Dear future me, I promise to live my life fully. I will no longer restrict myself by constantly pushing the goalpost concerning when I give myself accolades. While education is important, it will not be my only mission in life. I will learn to enjoy myself, engage in spontaneous activities, step out of my comfort zone, spend nights out with friends, and enjoy hobbies without feeling guilty, even if I’m not exactly where I planned to be in life. Although I have expectations for myself and consistently set goals, I tend to exist one-dimensionally, putting off living as a young woman. I will try ballet, pottery, and ice skating—even if I have to do them by myself—and let go of the self-doubt I’ve placed on myself. I will do all of this for myself while making friends who challenge me and add substance to my life, but who also know when and how to have fun and appreciate this time together. I promise to develop and sustain healthy habits that will sustain me throughout my life. As a college student, maintaining a healthy lifestyle has been difficult, but I want to become someone who sticks to a routine, especially regarding my health. I will eat healthier and develop the habit of getting enough sleep so I have the energy to live fully each day. I will commit to exercising regularly to stay strong and healthy, avoiding potential struggles of dependency that could come later. As someone with a health condition, I promise to intentionally take care of myself by following my medication regimen and attending all necessary appointments to ensure I am in the best shape mentally and physically. I will prioritize my mental health by seeking professional help, as I’ve realized advice from the internet isn’t sufficient. I aspire to become someone who doesn’t care about others’ perceptions of me because I have seen how that has hindered me. Instead, I will focus on doing what is best for me, as long as it’s healthy and brings no harm to others. Dear future Stephanie, I promise to never stop learning. Whether it’s continuing my education to achieve career goals, earning certifications, learning a new skill or language, or simply discovering new things daily, I will stay open-minded to learning and growth. I won’t limit myself to a specific path just because I’ve already started down that road. Age and expectations will not hinder me. Coming to terms with this mindset has been challenging, as I once had my life planned out to a T. I am currently a 22-year-old sophomore who has spent nearly five years in community college, just now receiving my associate degree before transferring to a four-year university. My transfer was delayed due to financial aid issues, which forced me to take time off from school. While this felt unusual, I realized that I exist beyond my academic journey—there is more to achieve than just schooling. Receiving this scholarship would be a tremendous asset. It would not only help advance my education but also allow me to fulfill the promises I’ve made to myself. By reducing the financial burden, I could focus more on my studies while having the opportunity to truly experience life. This scholarship would give me the freedom to work less and pursue activities that enrich both my academic and personal life while attending school. It would bring me a sense of relief, reassuring me that continuing to pursue my education is not just a vision I’ve conjured up, but a real possibility among the many opportunities that await me.

My name is Stephanie George, I am 21 years old. I am the only girl between two boys in a family of five. I live with my mother and brothers while my father is "stuck" in Nigeria due to immigration. I enjoy, reading, crocheting, making jewelry, listening to every possible genre of music, and learning about different cultures. My ambition is to become a medical doctor, specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology. My family and I moved to the US in 2017 on an opportunity that stumbled on our lap with no idea of what was awaiting us, but with the hope that everything would work out when we got here. In 2019 after graduating high school, I enrolled in a community college as a general studies major, with the idea that I would transfer in two years and switch to a biology major, then enroll in medical school. Well, that's not how it worked out. As of May 2024, I had spent four years in community college due to not qualifying for federal aid, never being made aware of the aid available to immigrants, and paying for college out of pocket getting a few scholarships here and there. I recently became eligible to transfer my credits to a four-year university. I am currently a pre-nursing major at Towson University starting this semester. As I still have dreams of becoming a doctor, I was advised to switch to a nursing major to have the opportunity to gain beneficial employment and work experience before embarking on the journey of attending medical school. Attending Howard Community College for as long as I did affected my worldview and perception of my life. For a long while I held onto the hope that at some point I would somehow land an immense amount of funding that would propel me to achieving my dreams, but that never happened. Witnessing people I graduated high school with go on to graduate college and begin their careers while I still had a couple of years left to complete has created uncertainty in my journey. I have been through all ups and downs but have had people in my family who never let up on the encouragement even though sometimes it feels like it just might be easier to take on a different path. With motivation from my family and having the knowledge that getting an education is paramount, I remain encouraged about my journey. Somehow I believe that regardless of how slow I might be progressing, success awaits me. This journey has created an assortment of personality development to where I have become more persistent, open-minded to new adventures, and compassionate, not just to myself but to the people around me who might also be struggling in whatever aspect of their lives. I continue to learn that I am an individual and comparing myself and my journey to others is futile and I get to remind myself to enjoy every aspect of the journey. Acquiring this scholarship would be a tremendous asset to my academic journey. It would not only be a significant form of assistance in paying my tuition, but it would serve as an encouraging element that would motivate me to persist on this journey of getting an education and discovering myself. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to worry less about my finances during the semester, guaranteeing me the opportunity to be completely focused on learning, exploring new possibilities, and engrossing myself in the community I am becoming a part of. Thank you for your time and consideration. Stephanie George

My name is Stephanie, I am a Nigerian Igbo immigrant and have lived in the US for close to six years now. I am the middle child and I live with my mother and two brothers, with my dad currently "stuck" in Nigeria due to some issue with the immigration process. My hobbies include reading novels, crocheting, listening to music, and making bead jewelry. I am studying to become a doctor and am currently deciding between Gynecology and Psychology. Life as an immigrant has had its ups and downs. I have experienced both the difficulties of going through college without good financial endorsement, but I have also tried to allow myself experience the fun aspects of exploring and meeting new people. I am in my fourth year in community college due to the complicated process of immigrating as well as the pandemic, I do not qualify for any need-based scholarships and pay for college out of pocket. Although moving forward I am putting more effort into applying for scholarships as I am in the process for applying for schools to transfer to in the coming semester. One thing I have learned about myself since making the journey is how persistent I have been throughout the years. I think after spending so long in a community college with so little progress being made, I still choose to continue pursuing my education when I could be working full time, and using the money I on superficial things. Regarding my home country Nigeria, I already knew that there is a great improvement to be made in our education system but I have compared and learned about a specific section of the system that I think needs improvement regarding the use of the British curriculum. While in high school in Nigeria, I never disagreed with the things we were taught about slavery and colonization, but getting here and having more access to information, I recognize that a good amount of things we were taught about were incorrect and even quite insulting. One thing I have learned, still learning since moving here is that you cannot and should not live by other people’s standards. Immigrating to this country at the age that I did, I have been so easily influenced by outside sources i.e social media, aunties, among others and it took a toll on my self confidence. Having the confidence to do the most basic things is very essential living in this country because you never get informed if you don’t ask. I think one of my favorite things is seeing young children of immigrants talk and ask question no matter how ridiculous they might seem. Truthfully I’m not sure where my self confidence went because if you asked me I think I had that confidence as a young child, probably just on a different level. I’m learning that asking for things is one of the ways to gain access to things regardless of how ridiculous the questions might seem. And there’s really no shame in asking! I have always wanted to be a doctor or be in the medical field, moving here I have grown into my passion and found out the sectors that I am very passionate about. A major reason I want to become a gynecologist was because I learned about the rate at which women and children of color die or are neglected during the course of pregnancy, labor and sexual health in general. I want to be able to be a part of creating a system that invokes change in these types of statistics.