Category: Scholarship

[I] never chose my major from some eureka moment. As a child, I was always taking things apart to see how they worked. If my parents gave me something that moved or had a battery, odds are I would end up taking it apart within a month. If I wasn’t taking something apart, I was watching a documentary about how things were put together. As I made my way to the end of my middle school days, I started building model houses out of cardboard boxes and just about anything else I could find around the house. It was a small hobby to start, but soon I started putting a lot of detail and design into the houses. I knew then that I loved building and problem solving.

As soon as I entered high school, I started taking engineering courses. My school offered “Project Lead The Way” courses, which were specialized engineering classes. Those courses were always the classes I most looked forward to. The program introduced me to programming, circuitry, the design process, 3D modeling, and more. My passion for engineering led my team to build the top project of my capstone class. The judge was very impressed with our work; he came to us after the competition and asked to get a picture of our project (a stinkbug vacuum that eliminated the smell of stinkbugs)

When I entered high school, not only did my schooling become more engineering-oriented, but also my model house hobby blossomed into a full-scale engineering passion. In 9th grade, I took apart an old electric scooter I had. Using the motor and batteries from that scooter, and old pieces of wood lying around the house, I built a sort of remote controlled car (figure 1). I continued to work on and improve the car throughout my high school career. The first run of my RC car that was successful was the proudest moment of my life.

So how did I choose my major? I simply chose what I loved to do. That’s not to say, however, I haven’t faced obstacles so far.

Everything I had built up to the beginning of college was built using trial and error. The RC car and model houses didn’t require me to do any calculations of any kind. I just tested designs until I got one right. Unfortunately, that approach isn’t how actual engineers do things. Engineers use mathematics. As it turns out, I have no special knack for math. In fact, I have to work very hard to understand math concepts. This problem is my Achilles Heel. My lack of natural mathematic talent is no deterrent from being an engineer, though. There’s nothing a determined aspiring engineer cannot do!

A degree in mechanical engineering opens doors for me to have a career doing what I’ve always loved. Going to work everyday and building something that has never been made, whether it is a new bomb defusing robot that saves a life or a rover that will travel across the stars to distant planets, sounds fantastic in every way.

We are proud to announce Jordan Bendler is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for his essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.

[A]s a young African-American girl growing up in an impoverished single parent home, society’s definition of beautiful couldn’t have been further from what I saw in the mirror or more out of my reach. According to popular media, beauty is no more than a stick thin figure, and a fair skinned face painted with the latest cosmetics. If you don’t fit this description, then you’re not beautiful. Even if my family could afford it, the most top shelf cosmetics couldn’t replace the confidence I lacked as I struggled to find representations of beauty that looked like me.

Later, I came to battle the consequential scars as I was under the spotlight to be a student leader while working hard to become the first in my family to graduate from college. As I’ve matured, I have grown conscious of the media and its tainted messages, which continue to hurt the self-worth of little girls and women of every aesthetic. We’re constantly held and compared to unrealistic expectations and images. This reality can be especially felt among women of color who are underrepresented in media and underserved in cosmetic products.

As with anything in life, there are victims and victors. It is my goal to help women become the latter. After nearly two years in public relations, I’ve recently decided to take my career further by transitioning to integrated marketing communications (IMC) Studying Communications to battle injurious media messages that affect women.

The journey from working professional to graduate student has been – and still is — a challenging one. While working two jobs to support myself, I had to study long and hard for the GRE while completing exhausting school applications. Recently, I stepped out on faith, resigned from my jobs and returned to my hometown and prepare for the transition back to full-time student status.

Just a few weeks ago, I was blessed to be admitted to Northwestern University, home to one of the top few IMC graduate programs. Though it’s an exciting occasion, getting in was only part of the battle; the cost of attendance is quite daunting, and my financial aid is still uncertain. I remain hopeful.

With a master of science in IMC, I will be equipped to shape public perception across a spectrum of different communication silos (e.g. PR, marketing, etc.) and platforms. My degree will enable me to help cosmetic brands join and change the conversation surrounding America’s standard of beauty.

Although many are aware of this problem, few are contributing to solve it. Informed by my education and experiences as a woman and a member of an ethnic minority group, I plan to be a part of the solution by helping to create a society that acknowledges, respects and celebrates women of all colors, shapes and sizes so that more little girls will look in the mirror and see beauty staring back at them.

We are proud to announce Brit’ney McTush is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for her essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.

[A]nother gunshot and ambulance siren after a few minutes – such familiar signs meant that I was going to attend another funeral for a friend’s family. Growing up as a foreigner in the worst neighborhood in Kazakhstan, I saw lives of the underprivileged. I was ten when my closest friend’s brother died from gang violence. At the funeral, I asked my mom, “wasn’t he a good guy, like Sonic the Hedgehog?”

As a child, the only escape from such gang violence was playing video games. Since I was the only one who had a game console, the whole class strolled in to my house to play Sonic. My parents had one rule: only students from class could come and play. Because of the rule, my friends never missed a class. As result, our class had the lowest dropouts and stayed away from the streets.

My passion in games grew while I started to question education. Statistics show that children ages 8 to 18 spend over seven hours a day using technology for entertainment including gaming. That adds up to almost four months per year. I often asked, “why do children are so motivated to play games but lack motivation at school?” With my childhood experience and my desire to tackle such questions, I decided to pursue my study at Instructional Technology and Media at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Coming from an underprivileged family, attending a private school means facing many obstacles. The first and foremost obstacle is finance. To support myself, I work as a teacher, waiter and researcher. Although I receive invitations to present at education conferences, I do not have money to attend them. I struggled with malnutrition for few years but that did not stop me from achieving my goal. Another main obstacle is not seeing my family. People question me saying “why haven’t you visited your family for more than 10 years?” I hesitate to answer. I do not want to visit the worst neighborhood and pretend that I am not part of that neighborhood. I want to go back and change my neighborhood. I do not want to visit, but return and make changes.

Graduating from Teachers College, Columbia University means that I am close to building an engaging learning environment that will keep students away from the streets and lead to success. Currently, I work closely with Games Research Lab at Columbia University developing the Gamification Toolkit, a website for teachers that provide instructional kits which supports pedagogy, student behavioral management, and Common Core curriculum. It provides the theory and research for the game principles utilized in the toolkit.

Just like my technological interest kept me away from the worst activities the streets had to offer, I want to draw children to school and away from other dangers. As I graduate a Masters of Arts in Instructional Technology and Media at the Teachers College, Columbia University, I will become closer to becoming a teacher that can help the underprivileged.

We are proud to announce Aeloch Kim is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for his essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.

[T]he Prescott College Human Development program “provides perspectives on human needs and potential while encouraging personal growth and increasingly sophisticated communication skills.” These facets of the program embody my personal development goals as well as my goals for helping inspire others.

I work as an Emergency Medical Technician and high-angle/swift-water rescue specialist for Yosemite National Park Search and Rescue (YOSAR). I have been working in outdoor/adventure education for nearly 10 years. I teach yoga and rock climbing. I have noticed a correlation in the skills that I have gained in these various professions as well as my personal life; these skills seem to be severely lacking in many of my students and people that I interact with on a day to day basis: 1. Mindfulness: the ability to be aware and attentive to yourself, your body, and your interaction with people and the surrounding environment. 2. Personal strength, the power and health of mind and body.

Through my interactions with students and coworkers, I’ve noticed that most personal and interpersonal problems arise from a lack mindfulness and personal strength. Problems always arise in the form of miscommunication, if one becomes more MINDFUL of what he/she says, how it is said, his/her body language, etc, and has the PERSONAL STRENGTH to adjust behavior, an emotionally charged argument could instead be an informative discussion. If a person has an awareness of his/her body and the environment around them, perhaps a stumble on a mountain trail, resulting in a broken leg and an 8-hour rescue, could have been avoided. These are just a couple of many examples I have encountered.

I like to see people succeed. As a YOSAR technician, I have been put through many trying circumstances from dealing with fatalities to multiple-day, backcountry searches in variable weather conditions. Through these and other personal experiences in the outdoors, I have begun to master mindfulness and personal strength, the tools that enhance growth and communication, and help people to succeed. As a guide and educator, I have helped inspire success, but I have also seen many failures. I have often struggled with how to help others understand how to cultivate more successful behaviors. I decided to go into the Human Development program at Prescott College because I want to better understand how humans learn and grow. I want to learn to be a better facilitator of success.

My vision upon the completion of this program is to develop a curriculum based on mindfulness and personal strength. I will present this curriculum in the educational organizations where I have worked, as workshops in personal growth, and within public and private schools and colleges.

We are proud to announce Josie McKee is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for her essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.

[M]y name is Meilinn Tram and I am currently majoring in biochemistry. As long as I can remember, I have been very passionate about math and sciences. I have always seen knowledge as a thrilling thing to have. If you understand what you learn, you start to question it. Questioning leads to testing and experimenting. And thinking outside the box helps you become an innovator—you obtain unique ideas and insights, and you discover things that are mind blowing. Knowledge does wondrous things for everyone. It helps people better their lives in many amazing ways. Without knowledge, we wouldn’t have the technology we have today, especially in the health field.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Vietnam and China to meet my distant relatives. It was quite a culture shock for me because for the first time, I was exposed to extremely ill individuals. I discovered the cause: improperly disposed medical waste needles, which are extremely hazardous to leave lying around.

This observation spurred me into researching sickness and medical waste disposal in other countries. I narrowed it down to researching vaccines, and eventually my degree in biochemistry. I found that third world countries don’t have a government regulated system of disposal. Therefore there is a constant reuse of needles from medical waste. To reduce waste and prevent diseases, I wanted to expand the longevity of available vaccines by storing them in a more stable, dry form such as a pill or capsule.

I actually have a cousin who was paralyzed from the hip down due to a contaminated syringe injection. It could have been prevented had the doctor used a new sterile needle. Things could have even ended worse. For example, millions of people have contracted HIV or hepatitis A, B, or C because the disease was still on the used needle. Now my future career goal is to find ways to produce and deliver medications that reduce both cost and risk for patients. I want people to benefit from my research by living healthier and longer lives.

I have recently been accepted into the McNair program which allows me to fulfill some of my dreams of doing research. I am currently researching dry spraying vaccines into more stable forms to ship out to third world countries. My biggest obstacle is balancing my work, school, and personal life . I take 16-18 credit hours each semester, work part time at Manzano Mesa Community Center as a youth leader, privately tutor mathematics to a high school student, and tutor for the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS). I also volunteer around the community partaking in events hosted around the state and volunteer at Veterans Affairs. I put all my effort into everything I set my mind to and never give up in what I believe. I set my life goals very high but keep them attainable.

We are proud to announce Meilinn Tram is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for her essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.

[W]hat would you do if you were a genius? That was the prompt given to my eighth grade class one month before we hit high school. World domination, write with the greats, and cure cancer. Those were the answers Ashley gave, and—just four short days later—she died of Leukemia.

She trudged through the beginning of the week like it was just that, another tedious school week. Wednesday had been a normal day, going along with no fears of tomorrow. But Friday morning she was admitted into Doernbecher’s. Sunday the phone rang, but instead of being greeted by her all too familiar voice, I was paralyzed with the news of her death. Her disappearance fed my desire to do my best to help the 1,545 kids under fifteen who die of cancer every year in the United States.

Ashley was now a part of that statistic. Close family and friends comforted each other with stories of her life. How she read every book she could get her hands on, greeted everyone with “Good morning, sunshine,” and never took the time to be cruel to anyone. The only question on everyone’s mind was, “Why Ashley?” With such a warm heart, a full mind, and so many years ahead of her, and yet, she died at fourteen.

I took those initial thoughts and turned them into something that has encouraged me to crave a life where I can be the cause of a family’s happiness. I figured that if there was a situation such as Ashley’s, then there must be other families in the exact same predicament. So why dwell on the death of Ashley, when I could take the emotion I felt, and transform that into aspirations, future destinations, and, most importantly, my character?

I refused to stay in that place of grief and panic. I know the kind of person I want others to describe me as: a leader, smart, kind, and strong. I feel that these things are reflected in my everyday actions. The world around me may not be a fair one or easy to navigate, but I want to be one of the few dedicated to not giving in. I want to never give up, follow through with my word, and always help the people that surround me. This character is who I believe myself to be today.

Life is said to be short. Young people are always told to have no worries about the future and just enjoy today. But what are you supposed to do when you’re only fourteen? You can’t drive, can’t have a job for money, and relationships are a joke. So how do you live life to the fullest with so many restrictions? If you could ask Ashley, her answers would be world domination, write with the greats, and cure cancer. But ask me, and I would tell you that helping even one of the 1,545 kids is what I was meant to do with my life.

We are proud to announce Teryan Brown is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for her essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.

[H]uman encounters of two kinds have led me to pursue a major in the field of conflict resolution: those that proved to be obstacles to be hurdled over or circumvented and those that dovetailed into enriching conversations.

In 2007, my father visited me from Pakistan and engaged me in a conversation about President Pervez Musharraf abdicating his presidency. While discussing the criminal charges against him, we realized that even well intended leaders are quickly faced with opposing foreign, religious, and political forces. At the time of this conversation, I was pursuing my Masters in Public Affairs.

My decision to now pursue a degree in conflict resolution reflects my 18-year history in Pakistan as well as the experiences of other Pakistani youth. Like me, my friends boarded a crowded public bus on an ordinary day. Like me, they saw a man at the front of the bus— a man who was ordinary in every way except that he carried a gun. Amidst the frightening commotion, they also saw another ordinary man light the front two tires on fire. Being that these types of experiences were prosaic instances in our lives, we, the ordinary youth, went about our day and caught the next bus. I once asked my father if he sees any hope for war-torn Islamic nations. He said, “Let’s see what the young generation can do.”

Soon after, I partnered with a U.S. Army Major on the social business project, Janan Collection. We raised awareness about the effects of war on Iraqi women, gathered local support, and organized the First National Press Conference & Panel Discussion on issues faced by Iraqi refugees. I was enthralled at my ability to positively impact so many vulnerable lives. My journey toward a career in conflict resolution thus began. I sought an academic portal into this area and registered for an International Conflict Resolution class. There, I read John Paul Lederach’s The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace, which demonstrated that the peace-building process could take place outside of high profile peace talks and government treaties. After reading the story of a professor who engaged a Tajik warlord in a discussion on poetry and soon thereafter convinced him to enter into peace negotiations, I realized that my own diverse background in nonprofit, interfaith work, and artistic projects could make me an ideal candidate for a degree in conflict resolution.

My two main objectives in pursuing this degree are 1. to learn how to promote the collaborative efforts of key players in various types of conflicts as well as 2. to learn innovative ways of catalyzing social change through conflict resolution. I intend to focus on the South Asian and Middle-Eastern regions so that I can fulfill my long-term goal of affecting social and political change there.

We are proud to announce Amyn Rajan is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for his essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.

[W]omen with dark skin drew me to the field of literacy. In Bolivia, people with the lightest skin are considered to be more beautiful, educated, and wealthy. Their skin is light because they were afforded the luxury of going to school indoors, working indoors and wearing sunscreen. The majority of people in Bolivia, women especially, have thick, dark, wrinkled skin and strong bodies. They farm and rear children in the hot sun at 9,000 feet above sea level their entire lives. They do not have time for school, as they need to tend to their farm to survive while many of their husbands spend the money they have on coca leaves and alcohol.

The children of these women do not go to school regularly because they also need to help cook and farm and raise children. They are often translators for their mothers who do not speak Spanish, but a language called Quechua. I was honored to teach a group of these women emergent Spanish literacy with the help of a few of their feisty bilingual children. They shared with me their desire to learn Spanish so they could sell their beautiful hand-woven wool blankets to tourists and gain freedom.

When I returned to the United States, I was dedicated to learning how to effectively teach literacy to those who may remain oppressed by their illiteracy. I am now studying to become a reading specialist at Columbia University, a place I never imagined my ADHD self would be capable attending. I was not diagnosed with ADHD until I was 20 years old, after years of therapy and incorrect diagnoses. I moved to Bolivia in the first place because I had just finished college and needed some time away from the structure of school. I ended my undergraduate degree in English strong; however, everyone in my family was surprised I even graduated high school.

My experience in education was a long, frustrating process. I am only now really figuring out how to effectively study and organize my work. When I was first diagnosed with ADHD I was frustrated with my all of my previous teachers and my parents for not knowing what was wrong, or helping me learn in a way that I could be successful. Now, I am grateful for the hardship, and I believe it has made me a more unique and passionate educator. As a reading specialist, I plan to continue to work in elementary schools where early literacy intervention can give freedom and choices to students with disabilities and students in low-income communities who often do not receive the right kind of teaching to support their unique way of learning. I want to be able to help the students I work with, and also help other teachers learn how to understand and teach students with differences.

We are proud to announce Erin Grigg is one of the current JustJobs Scholarship finalists. Vote for her essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options in left column), click the ‘star’ just above comments section below, and/or leave comments of support to help us with the selection process.