From Member to Contributor by Fahiym

From Member to Contributor by Fahiym - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

I’m currently on the executive board of Collegiate 100, a black student organization at Texas Tech University. This is my third year being a part of this group and initially, I enjoyed it because it introduced me to the black community on campus. For the first time in my academic career, I felt welcomed and accepted instead of alienated and blended. However, I was recently nominated and elected to be the mentorship chair of our organization. This has translated me from being a member of the black community to being an active participant in it. I assist in strengthening the community by going to the more impoverished side of Lubbock and mentoring the kids over there. I also tutor kids at a middle school that’s currently under the threat of being closed if the students can’t raise their standardized testing scores. The youth in these areas believe that college is unattainable and the only way to become successful is to hold a mic or throw a ball. I created activities that help these kids discover new fields that they’re interested in and continuously give them positive reinforcement and respect. I’ve met several kids that see that as a new experience, especially the Boys and Girls Club that I mentor at. Transitioning into a leadership role in the community has motivated me to become a better figure and work hard in what I do. These kids see a college student like me and believe that I’m a mythical figure, that I don’t have to worry about money to get me through college. Little do they know that I’m a first-generation student with fifty thousand dollars in student debt. Know one could tell me how to find financial resources, not even my parents. I write scholarship essays like these every day and hope that my hard work will be an example for these kids to follow and hopefully I can be their platform of information when they go through the same process.