I have always been very passionate about school and have always loved it. My ADHD and speech impediment have made it incredibly challenging at times. I went to speech for years and I have always struggled and now I can't pronounce things right all the time and this is hard to deal with in college when I give presentations. I don't want people to look at me weird because I can say things right. But I have just recently realized that if I don't care then other people should not care or judge me for something that doesn't concern them. This took me a long time to see it and I'm incredibly happy when I finally saw it. A big challenge in my life would be getting on my medication for my ADHD. I was one of those kids that you just knew I had ADHD, but I never got diagnosed because it was not anything that was stopping me from doing anything. My whole life I had severe ADHD symptoms but never thought of getting meds for it. I always had problems interrupting my friends and finishing sentences and talking extremely fast and not following their stories. This was so hard for me because I was never doing it to be rude, I just could not help myself. I also self-medicated with caffeine in high school and would have 6 caffeine drinks a day just to calm my mind so I could focus better on school. This went on all through high school and then I got to college. Things were not going well at first and it was so hard for me. I had a million things to do with what I felt like there was no time to do them. This is when I decided I was going to go get some medication. This juristically changed my life very quickly. I started with a low dose and got used to it and found my new dose it was a miracle. I could focus in class and do my homework like a normal person. My life changed and I could not believe I did not do this for myself sooner in life. I was even mad at myself that this is how easy learning could be if I could think about one thing instead of 50 things at once. I am very fortunate to have a campus with such great accommodations for my learning disabilities. I get to take tests by myself in a small room with a computer to type things with spell check because I'm also dyslexic so it's very hard for me to spell things on my test. I also don't have to ever use a scantron because it causes spatial disorientation, tracking errors, and extreme visual fatigue. But my learning disabilities will not stop me from doing what I love and thats learning. I know what I want in life and thats a degree in psychology so I can become a psychologist for foster kids.

My name is Tana Hoekema and I'm a sophomore psychology student at Linfield University. I have always wanted to be a child psychologist for foster kids. Just a little back story. Basically, my whole life my parents have done foster care, so I have lived with a lot of different people throughout my life. They do BRS children (behavior rehabilitation services). These are generally the kids that get moved around a lot and have extreme anger issues or mental disabilities. It's always been my family's mission to help and give back to the community. I have always known I have a gift for helping kids and this is where my life is supposed to lead me to. I have known for a long time now that God wants me to be in this field to help foster kids. I can feel him pushing me in that direction and that's the way I want my heart to go. My goal in life is to make the world a better place. As much as humanly possible while touching as many hearts and healing kids as I can. These kids go through the unimaginable and have all odds stacked against them, and they need someone to look out for them. I have been doing it my whole life, and I can't wait to get into my career and continue making life changing relationships with kids. My unique talents with kids will help all the children that don't have many people in their corners and give them someone safe to talk to. I also see myself becoming a foster parent later down the road because it's such a beautiful thing and has changed my life for the better. We adopted my sister Renae through foster care, and it was the best thing that could have happened to my family. I've always told all my foster siblings you can do whatever you want because they can. No matter the past they came from, they can always come out on top with a little help. I am a firm believer of this because we adopted my sister; she had a rough childhood and at one point she was raising her younger siblings while homeless and living under a bridge. Now she's about to graduate college with a degree in criminal justice. Despite all odds she came out winning in life and she's my biggest inspiration. I’m also a part of my schools First Generation program and I'm a peer mentor for it. I have four amazing mentees, and I mentor them or help them transition into college life and the struggles that come alone with being a First- Gen student. I had an incredibly positive experience with the program and want to be that for someone else as well. It's also given me a strong community group to always know that someone has my back whenever. I'm also preparing to take a more leadership position on the executive board for the program and I'm very excited for my second stage training to start. Overall, I just enjoy giving back and helping all people, and I’m so excited to graduate and start helping more kids. My parents work so hard raising foster kids and my tuition is very stressful on them and I want to find enough scholarships to pay for myself, so I don't worry them. This scholarship would change my life and would get me so much closer to my end goal by helping foster kids and touching their lives in a positive way to make the world a better place.

My name is Tana Hoekema and I'm a sophomore psychology student at Linfield University. I have always wanted to be a social worker or child psychologist. Just a little back story. Basically, my whole life my parents have done foster care, so I have lived with a lot of different people throughout my life. They do BRS children (behavior rehabilitation services). These are generally the kids that get moved around a lot and have extreme anger issues or mental disabilities. It's always been my family's mission to help and give back to the community. I have been around so many foster kids through life and I know how unfair the foster care system is and it's not an ideal situation for so many children. Growing up, I have been around countless social workers, and I would always tell my mom that's what I wanted to do when I grow up. My path has not changed very much. I have always known I have a gift for helping kids and this is where my life is supposed to lead me. I have known for a long time now that God wants me to be in this field to help foster kids. I can feel him pushing me in that direction and that's the way I want my heart to go. My goal in life is to make the world a better place. As much as humanly possible while touching as many hearts and healing kids as I can. These kids go through the unimaginable and have all odds stacked against them, and they need someone to look out for them. I have been doing it my whole life, and I can't wait to get into my career and continue making life changing relationships with kids. I plan to give back by helping kids that don't have many people in their corners and give them someone safe to talk to. I also see myself becoming a foster parent later down the road because it's such a beautiful thing and has changed my life for the better. We adopted my sister Renae through foster care, and it was the best thing that could have happened to my family. I'm also highly active in my community now. I am a student athlete, and I play basketball. I volunteer at the local food bank. I’m also a part of my schools First Generation program and I'm a peer mentor for it. I have four amazing mentees, and I mentor them or help them transition into college life and the struggles that come alone with being a First- Gen student. I had an incredibly positive experience with the program and want to be that for someone else as well. It's also given me a strong community group to always know that someone has my back whenever. I'm also preparing to take a more leadership position on the executive board for the program and I'm very excited for my second stage training to start. Overall, I just enjoy giving back and helping all people and I’m so excited to graduate and start helping more kids. Social work has taught me to never judge someone because everyone has a different story and you never truly know what someone is going through. This scholarship would be so beneficial to me to continue my love for helping people and I can stay at the school that I have found my community and home at.

My name is Tana Hoekema. I'm currently a sophomore studying psychology at Linfield University. I also am getting a communications minor. I chose this because I love helping people and I know I want to do that in my career. I have also always been interested in understanding how and why people make the choices they make because everyone does it differently. Throughout my life I have seen how experiences can shape who we become as people and psychology allows me to explore that learning about humans and our brains. I am a part of the women's basketball team at Linfield and I absolutely love it. Playing basketball has taught me how to be motivated and want to achieve my goals. But being a student athlete in college has given me so much more than I could have ever hoped for in high school. I am so thankful for my coaches and my teammates because they helped me get through this crazy life and helped me find my worth outside of basketball. So, every day I enjoy being around people who love me, and when I go to the gym and improve myself, I'm doing it not only myself but for them too. That to me makes it all worth it for the hard days and the easy days. Just a little back story. Basically, my whole life my parents have done foster care, so I have lived with a lot of different people throughout my life. They do BRS children (behavior rehabilitation services). These are generally the kids that get moved around a lot and have extreme anger issues or mental disabilities. Its always been my family's mission to help and give back to the community. I have been around so many foster kids through life and I know how unfair the foster care system is and it's not an ideal situation for so many children. I have always helped my mom with the kids and will continue to after I graduate. I have known for a long time now that God wants me to be a child psychologist for foster kids. I can feel him pushing me in that direction and that's the way I want my heart to go. My goal in life is to make the world a better place. As much as humanly possible while touching as many hearts and healing kids as I can. These kids go through the unimaginable and have all odds stacked against them, and they need someone to look out for them. I have been doing it my whole life, and I can't wait to get into my career and continue making life changing relationships with kids. I've always told all my foster siblings you can do whatever you want because they can. No matter the past they came from, they can always come out on top with a little help. I am a firm believer of this because we adopted my sister Renae through foster care and she was the best thing to happen to my family. She had a rough childhood and at one point and was raising her younger siblings while homeless and living under a bridge. Now she's about to graduate college with a degree in criminal justice. Despite all odds she came out winning in life and she's my biggest inspiration. I hope you enjoyed just this little bit about my life. This scholarship would mean so much to me and help me pay for my schooling and help the kids in the world later down the road.

I grew up doing foster care in my house. I have first hand seen what a traumatic past can do to a kid and it’s truly the saddest thing in my opinion. I want to give back to the world so bad and become a psychologist and work with BRS (behavioral rehabilitation services) kids because these are the kids that struggle the most. I am a student athlete and always put school first. I loved my first semester of college I found the new me. I know my goals in life and I won’t let anything stop me. I have been talking to my foster brother’s psychologist about his job and I know that this is ment for me and I’m ment to help kids that I grew up watching their lives fall apart. I want to be that person for these kids someone they can turn to with their problems or lean on for support and I know the path is not going to be easy but I’m prepared for that and personally can’t wait. I believe God has a plan for me and this is the direction I’m ment to go on in my beautiful journey in life. A big goal for mine in the future is to help fix the foster care system cause personally I think it’s broken and it could be alot better but till then I want to make and impact for some kid’s personally. I moved away for college and it was the best chose I’ve ever made. I get very home sick but I made the best friends and am thriving at Linfield University. I play my favorite sport everyday and I do it with the best people. It is a blessing and I thank God everyday that I can play basketball with them and be here. I have a lot of siblings and college is a really hard costs of my parents I have two younger brothers as well as my two foster brothers and I have an older sister. I don’t want to burden my parents and ask them for money so I do the best I can but it can be hard sometimes especially since I haven’t always had a job because I focus on my sports a lot of the time. Scholarships are so helpful and I hope you consider me for this scholarship this money would really help me pay for school. Thank you for your time, Tana Hoekema.