Everyone Deserves a Voice by Alaa

Everyone Deserves a Voice by Alaa - May 2023 Scholarship Essay

Week after week, my mother and I head down to the grocery store to stock up on supplies. We check off our grocery list, item by item. Milk? Check. Bananas? Check. Eggs? Check. After buying our minimal produce with our government assistance and loading them into the trunk of the car, we reach the bright red sign signaling for us to stop. Looking around to see if there are any cars on either side of the road, my mother suddenly stops and stares at something over my shoulder. As I whirl around, I see a man shivering in the cold, carrying a cardboard with “Anything helps, God Bless” scrawled on it. My mother asks in a frantic tone, “Can you reach any produce in the back?” As the line of cars behind us grows longer, my mother's endeavor to feed the man is to no avail. However, even with nothing material on hand to offer, my mother would invariably offer one thing: a smile.
Growing up with immigrant parents in a low-income family and witnessing my family's struggles as a child was difficult. Before winning the diversity immigration visa lottery and relocating to the United States, my mother lived in a region of Africa where education was scarce, particularly for women. As a result, when she arrived in America, she only had a high school diploma. Being a single mother in a foreign country where she didn't speak the language was undoubtedly difficult. This gave me the inspiration I needed to seek higher education and work hard academically in hopes of a better life for my family.
Although I never had much growing up, I was always taught to give. As a child, I constantly heard the phrase, “Love for your brother what you love for yourself”. With lots of siblings at home, and caring and supportive parents, I always had someone to talk to but I realized later in life, others aren’t as fortunate as I am. My desire to help the community wasn’t always there from the beginning. While attending a domestic violence course a few months ago, I heard firsthand accounts of a young mother being shoved out of a car just for protesting with her husband. Another woman was forced to flee her home and seek refuge in a shelter out of fear for her life. Hearing the accounts of the women I know who are the victims of domestic violence was incredibly painful. Wanting to get involved immediately in making a positive impact on people’s lives, I started volunteering at Big Brothers Big Sisters. The program is made to provide meaningful matches between a young child and an older individual while providing friendship and support along the way. Thanks to this gratifying opportunity, I learned the joy of giving, the satisfaction of seeing progress, and the fulfillment of working on a goal together with my Little.
These experiences solidified my drive to help people, go above a smile, and change people’s lives. I’d love for all my brothers and sisters to live a life of joy and peace, and the road to that includes me becoming a social worker. Domestic violence is a major issue in my neighborhood, and seeing as only 4.1% of all therapists employed are African American, I hope to earn my master's degree in social work at the to open a business supporting women of color. As a first-generation college student, I find education extremely valuable - it's the way to make a tremendous impact in the world. What I’ve been through has made me determined to invest time and effort to make my dreams a reality - to help alleviate the suffering of my people, and give them a chance for a better future through therapy work.