Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight

My godmother often quotes a Japanese proverb, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.” It means never give up hope and to always strive for more. While I haven’t been knocked down seven times, I have had my share of challenges early on in life but like the Japanese proverb, I never give up hope.

My biggest challenge was being born to two people who were not ready to be parents. I was abandoned by my biological parents soon after I was born, and placed in the Los Angeles County foster care system. After living in foster homes I was adopted by my aunt Rosalina and her husband Oscar when I was four.

Sadly, Oscar, who I grew to love very much, died when I was ten. I was devastated by Oscar’s death. I had already “lost” my biological parents who chose to not be present in my life. I was scared that if something happened to my aunt Rosalina I would go back into foster care.

It wasn’t until I was in high school, when I began looking at potential colleges, that I started to think about how my adoptive dad’s death might impact my college plans. Rosalina is a low-income immigrant with a middle school education. She often works seven days a week to support our family. My family certainly can’t afford anything beyond our essential needs and even though Rosalina insisted I was going to go to college, I was worried that as a single parent she could not afford college tuition. I started to have doubts about whether I was going to be able to go to college.

I have to admit I knew very little about life insurance before writing this essay. But I did some research and found out how important it is for parents to have life insurance coverage. I saw several stories that mentioned how a life insurance policy provides protection and income to someone’s family in the event of his or her death. Unfortunately, Oscar did not have life insurance. If he had life insurance, that policy would have replaced his income and our family wouldn’t struggle financially. If Oscar had had an adequate life insurance policy one thing that would have turned out differently is that my adoptive mom Rosalina wouldn’t have to work seven days a week. Finding work during the pandemic has been challenging but I was fortunate to be hired as a paid intern at a new tech company. I don’t make much but I am saving to pay for college expenses.

My primary goal for going to college is to have opportunities to thrive in my life and career. I know there are no guarantees with a college education, but I do know it opens the door to many opportunities in life. I hope to be the first in my family to graduate from college (I plan to study economics) and this scholarship will help me achieve that dream.

If I’m being honest, these questions are tough to answer because I feel as though I’m being asked to fit inside of a box. My story isn’t perfect edges or 90 degree angles. Instead, it zips and zags. The corners are sharp and difficult to measure. It is constantly transforming but it continues to stand tall and strong. This shape is me.

My parents were Ill. They suffered from mental illness and alcoholism. So even before their deaths, we encountered financial instability. We mostly lived paycheck-to-paycheck. My mother never worked because it would have been impossible for her to hold a job. Her name was Karyn. My dad did work. He held a job for 30+ years. He tried extremely hard to keep the household finances in order but as their diseases progressed, the money became harder to keep track of. His name was John. My father’s life insurance expired after his retirement and he denied ever receiving money after my mother’s death. I do not think life insurance would have made any difference for us then. My father would have spent the money on his addiction, so actually, I’m glad we never received any. As for his own life insurance, it would have given me the chance to invest it and watch it grow, securing my own financial future.

I learned to be independent at an early age. I couldn’t afford not to. My parents couldn’t take care of themselves, let alone a child. When I wasn’t living with them, I was living in foster homes where everything, including food and love, were luxuries. I made this decision for myself (called social services myself), despite it being extremely difficult, because if I hadn’t I don’t think I would have had a future otherwise. School was my saving grace and the idea of attending college one day kept me going. Their deaths only made this desire stronger. I didn’t have a cent to my name so I applied for financial aid and acquired loans to make it through every semester. With my degree, I hope to live and work in Latin America, working in socio-economic development, empowering women who are forced to face hardships everyday.

Like my parents, I too have struggled with depression. However, unlike my parents, I’ve learned that it is necessary to ask for help. I’m close to graduating and I have a job in which I am proud of. I will not live like my parents did but I will live in their honor because they were my greatest teachers. In fact, applying to this scholarship is a testimony to this. This is the first scholarship I have ever applied to. For a long time, I felt undeserving of them. I have since learned that if you never ask, the answer will always be no. I chose this scholarship specifically because I wished to share my story, hoping it would inspire others. The deaths we’ve experienced do not define us. The lives we live will.

My name is Rainna Daharsh I am from Gretna, Nebraska, attending Gretna High School. The most significant and life-changing experience was when I was 13 years old, I never realized how real an addiction could get, alcohol took my father from me. This was a big impact on my life and family considering my mother was a single mom with three kids and left with nothing. After the death of my father, I wasn’t planning on going to college if it weren’t for soccer. This was not only tough on me but it was tough on my family as well. We didn’t have much money, my mother went from paycheck to paycheck paying for our sports fees and food, nothing was spent on herself. I knew that if I wanted to attend college it had to come from my love for the game. Kearney was the best fit for me, I was close to home, and it’s not overly expensive, I chose Kearney not only for soccer but to get a degree, I grew up in an abusive and mentally draining home when my father was alive. I want to help and save kids like me from this. Many kids are growing up in homes that aren’t stable, abusive, and not living the lifestyle they should. I want to stop the abuse that happens in homes. I want to help children have a better life and live in a better community. I would like to see kids go outside and play and not be afraid. Making life better for other people is a big goal, especially for kids. Getting a college degree can help me accomplish this goal.

My father had a life insurance policy and it was canceled a few years before he passed, With that policy, it would’ve helped my mother pay for our fees, school, and all of his debts he had, as well as pay for the funeral. It also would have helped her set up college funds for the three of us, she had struggled with just a single income. Life insurance could have helped us financially because there wasn’t any child support and if he was alive he would have contributed to it. I chose to help out my mom by getting a job and start paying for some of my gas and picking up and driving my siblings around and taking them places to get their minds off certain things. My little brother is just like me we love the sport we play, we are constantly outside playing and learning new skills. My sister is always inside acting or dancing to possibly pursue her dreams of acting. The three of us are always doing something to make our mother proud, she deserves everything after all she’s gone through. I chose to focus on soccer and hope for a scholarship in the future to help out my family and pursue my dreams of being apart of law enforcement and playing soccer in college.

 Life has always had its ups and downs, but nothing impacted my family more than the death of my father in January, 2014, after battling liver cirrhosis, diabetes, and other tormenting medical conditions. My dad was the light in my life. He taught me how to battle through the toughest of times. Losing him was truly losing a best friend, a person you can always rely on to be there for you.

My mom’s lifelong savings diminished in the blink of an eye due to my dad’s medical treatment expenses. After the death of my father, my mom had to use the last bit of her savings to try to keep our house from being foreclosed, but soon enough, that battle was a lost cause. With my mom earning a very minimal salary as a preschool teacher, she simply cannot afford to fund my college expenses, living paycheck to paycheck to try and provide the best life possible for my brother and I. However, I won’t let this stop me from being able to fund my college education. I will do everything in my ability to try and save up money and earn scholarships to help pay for college. After obtaining a degree in kinesiology, earning patient-care hours, and volunteering, I want to get into PA school in order to work towards getting licensed as a Physician Assistant in sports medicine. I want to be able to have a beneficial impact on the lives of others, and I want to work with others in rehabilitation.

I have come to realize how much of an impact life insurance can have on one’s family. If my dad would have had some sort of life insurance coverage, things might have been a lot different for my family and I. We would have not lost our house, my mom would not be in great financial debt, and I would have alternatives towards funding my college education — we would have had a sense of relief. Right now, however, I am heavily reliant on scholarships and financial aid.

Even with all of the sacrifices I have had to make in high school, I don’t regret a single one because I know it will pay off in the end. Throughout all of my high school years, I have managed to maintain a 4.0 unweighted GPA in hopes of earning an academic scholarship. Alongside school, I currently work 2 jobs, as a group lesson tennis coach as well as a private lesson tennis coach to try to help my mom out with bills and save up money for college. Throughout my experiences, I have learned that I can overcome any hurdle in life with determination, hard work, and perseverance. Life will never be easy. I have learned to use my downfalls as a means of encouragement and motivation rather than despair. People may fall down many times in life, but it is how they rise up that defines them.