College Admissions Essay: I Want To Receive A Degree

Growing up in the town of Cicero, I reckoned that it was the perfect place; it was my home. I’ve resided here my whole life with my two parents and older sibling. To me, my parents were the heroes of the world. My childhood innocence guarded me from seeing how grocery store employees used to deduce that my mother was lazy for utilizing the link card, and assuming that my father was dense for speaking broken English. Even if our financial situation is not as inadequate as they used to be, there are countless times where my parents come home late from work and still stress an overwhelming amount of time over the bills. As a pre-teen I was embarrassed about taking the public bus with my mother while my friends would see me from their car windows.

In my eyes it was too expensive and I held the thought of not wanting to put my parents in debt. As a senior, college is my only opportunity to escape the situation I live in. Receiving this scholarship would help me complete my education that is crucial to finding a well-paid job. A degree is much more than a title, it is an opportunity to overcome the financial difficulties my parents have and are still facing. The support I receive at home motivates me to strive for something greater and that change begins with me. My mother once said to me “I don’t want you to end up like me”. At that moment, I knew I had to push myself beyond my ability to make something of myself. I am 9 out of 1079 in my senior class, have a 4.5 GPA and for sure am not afraid of hard work. By receiving this scholarship, it will help my parents and especially myself from having to take out loans and place myself into debt. It will aid me into achieving my future years of education and give me the opportunity to demonstrate that I will not end up like my parents. As a future university student I will remind myself every day to be grateful, to remain humble, and to treat every day like a new chance to redeem

From a child until now I am blessed to have a family, but for some students that isn’t the case. At Morton, I have seen countless numbers of fights, drama, and students failing classes. It is true that Morton doesn’t have the best reputation, but the students are not to blame. These unfortunate students have grown up to believe that the streets is the only place for them. When they think “future” they don’t think university, they think working like our parents. However, these broken students are not broken because they want to be, but because they were raised that way. People outside of Cicero see us as troubled teens, but they don’t see the eyes of students suffer from depression, lack of motivation, and poverty. They have grown to hate school and give up on themselves because they don’t receive the support from adults; instead, some adults see us as an inconvenience. In my future, I want to be the change that students deserve. These teens were forced to grow up too quickly, and need a place where they can express their troubles, receive aid, and learn that peace can solve almost anything. Although I am undecided about my major, my future objectives revolve around giving back to my community and more importantly the teens, as they are the ones who determine our