Education and Family by Hallie

Education and Family by Hallie - April 2020 Scholarship Essay

College has been at the forefront of my mind since I began school. Both of my parents are immigrants and the stereotype of immigrant parents being vigilant about their kids' school, grades, and college plans are very true. I was always taught that education is one of the most important things for people, aside from family. To this day, that's the mentality I proudly own, mostly because education is a way out of a bad situation my family has found ourselves in. I believe that going to college is important because it's an asset in our capitalist society, it's a way to give back to your family, and it's a way to help the younger generations.

It's no secret that making money is the only way to survive in most places in the world. In America, we live in a very capitalist society that relies on working for a profit. I'm the captain of my debate team and one of the topics I've debated was whether to make college free. An important statistic that I brought up was that those who have a college degree make, on average, 56% more money than those with a high school diploma per year. Minimum wage, which comes to around $17,000, isn't nearly enough to survive on for one person let alone someone trying to support a family. Sadly, we've gotten to the point where college is expensive and not everyone can afford it, but it's important for making money which is important for survival. Going to college and obtaining a degree that can then be used in its respective job field is an asset to survival in America as in any capitalist society.

As mentioned above, I was always taught that family and education are the most important things in life. I'm extremely passionate about my education and am constantly looking to the future; college as a human physiology major, medical school, surgical residency, a fellowship, and then life as a surgeon ideally somewhere in Boston. I can't achieve any of that without education nor my family. My parents are getting divorced and it's gotten nasty, I don't even consider the man who assisted in creating me as a dad anymore. My family consists of my mom, brother, grandparents, and neighbors who've graciously let us live with them since the aforementioned man kicked out his wife and kids. We're all struggling right now and as I'm transitioning into an important new chapter in my life, my family are the ones who're getting me through it all. When I'm a doctor, I have every intention of helping put my brother through school, getting my mom a house anywhere she wants, and making sure my neighbors have everything they need. College is the asset that will help everyone in my family because like I was always told: education and family are the most important things.

My younger brother Nick looks up to me a lot. I haven't heard him talk much about what he wants to do in the future and as a freshman in high school, he definitely has a lot of time to decide. Whether he wants to go to graduate school of any kind or not, I plan on contributing financially to his education. I spend a lot of time giving back, in fact, I've held four different volunteer positions all through high school, one of which I'm still holding today. Sadly, I can't volunteer at the Children's Hospital anymore because of the COVID-19 outbreak and I might not be able to bid the class of fourth-graders I volunteer with goodbye as they move into their last year of elementary school and it breaks my heart. There are countless people struggling today and volunteering is my way of giving back. With a college education, I can do that to a larger extent. I'll be able to be in a place where I can help people in sometimes the biggest way possible: financially.

Money isn't everything to me, and I want to make that crystal clear. However, it's very important to the society we live in therefore I want to use my college education and the income I earn as a result of it to help others. College is important because people make more money simply by holding a college degree, because it'll allow me to give back to my family, and because it's the gateway to a better situation for much of the younger generations. I believe that education is one of the most important things, and of course, family.