues, but don't have resources to deal with these issues. I've witnessed this firsthand in my own family; my cousin clearly struggles with anger issues and PTSD but can't access the help he needs. Without help he just lives with these issues, which just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not fair that help is so expensive. As a future social worker, I am committed to changing this by helping low-income families identify and access alternatives to traditional therapy. I've noticed specific activities that calm my cousin, like certain activities, sports, and community-based functions. I'll work to connect families with free or affordable resources that address their unique mental health needs without the barriers of cost or side effects. I'm driven to help because no one should have to work harder simply because of their income. I’ve watched my community struggle with this problem long enough, and solutions start locally: advocating for justice, community input in decisions, better resources for low-income neighborhoods, and policies targeting vulnerable spots. I plan to use this as my foundation in sociology to dig deeper into how power structures create these divides. I want to advocate for these low-income neighborhoods because I will never forget where I came from. Through my major, I'll keep turning my observations into action, volunteering even more hours, researching local policies to push for equity so my low-income neighbors get the equality they deserve because as a sociology student, this is my passion and I will do everything in my power to make sure these injustices are heard.

A lot of people don’t notice how much our government overlooks people with low incomes, low-income communities are treated differently. They don't have the same resources other communities do. Which is why I plan to become a social worker to work to achieve my goal of having more resources for low-income communities across the world. I will use my power as a social worker to change inequalities by advocating for more resources and social justice. Most low-income communities don't have appropriate resources for things like mental health and food insecurity. As a social worker, I am also going to fix this problem by helping my clients find free or cheap counseling and pointing them to things like food banks. Speaking of food banks, I've already taken action in this problem of food insecurity by donating to my local food banks and helping the homeless in my community. I still remember when I was a little girl and went to a toy drive with my mom for Christmas. This is something I will always remember because it made my whole Christmas. I want to be a person that donates to these things to make other little kids' Christmas like they did for me. But the problem with this is that we had to drive a little bit of a long way to go this toy drive; this is because they only did it for one community. As a social worker, this is a problem I want to fix. The other kids in my neighborhood still didn’t have a chance to get a Christmas because their parents probably couldn’t take them that far. Toy drives and food banks are a very good resource for low-income households, but there are simply not enough. We know this because there are still families that live with hungry days and toyless Christmases, but I plan to fix this. Another critical issue in low-income neighborhoods is mental health challenges. These families usually suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and anger issues, but don't have resources to deal with these issues. I've witnessed this firsthand in my own family; my cousin clearly struggles with anger issues and PTSD but can't access the help he needs. Without help he just lives with these issues, which just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not fair that help is so expensive. As a future social worker, I am committed to changing this by helping low-income families identify and access alternatives to traditional therapy. I've noticed specific activities that calm my cousin, like certain activities, sports, and community-based functions. I'll work to connect families with free or affordable resources that address their unique mental health needs without the barriers of cost or side effects. I'm driven to help because no one should have to work harder simply because of their income. I’ve watched my community struggle with this problem long enough, and solutions start locally: advocating for justice, community input in decisions, better resources for low-income neighborhoods, and policies targeting vulnerable spots. I plan to use this as my foundation in sociology to dig deeper into how power structures create these divides. I want to advocate for these low-income neighborhoods because I will never forget where I came from. Through my major, I'll keep turning my observations into action, volunteering even more hours, researching local policies to push for equity so my low-income neighbors get the equality they deserve because as a sociology student, this is my passion and I will do everything in my power to make sure these injustices are heard.

In 3rd grade when my mom first started working at a gas station because it was all she could get at the time. This transition was tricky for us because this meant she worked ALL the time, mornings, nights, even holidays. But I understood that this was something she HAD to do. Her working mornings meant I had to start waking myself up for school in the morning. My parents always told me school was the way to success, so every morning I woke myself up at 7 o’clock to a dark apartment with silence almost louder than my alarm. Even with such a big change in routine, I never missed a day of school. The darkness outside was always the scariest part for me. I was so paranoid that someone would break in that I would literally have to watch the front door while getting ready. Nine-year-old me was so convinced that if I was watching the door and someone actually broke in and saw 4-foot little ole me, they would just get intimidated and close the door. But I eventually realized that being so scared wasn’t fun, so I taught myself to think more positively. Instead of imagining someone breaking in, I told myself to think about my friends knocking on the door to see if I was ready to walk to the bus. Even if this wasn't realistic because my friends weren’t usually the ones knocking because I left earlier, I told myself this to make me feel better. Now that I'm older, I've realized this was the first time I taught myself about a positive perspective. Looking back, I realized that moment changed the way I see everything now. I didn’t know it then, but I was teaching myself how to find light in the dark — something I still do every day. This experience not only taught me perspective, but it also taught me determination. And it shows how passionate I am about school. I will use perspective and determination to get through college. I am determined to be great. When things get hard for me, I do not give up; I push through because I know what I’m working toward. In college, I will make sure I use a positive perspective to get through hard times. Keeping perspective helps me see that even on my hardest days, there is still something to be thankful for. Perspectives will keep me grounded, determined, and hopeful no matter how tough things get.

Even when the world feels ugly, I still find a way to see its beauty. I think that’s me carrying my mom's words with me. Growing up, it was just us, her and me against the world. We didn’t have much, but she made sure our little apartment always felt like home. When she couldn’t afford a new toy or the field trip I wanted to go on, she’d still find a way to turn the regular day into a movie. Despite all the hardships my mom was going through, she always smiled. Watching her find joy in moments that others might stress over taught me something: happiness is a choice, and perspective is everything. I am determined to make the day great. My mom had nothing to be happy about but still smiled every day. I remember in 3rd grade when my mom first started working at a gas station because it was all she could get at the time. This transition was tricky for us because this meant she worked ALL the time, mornings, nights, even holidays. But I understood that this was something she HAD to do. Her working mornings meant I had to start waking myself up for school in the morning. My parents always told me school was the way to success, so every morning I woke myself up at 7 o’clock to a dark apartment with silence almost louder than my alarm. Even with such a big change in routine, I never missed a day of school. The darkness outside was always the scariest part for me. I was so paranoid that someone would break in that I would literally have to watch the front door while getting ready. Nine-year-old me was so convinced that if I was watching the door and someone actually broke in and saw 4-foot little ole me, they would just get intimidated and close the door. But I eventually realized that being so scared wasn’t fun, so I taught myself to think more positively. Instead of imagining someone breaking in, I told myself to think about my friends knocking on the door to see if I was ready to walk to the bus. Even if this wasn't realistic because my friends weren’t usually the ones knocking because I left earlier, I told myself this to make me feel better. Now that I'm older, I've realized this was the first time I taught myself about a positive perspective. Looking back, I realized that moment changed the way I see everything now. I didn’t know it then, but I was teaching myself how to find light in the dark — something I still do every day. This experience not only taught me perspective, but it also taught me determination. And it shows how passionate I am about school. I will use perspective and determination to get through college. I am determined to be great. When things get hard for me, I do not give up; I push through because I know what I’m working toward. Keeping perspective helps me see that even on my hardest days, there is still something to be thankful for. The chance to learn, to grow, and to make my mom proud. Perspectives will keep me grounded, determined, and hopeful no matter how tough things get. With this scholarship I will go to college everyday and carry my mom's strength with me and use it to make her proud.