I will have developed into a better husband, father, teacher, and overall person who gives everything I can to continue improving myself and, hopefully, those with whom I have the fortune of building lasting and caring relationships.

I would not say a dog has changed my life; I'd be more honest by saying dogs have changed my life. My wife and I are complete pushovers when it comes to dogs, so we have had many over the years, and have each been important beings in our lives. Whether it was Kaya, Finley, Truman, or Steven, they have all been wonderful in so many ways. However, my current dog, Brylie, has truly become like one of my children. We have rescued each of our past dogs from rescue services, but Brylie was a few homes away from us when we got her. Her previous owners kept her chained up on a gravel driveway for hours at a time, which can be brutally hot in Louisiana summers. She escaped several times and would come to our house. She smelled like cigarettes and her belly was usually bloody and scraped from the rocks. It was heartbreaking. We would love on her, feed her, clean her up, then take her back home. The owners could not have cared less. Eventually, after the sixth or seventh escape, I asked them if they even wanted her. The woman at the door looked right into my face and said no, that she was the worst, and slammed the door shut. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. I was able to bring back the sweetest, most loving dog I've ever had. She is gentle with puppies, has been fantastic with my kids, and is happy to see me every time she comes in the room. She has shown me what resilience looks like, and she is also the embodiment of pure love.

I would not say a dog has changed my life; I'd be more honest by saying dogs have changed my life. My wife and I are complete pushovers when it comes to dogs, so we have had many over the years, and have each been important beings in our lives. Whether it was Kaya, Finley, Truman, or Steven, they have all been wonderful in so many ways. However, my current dog, Brylie, has truly become like one of my children. We have rescued each of our past dogs from rescue services, but Brylie was a few homes away from us when we got her. Her previous owners kept her chained up on a gravel driveway for hours at a time, which can be brutally hot in Louisiana summers. She escaped several times and would come to our house. She smelled like cigarettes and her belly was usually bloody and scraped from the rocks. It was heartbreaking. We would love on her, feed her, clean her up, then take her back home. The owners could not have cared less. Eventually, after the sixth or seventh escape, I asked them if they even wanted her. The woman at the door looked right into my face and said no, that she was the worst, and slammed the door shut. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. I was able to bring back the sweetest, most loving dog I've ever had. She is gentle with puppies, has been fantastic with my kids, and is happy to see me every time she comes in the room. She has shown me what resilience looks like, and she is also the embodiment of pure love.

The further I go in my studies, especially considering that I have attained previous degrees and am currently pursuing another in completely different disciplines, I will become more knowledgeable, I will grow more as a person, and I will provide challenges to myself to overcome. I love the setting of goals, and, even more, I love chasing and planning for and accomplishing those goals. Higher education allows me to broaden my abilities and pursue my passions, and I'm hoping that once I've earned my doctorate that I will be able to join a college or university faculty and perhaps help other students find their own passions and the paths to get there. Even more personally, my continuing to go to school gives my children a model for how to grow up and to never be complacent. They know how much I value education and that I treat it like a workout regimen. I believe wholeheartedly that one must set goals, devise a plan for desired outcomes, and work consistently and intelligently to achieve them. One of my hopes is that they realize that one must have self-motivation and quality mentors along with being persistent to get where they want to be in life, and when they get there, to start over with a new set of goals. Higher education has provided me with a worthwhile livelihood, but I feel that as I continue to go to college, I can do even more. I currently teach at an alternative school, an institution where expelled children can continue in school. While my students can be pleasant, nearly all of them live in poor neighborhoods with negligent parents and problems everywhere they turn. Being able to help them as much as I can has been great, but there is a tough exterior that I must break through in order to reach them, or at least give it my best shot. I believe that my background in English and in teaching pedagogy is quite helpful, as is my experience in many sports and athletics, but I still notice that I lack in certain tools that could be beneficial. One of my primary reasons for choosing a psychology PhD program is that I can focus on developmental psychology and should get a better understanding of how children's minds progress as well as can be sidetracked. Perhaps, if I am lucky, I will even be able to be a part of research to improve my understanding further.

While I have been quite fortunate to have avoided major events that could have negatively impacted the trajectory of my life, I certainly have people around me who have. Both of my siblings lost their spouses to illnesses, one to cancer and the other to drug addiction, and seeing the emotional, spiritual, and physical effects of the deaths on them has altered my own life. First, I recognize the importance of sharing love and joy with my family and friends as often as possible because any sort of longevity guarantee simply does not exist. Second, I try to encourage those around me, especially my own children, to talk to me about both the happiness and troubling things in their lives. I want them to know that I care, that I want to understand, and that I am available to them. Last, I've learned to go hard after the things I want in my own life, whether that be going back to college to complete a doctorate, start training in martial arts while in my 40s, or trying out new and scary activities. Developing and maintaining quality mental health takes time and effort, and it is something that has to be monitored for its peaks and valleys that will inevitably occur. We must remain vigilant regarding our own health and be willing to help those around us who need and/or want it.

Both my brother and my sister have lost spouses to cancer and substance abuse while in their 40s. While I am aware that nothing in life is an absolute given, having people so close to me die when they were at approximately the same age as I am now certainly makes me understand that the goals I desire to attain must be attacked today. Due to this, I am pursuing several passions I have had for years right now. My siblings have regrets about some things they wish they had done differently while married to set themselves up for a more satisfying life, both during their married lives as well as after their losses. With children of my own, as well as my wife, and with goals I wish to achieve, I recognize that there is no better time than the present to get to work. Attaining a doctoral degree is first and foremost my academic, intellectual, and, eventually, my primary goal. I know this will take some time, and it will definitely take money, to earn, so I am taking steps to begin within the next few months. Another long-term goal is to earn a black belt in jiu jitsu. My children began taking martial arts, and they told me that if they were going to do it, I had to as well. As I've always wanted to do so, I agreed, and it has been an incredible journey so far. I am writing a few books, spending time and focusing on the craft, and, though it is difficult, I am loving spending the effort to do so. All of these goals require fight. I have to channel so much energy into each of them, along with my day-to-day responsibilities and other loves, such as being with my wife and kids and pets, that I have found so much more joy than when I thought sitting and watching television or videos was important. It is not. Creating goals, working towards them, and seeing the rewards from achievement are important, just as being with my people I love as much as possible is important. I will not say the deaths of people near me caused me to have some complete revelation, but the up-close witnessing of loss and the devastation and irreversibility that comes with it certainly can prompt one to fight harder for the things he or she wants right now.

The idea of brain plasticity fascinates me tremendously. The premise that the brain is highly malleable and essentially remains so for one's entire life sounds ridiculous, yet the reality that people can continue to learn and adapt proves it to be true. One of the primary reasons this principle is so important is it gives people the hope that learning a new language or a new craft or going to college at any age to alter the trajectory of their lives is a possibility. At one point in time, and staying the norm for centuries, the belief that we were born a certain way and were to be that way forever was the paradigm. Fortunately, due to the efforts of neuroscientists and psychologists, greater understanding of the brain and its ability to evolve, to be altered, emerged as an important discovery for the realms of education, physical therapy, and mental health improvement. With the pace of today's world and the years to come speeding up exponentially, recognizing the brain's adaptability and applying practices to improve its functionality will continue to rise in value.

At 42 years old, and as a husband, parent, and a teacher at an alternative school, I decided to begin practicing jiu jitsu. While I was an athlete in high school and college, and I've since been an avid runner, the idea of competing physically in a high-demand activity against others who are, at my same novice level, 20 or more years younger than I am, was challenging. People get hurt, they get scared, and they get intimidated. However, I wanted to show my children that bravery does not only mean being a police officer or a fire fighter or joining the military. It is confronting a challenge head on and dedicating time, energy, and focus in order to become the best you can be. After nearly one year, I am still attending every available class. My kids are doing jiu jitsu as well. I am helping teach classes. We are loving this, and I would like to believe that starting something this difficult, this physically and mentally and even spiritually demanding, takes bravery, as does continuing to do so even things get tough.

Attaining this prestigious award would certainly assist me in attending Pacifica Graduate Institute, where my PhD focus would be on depth psychology/Jungian studies. I currently teach at an alternative school in Monroe, Louisiana, a city with one the highest violent crime rates and lowest graduation rates in the country. My students, for the most part, have difficult lives full of uncertainty about when or where they will eat their next meal or if their caregivers will be home that evening. This, of course, can have debilitating effects on children or even older students. I would greatly enjoy being able to more deeply understand such effects as well as potentially be able to help students through difficult times. As Pacifica Graduate Institute is an expensive school, the aid offered by this scholarship would certainly go a long way in helping me be able to afford the costs of attendance. The entire program is built on delving deeply into the mechanics of depth psychology, so the curriculum is completely geared towards the teaching and works of Carl Jung as well as the areas of the collective unconscious, understanding symbols (dreams or vision deciphering), and helping people through therapeutic measures such as conversations and commiseration. The program does not lead to licensure; I would need to secure licensure myself in my home state. However, graduating from this institution would be one step closer for me to be able to do so. Our state, and this region in particular, suffers from a lack of quality psychological tools, resources, and personnel, so I would like to be able to serve in this capacity at some point in the near future.

I volunteer to coach at Kron Gracie Jiu Jitsu, and I'm discovering how martial arts can help kids both build their self-esteem as well as their athletic skills. Many of the kids who come to BJJ are not interested in more popular, more team-oriented sports. They are often shy and many have a focus on artistic endeavors when not in school. It is unbelievably fulfilling to help these kids perform and even perfect moves that they thought were impossible to do. I can see them becoming happier and more confident by the day, and although I spend a great deal of time at the gym for zero compensation, the joy I get being involved in these kids' lives is immeasurable.