Change the World by Cassidy

Change the World by Cassidy - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

Everyone knows the saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade", but have you ever heard the saying "when life gives you a single mother, dream big and make the possibilities endless?" One could say I was given the short end of the stick in life, having had my father leave me not once but twice, but I believe I was given the key to success. I have been given the chance to prove the world that I can make it, that I can make my greatest dreams turn into a reality. My dream, my goal, is to go to Florida State University and double major in Environmental Studies and International Affairs in hopes of attending a prestigious law school. I may be only one voice, but my purpose in life is to make a difference, an everlasting effect.

Most mothers want their children to stay in school, get good grades, and do the best they can, but not my mom. In third grade, my mother, who is the most influential teacher in my life, informed me that if I wanted to fail, I could. I distinctly remember her stating, “If you want to do poorly in school, good, it will save me thousands in college tuition.” Being only eight years old, I was shocked to hear my mom say this, but now, looking back, those were the most valuable words my mother could have bestowed upon me. I now recognized why I was going to school, why I was reading numerous textbooks, why I was studying day after day; I took this for the challenge it was, and responded accordingly.

I am a self-confessed nerd. I am the girl who runs down the hallway in school chanting, “I made the varsity chess team! I made the varsity chess team!” Learning is something that I am good at, something that comes naturally to me. When I was six years old, my neighbor decided he was going to challenge me. He gave me a complex math problem and told me that if I could figure out how to solve it by the end of the day, he would give me ten dollars. The only catch was I could not get a teacher’s help; I had to use my brain and figure it out. By the end of the day, I had 7 dollars in one hand and a big fat ice cream cone in the other.

When I was younger, my mother always told me to do one act of kindness a day to make one person happy. Why just help one person when I could do something big, something extraordinary, which could help thousands upon thousands of people. That is my purpose in life, to do something that will help millions and will change life as we know it. In fifth grade, I realized exactly what I wanted to change in America, animal cruelty. Being born with severe allergies to animals, I was unable to get the joy of rescuing an animal’s life from a pound or shelter. I would ask my mother desperately for a pet dog, but I was never able to have one. Animal Planet would run constantly throughout my house and one day the show “Animal Cops” started playing on my television. Sitting there petrified over the fact that millions of animals are murdered every year, I vowed to do something. That is my purpose, to get a position in the government, create a bill against animal cruelty, and get it passed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. I want to be the voice of those who are unable to speak, animals.