Why I Want to Attend College by Alexis

Why I Want to Attend College by Alexis - May 2023 Scholarship Essay

Growing up I was in a house with a single mother and three brothers. My mom worked twenty-four seven trying to keep up with her bills. She was constantly on call and my two older brothers were balancing babysitting, high school, soccer, and work. Life for me was easy but my brothers would say otherwise. Now it is just my little brother and I at the house, so things are smooth. I am now graduating and heading to college to pursue my career in the medical field just like my mom. She is my biggest inspiration and one of the strongest people I have ever grown up around. She inspires me to do my best even when my head tells me I cannot. She tells me to always put all my effort into my dreams because anything can be possible, and she proved that. My mom lived the life of being told: “We do not have enough money for college” while she was recovering the grief of her father’s suicide. So, she made waitressing her life until she was able to pay for and graduate from an ultrasound program at Hillsborough Community College. She made it her goal to never have her kids be in that position and she succeeded because of the life college provided for her.

College is a building block for my life because of the dream I want to make reality. Attending college will make the path to my success more attainable. I have been working at Panera Bread since I was a sophomore in high school and turned 16 in December of 2020. “Start saving for college” are words my mother has engraved in my head. She makes sure I work towards everything because life does not hand you things.

My path will be different from my mother's because of how well she built me up. I want to go to college to be in the medical field. I want to be able to help others. I am going to pursue Doctor of Physical Therapy because of my past experiences. Soccer was my entire life starting at age six. My freshman year of high school I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and my dream of playing soccer at the next level felt hopeless. I refused to give up as I thought about how many catastrophic events my mother went through while still standing tall. During sophomore season, I tore my ACL again along with my medial collateral ligament (MCL), and my Meniscus. Unfortunately, I gave up on my soccer dream, but I started physical therapy for the second year in a row. My physical therapist Jim not only helped me overcome my physical battles but also my mental ones. He had such a significant impact on my life, and I want to do that for others while they go through similar battles that I once defeated. In high school, kids tend to think they are alone; and no one will be able to understand what they are going through- because that is exactly how I felt. I was depressed and unmotivated because I could not walk for a month. I was behind in school, stressed, and felt hopeless. I had to go to physical therapy at least twice a week and that was the hour of my day that put a smile on my face during the tough times. Jim was so caring and made me feel as if someone finally understood the battles I was going through after my surgery. I want to be that person. I want to be the adult people can run to when things get hard. I want to provide hope for those who think they will never be able to walk normally or feel like themselves again- like I felt. I want to go to college to be someone’s hope when they feel like there is none.