Roller Derby Scholarship

Fear and anxiety plagued my mind during this transition, however my wife and daughter kept my mind at ease. The information and instruction that was provided from the Professors at Durham Tech galvanized something deep within me. I began to strive for goals that I thought were unattainable as a naïve adolescent. Instructors encouraged me to work hard and to be persistent when it came to the immense obstacles of my course work such as giving a presentation at an honors symposium as an honors student. After countless years of self doubt and negative feelings towards education as a whole, for the first time in my life, I felt like college was an option for

My decision to go back to school in the fall of 2012 was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I’m a stay at home mom of 4 boys with 2 of them being special needs. My oldest was born with a rare genetic condition called hereditary spastic paraplegia and my youngest son was born with a rare condition called Dravet Syndrome that requires 24/7 care. I was at a point in my life where I had lost my identity of who I was and I wanted to be me again. I made that important decision to go back to school for myself with the fear of how I was going to do it, but I knew that it was right. It took me 3 years to complete my AS but with the support of my husband and kids I was able to receive my degree. I worked hard and was able to juggle being

Cutting bits of me that cannot handle the pressure and stress; developing pieces of the more disciplined me; testing my concentration; forcing my mentality to be flexible; enlarging the best of me: my determination, integrity, confidence, ingenuity, independence. Ultimately, skating leaves me more focused, more disciplined and more confident. It shapes my character, reminding me that success only feels worthwhile if it has a bit of blood behind it; skating tells me to try again, to keep working. Perseverance has been my grace. And as my skating career comes to a close, I have taken the time to teach those around me. The young skaters I teach think I am inspiring them, but they change who I am, altering me into a more caring, compassionate person.

After each training our bodies felt numb, our muscles worked to the max, and our calluses on our hands from the uneven bars weren’t the prettiest sight for teenage girlsl. We would go into the physical therapy room of our facility and spend 30 minutes ice bathing our ankle, knees and joints before leaving each day. But,for the day but it was all worth it. Every sweat mark that dripped from my face, every tear, everything. Iit was all worth it. I lioved for this sport.!

I recently found a list of goals that I had written 20 years ago. Most of the goals were realistic and I was able to achieve them. While I was checking the items off my list that I accomplished, there was one that I have debated about for many years—returning to school to earn a degree. Returning to school has always been achievable; however, as each year of my life sped by and I got older, I always came up with more and more excuses as to why I should not return to school. One day I received a course catalog in the mail showing online classes at the college. I decide that an online class would be the first step to my future. I am so grateful for the first day of that class. All the excuses and delays regarding returning to school

I am the oldest of four girls in a family of six and I will also be the first one in my family to go to college at Texas A&M University. I always thought that scholarships were just going to be bombarded on those who were in the top ten percent of their grade, but as I can see now, I was extremely wrong. It is an uphill battle to pay for college and that is something that I should have seen coming. I believe I need the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship to attend Texas A&M University because my parents may not be able to provide for my entire four years there.

“Returning to school after so many years of not attending, to obtain a degree can be a struggle for many people throughout their life, but it also has its benefits, changes, challenges, and goals. Initially, I had planned to go to college right after high school, but due to many family problems I was unable to. It would be another eight years before I would make the decision to enroll in school. My reasons for returning to school are to higher my education, have a better career/ job, and to better my life, as well as the life of my daughter. Returning to school for me, has had its benefits, changes, challenges, and goals. In this paper, I plan to give you a brief

Due to a debilitating back injury, last year I had to give up the sport that was my life for so long. My emotions were all over the place, from depressed, to lonely, missing my friends at the gym, I was a mess. Gymnastics was what I did for so long. All my hard work went down the drain. My main focus turned to school. My interaction with society outside of gymnastics grew stronger. However, I soon discovered that gymnastics skills were not the only thing I learned. Gymnastics is a sport that has hidden life lessons, lessons that I did not realized were ebing taught. These lessons I have taken away, I am applying to my new life. From small things like eye contact when being spoken to that represents respect, how to look at the bright side of things, the value of time, and to never give up on even the most difficult things in life. These lessons have shaped my life and made me who I am. It wasn't all for nothing. The outcome was actually pretty

In that time I was working a full and part time job to help my mother out while she was on disability. In those years I had no idea what I wanted to do and lacked the passion that now drives me. I knew I needed college to be successful but I also knew I was the only one bringing income in for my family. My academics took a backseat for extra shifts and taking care of mother when she was ill. As I left my exam, I remembered that mother from the accident and how I couldn’t of taken care of her if I hadn't taken of myself and emotions. I had failed to do that with my own mother and academics when I started college. I still work a full and part time job as an EMT while pursuing my prereqs for PA school but my passion to become a PA has transformed my lackluster grades into making the dean's

A year later, I was accepted into varsity. At first, it was nerve-wracking because I didn’t know anyone. I started to work hard every single day because I knew that I had to practice harder than most people. If I don't, the team would be curious on why I was even accepted. On the first week of practice, it was called hell week. At first, I didn't think that it would be anything hard. On the first day of practice, we had to get to the gym at 5 AM until 8 AM and 13 out of 18 people went. We were conditioning the

The students walked into the office that Friday afternoon looking confused. Many asked “Where’s Cory at? I need Cory to wrap my ankle.” Cory is our schools athletic trainer. I started shadowing him my junior year. He has been my role model since the first day I came in. My intentions that day were to simply ask him the essential questions anyone has when looking for a major to pursue: what do you do on a daily basis, college requirements, and the years of college education required, and do you enjoy coming to work? He told me the best way to learn about athletic training was to follow him. Now going into my senior year, I am his student helper and starting my athletic training education early.

When I broke my Tibia and Fibula playing football my sophomore year of high school, I started to really think about what I wanted to do with my life. I had a lot of love for playing football, and I knew that I did not want to stray too far away from the sport. It wasn’t until I started going to physical therapy that I realized that I didn’t have to, so I decided that I wanted to be a physical therapist, to help other people get back on their feet. However, my junior year, we got a new athletic trainer at my high school. So, I decided to ask Mrs. Pam if she would mind if I shadowed her, to learn more about what she did, and how to help other players with their injuries. She agreed, and I spent my junior and seniors years shadowing her. I learned

Hard-working students dedicated to their work succumb to stress and panic when the pressure of college and the need to do well intensifies. For Nayla Kidd, who grew up under a household which valued education, this was a nightmarish reality. While in college, Kidd’s mother obtained both a doctorate in toxicology at MIT as well as a masters in public health from Johns Hopkins (Svrluga). From the start, the pressure was on for Nayla, and her family reputation was on the line. On top of maintaining amazing grades, “Nayla Kidd ran track and did horseback riding in high school… she taught a popular belly dancing class at Columbia--[and] loves to DJ” (Svrluga). Her extensive resume reveals her true love for

The job got hotter and longer, training got even more exhausting, and practice was just the aftermath of training and work. I always had training at eight every Friday or Monday morning, depending on the week. My coach kept expecting more out me each practice, so my trainer stepped the level up every practice. There would be some days I couldn’t walk after training. But the day wouldn’t be that hard, if I didn’t have to got to work afterwards. My boss got more and more jobs, so we had to stay longer after work so we could finish and move on to the next job the next day. And as if the day wasn’t hard enough I sometimes had practice. My body was aching, I could barely move, I wanted to quit so much. But my dad would always be there to remind me of why I was doing this stuff, and I kept going.

Ever sense I was a young girl I’ve been really into physical activities. At the age of five I started skating and instantly fell in-love. At the age of six my dad enrolled me into hockey, and from that point on my life has never been the same. I’ve had numerous opportunities in sports such as: winning gold and silver for U18 Team Canada hockey, and getting a scholarship to Wisconsin University to play on the women’s hockey team. Although these moments are surreal, it is not only the moments that I remember but the mentors and teachers that I have been fortunate to meet along the way. These coaches have not only taught me the game but have also taught me life values such as: teamwork, leadership, discipline, time management and much more. Without hockey, and sports in general I don’t know where I would be today, but I do know one thing and that is without sports I wouldn’t have met all the amazing people that helped guided me towards wanting to become a physical education teacher. Sports have always been a huge part of my life, and I am blessed to have sports guide me through life. Thus, I want to become a teacher to help kids have the same opportunities that I had growing up.