Ky Governor's Scholar by Zakiya

Ky Governor's Scholar by Zakiya - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

Kentucky Governor’s Scholar
Zakiya Lacy

I attended Seneca High School as an advanced program liberal arts student. My senior year two of my teachers nominated me to be a Kentucky Governor’s scholar. As a governors scholar I was invited to spend six weeks at Centre College, also in Kentucky. This program was academic based and had different subject themes available to choose from. I chose the law program. Each program had a major project associated with it. Our project was to interview a current inmate and then write a short biography of their life. We where allowed to go into Northpoint Correctional facility which was a maximum-security prison.

The inmate that I was paired with was serving life without the possibility of parole. He had killed his entire family, which consisted of his mother, father, and brother. When I first learned his charges, I was terrified to interview him. We interviewed the prisoners for an hour at a time two days per week. The interviews lasted about a month.

I was completely amazed at the things I learned from the inmate. When I first sat down I just knew he had to be crazy, animalistic, and inhumane. By the time we completed the interviews, I viewed the inmate as nothing less than a person that made a bad decision in the heat of the moment. The inmate had been sexually abused by his father majority of his teen years. The inmate stated that both his mom and sister where aware of the abuse but did nothing in order to stop it. The sexual abuse occurred during the early 60’s where folks minded their own business within their household and he was threatened to keep quiet or else.

I thought it to be very ironic that I was partnered with this particular inmate. A family member too sexually abused me as a child. Although I didn’t kill them, I remembered feeling as if I had no one to talk to. I had no one to help me sort through those emotions. More importantly I began to devalue myself.

As a result of being apart of the Governor’s Scholar program I developed an overwhelming desire to help people like that inmate and myself. I founded and incorporated a non-profit youth mentor group, Mahogany Foster. I wanted to give teens an outlet and someone that they could talk to about their troubles, while being encouraged to become a successful adult.

It was already an honor to be a Kentucky Governors Scholar, but I learned a life lesson that summer. That inmate helped me to see people instead of their situations. You never know what someone has been though. We should always be quick to help and slow to judge. Before governors scholars I wanted to be an attorney because they made a lot of money. I am now following my passion to of helping others through my non-profit. While I do desire to make decent wages, I have a stronger desire to help others. Kentucky Governor's scholar literally changed my life. I won many awards and scholarships throughout high school, but this is one that made a lasting imprint on my life and career choice.