Scholarship Essay Entry – Caitlin S.
One Life One Chance
My name is Caitlin and I am a twenty year old girl from Sherwood Park, Alberta.
In order to tell you what I want to accomplish in my life and how I want to change the world, I should tell about the steps I have already taken to reach this.
My first exposure to poverty was when I was thirteen years old I went on my first mission trip to Tijuana. I was so affected by the poverty and standard of living that after I returned home I had trouble integrating back into society. I wasn’t okay with how different the reality was for people, depending on where they lived. I knew the feelings I had weren’t going to change with time. I knew that trying to change poverty rates in our world would become a lifelong passion.
After I graduated from high school, I didn’t feel ready to go to post secondary so I applied and was accepted to Katimavik. I spent my next nine months working at various non-profit organizations across Canada, living with seven other people with similar ambitions as mine. Katimavik showed me that my voice is important and what I have to say is real. Katimavik gave me the skills and confidence necessary to organize my own events.
Last February, my friend and I organized a benefit concert to raise awareness of Africa’s longest running conflict. We were able to raise not only awareness but also $1,400 which we donated to the Invisible Children foundation (IC). In the next year I would like to start an extension of the San Francisco based IC foundation in Canada.
While organizing the event, I was also working two jobs and spending very little. My next goal was to send myself to Europe for four months, backpacking and exposing myself to different cultures and lifestyles. I was able to meet people from all over the world and learn about their lives and passions. I used this trip to find my independence and think about who I wanted to become and what I want to accomplish in my life.
As for the occupation I am working towards, I am currently enrolled in my first year of my education degree at Grant MacEwan. I want to teach junior high students, maybe in inner city Edmonton. These kids are at such an influential stage in their lives and I want to be supportive and give the encouragement necessary to shape their futures in a positive manner.
In my future I want to continue learning and gaining experiences. I have met many people who are doing amazing things. Meeting or hearing about people like that encourages me to set bigger goals. I am young and have the time and energy to make them come true. I am on the way to making my dreams become realities.
