2018 Scholarship Essays

Language of Success

by Sameer Jain

Hola, mi asignatura favorita es español. For those who did not understand, I just wanted to say hi and let you know that my favorite subject is Spanish. For those who don’t know what Spanish is, it is a language natively spoken in Latin America and Spain and it is absolutely phenomenal, as all languages naturally are. I know that wherever I go, whichever career I pursue, Spanish will come with me always, helping me not only to talk to people, but to connect with them. In the world of business, especially finance, which I hope to pursue, it is not the numbers or the reports or the computers that matter; it is the people.

People have always been here and they always will. People have basically ruled the planet since they step foot on it and it certainly does not seem like they are going away anytime soon. So, it is only logical to conclude that if one wants to succeed, he should look to ingratiate himself with the beings that matter i.e. people, not computers, not charts, and certainly not dollar bills.

I have always seen myself as a people person and the reason for that I believe is that I like people. It may sound funny, but it is true. I like people and I find that having Spanish with me, having that extra language, that extra culture that I can use to connect with people, on a deeper level, makes all the difference. It makes people feel comfortable and safe, things that become very important when trying to break bad news to a client or secure a new client. For me, it is little things like this, which many ignore, that make all the difference. Especially in the cutthroat world of business, a simple “hola” could put you over the edge.

Now I know Spanish will not be able to help me in every situation like when writing reports, calculating projections, or communicating with non-Spanish speakers. Don’t worry! I have a plan for that too– my skills in math and English will have me covered. In all seriousness, though, my goal is not to use Spanish every day or with every person or in every assignment. My goal is to use it only when I need to–to foster the relationships I need–so that I can succeed. No, so that we can succeed, together.

Vote For Sameer’s Essay

The value of learning – Priceless

by Jax Bailey

As a future teacher I believe that learning is a lifelong commitment and the courses in Education will help me the most in my future career. The subject is broad and covers so many different aspects that educators need to become aware of and well versed in. Understanding the backgrounds that students come from and how you can best prepare and support students matters a great deal. Each student has the ability to do amazing things. It’s about helping the students see that light in themselves and to understand how they learn best and what resources and supports are available to help them on their journey. A classroom will have a diverse group of people with different family situations including and children who struggle with food insecurity and neglect and are just doing their best to get through the next day. A good educator understands that they can’t change some situations but that they can offer a safe, inclusive environment, and connect them with supports offer a student a better chance of realizing their dreams. A good educator needs to be prepared and to be able to deal with people who learn in different ways and people with behavior issues. Students can come into a classroom without the tools needed for success and it is important for an educator to recognize any needs the student may have and to try to address and resolve the issues in a respectful and private manner. A teachers’ role is to support, mentor, inspire and provide a safe, inclusive, non-judgemental environment for youth to develop and become their best selves. It is important for an educator to be aware of resources that are available to support youth and help them have the most positive educational experience possible. Education courses that cover a variety of roadblocks, learning types, resources to students, and that offer insight from teachers who have had a front row view sear of the life of a teacher are invaluable and will help me become a teacher who mentors, supports and validates the importance of each students’ journey to becoming a self-sufficient adult.

Vote For Jax’s Essay

My First 8:00am College Course

By Rhiannon Pangindian

In my Introduction to Social Science class taught by Marianne Marar, we discussed our weekly readings and how it relates to the world around us. The requirements for each reading was one quote that was most effective, an article that involved the same issues of the reading, a personal thought as well as a theme to tie it together. This course brought my attention to the chaotic and vigorous events occurring every day. We’d also discuss the racism, sexism, unfairness and destruction all around us. I was awakened by the news I was learning about. I realized how open-minded I was becoming and that nothing ever stays the same so it would be an advantage to be able to adapt and adjust to new things. This 8:00am class always set a tone to the kind of day ahead of me. We started class with “highs and lows” which are things that made each student happy or discouraged in the time of discussion. It was always surprising to hear about my classmates lives because I do not know all of them personally. This also allowed me to be open to my peers and share a piece of my life.

My major is Human Resources Management and I chose it because I want to increase my involvement with other people. I hope to guide others in the right direction, be a leader and make a change. I know I have potential but I have been shy over the past year and I am striving to change that. I believe that my Social Science class taught me to widen my perspectives and be ready to adjust to changes, no matter the size. My instructor was very passionate about revealing the real world to us and making sure we know what is going on in the world while we tend to let little things stop us from achieving our goals. There are bigger problems in the world and the least we could do is try to change it or show our capability to affect others in a positive way. Dr. Marar made my first 8:00am course my favorite one.

Vote For Rhiannon’s Essay

Health

by Joseline Illescas

Health should be one of the most important topics, not only at school, but around the world. Health provides everything and could make people look amazing if they take good care of their body. However, it also can make people feel uncomfortable and low the self-steam of many people, that’s why health is very important to me. It defines how much we love ourselves and how much we care for our body. There’s a lot of people in the world that don’t realize how important is the food we eat every day, because we can be harming our bodies without even knowing, since a lot of food isn’t appropriate for our bodies. And it’s not only how the body looks but also, what impact it can have on us. If we eat a lot of unhealthy food, we can have diabetes later on, and we can develop a lot of diseases , that we wouldn’t want. Therefore, I think health is very important not only for our own good, but to help others, mostly when they’re growing, so they can build a new habit of eating healthy. This career could help a lot of people preventing diseases and providing a better life for us. Plus we could look amazing !!!

Vote For Joseline’s Essay

Women in STEM

By Megan Victory

As a young women, it is often surprising to others when I reveal that my favorite school subject is science, and has been since I was a little girl. In this ever progressing era, the STEM field is becoming more and more open to women and I look forward to the opportunities that will be available for me when I start my life. I have been extremely blessed that the people most influential in my life, various grade school teachers and my family, have been supportive of me pursuing science since I first expressed my interest in the fourth grade. My teacher that year had a passion for science and her effort to allow us to explore the world around us sparked a desire in my heart that will never fade. Her hands on experiments for discovering the best way to stop erosion had all of my class thinking— and none of us got it right. Who would have thought grass was so important? She helped me to recognize the importance of the little things, and how to find how each of those components had such a significant impact to the function of the whole. My favorite thing about science is that there is always something new to learn new about or to improve on. This subject is always changing, always growing, always evolving. In my future profession, I hope to be in an advanced lab working on improving medicine and the impact medical drugs have on our society with a group of close-knit colleagues that all have the same interests and goals in mind. I know that my love of science will help me excel and be successful in my profession by keeping my job exciting and new everyday! My love for science and learning will become a love for my job, and this will give me the wonderful opportunity to change the world in my own unique and empowering way!

Vote For Megan’s Essay

Language Disorders of Children

By Sydney Carda

As I round the corner to my final semester of undergraduate college, I am filled with excitement and ready to share my knowledge with the world. Throughout my college career, my favorite subject was Communication Disorders. I have spent multiple hours in the classroom listening to highly skilled professionals share their experiences in the fields of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology. In particular, my all time favorite course within this field was Language Disorders of Children. This class was my favorite simply because I love children and teaching. Being a part of this class, I got to put to practice being a speech teacher with children. Needless to say, waking up at 8 AM got a little easier for me because I was waking up and walking to a class that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love being with children and helping them learn how to expand their utterances, prepositional phrases, and help build their overall vocabulary skills. Specifically, I had the opportunity to administer receptive and expressive language tests, learn how to proper document responses, and record them. I learned how to score these tests and establish a baseline for children and where their speech development stands based off of standardized tests. Also, I was able to soak up a taste of how the autism spectrum disorder is assessed and diagnosed which sparked my advocacy for mainstreaming in schools. In the future, this class will be extremely useful because I will know how to properly assess, facilitate therapy, and document their progress as I take my next steps forward towards my dream job of becoming a Speech Language Pathologist.

Vote For Sydney’s Essay