To give a helping hand by Ivy

To give a helping hand by Ivy - April 2023 Scholarship Essay

As I am in college to earn my bachelor in forensic science, out of all of the things I have learned, it was mainly my experiences thus far that have taught me the most important lessons of my life. To put it in perspective, personally, I have not grown up fortunate enough to have always been able to afford my food, my home, or my clothes, and even today, I still struggle to help financially support myself and my seven-member family while I attend university. As the oldest of five and the first in my family to attend college, I hold a responsibility to not only myself, but to my four younger siblings to show that even though we grew up in unfortunate circumstances and still struggle to afford our basic necessities, we can still do amazing things in life. And in my life, where time and money are essential aspects that drastically affect my opportunities and many others too, if I were to have an infinite amount of money and time, I would direct it to those who are unable to take full advantage of their potential and success just because they cannot afford it.

For example, although I was able to apply and be accepted to my dream school, Western Carolina University, I would not have actually even applied had it not been for a fee waiver that I, thankfully, was applicable for. I also had to, unfortunately, defer my enrollment for a year as I found out that I wouldn't have been able to afford the 2022-2023 school year. In order to attend this fall, I had to work many hours, usually almost six days every week, and then coming home to take care of my four younger siblings as my parents also had to work to support us. And although my family wanted to support me as much as they could, I knew that, financially, I would be solely responsible for paying for my education. This was, perhaps, the most daunting realization for me to deal with as I was aware of the amount of debt and negative consequences that extensive college loans could put me in. And now, as a current college student, I am still worried about affording my education, and I know that there are many others who feel the same.

Many people are forced to cut their potential short because of the rising costs of tuition, supplies, and many other financial aspects associated with high achievements and dreams, and if I could help those people to be able to take full advantage of all the resources available to them, many people would, therefore, have the ability to produce a positive change within the world all in their own ways. From my experiences, I know that there is only so much that one person can achieve, so if I were to have an infinite amount of time and money, I would use it to enable and encourage others to pursue their dreams, goals, and positive change that they want to see in the world.