I’ve never really thought about this before, it’s just been a ubiquitous part of my life. I was born to a 19 year old in an exploitative relationship with a 36 year old, unmarried. From the time I was born to when I was three I was constantly pulled between differing family households because of my mother’s drug addiction and personality problems. It’s left long lasting attachment difficulties for me. My grandmother who was single, eventually got legal custody, she was great. Unfortunately she broke her back when I was around four and could no longer take care of me, that compounded with the proximity of my unstable biological mother made staying with her or any family members unrealistic. They went to a local church looking for help. That’s when I met what was soon to be my adoptive family. I remember how terrifying it was to be removed from my grandma. I remember my biological mother, in front of the court house, using her bare fingers to masochistically take the thorns off of a rose, and handing it to me. I’m much too young to remember what was said, or even if that was what had really happened. My new family was profoundly confusing for me. My adoptive father was extremely abusive and mentally ill. My adoptive mother suffered from depression, particularly after birthing her fifth child, on top of the two that she had adopted. Life went on, my mother stayed in bed for most of the time, having us fetch her sustenance. But one day everything changed, I was at school, taking my sophomore English final. Later that day I found out my adoptive father had nearly killed my sister and the police were called. A week later my adoptive mother petitioned for divorce. I can’t imagine how much courage that must’ve taken. Ever since I’ve been living solely with her, revisiting my earlier childhood where I only ever had a matriarch. Things have gotten safer around here, but my mother still struggles with mental health and her responsibility to take care of seven kids, alone. She’s protected me from severe medical neglect from my abusive adoptive father. After I had taken a large amount of medicine in an attempt to take my life. My father had facilitated and encouraged the attempt. After I was discovered he had tried to prevent me from receiving medical treatment, saying that they should wait for me to get sick so I’d learn my lesson. My mom stepped up. Saving my life. After I was stabilized my adoptive father yet again tried to neglect me by refusing to send me to the psych ward. My mother argued for 4 hours, trying to get me to the psych ward. Thank god she did. She saved my life. We currently have a tumultuous relationship. A couple weeks ago she had a manic episode, and she came to my work and called the police on me, and after I gave her my phone she went through texting my boss and friends, severely embarrassing me. This isn’t pretty, this isn’t black and white, this may not even be right for this scholarship. This is painful. I no longer have a job and my ability to pay for college is diminished as a result. But hell I’m in the right place. Growing up with a single mother has shaped me, it’s turned me into everything I am today. I would not have the skills, the independent mindset, or the grit to write this for my future without my mother. Thanks to her I. Am. Still. Fighting

Money. One of the biggest rollercoasters in life, something that helps bring you up, but through a few fumbles, can bring you crashing down. I was born to parents who had substance abuse problems, they expectedly had money problems. It wasn't a safe place for me. Eventually I was taken out of that situation, I had moved to my grandmas house. A tiny one floor home with three family's living there. My grandma broke her back and could no longer take care of me. I was adopted into a more than not, wealthy family. I have had a unique experience with finance. From being in an unsafe environment because of a lack of money skills, to transitioning to a wealthy home I have a rich range of financial experience. I have been lucky enough to go to school in a state where financial education is required, Utah. During the first half of my junior year I took a class called "Financial Literacy". It taught you infinitely valuable skills about finance management, scholarships, and making your first time financial decisions. One thing that they made sure to drill into us was "don't go into debt, for anything, ever" (later in the course they labeled houses as an exception). They taught us everything we needed to know about opening your first bank account, debit cards, and credit cards. They wisely taught us the history of credit and subsequently discouraged the use of them strongly. So you can imagine the stress I have when my mother has no choice but to use them while my parents are going through a prolonged divorce. Just compounding debt, disguised as survival. So here I am. At the crossroads of my future, praying I have the ability to aggregate all of my knowledge to prevent the financial disaster I have seen so many times. After everything I've learned I've come up with a few ways to implement the financial knowledge I have compounded through academia and personal experience. First up, apply for scholarships. This is the single best thing you can do to avoid compounding debt and secure your future, and look at what I'm doing right now! Second, avoid credit cards at all costs. Credit cards teach you that you don't have to deal with your bad financial decisions until much later, and they use this to, as I'd put it, exploit their users. Lastly, make sure your on the good side of interest. Einstein once said "The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest", while likely satirical, it holds lots of truth and adds valuable weight to debt which is deemed normal. I learned strategies for investing, and the amazing outcomes that it can have. I surely have been on the rollercoaster of finance, being born into poverty, moving to a wealthy home, and experiencing the financial impacts that divorce can have. And I am making a choice right now, a choice to be wise with money, to avoid the traps that I have learned of and experienced my self, and to ultimately grow. (Writing this essay, particularly at the beginning, has been a bit emotional. Please excuse the choppiness of some of the sentences)