My Own Biggest Supporter by Montana

My Own Biggest Supporter by Montana - January 2022 Scholarship Essay

The amount of self-parenting I had to do in order to realize the importance of my education and take advantage of the teaching opportunities around me was a long path. Throughout my academic progression, I never received aid or encouragement from my parents. Alternatively, I was told by my mother numerous times that I do not need an education but to instead get my body cosmetically changed in Mexico and find a rich man to marry me for my looks. Moreover, my father wasn't the most trusting person I could ask for advice on my future either because if he wasn't on the couch sleeping, he was injecting himself with cheap, laced meth in the parking lot at Forever 21. I knew a change needed to happen within the family when I recognized that the only two role models I had were a drunk father and an absent mother.

When I came to public school after years enrolled in a private school system, I developed an appreciation for clubs, tutoring, and extracurricular activities. This was the first time that I emerged myself into Theater, Tennis, Student Council, and sports games. I attended every tutoring and extra credit session offered by my teachers. With this, it has been full of hardships due to the education and language barrier within my family when applying to colleges and getting involved. They are unaware of the process and how monumental it is thus leaving me to complete all these big decisions by myself. This was a big step for me and my education because no one ever told me to do any of it. No one told me to stay up countless nights and submit applications for local jobs or leadership positions in my school. I was the only voice in my head that was giving me encouragement to keep pushing. My biggest struggle was finally defeating the family tradition of being uneducated and denying the opportunities given around me.

I never got a push to begin caring about school. I never let my family's values take me away from seeing the bigger picture about my academics. I'm grateful for myself and that I am my biggest supporter because if no one will do it for me, I'll do it. I plan to be the first person in my family to graduate from a four-year university with a degree that specializes in technology and cyber security.