I am Ricaye Samuelson and I was born in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and raised in the small town of Eagle River, Wisconsin. A challenge I have faced in my life is my father’s growing disability because of his deteriorating hips. My father has been a single parent who raised my two older brothers and me and neglected his health to take care of us. My family has always struggled with money but it significantly became harder when my father had to retire from his work because of his hips four years ago. My brother and I help him around the house, pay for some of the groceries, and help pitch in for some of the bills. This challenge has shaped me to be more empathetic, understanding, patient, and hardworking. I wasn’t able to experience some of the things my peers at school did like getting my license at sixteen years old, continue to participate in basketball, and going to most of the school's events. I had to stay home to help my father, focus on school, and also have peace of mind knowing that someone, like me, was there with him because my older brother works most nights. To help my family I had to work, but more than financially, I had to do good in school and go to college. By going to college, getting a degree, and finding a good and stable job, I can help give back to my family and further support my father who has sacrificed so much for me. Attending college has always been the plan though it seemed like an impossibility because of my family's financial stance and my father's circumstances. However, college became more of a reality when in my junior year at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River, Wisconsin, I got the opportunity to apply for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Rising Phoenix Program. The Rising Phoenix Program is a program to help underserved students be able to attend college and take college courses with no expenses to them. Through this program, I will be graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with an Associate of Arts and Science Degree this year along with my high school diploma. This program has made college a reality and I can jump into a bachelor’s degree because all of the general education requirements will be completed, which has saved me thousands of dollars. However, I still need support in order to attain a bachelor’s degree. I have applied and been accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay again to further my education journey because it is close to my hometown and I already know how great of an institution it is. This year, my father will be able to get hip surgery, which is a blessing. I will have more comfort attending UW-Green Bay knowing that my father can be able to walk without crutches again and be more mobile. At UW-Green Bay, I plan on majoring in history with an emphasis on public history and minor in English. By pursuing these fields I can get a job at a museum, educate the public in my area, and build a platform to help bring awareness to local, national, and international issues through a historical lens. I want to be a part of a better change today for a better tomorrow and help struggling communities from differing backgrounds. I want to support my family, help other families like mine, and give back to the community that has helped me see my potential.

I am Ricaye Samuelson born in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and raised in the small town of Eagle River, Wisconsin. My parents are divorced and I was brought up with two other brothers by my single father who has now been retired for four years and is disabled. Money has always been a struggle but I won’t let that define my future possibilities and dreams of becoming an author, a museum archivist, and a teacher. Ever since I was young, I have had a deep admiration and passion for art, literature, and history. I love to create and learn, but even more than that I love to teach and engage in discussions. That’s why I want to be a teacher. I want to teach either in a public High School and or work with the public in a museum setting. As my history teachers have done with me, I want to inspire people and young adults to be curious and also emphasize the importance of history. I want to engage with people, share knowledge, and also bring awareness to issues locally, nationally, or internationally. These aspirations of mine have only developed and grown over my high school career at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River, Wisconsin. I was blessed with the opportunity in my Sophomore year to apply to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Rising Phoenix Program. The Rising Phoenix Program is a program that allows underserved high school students the opportunity to be dual-enrolled with the University and get two years of college under their belt that is all paid for. I was accepted, did the program online, and by the end of this upcoming May, I will have achieved an Associate of Art and Science degree thanks to this program. This program helped make college more tangible than a distant hope, and that’s why I decided to apply and continue through the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Not only do I know how wonderful of an institution it is, but Green Bay also has an excellent history, English, and education program. Right now, I plan to focus on history and English by majoring in history with an emphasis in Public History and minoring in English. Later, I want to pursue an education degree or certificate and also explore my passion for art. That way I can teach history and or art in a high school setting and expand techniques in educating the public that would be useful in a museum setting. This scholarship will help me reach my bachelor's degree in History and minor in English by helping aid the expenses. Though I have completed an AAS degree, which has already saved me thousands of dollars, I still need help to be able to afford and achieve my next steps in furthering my education and attaining a bachelor’s degree. This scholarship will not be forsaken as it will help me achieve my educational goals and in turn, help me achieve a career where I can give back to the community and nation that has helped me.

I was ten and wrote a biography about Jackie Onassis because my fourth-grade teacher thought writing about Freda Khalo would be inappropriate because of her accident and graphic paintings. Which is fair, because I was only ten. Nonetheless, I loved reading about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and writing about her. That was the point where I fell in love with reading and writing because that summer I continued to read and write about historical figures and events such as Amelia Earhart and the Civil War. That love of history and writing only grew as I did. I have read many historical fiction and nonfiction books, films, and documentaries. I even write historical fiction stories in my free time. Books that have inspired me not only to read more but also to write stories of my own are The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks, Love Otto: The Legacy of Anne Frank by Cara Wilson, The Story of a Thousand-year Pine by Enos A. Millis, Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson, and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss among many others. But the book I read just short of a year ago that made me realize I can actually make a career out of pursuing history and writing is The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose. I find this story incredible. I loved how Phillip Hoose collaborated with Knud Pedersen and built a friendship. I also find the format of this story very satisfying and easy to follow. It was so easy to be consumed by this story that I never heard of before, and this is a story I will forever recommend to people interested in history, especially WWII. This book, other books, films, documentaries, teachers, and school helped me decide on this path to study history and continue to write. I want to be an author, interview people, and know their stories, while also learning more about the past and pivotal moments in history so they won’t be forgotten.

I was born to create. Ever since I was little, I took charge of the big world with my little dimpled hands drawing, coloring, and writing on every surface I could when I didn't get caught. Everything in the house and the outside was a canvas to me before I learned better and took my creative desires out on a piece of paper. I would make stories about these fantasy and fictional worlds that I played out with my friends or toys. I endlessly lived within my imagination and so I created comic books, short stories, dramas, plays, and jokes. From a young age too, it was a tool for me to express my feelings and journal. I would write about memories, crushes, and these big emotions that were happening in my tiny body to help me understand what I was feeling and going through. Writing has always been a part of me, but my love for writing really grew in school because I fell in love with writing biographies and historical events. Today, I now love to write creative historical non-fiction pieces and historical fiction alongside contemporary fiction and poetry. What I have come to love most about writing is how therapeutic it has been for me to journal and I also love the different places it can take my mind. Writing has helped me cope with grief, anger, and sadness while also being able to express happiness, love, and joy as I grew up and matured. I love that I can live multiple lives through my characters and navigate life's secrets; finding truth within the stories, characters, life, and myself. I love the idea of how words can create an escape, illustrate information, and present topics creatively and engagingly. Since writing is an essential part of me, I plan to continue writing in college by majoring in history and minoring in English at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Not only will I be building upon my writing skills but I'll also be exercising these skills for academic papers and creative writing in my free time. I also plan to submit work to be published at UW-Green Bays Sheepshead Review. UW-Green Bay's Sheepshead Review is a student-led organization journal of the arts that ranges from written prose to artwork created and submitted by college students and high school students in the area. At UW-Green Bay, there are many outlets for me to continue and express my writing, which is one of the ultimate reasons why I applied there. I can't give up writing and I never will. For the longest time, a goal of mine has been to become a published author and through UW-Green Bay, I can make that dream a reality and make the little girl I once was very proud.