So being a first generation college
student is definitely, to be quite frank,
a frightening experience... you
just don't know how to do it. All my
friends were going and applying, college
visits, and I'm like I don't know where
to begin, it's overwhelming, and I don't
know I was on my own doing my own thing
and no one in my direct family which
was really, at this point, my dad and my
grandma had anything to offer. My grandma
went to Community College back in like
the 80s and my dad never finished high
school. It's a frightening experience and
its forging ahead with kind of it
feels like very little support. To be
frank it's a unique situation but it's
also a very character defining and
building situation to go through.
So scholarships have definitely helped
not only fund me and help me get through
college but essentially just even,
just enabled me to go to college in
general and be able to go to a
prestigious state school such as Iowa State.
I was awarded the Pamela J White
scholarship for I believe it's emerging
student leaders and that has done untold
amounts for me, being a low socioeconomic
status student. Having been awarded that
is a super unique experience because I got
to meet my award donors which was super
nice. It's almost like an extra hand of
support, like 'I believe in you'
and that's kind of unique because I came
from a situation where I didn't feel like I
had a lot of that. Having someone say 'we
believe in you, we  think you're
gonna succeed and do something great in
the world,' that's what the
scholarship means to me and that's it
means more than I can now verbally
express. It means something in the heart.
I feel like I have a lot of tools and
resources behind me that Iowa State has
given me through these past three and
going on four years, you know,
whether that be- hopefully it is- medical
school at the next level and on a
residency. I mean I'm going to be leaving
Iowa State with in a good place, in a
solid state and I'm really fortunate to
have had that opportunity.
