Beyond Myself by Rylee

Beyond Myself by Rylee - April 2025 Scholarship Essay

The hustle and bustle of my mom, grandma, and aunties in the kitchen preparing a feast at family gatherings is a familiar sound; one that I have been surrounded by all my life. Ever since I was little, I’ve noticed how with every meal they cooked, they never once followed a recipe. No measurements, no timers, just a list of ingredients engraved in their mind for every traditional Hmong dish and the natural cooking instinct passed down from generations before. In my culture, our cooking isn’t just to feed mouths, but it’s an expression of love, heritage, and resilience. I watched year after year, as all of the women in the family would move gracefully in the kitchen with a rhythm that flowed ever so naturally, making meals that bring people together in ways words can’t express.

Growing up as the granddaughter of Hmong immigrants, I see my life as a tribute to my community. My community is abundant with culture, but being sidelined in society has ingrained a profound sense of responsibility in me. The Hmong people are a nomadic group of people, who traveled from China to Laos and then fled from Laos after the Vietnam War. Now, there are many refugees all across the world. Our community has encountered unbelievable hardships and yet we persevere through collective strength and support. The resilience of my community and generations before is interlaced into my very existence. It is my moral compass in my journey entering the business field, where I aspire to pave a path not only for myself but for others whose stories are similar to my own.

I often think about the memories in the kitchen where I’d watch from the sidelines as a little kid. Within these memories, I envision my future in the big world of business. As a young Hmong woman, the life I create is a lot like my mom’s cooking; a perfect mixture of culture, intuition, and revolution. Success in the business field has no specific recipe to follow, especially for someone like me, who is forging a path that balances prioritizing cultural traditions while living in the modern world. I have learned from the kitchen that the creations that honor those before you and where you come from are the ones that leave the biggest impact on the community. This philosophy drives my passion for entrepreneurship—creating with purpose, and building with heart.

My deep commitment to entrepreneurship stems from a desire to find sustainable solutions to societal problems by turning ideas into meaningful realities. Entrepreneurship offers invaluable experiences that’ll advance my communication and strategic planning skills, furthermore enabling me to have creative flexibility to build scalable businesses. Entrepreneurship not only provides pathways for me to grow personally and professionally, but it also allows me to be innovative in problem solving, purposeful in my actions to address pressing issues, and impactful in communities. Entrepreneurship is an avenue that, although risky at times, can have rewarding returns through job creation and improving quality of life. My journey, however, extends beyond myself. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I strive to pave the way for other Hmong girls and students of color, like me, who dream of operating their own business, by advocating for equitable access to quality education, leadership opportunities, valuable community service, and meaningful civic engagement.

Throughout high school, my sisters and I started a nonprofit called Sincerely, an organization that focuses on giving back to the community and providing volunteer opportunities for students. Sincerely provides customizable cards for students to decorate and spread smiles through their notes, which we then deliver to the elderly and people with disabilities. Our mission is to bridge the generational gap between the younger and older generations. Working on Sincerely has given me multiple opportunities to interact with Hmong students and elders. Providing an educational volunteer experience for the Hmong students was a very big accomplishment for me, and it ultimately felt rewarding seeing all the students embrace our culture with their personalized cards written in Hmong. Delivering these cards to the Hmong elderly in our community was equally gratifying. I witnessed the joy on their faces while receiving a sweet handmade card from the younger generations, and it was truly a life-altering experience for the students to see how much of a difference they can make with just a simple act of kindness. By providing and teaching others with this enriching experience through my nonprofit is one of the reasons I value my community.

As I embark on this new chapter in my life, I am taking the values of hard work, perseverance, and determination with me. Where others see competition, I see the opportunity of collaboration. Where others chase individual success, I am working towards collective advancement. With every unknown territory I encounter, I step forward with the strength of generations before and after me, in hopes to build businesses that are centered around my morals of community.

I am a young Hmong woman going into the business field with the same intuition and resilience I learned in that kitchen. Just like the unmeasured meals that were made from love, I am excited to create something that will last and benefit not only myself, but my Hmong community too. To prove to my ancestors that their sacrifices are never forgotten and to show the younger generation of Hmong girls what they are capable of.