As a graduate from a technical high school, my education goal is to utilize the design, programming, machining, and engineering skills in pursuit of my mechanical engineering degree. My initial goal is to get my bachelors degree with a minor in mathematics and then pursue my masters degree in an engineering specialty. In my junior and senior year of high school, I worked a co-op job at a small engineering machine shop. It was amazing to be able to take my high school training in advanced manufacturing and apply it to my job. I was able to contribute to the company’s success and it was a great feeling. When I entered my technical high school, my end goal was to train for a career that I could do right out of high school as I did not see myself ever going to college. I had picked up my advanced manufacturing training very quickly and it was so natural to me. Both to my surprise and my teachers, I quickly rose yo the top of the class in my CTE program and received the excellence award for advanced manufacturing as the top student in the program. My passion for my program had me volunteering for school open houses leading the student group in my program. As a female, I was excited to share my program with potential students and thrilled when another female took an interest. My program brought me pride and I knew that I would do well pursuing a career in advanced manufacturing. What I did not expect is how my passion would quickly evolve into a dream of going to college for engineering. My dream job right now is a mechanical or industrial engineer in a manufacturing environment. In the fall of my junior year of high school, my world was turned upside down and I could no longer see my future college plans as achievable. My father’s unanticipated and sudden death changed everything emotionally, physically, and financially. It no longer seemed feasible to be able to afford to go to college on my mother’s income despite all of the ways that we had tried. I was determined not to let me college dream die, so I started working multiple jobs to help save enough for my first year of college. I started my degree at Merrimack College in January 2024 and will be taking classes during the summers and winter breaks to make up the semester I missed and to catch up to my class. It will be a challenge to work a full-time job and take summer classes, but it is necessary to earn money to contribute to the tuition. This scholarship would help me tremendously by cutting some of the hours that I would need to work, which allows me to study more and with any luck enjoy some college activities. During the spring semester, I have marked some weekday hours and two full days each weekend. My engineering degree program is challenging, so any work hours that I can reduce allows me to focus on college work. I will do whatever I need to to keep my college dream alive. Thank you for your time and consideration for this scholarship,