Ability Over All by Shannon

Ability Over All by Shannon - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my entire life I have been under-appreciated or looked-over due to my unfortunate socioeconomic status which is a direct result of being raised by a working-class single mother. Despite my motivation and ambition, I spend my entire adolescent life working around the idea that it would be highly unlikely for me to succeed in today’s money-based society. With this daunting thought in mind, I persevered through all of the struggles and hardships that accompany life below the poverty level and managed to excel in all of my work. Still, despite all of my success and accomplishments, I always feared that I would be unable to obtain a quality higher-education due to my severely limiting socioeconomic status. Fortunately, through very hard work and countless all-nighters, I was able to graduate from high school with a very respectable transcript and resume.
This success allowed for my acceptance into several accredited universities and merit-based programs and ultimately lead me to where I am today. This major accomplishment is by far the one that I am the proudest of. Despite all of my academic achievements and high levels of involvement from various well-respected programs at my university, I am still severely limited by my financial situation. Here at my university I am currently being under appreciated as, despite my high motivation and various accomplishments, my money is still valued much higher than my abilities. By obtaining more scholarships I hope to earn enough money to continue my education here, so that I can continue to prove my ability as a hard-working, motivated student.