Wise Words Scholarship Essay "It is just a short-term sacrifice for a long-term goal!" I have realized that I sacrifice a lot of myself for the people around me. I have always been a giving person, and that is where this quote came to be valid in my life. I may not want that position at work, but I took it because it was the schedule I needed to help take care of my mother. It was a short time sacrifice of having a miserable work schedule for a long-term goal of having the opportunity to care for my mother until she passed. I joined the military and was away from my daughter for training, but it was a short-term sacrifice for a long-term goal. I had sustainable employment that transitioned me into the strong woman I am today by sacrificing the time I could have been with my daughter. I realized that nothing good ever comes easy in life. You must be willing to sacrifice some things to attain your goal, such as time. When my husband and I moved to a new location, we decided to rent a home for our large family to see if we wanted to purchase in the area. Again, this was a short-term sacrifice for a long-term goal. No, it was not convenient to rent a home that accommodated five children, but it was ideal before such an investment. It was a short-term sacrifice of renting a house to the long-term goal of purchasing our home in another county. It was due to not being pleased with the area we rented in. This quote is implemented in my life even more now due to being in school and not working. Someone needs to be home to take care of the children, run them to practice, cook, clean, laundry, and tend to our youngest daughter with Autism. So, financially things are more of a crunch than they were ever before. Our youngest is very particular about who can be around her, so we decided I would stay home, go to school, and run the kids to whatever function they have. Is this ideal for our large family? No, most definitely, it is not! It is a short-term sacrifice of having to deal with removing things that are not a necessity anymore. It is not that we forget them; just put them on the back burner. All of this is so I can obtain my degree, which is my long-term goal. This long-term goal will allow us to have more income to live comfortably in the future and set the stones to allow the special care that is to come for our youngest daughter. The short-term sacrifices my family and I have to make to obtain the long-term goal will be worthwhile in the end. My children will see my dedication and learn from this whole experience. By: Tiffany Jordan

Susy Ruiz Superhero Scholarship Essay By: Tiffany Jordan "You are a lost cause! You will end up a high school dropout! You will never go to college! You ruined your life!" Those were all the things said to me by classmates and educators. I was 17 years old, a senior in high school, a cheerleader, and pregnant. I had no intentions of ever having a child. I was still a child myself; how was I going to raise one? I felt my life was in disrepair. I was lost, and I did not know what to do. I did not want to go to school because I was embarrassed and ashamed to show my face in class. I could see the judgemental looks I was getting in the hallway as I would walk to class. I could see the disappointment in all my teacher's faces, except for one. His name was Drew Scoggins. Coach Scoggins was the assistant English teacher in my class at the time. I imagine he noticed how much I was struggling with this new hurdle in my life. He would pull me aside before class and check on me and my well-being often, if not daily. I can say that Coach Scoggins always inspired me and pushed me to persevere through this unconventional transition in my life, all the while finishing school. He motivated me to graduate and not become a statistic. He constantly reminded me that my life was not over and that everything I had dreamed could still be achievable. Without his intervention, I would not have graduated. God put him in my path to help guide me to the finish line. After graduation, I went back and personally thanked him for helping me during such a challenging period. A few months after graduation, I had my daughter. I still joined the military, as planned, just like he said I could do! Now, here I am, married, with six children! My daughter, whom I was pregnant with during high school, is in high school herself. Coach Scoggins is still teaching and watches over her just like he did me. He has become her golf coach and offers her direction and criticism when he has the opportunity. Educators that go above the role of educating their students; and chooses to connect and imprint on them are true heroes without a cape. So, who impacted me to pursue higher education? He did, Drew Scoggins, and he continues to inspire and impact the lives of many other children to this very day, including my daughter. "Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops." - Henry Brooks Adams.

I have officially come up with a way to convince you to choose my scholarship essay! Who doesn’t like the million and one reasons of a middle-aged, middle-class, mother of 6, with one of her children having Autism story? Or the Army Vet who was sexually assaulted that no one believed until her family wrote the political figures of her home state story? My name is Tiffany, I am 33 years old, and all of these “titles” apply to me but are just hurdles of my life. I have fought and fought for everything I have. Every experience I have had in my life, whether positive or negative has chiseled me into the woman I am today. This experience with this essay will be no different. Today, we have many children who believe they are entitled to everything they have and want. In my household, I am teaching my children that they must work for what they want. Nothing good is free or comes easy is one of my many mottos. My paths in life aren’t very conventional for most, but again I believe that is why I am the way I am. Working hard to be the opposite of my parents and become a better parent to my children has been quite interesting. I wish I could find that invisible median of not being too overbearing but not lean on them. That is why I am 33 years old and back in college. I am on a specific career path after having two detours, which will help children in the future. While going to school, I am raising my children, with my youngest being recently diagnosed with Autism. My children see me dedicated to my school work, all the while helping them with their schoolwork, maintaining the household, cooking and cleaning, and now filling out scholarships and writing essays. I have my laptop in the kitchen as I am writing this because I am cooking their dinner. You know gas isn’t cheap! Now I have to drive to a different campus which is located over an hour from my home. This is to finish up a few classes I have put off for commute and childcare reasons. Not to mention the gas I use to run my children to school, then to my school, then pick them up and take them to their after-school activities. It is insane! This monetary award on this scholarship will aid in this, along with other things like purchasing a new laptop so I can return the one I borrowed from my father back. Being awarded this scholarship would also help me emotionally and mentally. It is one more thing I set my mind and heart to and accomplished. Being awarded this scholarship would not just help me; it would help my family also. It would teach my children that there is no obstacle too hard to accomplish if you dedicate yourself to it! Just stay dedicated to your dreams!

Little Bundle Mother's Day Scholarship Essay By: Tiffany Jordan Being a mother can be very challenging but being a mother and going back to school brings a new set of challenges. My name is Tiffany, and I am the amazing mother of six children, with my youngest recently being diagnosed with Autism. I will be honest, I never planned on having such a large family or children at all. My goal was to graduate and join the military and let life take its course from there. Unbeknownst to me, that changed. I did join the military after having my first child. I then married and had my son. Then I went through a divorce, rem later remarried, and gained three more children. My husband and I then had our youngest. Phew! So, I knew God had a plan, and he would not give me more than I can handle, so I adjusted to having a large family. Then, when I became pregnant with my youngest, I struggled. I did not want to do this again, but I gathered the strength to do it because I knew God would not give me more than I can handle. Then here we are, with her recently being diagnosed with Autism. I ask God why? So, here I am questioning the purpose and reasons why God would put such a challenge down for my family, especially my daughter! I quit my job and became a full-time stay-at-home mother. Someone needs to be here to run the children to all their extracurricular activities and appointments. Meanwhile, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to go back to school and take online classes! So, I asked my father to borrow his laptop and registered for my classes. Now, I have reached a point in my educational path where I must attend college in person to take classes, but I have my sister watching my youngest because she is picky about who she wants around. There are some days my husband cannot even sit beside me. She will even have a meltdown if my mother-in-law comes near her. This scholarship will help me in so many ways. One example would be that I will be able to purchase a laptop. By doing this, I can return the one I have borrowed from my father. Another use of the funds would be to use it for gas to drive to and from the college. Finally, I could use the funds to pay my sister for childcare. My sister will be watching my daughter and picking up the rest of my crew from school while I am at the college in class two days a week. I honestly considered not enrolling this quarter due to the inability to guarantee childcare for my daughter. It was difficult due to her anxiety and inability to connect to new people and family in some cases. Then I said to myself, where there is a will, there is a way! "Where there is a will, there is a way" and "Nothing good comes easy....." These are my “go-to” inspirational quotes. In reality, these quotes are the truth because here I am sitting beside the bathtub as I am giving my youngest daughter her bath while writing this essay. I knew I had to get this essay done before bed because when else would I have the time to do it? A little here, a little there, and then the next thing I would know would be the deadline knocking at the door. So here we are, bathing and typing. I do know this; my children are my inspiration for all of this. I would not change any of it for the world. I want them to see my dedication and motivation, from which they will learn that anything is possible if you set your mind to it! Being accepted for this scholarship undoubtedly will help with monetary things like mentioned above, but it will also help emotionally and mentally. This scholarship not only benefits me but my family as well.