I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family that knew Jesus. This is how I ended up attending the Church of Christ on McDermott Road beginning in the fall of 2014. Little did my family or I know that someone here would fully change the way I viewed work and my life forever. In 2017, I met a Deaf couple that attended my church, and the impact of that small moment still drives my purpose today. Through the North Texas Leadership Training for Christ Program, I was able to sign up to take part in the Signing for the Deaf portion. That is when I started to get to know Richard and Kelly, a Deaf couple who had attended my church for years. Richard started to teach me American Sign Language, and through the years in the program, I gained more experience and knowledge resulting in me becoming one of the volunteer interpreters for them every single Sunday. They had many kids come through the program, but many just used it as a way to learn that song and then move on. However, when everyone moved on during the months we were not practicing for LTC, I stopped by and talked to them every single sunday using the language they were gracious enough to share with me. I now assist and give back in this program by being their youngest volunteer judge, and my job is to encourage younger users to stick with it and be able to serve in this unique way! This experience cultivated a deep love for the Deaf community and prompted me to complete 3 full years of classes at the High School level, and I am currently working to be one of the first to achieve the brand new minor at Abilene Christian University. This language evokes so much feeling and passion within its user, and that has been a gift throughout my life. The connection I have with Richard and Kelly set me up to be able to provide access to those who the world was not designed for. The Deaf community is a proud group of people whose only limitations are those created by ignorance of the greater population. This taught me compassion and the importance of equal access as a means to give independence to everyone. By learning this, I now know what my purpose here is: to provide a culture of understanding and education that blesses everyone with the independence that they deserve. Now, I am headed into my senior year at Abilene Christian University studying kinesiology on the pre-occupational therapy route in hopes of becoming a Doctor of Occupational Therapy and working with kids who are in the hospital to give them back their autonomy and independence through joy and understanding. Richard and Kelly may never truly understand what their mentorship has meant to me, but I know that I will make sure all my future occupational therapy patients know they have them to thank for helping me to realize and grow my gifts from God. I have also attached three photos via file upload: My interpreting at McDermott Road Church of Christ, interpreting a choir performance on Easter Sunday at the Leadership Training for Christ Showoff, and a photo of my judging experience at LTC I would like to thank the people at Sweet Hut Bakery and Food Terminal for considering my application for the Sweet Dreams Scholarship!

That day, my life changed. Throughout my first semester of senior year, I struggled with my mental health significantly more than ever before. On September 1st, 2023, I was driving home from hanging out with my friends all morning. 4:10 pm, I see brake lights and begin to slow down; I am quickly rear-ended at an angle, sending me into the left lane, where the front end of my car gets hit by another vehicle. Thankfully, I walked away from the accident, but my brain didn't catch a break for months. I dealt with many flashbacks and still do today. Mental health struggles look different in everybody, and everybody struggles. It can impact lives in many ways. For me, after my car accident and dealing with severe bursitis and rotator cuff inflammation in my right shoulder, along with severe neck pain for months, my struggles impacted me physically and mentally. The mental trauma impacts my life daily, and mental health going unchecked can spiral into many issues. Academic life can be affected by stressing over assignments or falling behind on assignments. Often, it gets worse and worse while struggling to keep up with the school work, which can eat into personal time. Personal lives are affected by mental health in many ways, especially if academic struggles are present since spending all your time in academia can deprive you of the personal time one should take to do something relaxing. This leads to things like loss of hygiene, where forgetting to perform basic hygiene often gets overlooked because of all the stress. This act also spirals because it puts a damper on the day when you don't feel clean and taken care of. All of these issues were things I faced in my struggle with mental health. One thing that helped me improve my mental health was watching the show Friends. This show is such a soft-paced, lighthearted show that it can take my mind off anything. Rewatching the show helped me breathe and relax, especially when I was dealing with driving anxiety on my way home; I could walk into the house, turn it on, and begin to unwind. I also found that reaching out to people can help a lot. When I got all my friends together to play board games, it also helped my healing quite a bit. They helped me find how to become a happy person once again. Now that I have improved tremendously and deal with the flashbacks a lot less, I make sure to give myself time to relax and do something I want for at least one hour a day, no matter how much homework I have. I also focus on keeping at least a week ahead of assignments to ensure I can have a relaxing time where I am truly relaxed with no stress. Overall, I have learned a lot in the last few months, but as I mentioned before, I have found my joyful self again. I have made many plans to help others in the future through my career path as an occupational therapist; I understand many of my patients will have also gone through some life-altering events like mine. I plan to help and guide them as best I know how. I genuinely believe in improving someone's quality of life; you must first improve their mental state and skills. Thank you so much for considering my application for the Mental Health Scholarship for Women!

The opportunity to improve the lives of others and to serve others inspires me. Jesus was the ultimate servant, and I strive to serve like him in all my acts of service. Volunteering has shown me the true meaning that serving others can have. My favorite way to serve others is through American Sign Language, but I also love to serve by doing physical acts and volunteering my time to impact children's lives. Helping others, I have discovered, is my passion, as studying American Sign Language has opened many opportunities for me, like volunteering in the Bridges Ministry at my church, our special needs support ministry. I have helped with respite events to give the parents a day to take a date and care for themselves since they give so much time to their children. I also have become involved in our volunteer-run Deaf ministry at our church. I am a student interpreter at my congregation and help interpret parts of service weekly, which serves others and improves my fluency to further serve other Deaf people in the future. Being involved in my youth group at church has opened opportunities to serve. I help out in the nursery during services at church to give the parents a chance to attend church and have some time off from their tireless work of raising children. Also, for the past two years, I have been a camp counselor at the overnight children's camp through my church called Camp Canaan. It is a one-week camp for 3rd- 6th graders who come to learn about Jesus and have a fun week of swimming and games. This past year at camp, I met a young deaf girl named Lorelai. She is completely deaf in her left ear, and her parents have gotten her a cochlear implant to help her hear, but it isn't perfect as it can only give her electronic input, not sound. Knowing what her needs were, when I saw her being overlooked and put on the right side of the activities (Causing her to have to turn her head completely to hear), as well as near the back, I sprang into action to make sure she was where she preferred to be. Some of that week, all she needed was for me to write down or repeat what had been said in the sermon, and other times, she just wanted to learn a few more signs. Volunteering in programs such as these for children who struggle to acquire a "normal" life has shown me that I want to be a support system for these kids. I have noticed that my ultimate goal in my life and career is to serve children with disabilities and struggles. I want to work to give them the resources they need to become independent and hopefully make it to where they will only sometimes have to rely on others. It would be amazing to give them the autonomy that they deserve. I want to do this through occupational therapy. It fits my servant's heart well and impacts the children I care for so much! I want to continue to use this fantastic skill throughout college and into the workplace, where I hope to become a Pediatric Occupational Therapist to help children with disabilities become independent and live their best lives! Thank you so much for taking me into consideration for this scholarship! Madi Marr

Selflessness is the soul's masterpiece. It is something that is sadly becoming increasingly harder to find. In my life, I have dedicated many hours and time to programs that allow me to be a part of a greater picture. I am involved in many programs throughout school and at my church, such as the American Sign Language Honor Society, student interpreting at church, and yearly mission trips to areas to work on people's houses for free that they could otherwise not complete or afford for themselves. I continue to give back to the community in any way I can. I am learning American Sign Language (ASL) and use it to benefit the Deaf community and anyone else who relies on it. I want to provide this accessibility to those who need it in the church and eventually for my work in Pediatric Occupational Therapy. I began learning ASL in my church's Leadership Training for Christ program (LTC). I continued my education in high school, taking ASL 1-3 and joining the American Sign Language Honor Society. Right now, in my church, I am a student interpreter and help most Sundays, sometimes just a couple of songs, and sometimes most of the service. I have also used ASL in the Bridges Program at church, our special needs ministry for children who may need extra support in church classes. I am a buddy for a teen with Smith-Magenis Syndrome, and he is deaf as well. He does speak English with most people; however, it is much easier for him to communicate with sign language. ASL is a beautiful language, and I plan to expand my skills to benefit others. Being involved in my youth group at church has also opened opportunities to serve. I help out in the nursery during services at church to give the parents a chance to attend church and have some time off from their tireless work of raising children. Also, for the past two years, I have been a camp counselor at the overnight children's camp through my church called Camp Canaan. It is a one-week camp for 3rd-6th graders who come to learn about Jesus and have a fun week of swimming and games. Getting that opportunity has shown how much I love working with kids and serving them 24 hours a day for a week. As a high schooler, I also attend our service trip to McAllen, TX, every year to paint homes for those who can't afford to have it done and repair the roofing of houses. I learned the value of what a physical service for someone can genuinely do to change their lives. I have also become involved in a program called Aceing Autism, which is a nationwide nonprofit devoted to giving a social and physical outlet for children with Autism, as they generally lack a comfortable social environment in their day-to-day lives. I use my skills in tennis to allow them to get better at tennis, have fun, and improve their socialization skills. I enjoy joining these various programs and spending time with others for their benefit. I plan to continue this work next year and take it into college and beyond. Thank you so much for considering my application for the Michael Rudometkin Memorial Scholarship!

One small gesture has a boundless impact. Simple acts around the community do change society. I have been involved in many activities most of my life and plan to continue. The opportunity to improve the lives of others and to serve others inspires me. I want to make an impact on people's lives like Jesus did. I am working to change my community in numerous ways, such as through American Sign Language, my church, and tennis. About five years ago, I fell in love with American Sign Language. Having signed up for a chorus group to compete at the Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) convention in Dallas, I was at a practice where our choir director wanted to incorporate sign language into our performance. We had an interpreter come in to teach us the chorus, and I was one of the chosen two to learn the whole song. Learning those few words ignited a passion in me for ASL. Since then, I have participated in Signing for the Deaf at the LTC Convention for four years and am now a student judge for the convention. I am starting my 4th year of American Sign Language class at my high school, and I interpret songs and communion at the Sunday Morning church services almost every week. Helping others, I have discovered, is my passion, as studying American Sign Language has opened many opportunities for me, like volunteering in the Bridges Ministry at my church, our special needs support ministry. I have helped with respite events to give the parents a day to take a date and care for themselves since they give so much time to their children. Volunteering in programs such as these for children who struggle to acquire a "normal" life has shown me that I want to be a support system for these kids. Being involved in my youth group at church has also opened opportunities to serve. I help out in the nursery during services at church to give the parents a chance to attend church and have some time off from their tireless work of raising children. Also, for the past two years, I have been a camp counselor at the overnight children's camp through my church called Camp Canaan. It is a one-week camp for 3rd-6th graders who come to learn about Jesus and have a fun week of swimming and games. Getting that opportunity has shown how much I love working with kids and serving them 24 hours a day for a week. As a high schooler, I also attend our service trip to McAllen, TX, every year to paint homes for those who can't afford to have it done and repair the roofing of houses. I learned the value of what a physical service for someone can genuinely do to change their lives. I have also become involved in a program called Aceing Autism, which is a nationwide nonprofit devoted to giving a social and physical outlet for children with Autism, as they generally lack a comfortable social environment in their day-to-day lives. I use my skills in tennis to allow them to get better at tennis, have fun, and improve their socialization skills. Overall, I have a heart for serving others. I want to continue to use this fantastic skill throughout college and into the workplace, where I hope to become a Pediatric Occupational Therapist to help children with disabilities become independent and live the best life they can!

I would never get anywhere if I stopped every time I was in pain. That has been my motto for the last ten years. My health has always been an issue, but that never stopped me from doing what I wanted. Beginning in second grade, I started having unbearable stomach pains so bad that I would miss a week of school at a time. Doctors couldn't explain it, and I dealt with it until I was in the 7th grade when I went to a specialist who diagnosed me with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. However, since that is such a broad spectrum, no treatment was offered to me. I continued to persevere, play sports (gymnastics, basketball, and tennis), and just pushed on and did my best. When I got to high school, it got much worse very quickly, and I had to go to a different specialist, who was very worried about my symptoms but couldn't find anything wrong. Soon after that, I went Gluten-Free, which made me feel better than I ever had after just two days. I had found an end to constant pain, and now I deal with intense episodes about once a month. Through all this, I played sports and participated in church and school events. Sometimes, my pain forced me to sit out, but I always attended these events regardless. My team and teammates are very important to me, and I will be there for them as much as possible. Playing tennis in high school took a lot of commitment and time, and I sometimes felt terrible, but it did not matter the second I stepped on the court. A recent obstacle I attacked pertaining to this part of my life was in June 2023. I was sent to the emergency room due to my pain and spent over 8 hours there as the doctors ran every test and attempted to manage my symptoms. They did not discover anything life-threatening, so they discharged me with many types of medication. At this point, I could barely walk and was passing out. I was bedridden for three days and was focused on rebuilding my strength as quickly as possible, and only one week later, I went on a backpacking trip up Mount Hope in Colorado. We hiked all the way to the top in 4 days, and it was a difficult trip, but I persevered and saw the most beautiful view up at the top. Mountain Hope was indeed the experience I needed to empower me to keep going and push my body further physically. Overall, I learned that if I push myself and improve myself, I can achieve more than expected. I will continue to push the boundaries of what doctors and others told me was possible.