New Growth, Dreams and Hope

By Mary Reiman

This is one of my favorite months of the year, watching the daffodils and crocus find their way out of the ground. New growth. If only for a moment, it brings a renewed sense of hope for the future. Maybe spring has sprung!

Another highlight of April is the email asking if I will read and evaluate scholarship applications. High school seniors across Lincoln and surrounding areas asking for assistance as they plan for their future endeavors. 

The scholarship dollars are donated by kind individuals who chose this opportunity to support students who wish to further their education. The donors are indeed generous spirits and I wish they could read all of the applications submitted.

This year I am on a committee to determine which 4 students will receive funding for the $2000 scholarships being offered. When we think about the costs of post-secondary education, we know how quickly that money will be spent. Tuition. Housing. Laptops. Textbooks (digital and print). Labs. 

4 scholarships. 63 applicants.

Any funding they receive will be meaningful. All have great need. It is clearly expressed in the applications and every time I was sure the one I was reading was THE best selection to fund, I read the next and determined IT was most worthy. And so it went throughout the list. By the time I was finished reading, reviewing, evaluating and rating them, 20 were at the top of my list. Twenty! How could I whittle it down to 4? What other parameters could I/should I put on my selections? Grade points, ACT scores, financial need. But how do you rate determination? How do you rate passion? How do you rate grit?

Many of these young adults have had too many difficult life experiences already. They are 17 or 18 years old. Some have been parent figures for their younger siblings. Others fled their homes when soldiers came to destroy their community. They lived in refugee camps before arriving in Lincoln, Nebraska. Others live with a parent with addictions and became an adult long before their childhood years were over. Many come from families who have struggled to make ends meet and simply have no extra income at the end of each month to put away for their child’s education. Whatever their reason for applying for these scholarships, they are worthy. They are trying to be prepared for the monetary needs coming their way. 

In this month of April, as we see another change of season, this is the most important new growth. This is our future. These students will define and shape our world. 

On the days you become anxious about the future, read these selections from their essays. Their words reveal their dreams, show us passion and give us hope. 

      …as I have grown, I’ve realized that in order to achieve something, you don’t need to master it. Achieving something is all about the journey that you take in order to get to your specific goal. My journey has introduced me to numerous valuable lessons, struggles that I have overcome, and has shown me exactly what I am capable of.

      ...sometimes you have to struggle in order to succeed.

      I have always wanted to help people find the best versions of themselves and be connected to people heart-to-heart. I want people to have the courage to step forward and make their lives better.

      I must always remember my very first goal is to help people. Therefore, study is indispensable and the best way to achieve it is college.     

      …I was only twelve years old when I had to grasp everything that was going on around me from leaving my hometown forever to living in refugee camps for months…I saw survivors who had endured significant trauma and brain damage. This sparked my interest in the brain. I began to question how I could assist individuals that become victims of atrocities.

      I begin to understand that the meaning of life is not always about being on top, but rather leading yourself to the right path…Today, I learned to be proud of everything I’ve accomplished, regardless of big or little, because these experiences prepared me not only towards school, but my future as a whole.

      I hope to aspire many first-generation students from immigrant parents that even though we don’t have the help from our parents in a sense where they can’t help us with homework, filling out documents and even scholarships compared to people who have parents that have had opportunities to proceed their further education, if we simply reach out for help our dreams will come true.

      ... that left me to take care of my brother, who is autistic. Making sure he was fed and got off to school was hard to grow up so fast, but I believe it made me into the person I am today. Caring for people and wanting to help others, no matter how big or small, became very important to me. No one should be left taking care of things by themselves. I also became optimistic not worrying about the bad, focusing on the good that will come later.

      For as long as I can remember I have envisioned my future career to be of assisting and helping others…Furthering my journey with my education is important to me to create the life I envision for myself, and no one other than I can write it.      

      One of the most life-changing events in my life was when my mom, grandpa, and aunt were diagnosed with cancer. I was fortunate to have a family that always motivated me during difficult times, so seeing them at their lowest made me long to help. I noticed the level of compassion and care from the nurses as they looked after my family members, and I realized the impact of their role on others. Therefore, I decided to pursue a major in pre-nursing. I want to create a positive influence on the lives of others like the nurses had on my family.

      Undertaking the challenges that I’ve faced and learning from the opportunities given has influenced me and created a feeling of success that I will carry into college. I plan to enhance the community in Nebraska to further inspire children who have faced disadvantages as I did.

      As the senior year quickly approached, I realized I needed to expand my knowledge and really dig deep into a variety of career paths. After doing multiple tests and plenty of research, I knew I couldn’t get away from healthcare- I didn’t want to get away from it.

      My biggest goal growing up was to be able to make my parents proud and to thank them for giving us the opportunity they didn’t have. My biggest gift to them will be my diploma…Ever since I was able to grasp the magnitude of what my parents endured and gave up to provide me an educational opportunity in the states, I became self-motivated.

      I have just been accepted into the Bryan College of Health Sciences for my dream career: Cardiovascular Sonography. My plan is to complete 3 more years at Bryan and to graduate with a bachelor’s in Cardiac and Vascular Sonography. I have always known I want to go into healthcare but for the last couple of years, I have been exploring medical imaging. My interest in Cardiovascular Sonography stemmed from my grandmother’s recent breast cancer diagnosis.

      The person I want to become consists of what I am able to contribute to others, especially children…My goal is to ensure every child experiences the same support that I did and believes they can achieve anything.

      I did not have hope for the future and thought I would end up being a failure… I finally realized that I have the ability to create a better life for myself; this realization made me think about what I want to do with my life. I soon concluded that I wanted to become a nurse.

      I think back to my grandmother who told me that someday I would be diagnosing others. My ultimate dream is to become a Nurse Practitioner, where I will do just that.

Could you select which are most deserving? We will make our final selections, but not without a conversation in which we wish we could offer support to each one of them. Hopefully, they will have applied for several scholarships and there will be one available for everyone. 

To all of them, I wish them well. Every one of them gives me great hope for our future.