Application Essay I was thirteen years old when my mother, my sole parent, attempted suicide in my presence for the first time. In the coming years between junior high growth and high school troubles, there would be four more attempts; my mom died by her own hand in November of my freshman year of college. If one was to visualize all of the ways I could have handled this from such a young age, I can say with confidence that I believe myself to be on the most empowered, motivated path of all. With a newfound determination, my junior high self forged forward with the sole goal of becoming all of the things my lineage had never achieved: a sober lifestyle, reaching a college graduation, and in a stable financial situation. Through the seven years of academia since the first attempt, friends from extracurriculars that I threw myself into became my family and the demanding work of my advanced classes became my life. Throwing myself into school was my lifeline not only to make it through the tumultuous present I had found myself in, but also to make it to the future I so needed. As a nineteen year old somewhat on the other side of this tidal wave of trauma, I am incredibly proud of the person I have become. Learning how to feel my feelings, how to care for myself while holding others close, and building a productive life for myself - all things I did not imagine would be lessons saved for the end of my second decade on this Earth. Nonetheless, as a college sophomore with a 4.0 GPA following in the footsteps of my high school salutatorian status, with a growing group of friends who genuinely appreciate me for who I am, and a constant desire to know myself on a deeper level, I know I have made my younger self proud. With confidence, I can say I have afforded myself all of the opportunities I deserved as a young child; for myself, by myself, I have grown closer to happiness. The main goal I set for myself as a high school freshman who knew she needed to gain control of her future in a major way was to graduate from college debt-free. I was incredibly fortunate to receive gracious scholarship from my college as an acknowledgement for my hard work in school and first-generation college student status. I will never stop being thankful for how much this has helped me in my first year and a half in college. As I have learned in my financial journey thus far, money does, as it so happens, run out as housing, tuition, and food have increasingly high prices. In order to achieve my goal of graduating without student loans, I am in need of additional help with funding for these basic costs in order to continue attending school. I have been driven since a very young age to provide for myself in ways that adults in my life failed to do so for me. Regardless of the financial threat to my continuance of school, I know that I will find a way to make it through my graduation. I would endlessly appreciate any help to my journey to independence and continual growth.

Application Essay I was thirteen years old when my mother, my sole parent, attempted suicide in my presence for the first time. In the coming years between junior high growth and high school troubles, there would be four more attempts; my mom died by her own hand in November of my freshman year of college. If one was to visualize all of the ways I could have handled this from such a young age, I can say with confidence that I believe myself to be on the most empowered, motivated path of all. With a newfound determination, my junior high self forged forward with the sole goal of becoming all of the things my lineage had never achieved: a sober lifestyle, reaching a college graduation, and in a stable financial situation. Through the seven years of academia since the first attempt, friends from extracurriculars that I threw myself into became my family and the demanding work of my advanced classes became my life. Throwing myself into school was my lifeline not only to make it through the tumultuous present I had found myself in, but also to make it to the future I so needed. As a nineteen year old somewhat on the other side of this tidal wave of trauma, I am incredibly proud of the person I have become. Learning how to feel my feelings, how to care for myself while holding others close, and building a productive life for myself - all things I did not imagine would be lessons saved for the end of my second decade on this Earth. Nonetheless, as a college sophomore with a 4.0 GPA following in the footsteps of my high school salutatorian status, with a growing group of friends who genuinely appreciate me for who I am, and a constant desire to know myself on a deeper level, I know I have made my younger self proud. With confidence, I can say I have afforded myself all of the opportunities I deserved as a young child; for myself, by myself, I have grown closer to happiness. The main goal I set for myself as a high school freshman who knew she needed to gain control of her future in a major way was to graduate from college debt-free. I was incredibly fortunate to receive gracious scholarship from my college as an acknowledgement for my hard work in school and first-generation college student status. I will never stop being thankful for how much this has helped me in my first year and a half in college. As I have learned in my financial journey thus far, money does, as it so happens, run out as housing, tuition, and food have increasingly high prices. In order to achieve my goal of graduating without student loans, I am in need of additional help with funding for these basic costs in order to continue attending school. I have been driven since a very young age to provide for myself in ways that adults in my life failed to do so for me. Regardless of the financial threat to my continuance of school, I know that I will find a way to make it through my graduation. I would endlessly appreciate any help to my journey to independence and continual growth.

I was thirteen years old when my mother, my sole parent, attempted suicide in my presence for the first time. In the coming years between junior high growth and high school troubles, there would be four more attempts; my mom died by her own hand in November of my freshman year of college. If one was to visualize all of the ways I could have handled this from such a young age, I can say with confidence that I believe myself to be on the most empowered, motivated path of all. With a newfound determination, my junior-high self forged forward with the sole goal of becoming all of the things my lineage had never achieved: a sober lifestyle, reaching a college graduation, and in a stable financial situation. Through the seven years of academia since then, friends from extracurriculars that I threw myself into became my family and the demanding work of my classes became my life. School was my lifeline not only to make it through the tumultuous present I had found myself in, but also to make it to the future I so needed. As a nineteen year old somewhat on the other side of this tidal wave of trauma, I am incredibly proud of the person I have become. Learning how to feel my feelings, how to care for myself while holding others close, and building a productive life for myself - all things I did not imagine would be lessons saved for the end of my second decade on this Earth. Nonetheless, as a college sophomore with a 4.0 GPA following in the footsteps of my high school salutatorian status, with a growing group of friends who genuinely appreciate me for who I am, and a constant desire to know myself better, I know I have made my younger self proud. With confidence, I can say I have afforded myself all of the opportunities I deserved as a young child; for myself, by myself, I have grown closer to happiness. The main goal I set for myself as a high school freshman who knew she needed to gain control of her future in a major way was to graduate from college debt-free. I was incredibly fortunate to receive gracious scholarship from my college as an acknowledgement for my hard work in school and first-generation college student status. I will never stop being thankful for how much this has helped me in my first year and a half in college. As I have learned in my financial journey thus far, money does, as it so happens, run out as housing, tuition, and food have increasingly high prices. I have been driven since a very young age to provide for myself in ways that adults in my life failed to do so for me. Regardless of the financial threat to my continuance of school, I know that I will find a way to make it through my graduation.