Hello everyone, my name is Michael Mckinley Moore, I am a 21-year-old, Junior Finance Major from Chicago, Illinois. I strive to receive my Bachelor's degree in December of 2025. I first attended Howard University in the Fall of 2021 as a Computer Science Major, but my love for the stock market and addiction to financial investing led me to transfer to Howard's prestigious School Of Business in my late sophomore year. Since high school, I've wanted to learn how to start a business and manage my finances as I dreamed of becoming a Founder/CEO of my own business. I've already taken the next steps to become a successful business owner, selling hundreds of clothes and books on eBay(link to my store below as reference). With a 100% positive rating given by all my customers and being in the top 5% of eBay sellers, achieving Top Rated status by eBay. My hard work and dedication have taught me how to research products, source profitable items, cost accounting, Project management, strategic time management, networking, customer service, the list goes on. I did all this while balancing my school schedule, attending sometimes from 8 in the morning(Business Communications) to 8 at night(Accounting Principles I). Most profits I've used were for school fees, cost of living & scaling my business. As a Student-Athlete at Howard University's Men's Rugby Club, I went to practice from 8 pm-10 pm, and with our team chemistry and talent, we fought our way to the National Collegiate Rugby Tournament becoming the first HBCU ever to compete at that level and becoming the 2024 Small College Men Shield 7's Champions representing all Black Athletes at the national level. I played soccer most of my life until 2021 and this was my first year playing Rugby. I strive to take the torch the founders of our team gave us and make it to Nationals again this year. This summer unfortunately my stepfather has recently gone through Triple Bypass Heart Surgery and is currently recovering at home under the care of me and my Mother. This has made it difficult to continue my business and I've made the decision to close my store for the time being until he can function by himself. With this, I am struggling to figure out more ways to help take the load financially and chip down the cost of my school expenses for the upcoming semester. I'm currently taking two online summer classes at Prince George Community College MD. Thank you for your time! To learn more about me, my LinkedIn & e-commerce store are below, and please read my other scholarship essays at the bottom of my profile for more info, thank you. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-moore123/ eBay Store: https://www.ebay.com/str/michaelsellsthings2?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=uh7l3-d7r5y&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=uh7l3-d7r5y&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I've recently had a change of pace in my life that has made me a better person. I turned twenty on November 26th, 2022, and it's made me realize even more the mindset and goals I must set to become successful, not just for myself but for the people around me. These past two years have been such a life-changing experience for me. From going through hard times during covid, leaving Chicago for college, and being accepted to the illustrious Howard University. An HBCU I would've never thought I would get into at the time. Overcoming anxiety from being isolated because of the pandemic and having to open myself to a community of students to which I knew nobody. And experiencing a diverse set of perspectives and ideals that I had never thought of before. I used to be a computer science major, but I've discovered a newfound love for the stock market that has inspired me to switch to accounting to educate myself and others about investing your time, money, and ego to achieve happiness and prosperity financially and morally. A big part of why I switched to accounting is that I believe you can tell how a person acts by the way they spend their time, not just their money. I have researched by watching many youtube videos and reading many books/articles about being an entrepreneur, investing your time in the market, and, most importantly, investing time in yourself. I feel that many people are uneducated about investing your time in understanding different perspectives that can help you in the long run when encountering difficult situations. Investing doesn't always mean the dollar sign. That's what I want to educate people about. My freshman year of college wasn't the best it could've been. I was too excited to finally be around who related to me, and it led me down a path that I will never go on again. I don't want people to make the same mistakes I did. I learned from my mistakes, and now that I'm twenty, a new decade of experiences are waiting for me to encounter them with the best mindset possible. My plan for college is to graduate in 2025, but for my mental health, 2026 will be fine because overloading yourself can lead you down a path of bad habits. I am not just sitting around. I plan to focus on my education during the school year, but I work as an experienced Deckhand during the summer to help pay for my college tuition. Eventually, I want to learn how to drive a boat and get my boating license to become a captain as a seasonal job. I know this will take time, which is why I have shown so much of myself to you. I plan to become little to debt-free by the time I graduate. Will you help me?

Technology has changed my life in many ways that I cannot even fathom to get my head around. This is why I chose computer science, I want to understand how technology changes the people, the elements, the time, the dedication, and the perception of others who have access to technology but don’t have the experience to know what happens behind the scenes. Technology is used in almost everyone's everyday life, for almost everyone’s everyday tasks. It’s how people operate efficiently to get through the day as positively as possible. Presently, I am a high school senior at Lincoln park Chicago where I have been taking classes for around a year now remotely, obviously due to the pandemic. I have thought many times what would have happened if technology wasn’t as advanced during this pandemic. No zoom calls, no google classroom, no classes, no graduation. My life would have been in a complete stand still, me staying at home hoping that one of these days I could un-pause my life and continue my hobbies. I'm grateful that with technology that scenario never happened to me and others because I’m able to graduate this year and go to my first pick school without a worry of delay. My experience with technology started with a joystick and a 2004 Spiderman game. Gaming has always made me interested in how games were created. Mixing art with code to make entertainment that could last for years. It’s always found a way for me to question if I could make something like that one day. I don’t intend to be a game designer at the moment but just thinking about making something for people to smile and laugh about makes your mind burst with inspiration and determination. The reason I said “at the moment” for being a game designer is when pursuing computer science you have the privilege to choose what you want to do in the technological field. Just because you want to pursue one job in the computer science field doesn’t mean you can’t switch to a new job because the classes you take in college prepare you for several job opportunities. I know that if I discover a new interest in the field I don’t have to worry about my time being wasted because the skill I will require will apply to various jobs. With that being said at the moment I have decided that I want to protect this advanced technology and stop others from destroying what people have tried to create. I want to be the wall that oversees technology advancing to a new era that makes life better for generations to come. That's why I want to go into cybersecurity, to ensure that the next generation has the same privilege as I do. If awarded this scholarship my commitment would be to put my best efforts in proving that you made a good choice by giving me the opportunity. I would display passion and energy by doing my part to move the technology industry forward.