My Special Education program helped inspire me to pursue a higher education in college despite the challenges I have faced. Before my 504 plan, I would have never even considered college as an option for me because I would not have believed in myself enough to be able to handle classes and keep up with everyone else. Being placed on a 504 plan was a huge turning point for me. It was not just about getting accommodations to me, but about understanding my unique learning style and learning how to advocate for my needs. This understanding became a key factor in my confidence to attend college. Now I could finally grasp concepts better. I had more time and support from teachers who worked with me at a slower pace and made me feel comfortable and understood. I felt more comfortable asking for help when I needed it. This experience taught me that needing different accommodations is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be proud of. It is about advocating for myself, recognizing my strengths, and understanding my challenges. Despite the barriers I have had to face, I can still succeed and do anything I dream of doing. Before receiving a 504 plan, I struggled to concentrate and keep up in class without breaking down and giving up due to the stress of always falling behind or not fully processing information as fast as other students. Keeping up with the pace of instruction felt like an impossible task most of the time. I was placed on a 504 plan at the start of my senior year, which is uncommon to be placed on a 504 plan in your senior year because it is so late. This took so long due to waiting and attending multiple doctor appointments, sleep studies, blood tests, getting a diagnosis, and then starting to get accommodations in school. This was a very long and mentally taxing process that I wish we could have gotten done earlier, but in the end, it still helped me greatly. At the time when I started to struggle in school, which was about fifth to sixth grade, everyone chalked it up to me just losing my mother and also not having my father in the picture because he passed when I was younger. Turns out I had ADHD and a severe sleep disorder that did not get diagnosed until my Freshman year of high school. I was also struggling with severe anxiety and depression. For a long time, I felt defeated because no matter how hard I tried, I would still fall behind in classes and struggle to stay awake or stay focused. I would often fall asleep and miss important information. One second, I was sitting there taking notes, the next I would be awakened by a teacher making an example out of me in front of the class and embarrassing me. I had teachers who would be very mean to me for falling asleep in their class or not keeping up with everyone else in the class, which severely affected my mental health and self-worth. I truly was trying my best despite everything I had going on, but I did not understand why I could not just process information and keep up like everyone else. If I had had the accommodations I needed at the time, I feel I would have done much better in school, and my teachers and I would have understood my needs and the accommodations I needed.

I have had a very rough upbringing and struggled a lot growing up with medical problems, loss, mental health, and school. I want to pursue a career as a first-grade English teacher, a child psychologist, or a child counselor. When I go to college I want to get a little more practice and knowledge into these fields to help me determine which one I want to pursue. I love working with children and learning how each child is different and what they require. I want to make a difference in their lives and leave an impact they will remember and carry with them their whole lives. I also just want to be someone they have to talk to and help them through rough times. If it were not for certain people who did this for me and helped me when I wanted to just quit I would not be where I am today on my way to graduating with lifelong friends. I have made a lot of lifestyle changes to make a better future for myself. For a short period, I began to go down the wrong path and was hanging around a bad crowd. I began to do a lot of bad things and I pushed away the people in my life that were just trying to help me. I started to fall more behind in school and fail classes. I started to see how this was affecting my loved ones and our relationships and began to ask myself if this was really what my parents would have wanted or what I wanted for myself after that I began to stop hanging out with almost all my friends because they were all bad influences. I began to reach out for help from my family, teacher, and counselors. It was not easy but I began to get back on the right track and gain back the trust I had lost with my sister. I then chose to leave my homeschool and my close friends to attend the EHOVE Career Center to pursue my career in education. I am now in my senior year of high school my lab is Education and Family Careers. I make lesson plans and go to our preschool every day of the week except Wednesdays. I have gone out in the field and mentored Pre-K through 4th grade classes. It was really hard leaving my homeschool art classes and the few good friends I had but if I had stayed there I believe I would have continued to struggle with grades and falling back into bad habits. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my essay and I hope you consider me for your scholarship.