The dream version of my future self is a highly-skilled, well-experienced, and well-traveled life-long learner, fluent in more than ten languages and seasoned in helping many different people from various backgrounds through my career.

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I have big plans for the future. As a Modern Languages major (with a concentration in Spanish) from a relatively small city, I would love to become a hyperpolyglot, fluent in more than ten languages. This long-term goal stems from my passion for continuous learning as I strive for learning to be a lifelong journey for me. This goal also stems from my passion for learning about other cultures, traditions, countries, and groups of people. Interacting with other people in their own language and being able to connect to them culturally brings a greater sense of accomplishment to my life. I would love to use my language skills to work in other countries and help people in various ways. I plan to become a translator, and because the possibilities of work that I can do are endless, I look forward to living spontaneously. As a learner of not only popular but unpopular languages as well, I aim to travel to less popular countries to uplift those communities and do social work. I also aim to continue my formal education after graduating from university with a degree in Modern Languages. With a yearning to bridge gaps of knowledge during my lifespan, I plan to go abroad to enrich my practical knowledge of formal language as well as improve my cultural understanding. I look forward to taking up as many opportunities as I can to partake in field experience and internships that can help me gain more experience. I also look forward to many more quality experiences with the natives of my target languages. Therefore, my goal is to study abroad in various countries, being immersed in the different languages and cultures. I aim to achieve a deep understanding of the languages I study and plan to study, which is increasingly difficult to do without being fully immersed. Unfortunately, there is typically less of a focus on language majors and a lack of scholarships for study-abroad opportunities where I am from. Most scholarships that I have seen in and outside of my hometown focus on students in the medical or education field. This means that it is difficult for people like me to study abroad without experiencing financial burden. This scholarship would help me enhance my language learning and achieve my dream of being proficient in multiple languages. This scholarship would also help me experience less of a financial burden while trying to pursue my dreams of furthering my education.

After spending years saving up money, I was finally able to go to Bangladesh in the summer of 2023. Since middle school, I had been longing to go to South Korea to be an English teacher. I used the sparkly nature of the "Korean dream" as an escape, convincing myself that going there and living life submerged in a glitzy, developed Asian society would solve all of my American problems. Middle school me would have loved to go to Korea and would have taken the first chance to go there. Going there, using the language, experiencing the culture, helping people in some vague way-- that was her dream. Had I told my past self that the first country I chose to go to was Bangladesh, she would have been furious. This huge change in aspiration was partly a result of the 2020 pandemic. Before the pandemic, I had been interested in other cultures, languages, and groups of people; however, it was the pandemic that made me get even more out of my comfort zone and talk to people from all parts of the world. Through language exchange apps, I was able to meet more people, learn more foreign languages, and learn more about the world in general. I began to look at the world differently, taking an interest in underrepresented countries and countries that are portrayed in a negative or inferior light by the mainstream media. I started to become extremely interested in hearing the other side of the story and ended up meeting people from some of the most impoverished countries in the world. However, the life stories behind these people, the respect they met me with, and the fact that they remained content in their bubbles, lifestyles, and traditions gave me a higher regard for them. The fact that I was able to alleviate some ignorance of my own while learning more each day enriched my life and eventually led me to greatly expand my career path. Sometime in the summer of 2020, I met a Bangladeshi from rural Bangladesh. I began to fall in love with the subcontinental country and its so-called "sweet" language, beginning to spontaneously learn the language in a fit of randomized destiny. However, my Bangladeshi exchange partner did not hold the same thoughts about their country and language. This partner ended up telling me that I should give up on trying to learn the language because it "was not useful," and this partner expressed that their country was a hopeless and depressing place. And then I went to Bangladesh. I toured the country for the summer, finding a gorgeous yet chaotic country with friendly people and a lot of potential. Then, my career aspirations transformed from something fairly superficial to something that I really believed could help others. My experiences in Bangladesh and seeing the positives and negatives of the country have inspired me to make a change. Interpreting languages and helping people in underrepresented communities and countries is my goal. Throughout my career, I strive to do a wide range of work in other languages and be immersed in other cultures while helping others with social issues and language barriers. Coming from an underrepresented community myself (being Muslim, a woman, and mixed-race), I would enjoy helping other underrepresented groups. I realized that in my previous and fairly selfish dream of going to Korea, I asked myself about what the country could do for me and how it could solve my problems. Now I ask myself about what I can do to help others and make a difference in the world.

I converted to Islam from Christianity in 2020. After becoming Muslim, I have become more ambitious about my education because obtaining a quality education is extremely important Islamically. I am a Modern Languages major with a concentration in Spanish and take pride in studying many languages to become a hyperpolyglot, with Arabic being one of the languages I study. Because I am noticeably Muslim, I act as an ambassador to the religion, and this has greatly impacted me. In public places like my university, I take pride in upholding a positive public image. I am almost obsessed with making sure I excel in my education and extracurriculars because of the stereotypes and prejudices that I face as a Muslim in my city. As a young woman who wears niqab in the United States, I often find myself struggling with self-consciousness. Therefore, I try my best to relay the message to those I interact with that being a Muslim, praying the five daily prayers, and abiding by hijab and niqab does not hinder one's education and that a Muslim can still excel in their studies and be relatable. After becoming Muslim, I find myself being more competitive with myself and feeling more empowered by my education. Because my dream of becoming an interpreter and translator is influenced by my Muslim identity, I have held myself up to higher standards. Over the years, I have progressively studied more and more languages and have tried to better my Islamic knowledge and knowledge of Arabic. Because studying and gaining an education is an act of worship, education holds more value to me than it did before I became a Muslim. My career path consists of communicating with people in various languages, learning and experiencing other cultures, and being submersed in other traditions. My career path also consists of helping others through translation and communication, which is influenced by my Muslim identity because I value a career that not only gives me success in this world but gives me success in the hereafter. I value a career that abides by Islamic principles but that also allows me to be of service to others and enjoy what I do. Receiving this scholarship would help me continue my Islamic education as a Muslim convert as there is one main mosque in my city, located far from where I live. This scholarship would also allow me to fund study abroad opportunities to further enhance my language skills.

I am currently a Modern Languages major with a concentration in Spanish at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The reason I have selected this major stems from meeting a friend in middle school. This friend introduced me to the Korean language and culture, which began my passion for language learning and gave my life more purpose. From my interest in the Korean language stemmed my interest in dozens of other languages, and my goal with these languages is to use them to help others and meet new people through translation and interpretation. My greatest strengths are drawing, writing, and picking up other languages fast. I also believe that I am strong at helping, comforting, and understanding others. A few superficial weaknesses of mine are that I am bad at sports, swimming, and riding bicycles; however, a deeper weakness is my indecisiveness in language learning and trying to do everything at the same time. I am extremely passionate about languages and get excited about learning them; however, it is my weakness that I do not slow down sometimes and be patient as language learning is a lifelong process. I find myself trying to study more languages than I can handle at once. I also often find myself trying to excel in whatever I do and show others that wearing a niqab does not mean that I fit the stereotype of being uneducated and oppressed. As a result, I find myself going too fast and trying to take more opportunities than I can handle. I find that perhaps I am too self-conscious due to the unsavory environment for Muslims in my area; I believe I try too hard at times to prove myself and prove that I am intelligent enough and relatable. I am a Muslim revert (convert) who came to the religion from Christianity in 2020. Islam has changed my life in unimaginable ways, and I would never want to revert to my past life. Before I became Muslim, I was driven education-wise and was very motivated to excel in what I did. However, Islam has given a new purpose to my education. I believe that it is my duty as a Muslim to be educated and have a wide skillset. After becoming Muslim, I became more serious about my education because I began to see it as not only a worldly subject but an obligation and act of worship. Additionally, as a Muslim, I have found myself becoming more generous in supporting charity efforts and volunteering. In my city, the Muslim population is extremely low with one main mosque that is located far from where I live. Therefore, my Islamic knowledge has mostly come from online sources and courses. I believe that this scholarship would help in contributing to furthering my Islamic knowledge, Arabic knowledge, and go on to fund my higher education in languages. I stopped listening to music and watching movies when I became Muslim; however, my favorite book is the Quran as it is the best book in existence. As a Muslim, I consider my greatest achievement to be becoming Muslim and trying my best to stay strong in my religion in an anti-Islamic environment while excelling in my education. As an obviously Muslim-looking individual, I am an ambassador of the religion, so I believe that upholding a positive and respectful public image is extremely important in aiding the development of positive attitudes about Muslims.