The death of a mother can be life altering for any family, especially for a young girl. On April 19, 2015, my mother was killed by a drunk driver which left my family in shambles. As my mother struggled to pay for rent before she passed, it became almost impossible for my grandmother to pay for rent and support my brother and I. As a 8 year old, I felt useless for not knowing how to support my grandmother after seeing her break down multiple times after my mothers passing. My mother had no adequate life insurance coverage so my grandmother relied on her social security which was not sustainable enough to live. After being evicted, my family splitting apart, and having extended family support, my grandmother and I were left to live in motels and barely had enough food to survive. If my mother had adequate life insurance coverage, I would have grown up in a household that was calm, consistent, and loving. But, instead I needed to grow up fast because ultimately I am alone and as heart wrenching as it is, I need to financially and emotionally support myself.
After years of seeing my grandmother struggle on her own, I started working during my freshman year at my uncle’s company as a manual labor worker. Working at this job was challenging due to the physical intensity and in addition enduring constant insults due to being a young girl working in a “man’s job”. Later on during my junior year of high school, I met a friend who introduced me to photography. We worked together on learning photography skills and volunteered in many school activities to take photos. This encouraged me to start working in photography part time to gain experience. Both of these work opportunities have allowed me to provide for my grandmother to take some of the financial burden off of my grandmother. Working also allowed me to learn how to save for my future college education.
The loss of my mother impacted my college plans because I have no financial support to afford to attend college. Living each month, since I was 8 years old from paycheck to paycheck, being able to have financial support from my grandmother is impossible. This scholarship means the world to me because I will be given the opportunity to attend college and make a difference. Having counseling myself, I’m inspired to be a counselor and study psychology at University of San Diego so I can support children like me who have lost their parents and need emotional support. I have maintained over a 4.0 grade point average and will be graduating at the top of my class because I want to build a future for myself to support others in need and this scholarship is my way to that future.