Heidi Blake
At 40 years of age, I have taken a reassessment of my life. Upon reviewing the life choices that I've made, I feel a strong degree of satisfaction because these choices accommodated my needs and goals for certain time periods of my life. For example, even though I graduated high school with High Honors, I chose not to pursue higher education at that time so as to achieve a long-held spiritual goal that I'd set as a youth. That decision was the right one for me at that time and brought me a great deal of personal fulfillment.
Now, at this point in my life, pursuing a degree is the right decision. Over the last 20-plus years, the balance of the economy has shifted to the point where having a college degree better enables one to care for the many and varied needs of a family. I have now been married for over 13 years, and this union has produced two incredible, insightful, intelligent, and inspirational children--a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy. My husband is the primary breadwinner, but fulfilling this role often requires that he take on extra hours or supplementary employment; this, in turn, reduces the time that he is able to spend with the family. Since our familys primary concern is not monetary, any further contribution that I could make to the family budget would only serve to strengthen our family union because it would enable us to all spend more time together.
In addition to the potential financial enhancement, my other reason for pursuing a degree is that I simply love to learn. Throughout my schooling, I was always an eager student. Ive maintained that attitude by continuing to educate myself through reading, research, and learning from life experiences. Even without a degree, Ive parlayed my acquisition of knowledge into several teaching stints: I have served as an SAT instructor, reaching the Master Tutor level; taught preschoolers how to use computers from both the basic hardware and academic software aspects; and, my most crowning achievement, homeschooled both of my children for several years. I am most proud of teaching my own children, and the results were evident early on, especially in the fact that each of them was able to read fluently by the time they were three years old.
My other secular employment has included child care, word processing, administrative support, and proofreadingthe position in which I currently serve. I am particularly proud of my proofreading skills (and sincerely hope that they are evident in this essay!) because I feel that these skills demonstrate my life-long love of learning. How is that? Well, perhaps unlike many of my peers, I always particularly enjoyed grammar lessons, much more than the liturgical side of the normal English curriculum. Evidencing my age, I truly believe in the mantra that was drilled into me from youth from the RIF organization: Reading is Fundamental. If one can read well, then one can succeed. However, to convey the accurate meaning, and even nuance, to the reader, the information being presented needs to be prepared in an accurate, clear, and concise manner. I have tried to apply this standard to my own writing, and as a proofreader try to apply this standard to the writing of others. Since Im a proofreader for an accounting firm, I now also get to incorporate my love of math into my position, since I am required to check calculations for accuracy as well.
I have chosen to pursue a degree in Computer Science because that was definitely one subject that interested me in high school, wherein I was given a brief exposure to basic programming. As mentioned in the outset, I chose not to pursue further education after graduation, so I never had the opportunity to learn the intricacies of the field. Obviously, over 20 years later, to modify RIFs motto, Computers are Fundamental, and now I am interested in learning exactly how computers operate and how I can use that knowledge for both personal and secular advancement. Although I am very happy in my current position as a proofreader, I wholeheartedly believe in expanding ones knowledge and, therefore, ones options for advancement.
Obviously, Project Working Mom understands this as well. I thank the Project, eLearners, EducationDynamics, and their sponsors in advance simply for establishing this program, whether or not I become a recipient of a scholarship. Realizing the three major barriers to mothers getting their degree says enough about the Project, et al., in and of itself. I know that both time and money definitely present obstacles for me, which is why online education would be ideal in my case. This would allow me to continue to balance the endless duties of managing a family while now also pursuing further education without disrupting that schedule, since Id be able to learn online at times when my familys needs have been satisfied.
I sincerely hope that this essay has adequately conveyed my life experience, goals, and desire to pursue higher education. I feel that these things squarely put me in line for consideration for a scholarship. I can assure the reviewing committee in advance that if I am chosen, I will absolutely put my all into this opportunity and that a scholarship will not be wasted on me. Please accept my sincerest appreciation for this opportunity and I wish you the best of success in selecting the most qualified applicants for receipt of these scholarships.