Current Essay Contest: Who is one person that has had a positive impact on your education and how did they impact you? by Kona

Current Essay Contest: Who is one person that has had a positive impact on your education and how did they impact you? by Kona - March 2023 Scholarship Essay

Kona Sagale-21
Undergraduate Sophomore
Anticipated graduation 2025
konasagale@yahoo.com
619-9801440
Current Essay Contest:
Who is one person that has had a positive impact on your education and how did they impact you?

That person would be my mom. She's one of nearly 11 kids, the youngest of her clan and the one that would be called our families matriarch. She is first generation born and raised in the United States, raised in a multi-generational home, her mother was monolingual, which she translated for her mother much of the time. She is a warrior and survivor of horrible abuse and still she rose. On her shoulders stood the role of family caretaker, house girl, and finder of all lost socks. I mean she was born to be the cover for her mother and to say that she covered her is a small sense of mother child love.

My mother realized in her junior year of high school that it was up to her to rise above her circumstances. She leaned into her faith, prayed passed her pain, and found a way to go to school, claim her athletic scholarship, pursue her BA degree and through her MA degree. He got to her last year of her doctorate program and in the mist of her dissertation she dropped out. Not because she was discouraged or found it difficult, but because she and my father because the guardians of seven children: that of my deceased uncle and my drug addicted aunt. She put her goals aside and raised children that were not her own through ridicule and poverty she made it work.

It has been 10 years since she dropped out of her doctorate program, however, she continues to work two jobs and dream of finishing her schooling. It is her fortitude and transparency that amazes me. She has sayings that just either encourage you or makes you take responsibility for what you bring to the table some of those I cling to are simple but impactful and so real such as: "Do it or don't do it son, your struggle will not be my struggle", "Life has its own hardships, don't make it harder on yourself, by your own ignorance and stupidity", "After your finish whining about fairness, make a plan to move forward", "I'd rather be more of a blessing than a burden, but I can be a burden son", "My pocket is no longer your pocket; you better figure out if you're going to build your future or be lazy", and "Until you know what you want to do, do what I tell you to do. When you figure out what you want to do, then run off into the sunset doing it."

She has felt the sting of abuse, the struggle of limited resources, and the heavy burden of family, finances, and future focus and still she rose. She prays for me more than I will ever know, she loves me beyond measure, and she refuses to let me continue to do something that she knows is wrong and wasteful. And to top it off she is a mother of nine, not of her flesh but of her heart. She is a lifetime student learner. She proclaims that she is always on a learning curve and her laughter is contagious. She is a counselor in the detention, and I meet countless men that say she helped save their life, by her sincerity, caring heart, and her due diligence in the way she counsels. I pray that God provides me the opportunity to make an impact on the lives I come across and vice versa. If I could be a drop of who she is than my world would be beautiful. How could she not impact the way I move in my life. Her personal goals are my goals now, her passion is my passion and her desire to grow and constantly forgive and learn with discernment is amazing grace.

Thank you, for the opportunity to be fresh, real, and uninhibited about the impact of a good mother and the fortune of her ability to teach and learn from her challenges and continue to strive in the right direction.