At My Best

A time in my life where I would consider to have been "at my best" would have to have been the time I spent my senior year in high school searching and filling out scholarship applications. I was able to dedicate a whole ninety minute study hall class to nothing but scholarships.
          The benefit of this class will be one that will continue to impact my years at ISU, and most importantly the rest of my life after college. I, like other students at ISU, come from a family of low income, and have a zero family contribution. This was all the more inspiration for me to seek any and all scholarships that I was eligible for.
         I can vividly recall the ISU packet that I received in the mail that had the Christina Hixson sticker logo on it. It was a week night and I was doing statistics homework when I looked on top of the TV (where my mom puts all the mail addressed to me), and there happened to be a substantial white packet there. When I began to read the letter addressed to yours truly, words couldn't begin to describe my reaction. I let my family read it, and of course my mom cried,  and my dad shook my hand and told me nothing in the world has made him more proud. At that moment I was truly at my best, at that moment I knew I had acquired a prestigious tool that could only aid me on my road in college.
            Getting back to the class that in the end is the root cause of me writing this blog, and overall the reason for my scholarship and financial aid opportunities; I spent hours surfing Iowa State websites, FAFSA websites, and other scholarship program websites. And when I did find ones that applied to me, I went through cognitive application processes where I looked introspectively for traits that distinguished me from the next scholarly student applying for this award. My high school career outlines a time in my life where I founded morals on being aware whether it be politically, socially, economically, and most importantly being aware of the human carbon footprint and the impact it has on the earth. High school was the best four years of my life. I learned who I was and what it takes to succeed.
            So in the end my decision to dedicate a study hall strictly to scholarships is one I am glad I made. Because of that class I received scholarships from Iowa state scholarship foundations, some from my high school scholarship foundation, one from Wal-Mart and ACT scholarship foundation, but what seemed to help the most was the money I received from FAFSA. The day the FAFSA opened was the day I filled it out in that class, and I didn't just forget about it either. I always paid attention to the details that go along with all the paperwork because it always requires corrections.
             Now halfway through my first semester of college, I completely feel as if the time I invested in that study hall was a time where I was truly at my best. The benefits of that investment are only going to be appreciated more and more as I work toward walking across that stage in the spring of 2014. I wouldn't know how to describe how much I appreciate the aid I received from the foundations, all I know is I won't let their investment go to waste.