Returning to school later in life has been one of the most courageous and transformative decisions I have ever made. Like Debra S. Jackson, I reached a point in my life where I knew that education was not just a pathway to a career change it was a doorway to purpose, healing, and impact. My journey has been shaped by trauma, resilience, recovery, and a deep desire to serve my community in ways I never could have imagined when I was younger. For many years, my life was defined by survival. I endured childhood incest, rape, and long‑term abuse experiences I carried in silence until I was forty years old. That silence shaped my early adulthood, influencing my choices, my confidence, and my sense of worth. I also spent fifteen years battling addiction, a struggle that nearly cost me my life. In 2016, I made the decision to get sober, and that moment became the turning point that changed everything. Recovery gave me back my health, my clarity, and my belief that my life could still have meaning. As I healed, I began to understand that my experiences were not just wounds they were tools. They shaped my compassion, my strength, and my desire to help others break free from cycles of trauma and silence. This realization led me to pursue higher education in my forties, determined to build a career rooted in service, advocacy, and community impact. Today, I work in mental health as a Youth Community Support Specialist, where I help children and families navigate trauma, emotional challenges, and instability. My past allows me to connect with them in a way that is authentic and deeply empathetic. I know what it feels like to be afraid to speak up, and I make it my mission to ensure that the children I work with know they are safe, valued, and believed. I also serve as the **CFO and a Board Member of The Healing Garden Ministry**, where we help individuals in recovery rebuild their lives through community service, self‑sustainability, and hands‑on skill development. We teach people how to grow their own food, contribute to their community, and rediscover their sense of purpose. This work reflects my core values: dignity, empowerment, and healing through connection. Returning to school has strengthened my commitment to creating long‑term change in my community. My education will allow me to expand my work in mental health, develop trauma‑informed programs, and help build safer, healthier environments for children and families in Missouri. I want to use my degree to bridge gaps in rural mental health services, advocate for survivors, and help individuals in recovery reclaim their lives. This scholarship would significantly support my journey by easing the financial burden of returning to school while balancing full‑time work and community service. It would allow me to focus more fully on my studies and accelerate my ability to make a meaningful impact in my field. Like Debra, I believe in second chances. Education has given me mine and I intend to use it to uplift others, strengthen my community, and honor the life I fought so hard to reclaim.

My name is **Sara E. Enos**, and I am an undergraduate student in Missouri who has been sober since 2016 after battling addiction for fifteen years. My journey through substance abuse—and the life I have built in recovery—has shaped my purpose, my ambition, and the impact I strive to make in my community. Addiction consumed much of my early adulthood. It took my health, my confidence, and my sense of identity. For years, I lived in survival mode, unable to imagine a future beyond the chaos I was trapped in. In 2016, I reached a point where I knew I had to choose life. Getting sober required courage, honesty, and a willingness to rebuild myself from the ground up. Recovery was not easy, but it was possible—and it became the foundation of everything I am today. Staying sober is not just a personal commitment; it is a promise I make to the people I now serve. Today, I work in mental health as a Youth Community Support Specialist, supporting children and families who are navigating trauma, instability, and emotional pain. My past allows me to connect with them in a way that is authentic and compassionate. I know what it feels like to feel lost, ashamed, or afraid to speak up. I make it my mission to ensure that the children I work with know they are safe, valued, and believed. I also serve as the **CFO and a Board Member of The Healing Garden Ministry**, a community‑driven organization that helps individuals in recovery rebuild their lives with dignity and purpose. We teach people how to become self‑sustainable by growing their own food, developing practical skills, and giving back to the community. Our work reflects a belief I hold deeply: recovery is not just about breaking addiction—it is about restoring identity, confidence, and connection. Steven’s story resonates with me because I understand how addiction can shape a person’s empathy, compassion, and desire to help others. Like Steven, I would not erase my struggles. They made me stronger, more understanding, and more determined to create change. My ambition is to continue my education, expand my impact in mental health, and help build safer, healthier communities in Missouri. My drive comes from the life I fought to reclaim. And my impact is measured in every child who feels safe, every person who finds hope, and every life touched by the work I do in recovery.

This opportunity is meaningful to me because my education is part of a calling that God has been shaping through some of the hardest and most transformative seasons of my life. I am not pursuing success for myself alone I am pursuing the purpose God rescued me for. There was a time when illness controlled my days and medications controlled my nights. I was on more than twenty‑six prescriptions, fighting to function, fighting to hope, and fighting to believe that my life could be more than survival. My body was exhausted, my spirit was weary, and my future felt uncertain. But in the middle of that darkness, God stepped in. He didn’t just comfort me He delivered me. Slowly, steadily, miraculously, I was freed from the illnesses that once defined me and from the medications that once held me captive. What doctors could not explain, God made possible. That healing became the turning point of my life. When God restored my health, He also restored my purpose. He gave me the strength to return to school, the courage to move to Lebanon, Missouri for a new beginning, and the clarity to step into roles that serve others. Today, I work as a Youth Community Support Specialist at Compass Health Network and serve as CFO and Board Member of The Healing Garden Ministry. Every day I get to pour into children, families, and my community with the same compassion and hope that God poured into me. My faith has been the anchor behind every triumph. It carried me through illness, through rebuilding my life, and through the challenges of balancing work, ministry, and education. It has shaped the way I lead, the way I teach, and the way I show up for people who feel overwhelmed by their own battles. I know what it feels like to be at the end of yourself and I know what it feels like to be lifted up by grace. Looking ahead, I plan to continue using my faith as the guiding force behind my education and future work. My long‑term vision is to help build sustainable, hope‑centered programs that support families, empower youth, and create safe spaces for healing. I want to use my testimony not as a story of what I survived, but as a story of what God can do to encourage others who feel stuck, broken, or forgotten. This scholarship would help me continue my education while expanding the impact of the ministry and mental‑health work I am called to. I am determined to reach greater heights, not for recognition, but to serve with excellence, compassion, and unwavering faith. God delivered me for a purpose, and I intend to honor that purpose with everything I do.