I have a beautiful little girl who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I was in a abusive relationship at the time I got pregnant with her. My daughter is the product of a abusive relationship that was a bad environment to be in. I was sexually and psychologically abused for almost a year straight. When I found out I was pregnant I was scared. Scared for me, but scared for my child. Would they have to grow up with that person in their lives? Would I be able to do that to a innocent little baby? About 6 weeks after finding out I was pregnant, I kicked my ex out of the house and filed for a order of protection, as well as divorce. I went through my entire pregnancy alone, with only a few family members who helped me. Having my daughter has made me see things in a different perspective. At the time I had her I was just about to turn 20 years old. I was working on a Associates Degree and barely working 20 hours a week. I quickly realized that I would need to work harder, and be more proactive if I was to provide for my daughter on my own. By the time she was one year-old, I had started my bachelor's degree, started working almost 60 hours a week and had saved enough money to buy my 1st car all on my own. For me the most challenging part of being a single parent and going to school, now for my master's degree, is my daughter's developmental challenges. I am in no way saying that my struggle is my daughter's fault. I am just saying that it complicates things. I can't just drop her off at a daycare when I have a paper due, or tell her to go play in her bedroom when I have a test to take. My daughter requires almost constant supervision and monitoring. So when the time comes for me to do an assignment I generally have to hire a respite worker who is trained to care for my daughter, and go to a public location to do my work. To me being a student is something that I have done my entire life. I graduated early from High School at the age of 15 in the top 10% of my graduating class. I started college at just 16 years old, at 20 years old I have not 1 but 2 associates degrees, and at 23 years old I had my bachelor's degree. Being a student requires focus, persistence, dedication and the ability to dedicate all your energy to the assignments at hand. But being a parent, especially a single parent, you can not simply do this. Your mind is literally split into two halves. One half focused on your child all the time, no matter what you are doing or where you are at. The other half focused on work, managing finances, school, and everything else that you need to do in your day. If I do get this scholarship it will help me be able to pay for my master's degree. I am studying wildlife conservation, this is a important goal to me because with this degree I can work towards saving the world's most vulnerable species from extinction. Following through with my dreams, even with everything going on in my personal life, is important to me. I can show my daughter that even when life gives you a full plate of things that by all means should deter you from reaching your goals; it is important to keep pushing forwards towards reaching your goals.

When I was 9, my mom got diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disease. The doctors told us she wouldn't live past 6 months. I was 9. I was scared. I remember thinking that if I didn't sleep, didn't eat, did my school and did all these things that she would live. Around 4 months after the diagnosis, she fell into a coma. She luckily survived, but it was a hard ten years. Ten years of fighting, doctors, hospitals and tests. During this time I became very depressed. Around 12 years old I started experimenting with cutting myself. I wouldn't talk to anyone, and became very withdrawn. My cousins tried for years to help me, get me out of my house so I could breathe. Nothing worked. When I was 17 years old I made the decision to seek help. I told my primary doctor what I had been feeling and she sent me to a psychologist. I was diagnosed with Anxiety and Depression. I was put on medication and told that I most likely have a form of PTSD. I couldn't believe this. I have a older brother who didn't have any of these issues, so why me? Why was it me that had all these things 'wrong' with my brain? I started going to therapy and found out that my brain put up walls to protect me from my childhood. They told me that during this time I was easy to persuade. I started talking to old classmates from high school and started my first relationship at 18. Little did I know that would cause me to spiral again. I didn't think that my parents, or my family for that matter, who 'let' me have all these mental health problems knew what was going on. So I didn't listen to them when they said this guy I was with was abusive and not healthy for me to be around. He convinced me that cutting was normal that my doctors and family didn't know what was best for me, he did. My cousins, the same ones who helped me go to therapy, saw the cuts. They told me I needed to get help and I went in-patient for the first time in my life. While there they told me that I was in a abusive relationship, I thought they were talking about my family, but now I see they were talking about him. Within a year of being with him, I realized what they saw. I had been raped, psychologically abused, emotionally abused and worst of all isolated even more from my family. I found out I was pregnant and my mind started to piece together everything that he had done. Luckily I was able to get away from him, and now I have a amazing little girl. Or not so little anymore, she's now 3 years old. I am now a single parent of a special needs kid. I go to therapy every month and I have finally accepted my diagnosis. I still struggle with anxiety and depression almost daily. I still can not remember more than half my childhood, and probably never will get those memories back. But I can say that I am in a better place now then I was before. And for the first time in my life I am happy.