Topic: Explain specific circumstances that qualify you for the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund, including any challenges you face and/or obstacles you have overcome.
Example #1: Anonymous
Society never told me that every girl is beautiful. Instead, they portrayed an image of what they may call “true beauty”. A Slim body, tall, beautiful light colored hair, a flirty smile and a large chest. Every girl tries hard to meet societies “beauty standards”, to feel pretty and be marveled at by boys, including myself.
I have always been “plus size”, and throughout middle school people teased me for my figure, calling me “fatty,” “King-Kong”, and other inappropriate names. I hated myself, and insecurities took the best of my personality. I lost valuable friendships, I was mad at the world and problems continued to come my way. I envied beautiful girls that got all the attention from guys.
When I was thirteen, I planned to end my suffering by committing suicide. The world was too cold for a girl like me. I just wanted to be loved by someone, anyone, and feel beautiful for once without having to worry. That evening, coincidentally, while I was planning to end my life, my mother came to me with loving green eyes and a sympathetic smile, and asked, “My little pooh –bear, why have you been so upset lately?” I cried in her arms and told her everything. I still remember said, “People will talk about you until the day you die. Don’t let another person’s insecurities tear you down. You are beautiful and very intelligent. Not everyone is made to be skinny, you’re voluptuous. Stop looking at your flaws and love who you are because you’re greater than you think.”
Because of my mother’s loving words, I learned to love not only myself, but others who feel that they’re not important. Everyone is a special star in the sky, no matter what society may say.
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Example #2: Anonymous
I always tell myself that everything will be okay. Honestly I don’t know if it ever will. I always find myself doubting everything I say or do. Sometimes I hate myself for what I can’t do, like get a job. I want to find someway to help my mom but I don’t know how.
Right now I’m living a challenging life. I’m facing possible homelessness. My mother went into congested heart failure last year, and since then, the doctors have told her she’s not allowed to work. At that moment I wondered what are we going to do? How are my mother, my brother, and I going to survive? I thought all hope was lost: I applied for countless jobs, but didn’t get any. My brother applied for several jobs, but he, had no luck either.
Finally, we caught a break. We received food stamps and two hundred and sixty three dollars a month. I thought that was enough, but boy was I wrong. My mother has fallen behind on bills for months. The only thing my mother can do with that amount of money is pay the minimum amount of payments on each of her bills. Pretty soon companies will probably turn off water, lights, and gas. Want to give up. But I realized there is one way I can help my mom, and that’s by going to school and getting good grades. I want to make my mother proud by getting my diploma and going to a great college. This experience helped me realize that I can do whatever I want if I put my mind to it. I can deal with situations better now. One day in the future, I hope to finally help my mom.
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Example #3: Clare Legg
Slam! My body landed in the dirt with a thud. I opened my eyes just in time to see Dixie’s hooves galloping off without me. As I pushed myself off the ground, I could hear my instructor asking if I was alright.
“I’m fine,” I said, getting to my feet.
Then, I took a step forward. A sharp pain ripped through the right side of my body. As I buckled at the waist, hot tears started dreaming down my face. Normally, if I fell off a horse, I would just get right back on. I could tell this time was different.
My mom drove me to an emergency care center near our house, and they ran several tests. It wasn’t nearly as bad as we had thought, but I had sprained my right hip and would have to be on crutches for a while. This meant no horseback riding.
Horseback riding has always been my favorite part of the week. It was an hour that I didn’t have to think about homework, or pleasing other people. It was just about the horse and me. I felt miserable, and it showed in my attitude. I began talking back to my parents, and simply dismissed my schoolwork. After a week of moping around, my mom had had enough.
“Look, Clare,” she started, “I know you’re upset about not riding, but if you got on a horse right now, you would be in a lot of pain.” I realized that she was exactly right. I turned my attitude around, and began working on my mound of homework.
Looking back, I’m almost glad I fell off, because I learned a valuable lesson. I learned that, just because something is bringing you down, it doesn’t mean you can give up all together.
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Example #4: Arlette Henderson
Forgiving my father for not being in my life has been one of the greatest accomplishments in my life. Letting him back in my heart has allowed me to release depressed state of mind, obtain peace, and start excelling in school.
My distant father has never showed dependability when it came to me. Our relationship has been on rocky terms because he embraced and provided for my other two sisters, while leaving me to die in a barren cave. For instance, my father would not call or pay his child support. In fact, he did not come to any of graduations ceremonies from kindergarten through middle school. These actions caused me to question my father’s love towards me. As a result, I started sinking to depression, grades dropped from A’s to D’s, and started losing faith in the God. All I ever wanted was for my father to take time from his busy schedule to love his second born, who he pushed aside for his other chosen daughters. My life started going downhill. I needed to make a change.
Furthermore, I decided to move forward by picking up the phone on July 28, 2011 to call my father to say that I forgave him for not engaging in my life. I remember this date so clearly because that date I was freed from the hatred .H e picked up the phone, I told him that I forgave him for not being in my life and we also settled our differences. This action helped me feel like weights were lifted off my shoulders. I was now free to live and love without hatred in my heart.
In conclusion, my relationship with my father grew stronger, grades increased to A’s, and I had a renewed relationship with God.
I finally started moving forward.
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Example #5: Anonymous
Having money isn’t the key to happiness, but without it I’ve learned, it’s harder to maintain stability. As long as I can remember, my mother had money problems. We could barely pay the bills, let alone go out to eat or even buy fifty-cent snacks at the corner store. Though I wanted to, I knew not to beg. I’ve watched my cousins get Game Boys, IPods, WIIs, toys, new clothes, and more, wishing that it was me but I knew not to ask because it might upset my mother. I knew that if I whine or beg it would only make her feel worst about being part of the poor.
There was a time where my mother couldn’t pay the rent so we were put out on the streets. We had no place to go because my family didn’t want to take my mother and her three children into their homes. There was nowhere else for us to go except for the park until my mother found a new job. We lived in different parks, shelters, family homes, off of others’ money and free clothes for years hoping that the situation would get better sooner or later.
As time gradually passed my mother was able to succeed on her own. Throughout the years, watching her stand then fall, and again stand then fall, but never give up taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me to never give up even though there are obstacles in my way that might seem very difficult to conquer.
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Example #6: Anonymous
Everything was different here: enormous buildings towered like giant monsters, large, wide highways curved like a never-ending maze but most importantly, the new culture and the foreign language intimidate me.
My family had just made a decision: to move from Mexico to the United States. I was forced to leave behind everything I loved and knew, all abruptly taken away. As soon as we settled, my father enrolled me in school and I entered 4th grade on February 2005. Instantaneously, I was lost like a child in a dark, dense forest at night. I felt disoriented, vulnerable, confused, frustrated and scared. This was a new culture for me where most students were of other races that didn‘t speak Spanish and a different school system was in place. However, English was the greatest impediment I had to overcome to adapt to this new society.
The first year was most arduous. I had always been a straight A student but here my grades were dropping due to my inability to understand English. I was struggling do better but every assignment killed my hope and confidence in myself. Until I reached a dreadful 40 on a vocabulary quiz. Then I knew I had to do something to raise my grades and learn English. So I started going to the library and reading books. I always kept a Spanish/English dictionary with me, translate any word I didn’t knew, and quiz myself regularly.
Little by little my grades improved and now I’m once again an A student and have a better understanding of English. I’m not an expert but I work hard to improve everyday. I learned that I can overcome any obstacle with determination, hard work, and the desire to do so and I know that I can do anything I want.
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