I am very excited to graduate third in my class from Hayward High School this spring. My name is Maria Halberg, and I am the fourth out of five kids in my family. My older siblings are big inspirations to me, because they have all gone to college and have been very successful academically. They have had so much discipline and dedication towards learning, which led them to continued success as they went from high school to college. I have worked hard all throughout high school to prepare for college, just like my siblings did, which means I have earned college credit and maintained a high GPA of 3.989, despite taking challenging classes that help me grow. Outside of schoolwork, I am passionate about cross country, girls basketball, and track & field, which I have participated in all four years of my high school career. My teachers and coaches have expressed their appreciation of my positive leadership, kindness, and willingness to work, and I hope to continue displaying these positive traits throughout my life. When I have free time, I enjoy baking, reading, and running for fun. Additionally, working and volunteering have taught me valuable life lessons. In the past four years especially, I have gained a wide variety of volunteer experience through my clubs, sports, and church, which have taught me generosity, compassion, and a strong work ethic. The most foundational volunteer experiences I have are setting up for the Birkie Expo, directing parking at the Chequamegon Mountain Bike Festival, and collecting donations for a Holiday Food Drive. Additional times I have volunteered include youth basketball, track meets, activities with Primary School students, and helping with fundraisers at my church. Volunteering is important to me because I get to help many people, just by contributing my time toward organizing various events and fundraisers. One goal of mine is to continue helping the community as a volunteer after I graduate from high school and contribute to events that have impacted my life so that other people may have a positive experience as well. My future goals are to go to the University of Mary and graduate with a degree in Exercise Science. Receiving this scholarship would be a huge blessing to me financially, because it would help me to pay for college tuition and would greatly help me on my journey to earn a degree. I would like to go into a health-related career because my ultimate goal is to actively help people every day to live healthier, happier lives, and I hope to eventually achieve this goal by first earning a college degree.