From the start it felt like my life was set in stone on how it was going to play out. I was adopted and would always hear jokes about your going to end up working at Mc Donalds or end up in jail. I was born from a mother who was 15 in the foster system and a biological father who was 22 with another family. There was an incident where one of my siblings died. I was placed into the foster system where I was abused and hospitalized before being adopted. I always wondered what was wrong with me, why I was different from everyone around me. I was diagnosed with adhd in the third grade. I had behavioral issues and eventually started therapy. I started experimenting with substances when I was 13. Growing up I had a sister who was adopted from another family, it seemed she was the center of attention and was destined for greatness. I was an athlete who made ok grades, she was an artist who made straight A's. As we got older it turns out she was an alcoholic, who struggled a lot. My parents would rely on me to help her or take care of her; little did they know I was struggling with substance abuse as well. My grandmother was dying of cancer; my sister got into a terrible car accident and had to be Medi flighted. I was working full time and taking care of both of them at 18 as well as my grandfather who was legally blind trying to sneak off and drive. I was taking medications that were not prescribed to me and drinking. My whole life I was told I would be nothing and my sister would be a movie star, but here she was a struggling alcoholic while I had to take care of her and hold everyone together. I have always tried to take care of everything on my own, I hate asking for help and sometimes it gets to the point where I overwhelm myself so much, I have a mental break down. I now have adhd, depression, diabetes, anxiety and ptsd. I am a single mom who works full time and attends school full time, so many times I wanted to give up. I started taking classes to learn about early trauma in children and minoring in psychology. Not only have I learned about myself but also my daughter. I want to be a family resource specialist, behavioral specialist, or work with children who have trauma. I am currently in therapy working on myself and even have my daughter in therapy. I am learning how to help my daughter and I as well as future children and families. I want to be the person I needed growing up. Someone who listens, supports and helps others. I am set to graduate with my bachelor's this summer in Early Intervention and Early Childcare with a minor in Psychology. I have been looking at jobs in the school system, dhs, youth services and more. Currently I am not sure what my next move is, but I want to learn as much as I can and help as many people I can. Growing up with mental health and substance abuse issues is difficult I didn't go to rehab like my sister I did it on my own by myself. My biggest motivation is my daughter; I will not fail her or make her feel how I felt growing up. I continue to focus on my physical and mental health daily. I make sure I take my medications, if I miss any sometimes it can feel like it is the end of the world. I have learned it is ok to have bad days, but I will not allow myself to have a bad life.

Balancing being a single parent, working full-time, and being a full-time student is difficult but not impossible. At first, I was working, and then by the time I started homework, my adhd meds had worn off, and I was up all night stressed. Or I would miss out on spending time with my daughter and catch up on the weekends. This was extremely difficult, and I felt like I was being a bad mom, missing time with my daughter and then getting overwhelmed with schoolwork and my mental as well as physical health. I was becoming short fused and a person I did not want to be. I managed to get a job at a college where I have some downtime to work on my homework and have the same time off as public school. I currently work on my homework during certain times of the day. I make sure I complete my assignments, so I have the weekend free to be with my daughter. I use part of my lunch break to drive my daughter from public school to day care and then catch up on assignments as well. With this new schedule it takes the pressure off of not being present for my daughter when I am home. It also helps free up my weekends so we can have family time together. With this scholarship I can pay for my classes as well as use it to help others. I want to work with children who have experienced trauma, children in foster care, or as a family resource specialist. I have been using my free time to volunteer at the animal shelter with my daughter, and she has joined the big brother big sister club. I want to see if I can volunteer or help the community Youth Services shelter. I want to be someone children can trust and look up to as an example that just because we have endured trauma does not mean it has to take over our lives. I want to be the person that can help and support families that may be struggling and don't know where to go for help. I want to share my experiences and knowledge with others and make a difference. As a child/ adult who has experience trauma and has a daughter with behavioral, speech, occupational issues and trauma I feel I can help children as well as parents and caregivers since I have been on both sides.

I have depression, anxiety, adhd, and ptsd. From the start, my life was rocky. My birth mother was 15; my birth father was 20. I grew up with many half-siblings, and my mom was basically kidnapped and forced to take care of us. An incident occurred resulting in the death of one of my siblings, which resulted in me going to foster care, being abused, hospitalized, and then adopted. I never knew exactly what happened; I was just there, and I hate screams and have weird dreams. I have always dealt with depression since around middle school and attended therapy. Later on in life, I was in a mentally abusive relationship that turned physically abusive for 10 years. We had my daughter about 6 years into the relationship. I started going to school around when I had my daughter and would go into deep depression episodes where I couldn't get out of bed for days. There were even times I didn't care if I died. After going through years of trauma and depression episodes, I finally left that relationship. Unfortunately, other things happened, and it brought up a lot of anxiety. I started having bad panic attacks where I felt like I couldn't breathe and would cry uncontrollably. There was a point where my daughter called my parents to tell them I wouldn't get out of bed; I was so depressed. I used to get so overwhelmed and shut down or scream. My daughter would watch me struggle and then learn my bad habits. I had to help myself so I could be the best version of myself and help my daughter. Last year, I found my biological siblings and some family members. At first, it was exciting, and then a lot of feelings and anxiety popped up. I started having panic attacks and had to start therapy again. I am still in therapy, working on balancing life and my illnesses. Last weekend I forgot to take my medication and had two days of awful depression and anxiety. Some days I am doing well, and other days it can feel like the end of the world. I do my best and have been doing pretty well up to last weekend. I also have been trying to help my daughter with learning how to express emotions and understand our feelings. She has grown up watching me struggle, and I want her to understand what to do if she ever has the same feelings. Having a mental illness can be a huge struggle and can make you feel lonely. I have learned that finding new things to do and keeping myself busy can also help, as well as exercising. I have recently found comfort in connecting with others who have similar illnesses. Talking to other people who can really understand and relate to what you're feeling makes you feel less alone. I started taking classes to learn about early trauma and how to cope. I am currently learning how to help my daughter as well as work through past traumas to learn how to cope with everything. When I have bad days, I try to remind myself that it's just a bad day, not a bad life. I want to break the cycle of letting mental illness control my family. Even though I continue to struggle at times, I do not want mental illness to take control of my life. I will learn to live with having a mental illness, but I won't let it be the reason I do not enjoy my life or continue it.

I am a full-time student, worker, and single mother. I told myself I would never borrow student loans because I already have credit card debt and did not need any more. Life hit me with car repairs (ending in having to purchase a new car), day care bills, groceries, car payments/ insurance, and medical bills etc. I also have diabetes, adhd, anxiety, and depression. Since I do not receive Sooner Care anymore, even with insurance from my job, I still have to pay co-payments and bills that were not in my budget. I ended up using student loans to help me stay afloat and not get behind with bills. I still rely on them to help me catch up on bills and debts. For my medical issues, I have to drive over an hour to see my endocrinologist and psychologist. My thought for when I graduated was to get a job with more money; even though I would be making more, I would owe all the student loans. I was hoping to make monthly payments to try to stay on top of them and hope, even with a higher-paying job, I have some left over or make enough to not live paycheck to paycheck. I started making very small payments on my loans anytime I had extra money, but then I got behind on bills or had surprise bills pop up. I came back to school to be able to help people and do what I love. Each day I worry about when I will ever get out of having financial troubles. Once I graduate, I could get a better job but have less time off with my daughter and have to hire a babysitter and then start paying loans back. I have tried to cut back expenses by canceling subscriptions, not eating out, and going to food pantries, but I still struggle financially. I have also been reminded many times that the work I want to go into does not make a lot of money; as a single mom, I have to make sure I am making decent money. I switched my career goals from being a teacher to looking into being a family support specialist, behavioral specialist, or working with children in foster care. I feel I can relate to children in foster care since I have been through it myself. I also feel I want to help children who may be overlooked for being "difficult" when they just need support and accommodations. My daughter ended up needing to see a behavioral specialist and a Healthy Steps worker, who figured out she was sensitive to loud noises and needed headphones. I was lucky enough to research and ask the right questions to find the people who could help me and my daughter. Growing up, I was put in the corner from preschool to third grade until I was diagnosed with adhd and put on medication. I wish someone would have taken the time early on to realize I learn differently and needed accommodations. Being able to work with families who may not know they need help or how to ask for it and connect them, as well as their children, with the right resources and professional team. With this scholarship, I can pay off some of my student loans and not worry as much about my financial struggles so I can put my all into helping many children and families.

In 2018 I was told I had pancreatic cancer and had to have a Whipple procedure done. I had a tumor on my pancreas. The tumor had been growing since I was a child and we never noticed. The tumor was so big they had to cut me open from my chest to my belly button. After surgery I was told, I may have to change my eating habits, and I am at risk for diabetes. After spending a week in the hospital with a rough recovery I soon found out I could no longer digest fatty foods without getting sick for 12 hours straight unless I took special medication. Then a few months later I started to feel really sick, kept passing out drinking lots of water. I was diagnosed with diabetes; the issue was no one knew if it was type 1 or type 2 since I got it from not having half a pancreas. At first, I was given metformin which ended up being the wrong medication. I was then put on insulin. I always hated needles I was not ready to accept this life changing illness. A few months after trying to live with diabetes I started feeling sick again, thought I had another tumor, to my surprise it was my daughter. After I had my daughter, I wanted to finish my education to show her that it is not impossible even if it took me a little longer. The only problem was dealing with everything life had to give me plus having diabetes. Wake up check my blood sugar give myself a shot, then give myself another shot every time I eat something then take another shot before bed and then make sure to take the weekly shot. I was already on a bunch of different medications for depression, anxiety, adhd, digestion and now insulin. Sometimes I would forget to take my medications I learned when your blood sugar is high you can become very short tempered, irritable and very tired. When my blood sugar is low, I will start shaking uncontrollably until I get sugar into my body and won't feel like me for what feels like hours. I had many different trips to the hospital from my surgery and diabetes. When I would take proctored test, I would check my sugars before my test but then start to feel bad and then have to check my meter during the test. If I was taking a proctored taped exam I would have to check my sugars before the test, one time I had to start eating during the test because I almost passed out. I also learned stress and sleep can affect your blood sugar, as a full-time student, full-time worker and single mom I was always in a constant state of stress. For years I struggled with highs and lows with my blood sugar. I still struggle from time to time, but I try my best to stay on top of it. I have struggled also with paying for medications a few times I have been denied my medications because of some mess up where I had to pay out of pocket or try to not die without my meds for a few days. This scholarship would help me take of some financial stressors. As I have medical bills, already behind on regular bills and have to pay out of pocket for some books and classes.

From a young age I always struggled in school. From preschool to the beginning of third grade, I sat on the floor in the corner of the room or in the principal's office. I was diagnosed with ADHD and immediately put on medication that turned me into a zombie. Since I struggled I did not like school. I only liked sports and art class the two things I seemed to be good at. Growing up I admit I was not the best towards my teachers, now I am working as a teacher. In high school I finally had this one teacher who would listen to me but wouldn't put up with my excuses either. My whole life it seemed I was labeled before anyone got to know me or was categorized as a bad kid. I couldn't sit still and had trouble focusing, instead of changing teaching strategies or finding resources to help me I was punished. This teacher really listened to me she let me get everything out and then pushed me to not give up. I think because she was the first person to sit down and hear what I was saying and really have a conversation I felt for the first time I wasn't being overlooked or labeled. I was being heard and respected, but in return I had to also respect her. At first, I was disruptive and making jokes instead of trying to focus, she could have easily punished me. She took the time to sit with me when I didn't understand things and to help me through it. She took the time to listen to my complaints when she had better things to do. She made me feel important and not stupid. Normally a teacher would explain something I would ask a billion questions and not understand. She would explain something I wouldn't get it, and she would find another way to explain it until I understood. She made me feel like her classroom was a safe space to be myself. I want to be the teacher she was for me for others. I want to be the teacher that doesn't immediately label a child or overlook them because I am too busy. I want to be the person who listens and helps the children who don't know how to ask for help, for the students who are just like me. I strive to be the teacher who makes each day safe, fun and inclusive. I feel like each year teachers get burnt out and the money isn't there and live is already pretty hard. Children spend most of their days with their teachers. I know I could be a great teacher for my students and help them succeed. Sharing resources, giving support, having inclusion and changing teaching strategies to better accommodate my students is my goal.

My future plans are to help children and families. I want to work with children and families who may be struggling and connect them with resources. I was a child who grew up with adhd, and developmental delays. I was overlooked and labeled as a problem child. Back then the solution was medication. Although the medication seems to help me know I wish they had tried other things before just putting me on medication. From pre-k to third grade, I sat in the corner of the room or in the principal's office because I was too loud or hyper. My goal is to work with families whose children may be overlooked, or their voices are not heard. I want to advocate for families and children's who do not know how to advocate for themselves and connect them with the right resources to help them be successful. So many families and children struggle and do not know there is help out there or they don't know who to ask. I was one of those parents. I was struggling with my mental and physical health and felt like a failure as a parent. I was overwhelmed and hated asking for help. I was lucky to get help from a healthy steps worker who gave me advice and support to help my daughter. I was also lucky to meet with a group at my daughter's school who not only works to support the children but support the parents. They took me out to lunch and would check up on me. I never had people check on me; it was refreshing. I met other parents and children through the program that could relate to my daughter and I. This scholarship will help me in continuing my education. One of the biggest challenges of being a single mom, full-time worker, and a full-time student is wondering if I will have enough money. I keep telling myself once I finish, I should make enough to get out of this hole and become more successful and finically stable. The reality is life still goes on, medical bills, car payments, rent, groceries, after school activities, day care bills. I do my best with what I have, sometimes I have to make the hard choice between gas money food or medicine for myself. This scholarship will help me stay afloat to continue my education and give me some financial relief.

There are many challenges that come with being a full-time student, full-time worker and full-time single mom. Some of the most challenges include financial struggles, time management, and mental health. Financial struggles have always been an issue. I have had to hire lawyers for custody battles, pay for my car to be fixed so many times just to get a new car, and pay medical bills. I am still living paycheck to paycheck and somehow still do not have enough for bills. I have made financial cuts where I can but still struggle. I do not get sooner care or food stamps either. I have insurance through my job, but I also have diabetes, so I still have to pay co pays for my medicine and doctors' visits. I also have dental insurance but can't afford to get a filling because the co pay is almost $300. No matter what I do to try to save money it seems like life hits me with another bill. With time management it can be hard to try to get your schoolwork done and not feel guilty for taking time away from your child. My daughter is an only child which she hates and is always wanting to go somewhere and play with people. I found a solution where I dedicate three days to doing schoolwork. I set up a desk where I can do my work while she colors or does arts and crafts. I use my lunch breaks as well to catch up on work. I used to stay up all hours of the night trying to catch up on work then sacrificing part of my weekends working instead of playing with her which made me feel guilty. Mental health has also been a huge challenge. We both had a traumatic event happen to us and I was trying to take care of her so much that I forgot to take care of myself. I got her into therapy and comforted her the best I knew how. I was so worried about her I ignored helping myself until I almost let the darkness of my depression and anxiety consume me. I have started therapy myself, I have started on meds which I try to take regularly as long as I can pay for them. I have learned new ways to cope and try my best every single day. With this scholarship it will help me continue on my path to finishing my education while staying afloat. I can use some of the money to pay for my books, past due bills and maybe even something special for my daughter. I came back to finish my education to show my daughter even though life is hard continuing your education is important, doing what you love is important. I want her to look up to me knowing it was challenging but not impossible. She says she wants to be just like me when she's older and I hope she is better than me. I hope she looks at how I am doing and sees I kept going, even if it took me a little longer I didn't give up.

Returning to school I was dealing with a toxic relationship. At first, I was struggling with trying to take care of everything on my own but dealing with mental and physical abuse. I was also dealing with family issues as well. I was working a full-time job in childcare and then taking care of my daughter and getting overwhelmed and trying to finish schoolwork. I also hate asking for help so I would get burnt out quickly. I have been dealing with financial struggles from the start of coming back to school. Even though I get financial aid life still goes on. I had to get a new car after paying for my old car to be fixed so many times, I have medical bills now and some are in collections. I have to pay for some of my medications even though I have insurance. I can't afford to pay for a filling at the dentist currently because even with insurance I have to pay almost $300. When I started school, I got a small bit for food stamps and had sooner care, currently I get neither. That has been a huge stressor since I have diabetes. Managing school and my health and taking care of my daughter while working a full-time job became overwhelming. My sugars were high and I was tired and angry often. I finally left my daughters father and started asking my sister for help. I got a new job where I have more time to complete my schoolwork instead of staying up all hours of the night trying to complete my work. I started managing my time to where I use the first three days of the week to complete my schoolwork so I can focus on my daughter and spend time with her on the weekends. I also started to use breathing exercises to keep my anxiety and racing thoughts under control. I started therapy and taking new meds regularly and focusing on my mental and physical health. I knew I couldn't take care of anyone or be my best self if I couldn't take care of myself first. I started to stop putting everyone first and focusing on myself and my daughter. I am an empath and love helping people, so it has been a challenge. I continue to see my therapist weekly to continue my goals to make sure I can continue to be my best self.

Going to college means I am furthering my education and learning about something I am passionate about. I used to hate going to school growing up. Once I started college and being able to pick what I study I was making good grades and actually interested in what I was learning. I started college and then took a five-year break from legal issues. Then I had my daughter, once I had her I knew it was time to get my life together. I wanted to finish college and show her as a single mom it is possible to still accomplish your goals. I know she looks up to me, and I want her to look back and say my mom was able to finish what she started, and I am proud of her. She was there when I graduated with my Associates and it was so heartwarming to see her cheering for me. I want to be able to gain the skills and knowledge to help children and families who may struggle and connect them with the proper resources to help them be successful. Life can be so hard, and we all could use a little help. I have struggled in the past and I already do not like asking for help. I started researching where I could get assistance with certain things. My daughter struggled with behavioral issues I found a solution and met with specialist. Now whenever I run into another parent or parents who struggle I point them into the direction of the healthy steps worker who helped me. Growing up I didn't make the best grades and thought I would never attend college that I wasn't smart enough. I shocked myself when I started making straight A's in college. Knowledge is power, we can learn so much going to college and furthering our education. I wish I was taking some of these classes in high school. I actually work at a college and encourage students who want to quit to keep going. College and life can be challenging but so rewarding and worth it in the end. I have had students thank me and tell me they don't think they would have finished if I did not encourage them to keep going. It is not a race; we do not have to complete college in a certain amount of time. I work with students who are adults who come back to school and there is no shame in wanting to continue your education.

Mental health is a huge part of my life. I was in foster care endured trauma and was adopted. I have had many challenges from an early age. I witnessed one of my siblings dying at a young age. I have always been different from my family and eventually learned it was all my trauma. I have gone to therapy since middle school. I have depression, adhd, ptsd, anxiety and diabetes. I was diagnosed with adhd in third grade and was put on medications. I grew up being ashamed I was different. In middle school I was diagnosed with depression. I am a single mother and at one point in my life I almost let my mental health issues win. When I first started thinking about my career I knew I wanted to work with children and be their safe space away from home. Two years ago, my daughter's father and I had an altercation where I had to call the police. I was going through so many emotions and struggling deeply. I started to see how the whole situation had affected my daughter and was so scared I was going to mess her up. I started learning about early traumas in children and psychology. I ended up learning how to better understand my daughter and learn ways to support her. I got her into therapy, and I would communicate with her more. I also learned about myself. During all of this I ended up finding my biological siblings. Turns out I have a total of nine siblings. When finding them it opened a huge load of trauma that my mind had blocked off. I cannot remember anything before the age of 5. In taking classes learning about early traumas, I was giving myself panic attacks where I couldn't stop crying and had trouble breathing from being so overwhelmed. I am currently in therapy learning healthy ways to cope with my struggles. I have found meditating and deep breathing is extremely helpful, as someone with adhd my mind is constantly racing and in meditating I can slow down. I currently work at a college and talk to all types of students. When students are struggling, I share resources with them to help them. I share my story with them in hopes they understand how important taking care of yourself is. I almost lost myself but realized I can't help anyone if I can't help myself and be the best version of myself.

As a single mom it has been challenging attending school full time with a full-time job. I balance everything and it can be overwhelming. When my daughter was younger, I was still with her abusive father, and it was extremely hard. Currently I am alone with her, and she is older and understands mommy has schoolwork. I try to manage my time by dedicating three days a week where I do homework on my lunch breaks and at home after school. When my daughter has her speech and OT appointments I do homework in the lobby. Any spare time I have on those three days I do homework. Life itself is already challenging enough and in the past, it was hard to find the motivation to keep going. I decided I want to be an example to my daughter that even though we have been through difficult times I can still be successful. She looks up to me and tells me she wants to be just like me when she's older. I have also struggled with mental health. Two years ago, there was an altercation between her father and I. We were dealing with court and lawyers, and it was so stressful. I thought about taking a semester off trying to catch up on bills and focusing on getting full custody. I am a person who loves to help people. I went into the education field originally to work with children. I have now taken interest in not only working with children but their family's connecting them with resources they may need and helping their voices be heard if they are needing extra help. Currently at my job I have helped other single mothers in sharing my story and tips on how to balance being a single mother and continuing your education. It warms my heart that I have helped so many students and that I did not give up. One of my greatest challenges is the financial side. I pay my own bills; I do not qualify for government assistance anymore. I also had a tumor on my pancreas which resulted in me getting diabetes type 1. I now have medical bills, rent, car payments, utilities, and anything my daughter needs. Sometimes I do not have enough money for my medications, and I have to wait to get them. Sometimes my daughter wants to enroll in extracurricular activities, and I just can't afford it. I tell myself once I finish my education, I can get a better job and start making more money where we could be more stable. I do worry about all the student loans I will have to start paying back. Any and all help from scholarships would be amazing. I have never really gotten a scholarship, and it would be a financial relief to be able to get some extra money to help with the financial cost. Even with financial aid I had to pay for my books and part of my classes on my own.

I am actually a single mother working full time and enrolled in classes full time. In the past it was extremely challenging to juggle everything at one time, and back then I was only taking one class at a time. I would work all day then take my daughter to speech then go home cook, give her a bath and clean the house then start my homework around 10pm. With it being so late at night I was exhausted and had trouble focusing. Now I am full time, the solution was time management. I work throughout the day on what I can, and Monday-Wednesday are my dedicated days to get schoolwork done. I save the weekends to spend time with my daughter. I used to stay up all hours of the night doing my schoolwork and when my daughter was really little, she would try to stay up with me. Or she would ask to play, and I would say in a little bit when mommy finishes. I hated turning her away to do schoolwork. So, I picked three days a week that I do schoolwork on my lunch breaks and at night. I have also been working on not stressing myself out as much I used to try to cram everything in at one time and get overwhelmed. With managing my time better, I am less stressed and can focus. Now my daughter is six years old and understands that mommy has homework. I set up a desk where my daughter can work on arts and crafts while I do my homework. Sometimes when I get distracted, she loves to remind me to focus and then tries to take my cell phone. I have also found it helpful to have a check list. At the beginning of every week, I make a check list for each class with what is due and the date it is due. Then I try to work on a little bit within those three days. I give myself time at work during my lunch break and any down time I get. At home I work at the desk, so I don't get so distracted. If I have exams, I ask my sister to help babysit and I make time to go take them. Yes, it has been challenging but it is not impossible, I love to tell the college students I work with my story to encourage them.

Before I became a mother, I had been in school for child education and had a job with head start. I got into some trouble and because of a misunderstanding I could not work with children for 5 years until everything was fixed. I had my daughter a year after having surgery for having a tumor on my pancreas which resulted in me getting diabetes. I was told I shouldn't have children and that if I continued my pregnancy I could bleed out and die. I had my daughter when I was 24, she was born a week before the covid shut down. When I had my daughter, I was a manager working different hours, sometimes working until 5 am. I was exhausted and I wanted to be with my daughter as much as possible. I ended up getting a job at her daycare and since we were on the same schedule this allowed us to have more time together after work. Even with us on the same schedule I struggled with maintaining my health physical and mental, emotional and physical abuse and struggling with bills. Her father and I separated after a domestic incident that she was present for. I wanted my daughter to grow up and be proud of her mother; I wanted her to know no matter what happens in life you can accomplish your goals. I re enrolled in school, I had many late nights of studying and crying. So many times, I just wanted to give up. There was a time where I actually got hurt on the job and was fired. I lost my job, my daughter was dismissed from daycare because of it, I was wearing a cast and struggling to find a job. I went into a deep depression crying all the time missing my students and thinking life couldn't get any worse. After a few weeks I got her into a new daycare. I was door dashing with a cast and maxing my credit cards out. I took a semester off during this time because of my depression. After 8 weeks an old coworker reached out to me and told me I should apply for her job in the Bursar office at the college. I had no confidence that I would get the job or was even qualified for it. I figured it couldn't hurt to interview and since I had a recommendation from my friend maybe they would consider me. Luckily, I got the job, and they told me as an employee I would get a discount on classes, and I could continue my education. My daughter and I were back on the same schedule, and I could continue my education as well as work on schoolwork on down time at work giving me more time with my daughter at home. What has been fulfilling about this meeting single mothers at my job. I talk to them tell them my story and build their confidence. I let them know it will be hard but truly worth it. Last week I had a single mother tell me she passed her classes and said she doesn't think she would have been able to if I didn't talk to her and give her the confidence and resources. I hope to continue supporting others and my family by continuing my education.

I grew up with having development delays and feeling misunderstood and had little self-confidence. As I got older, I started to work with teachers who took the time to understand me and take the time to help me. Once I graduated high school, I started taking classes in childcare. I then started working for head start. At head start I worked as a head teacher, then eventually I became a traveling teacher who helped children with special needs. I remember one of the children I worked with was a young girl with ADHD. I have ADHD and I remember her teachers describing her as bad and out of control and said good luck with her. My first day I was able to show them she wasn't a problem; she just needed someone to get to know her and help her. Teachers get overwhelmed easily with having many different children to be in charge of and when you have students or a student who is different it can be challenging. Most teachers do not take the time to help children who have developmental delays or disabilities. I was more than happy to come in and be that person for her and show her teachers she isn't a bad child she is different and just needs certain accommodations and support. Another child I worked with had cerebral palsy. Growing up one of my cousins has cerebral palsy, I had watched how his family had to help him with many things and make accommodations for him. When I came into this classroom I first was not assigned to work with him and noticed the teachers would just leave him in his wheelchair and on the playground park him in the corner and not really interact with him. I also noticed during mealtimes they would get impatient with him. One day I got to work with this little boy. During circle time I held his hands sang to him helped him clap his hands. I got him out of his chair and helped him stretch and play with toys. When we went outside, I walked him around showing him different things. During mealtimes I took my time with him, talked to him and helped clean his face in-between bites. After working with him for 3 days his mom came into the classroom in tears and had thanked me and said she has noticed him smiling more and was thankful I had taken the time to include her child. Before I became a mother, I couldn't understand why she was so emotional for thanking me for doing my job. As a mother now I understand how challenging life can get and how just a little bit of help can make a world of difference. I want to continue to have a positive impact on children who are overlooked or forgotten because of their disability. I want to continue to help families and children gain self-confidence, educate and support them to the best of my abilities. Being able to receive this scholarship would help me continue my education without the extra stress of bills and loans. With the scholarship money I can continue to learn new things that can help me achieve my goals and help children and families.

Ever since I was little, I have always been able to relate to children and figure out how to connect and comfort them. I started officially working with children when I was 14 volunteering at the daycare hospital. I was in foster care and eventually adopted and I have faced struggles with having speech delays, early childhood trauma, ADHD, depression, anxiety etc. I wanted to be the person that understood, didn't judge and supported children. Growing up I felt like I was destined to fail because of where I came from and what I had been through. When I was younger from 1st grade to 3rd grade I sat in the corner of the class or in the principal's office. Back then it seemed no one knew how to deal with a child who had ADHD. I had more energy than others and had trouble sitting still. In 3rd grade the school and my parents decided to start me on medication. I turned into a dull quiet child who sat still. I wish someone would have done the research or tried different things before putting me on medication so young. As a grew up I fell into the stereotypes of being a trouble child and getting in trouble with the law. I ended up having to go to a school where we had group therapy, individual therapy art therapy etc. At this school I ended up meeting teachers that didn't give up on me and found ways to help me be successful. I knew I wanted to be that person for others. These teachers opened my eyes to a whole new world, suddenly I wasn't as angry and I felt understood. I learned new things that would help me continue to be successful and helped build my self-confidence. Once I started studying early child education, I learned just how important the first few years of life are and how they can have a tremendous impact on the rest of our lives. I am also a single mother, and I wanted to understand my daughter and make sure I was being as supportive as possible. My daughter also had some trauma, developmental delays and behavioral issues. When studying I learned about how my childhood trauma impacted me and it was hard to work through, but I am glad I have a better understanding and can use it to relate to others and help them work through it. Growing up as a child who felt out of place and misunderstood it was difficult. I was angry at the world and hated myself. It took me a long time to finally build self-confidence and understand it is ok to be different. I chose to go into early childhood education for the children. I want to be that person those teachers were to me. I want to prevent children who are different or misunderstood being overlooked or labeled bad or with the wrong diagnoses early. I want to educate others on new techniques they can try to help children who are different. My goal is to help as many children and families as I can. No one is perfect, even though I have studied childcare I had my struggles as a single parent. I want to help families or parents who may not know what they are doing, educating them will help them connect and support their children. As a single mother it is already hard to pay bills and stay in school full time. With a scholarship I can continue my education without extra stress to achieve my goals.

My daughter and my grandmother are my reasons for continuing my education. I wanted to be a remodel and show her school is important. I wanted to show her even though I am older and a single mom it is never too late to continue your education. I also wanted to finish for my grandma who is watching from the sky. Obstacles I have faced that made it challenging to continue my education include family, personal issues and health problems. My grandmother had cancer, and I was working full time taking care of her, my grandfather and my alcoholic sister who had gotten into a terrible car crash. With the stress of trying to take care of everyone I gave up on helping myself. Before my grandma had passed, she had told me how proud she was that I was in school. I was also arrested and was wrongfully charged with a felony. I had a letter from the police stating it was incorrect but for 5 years I had a "felony" on my record. After my obstacles I was not able to continue being able to work with children due to the 5-year felony. Another obstacle was having a Benin rare tumor on my pancreas. This resulted in me becoming very sick, I had to have a huge surgery and ended up getting diabetes from it. A year after having the surgery and being told that I should not have kids I found out I was pregnant. My odds of survival were at risk I was advised to not continue my pregnancy. After having my daughter my whole world and perspective on life had changed. I myself have ADHD, and depression, I was a foster child who ended up getting adopted. As a child and teenager, I had troubles in school. At a very young age it seemed no one understood how to help me, so I was always pushed to the side and punished. At a young age I volunteered in the hospital day care and thrived. My daughter had experienced trauma of her own with struggles with her father and being a witness to domestic violence from her father towards myself. Resulting in that my daughter has had some challenges of her own. I wanted to finish school to not only continue to gain more education on how to help her and stand up for her but many other children who have trauma, behavioral challenges or disabilities. Children are our future and if we fail to help them as early as possible or punish them for things we do not understand then we have failed them. Managing my role as a mother and a student has been challenging. I have anxiety and depression and when I get overwhelmed, I feel like the world is crushing me. I have been able to find support from other resources that have helped make balancing both easier. I found a program through my daughter's school that not only helps support her but supports me as well. I have made mistakes in my life, and I have truly grown, and I just want to be able to be my best and show my daughter she can do anything. Sarah-Felicia Vitale