The Winning Scholarship Essays: #3 of 5

ProjectWorkingMom — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:38:00 GMT

Xochitl, 38
Decatur, GA

Getting my degree is very important to me, because it is an accomplishment I have been trying to obtain for the last twenty years.
I have always wanted to attend college and be an example for my children. Being a single parent, however, [it] has been a difficult and challenging goal … I enrolled and was accepted [into] a University, however, I struggled balancing my children, working, and maintaining my grades … After the second year, I became ill … I was diagnosed with a severe case of anemia. While I was recovering at home, I received a letter from student admissions stating that I would not be able to return as a student. I had failed my math class three times and therefore, I had to sit out a year.

… I also received notice that I had to vacate my apartment because I was two months behind on my rent. I had to give up my dream of finishing school and instead, find a job and a new place to live … I had to file for bankruptcy. In 2002 … I began to rebuild my life … Just as I was establishing myself, emotionally and financially, I was diagnosed with a tumor on my cervix. In the summer of 2004, at the age of thirty-five, I had a hysterectomy, and my right ovary was removed … While I recovered at home, I volunteered in the leasing office of my apartment.

… My apartment manager would call me [to be a translator] when there was a new family that was moving in that needed assistance registering their children for school … In August 2005, one of the principals offered me a full-time position as an interpreter … In a city where the population of Hispanics has grown dramatically, it gave me the courage and determination to go back to school and obtain a degree so I could be a role model for the students.

In the fall of 2005, I was able to enroll at Kaplan University … it was a blessing for me. I was accepted, approved for financial aid, and was able to transfer some of my credits from the previous university. I was able to attend class while still being at home with my children. However in the last couple of months my life has drastically turned upside down …

I received a phone call. [My daughter] her grandmother dead in the bathroom. She was home alone and scared … I jumped out of bed, while I was getting dressed, I was directing my daughter to call 911. The ordeal was very painful. … After the funeral, I returned to Georgia with my children, I was out of work for a week so I could help ease my daughter’s pain …

During this time, I received a phone call from the financial aid office stating that I was maxed out on my federal loans, and that my Pell grant would not cover my tuition. I am eight classes away from graduation.

I now have to stop attending school … I am not eligible for private loans … because of my previous bankruptcy. I am already working two jobs because my son will be graduating in May 2008 from high school … I am saving money to assist him. I feel that each time I get closer to obtaining my dream, I have an obstacle to cross …

The Winning Scholarship Essays: #1 of 5

ProjectWorkingMom — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:20:00 GMT

Helen, 50
Andover, VT

It is a Woman’s World! Women give birth to the world. Women cradle the world. Women feed the world. Women clean the world. Why is it so difficult to enter the world?

I’ve always known that my Greek name means “light, torch”. I was strengthened by that as a child. I imagined myself carrying a torch, leading people to truth and discovery. I suppose that may be why I decided to home school our seven children.

During the 18 years that I have been teaching our children, we have adopted a total of seven of our foster children. Each one presented with special needs. Learning challenges? Or was I teaching impaired? Our adult children are now doing remarkably well!

I’ve waited long enough. I’m ready now to go out and make my place in the world. Time changes things, though, and I’ve been out of the work force for 20 years now.

Why should it be so difficult to enter the world as an adult woman when I have spent a lifetime nurturing and teaching children?
I have decided that to enter today’s world I will need at least an associate’s degree. That degree will represent two years of college education. For, you see, I am a woman making my place in the world. I will need credentials. I will need some proof that I have been successful.

The week that I enrolled the children in school, I finalized my enrollment in Kaplan University. I’ve decided to get my two years of college as a paralegal. Not only would that get me the credentials I would need to work at the school as an aide, but it would put me in position to do what I have always wanted to do… study law.

I’ve been looking at the torch that represents enlightenment. I think of myself and my own life. I have always felt that it is an important part of who I am to shed light on the path for others. Teaching, building hope, encouraging while brightening the way, those were the attributes I strived for.

I’m Helen. As I lift that torch higher to light my own path, I can see the world ahead. I’m looking forward to my new adventure.

Official Project Working Mom Blog : Kaplan University

The Winning Scholarship Essays: #3 of 5

The Winning Scholarship Essays: #1 of 5