What attending college means to me? by Kimberly

What attending college means to me? by Kimberly - June 2013 Scholarship Essay

     As an immigrant from Haiti, life for my dad hasn’t been the easiest one. Through living in the rough streets of Brooklyn, New York and having to learn English as a second language during his teen years, my father has made a way to make something out of themselves. Instead of being the typical and highly expected Haitian-American in New York that was a taxi cab driver and a low-end worker, my dad has not only gone to college, but they have received his master degree in accounting. You see, unlike my mother, my father hasn’t always been the most positive of driven person when it came to education; he actually got into some trouble in his teenage years. Therefore, for him to leave that dangerous lifestyle he was living and to make something of him is astonishing to me. Because my father went above and beyond what was expected of them, this has inspired me to do better academically and to achieve the same level of success.
     My dad has worked hard to insure that my brother and I wouldn’t have to deal with the same issues and make the same mistakes he made as a teen. So he decided, with my mother, to move my brothers and me from the New York to Florida for a better life. In fact, my father is literally the reason why I am the student that I am today. Through him instilling great morals and characteristics in me and helping me with my assignments, my father has taught me the importance and significance of having an education; ultimately inspiring me to be the best that I can be in each area of academics and throughout my life. But most importantly, my father has taught me that anything is possible and that you don’t have to be the stereotype that everyone believe you will be. With the proper education, you can be the next doctor or anything that your heart desires. And that message to this day is what inspires and influences me to better and rise above what others believed me to become; to prove that I don’t have to be another product of my urban surroundings.
     I feel, first and foremost, that an education is needed in order for me to become the anesthesiologist or pediatrician I want to be. Plus I know that all well-paying jobs require a degree that I can only receive through attending college, which means that an education is necessary. But that is only a small reason why learning is important to me. As a child, I’ve always been the girl to ask question and what to know how things work. Since I was a little girl, learning new things and information has fascinated me. For some reason, the idea of learning is cool to me; that’s why I love the International Baccalaureate program. IB has taught me how to explore ideas and having an open mind to the things not only happening around me, but around the world. It has broadened my perspective on the school. Subjects that I hated in middle school, like history, I absolutely love now. In fact, I look forward to coming to school every day so that I can learning something new and see what I can apply or relate that information to when I get home. I actually record episodes Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and in my free time when I am not studying, at a recital or church, I try to answer the questions. Guess that makes me a nerd, right? Most would say that… and I’m actually comfortable with it. Learning is my passion. I love the idea that the brain can assimilate endless amounts of information without crashing or imploding like a computer, or any other machine, fascinates me.
     Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted to be a college student and be just like both my parents, who attended multiple colleges and both received their Master Degree. I want my parents to be able to say that they have at least one child that completed college, since my older brother dropped out. I want to make my parents proud and most imporatntly I want me parents to relax and not have to worry about bills anymore. In order to accomplish that goal I need to get a highly-paid job. and wih that I will be able to put my parents in a nice, little town house in the suburbs, which they always dreamed of having. And I know that all of the jobs that I want to pursue requires a degree that I can only receive through attending college. I have been blessed with the liberty of having two parents and a grandma to take care of things at home in order for me to focus on my schooling and get the chance to actually enjoy my time in high school, which I have been doing. So the least I can for them is it learn, make good grades, and graduate; make them proud and feel that the sacrifices that were made we well worth it and were not in vain. Attending and finishing college willl not only benefit me and will be an amazing/enjoyable experience for me, but  it will also be my way of paying back my family for all the sacrifices they have made for me to enjoy my high school experience without any worries.