You made it, Keep going!! by Ariel

You made it, Keep going!! by Ariel - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

If I could talk to my past self today, I would tell her one thing: You made it, just keep going. You have no idea how strong you really are.

I used to be homeless, not long ago. No, not crashing on a friend’s couch or taking some time to get between apartments. Homeless. Like, no safe place to sleep. No security. I had to spend my days hustling to figure out how I was going to get food, shelter, and enough energy to make it to class and pretend like everything was okay when really it wasn’t. It felt like no one saw me, and I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me, and I didn’t know how I was going to dig myself out of this.

And right in the middle of all of that, I found out I was pregnant and then lost the baby. I didn’t know a person could hurt so much and still have to pick up the pieces of their life and go about their day like the world hadn’t just stopped. Pregnancy loss is a thing no one tells you about and you’re already hurting. And now you’re being productive. Doing well in school, turning in assignments, going to class, staying strong. The facade you’ve been maintaining while falling apart is now a lie you have to keep up to everyone around you. I wasn’t okay.

However, if I could talk to my past self, I would let her know that she’s doing better than she thinks she is. Every day you wake up, and you still make it. You still get out of bed. You still go to class even though you have a million reasons to not. You’re doing it. Even when everything in you is telling you to give up, you keep showing up, and I’m so proud of you.

I’d also let her know that college isn’t all about academics. It’s also about perseverance. I learned more in that one year about how to be a survivor than I had in my entire life before. I learned how to fight for a future I wasn’t sure I would have and how to not let my circumstances define my story. Every time I passed a class and turned in a paper, I was winning.

In the end, I’m so glad I got through those experiences. I don’t think I realized how much strength I had until I had no choice but to tap into it. College didn’t just make me a student, it made me strong, resilient, focused, determined, and more. It made me the woman who wants to fight for a better life for herself and others. That’s why I’m applying for this scholarship. I know what a struggle education can be and how much work you have to put into it. I know what I’m fighting for and what I want to get out of my degree. I want to keep going to school not just to get a piece of paper but to give back to others. I want to uplift others like I needed to be uplifted. I know that this experience and this journey is different for everyone but I also know that in our darkest moments, there’s still a path forward.

If I could talk to my past self today, I would tell her one thing and then take her hand and squeeze it: You made it. And now we keep going.