My Future and My Family Lead to Staying Focused by Jillian

My Future and My Family Lead to Staying Focused by Jillian - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

My ultimate motivator for staying focused is the non-profit I am currently working on. I am a business administration major, and my goals and aspirations are to use my knowledge and skills to impact society positively.

My long-term goal is to open a nonprofit organization to help single mothers in underprivileged communities within the St.Louis Metro area by providing an organization providing education, healthcare, and other resources to single mothers in our community. An organization that focuses on empowering single mothers to build on their strengths while also becoming self-sufficient and well-resourced, allowing them to create a future full of safety, hope, and success for themselves and their children.

I was last enrolled in school in the spring of 2022 at the University of Missouri, Columbia. I withdrew that semester because I was not in a place to dedicate the time and energy that I should be giving to my education. COVID-19 was prevalent at this time, and I had lost three family members within two weeks, so I decided to hold off on pursuing my degree and put myself in a position where I could be more involved with my family.

I moved to St. Louis and began working in the private entertainment sector and began working on my non-profit plans. During this time, I built an extensive network of business professionals who wish to see my nonprofit goals become a reality and have agreed to guide and support that journey.

In the spring semester of 2024, I reenrolled at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, to pursue my degree. This transition back to school to finish my degree will equip me with the knowledge and skills needed to start officially founding my nonprofit.

This is not an overnight project, and the steps that led me back to college over the last few years were a blessing. Acknowledging and reminding myself that my degree is the next major step toward this dream helps me stay focused. It also helps that I enjoy my classes now that they are targeted at what I want to do as a career, and I can apply the knowledge to my nonprofit plans as I am learning it.

My family has also been a massive motivator for me to pursue my academic goals and stay focused. My family means the world to me, and as you can see above, they have always been a motivating factor that I consider when making decisions. The time I spent with family during my college break from 2022 to 2024 heavily impacted my decision to return to college and strive toward my goals.

In 2023, God definitely tested my strength. My uncle died in May, and my grandfather died in November. My dad also came down with some severe heart issues at the beginning of 2021, and they spiked again in September of 2023, and they were on the edge of life-threatening at this point. While I felt tested, I was able to see more of these heartbreaking situations. I was losing all the people I wanted to make proud… My outlook shifted about this time; I was ready to run at full speed towards the goals I fully knew I was capable of. I was prepared to show the people who believed in me the most that I did it.
I think of my angles daily and know they watch every step I take! I hear praise from my family daily about how proud they are. In January of 2024, my fiance and I moved home so that I could return to school. My grandma was the neighbor to our left, and my parents are the neighbors to the right. She was so proud, and from the first day of class on, she reminded me that my papa was too. Unfortunately, she passed away on April 4th. This was challenging, but just like my other angles, I now have one more motivating drive behind me.

Nothing can stop me from finishing my education and starting this program for our community. I want to do this for all the women who deserve the help I want to offer, and I want to do this for my family, the ones who are rooting me now and those rooting me on in heaven.