Rev. Herman A. Martin Memorial Scholarship

Ever since I was a little girl, I have known that I have wanted to help others throughout my life and career. I have always searched for and participated in opportunities where I could help others. I grew up going to church with my parents and siblings, which is why I believe I have such a drive to help. Learning about Christ and all that he did makes me ask myself every day, in any situation, what would Jesus do? I am not the most religious person but Christ leads my way. Unfortunately, during my junior and beginning of senior years of high school, my parents spilt. It was such an odd feeling not to have both parents in a household and at events that were important as a graduating senior. The loneliness I endured was only another reason to trust Christ and not worry. I began to strive harder for what I want when I realized my mom was suffering financially without my dad's help. I want to be an independent successful woman so that I will never have to struggle the way my mom did. I am currently a high school senior who plans to attend Lousiana Tech University and continue my education by majoring in psychology. I am focused and determined on achieving good grades as I am a hard worker. Nothing in my future life will come easily and I know all the obstacles I will come across, I will push myself and never give up. My future endeavors will lead me to become a psychiatrist. Mental health is where lots of people struggle. Mass shootings, suicide, and other terrible things occur due to mental health every year. Maintaining good mental health is very important, but it is factored by so many opponents that it can be difficult to do. I want to give people the chance to make healthy choices by assisting them to improve their mental health. Considering all of this, I want to make a positive impact on the world by helping others overcome any factors that may be damaging to their mental health. I would be honored to receive this scholarship and strive every day to reach my goal of becoming a psychiatrist. This scholarship would be a wonderful and very helpful asset to my short and long-term goals. I am greatly appreciative that you have displayed much effort to help high school seniors in the furtherance of their education.

At a young age I always knew that something in me wanted to help people but I had no idea how. In my childhood years I watched my older friends grow up and go off to college determined on becoming someone who is able to help people. Either through becoming a doctor, providing encouragement through counselling, and even passing their knowledge on to the younger generation as a teacher, they always wanted to help. As for me, my future is currently in the making but I know I will make a positive impact on the world. My name is Sydney Burton and I am currently a high school senior at Little Rock Christian Academy. I have attended my school for seven years and in May will graduate as the class of 2022. This senior year has been stressful due to college decisions and deciding on what career I want to pursue. Thankfully I have decided to attend Ouachita Baptist University this fall and continue my education with a major in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Throughout my time in school I have always been a big fan of science and discovering things using mathematical equations and experiments. I have decided to major in Biology because the career I want to pursue in the future will impact the world in a positive way. In Biology I plan to make a positive and helpful impact through the way I understand the concept and how I use my knowledge in the later years. When studying Biology it can give you a lot of insight on how things develop and also show you new solutions. When learning new things in a positive way and being excited for a class you could end up uplifting and cheering up someone who is down at the time due to the stress of the class. Along with majoring in Biology, I will also be minoring in Psychology. Having a good background in Psychology can open your mind and allow you to understand what people are going through. When having a positive impact in Psychology you are able to educate people on why some are they way they are and show them that being different is never a bad thing. Being able to spread positive awareness about the behind the scenes of mental health, trauma, etc. can lead to less discrimination and a more healthy environment. The education that I will gather from Biology and Psychology will ultimately help me in the future to become a forensic pathologist. Forensic pathologists mainly focus on examining the cause of death and any sort of disease someone may have had when they were alive. When having a positive attitude in any workplace it can it can lead to a happier environment. Having the ability to spread positivity after a tough case can ultimately lift someone's day without even knowing. If I were to work in a crime lab later in life and there was a case that was very gruesome and sad, having the ability to lift someone up and out of that sort of depression can lead to a healthy workplace and relationship. I plan to make a positive impact in studying Biology and Psychology through my mood, persona, and my actions and responses to different types of people and making sure that someone always has a friend to go to when they are in need.

I am a very creative person, When ideas come to my mind I instantly get to it. Finding ways to make Them better as I put them together. Using my imagination to plan out how I want Things to go and getting to the hard work that comes along with it. My course of study has a very positive impact on the world because I get to help little kids feel better and finding curing them from whatever sickness or diseases they have. Researching different types of diseases and medicines to help save childrens lives, so they can see their future and grow up to be anything they want to be in life puts a big smile on my face. Just knowing that they know that they have doctors and nurses that are working their hardest to find ways to make the feel better every single day shows that we truly care. Waking up everyday and seeing parents put their trust in people to help their kids motivates me more and more to save children's lives.

I am very thankful for my mom who has struggled to plan for my higher education through the Rev. Herman A. Martin Memorial Scholarship Program. She demonstrates their love and need to make my future bright because as we know, “education is the greatest inheritance a parent can give to their child”. Unfortunately my mom's savings do not cover the high cost of my education. As a sign of appreciation for their dedication, I want to reward my mom through a good performance in college, a fact that solely depends on the scholarship. Consequently, all my dreams concerning studying will only come true with the help of this scholarship. It is great to feel that my mom's attempts to invest in my education are not in vain. I am sure that if I get the scholarship and ability to study further she will be even happier than me! Currently, I am a senior in high school whose plan is to attend Southern Arkansas University and major in Nursing. I am focused on achieving good grades in the future as I am a self-driven industrious person able to carry out duties without being supervised. Additionally, the struggle has made me stronger, and it is known that society needs people who can survive in any hard situation. Accordingly, I am mapping a dilettante path to help in the growth of my family and community. I have the intention of pursuing my education level even though I am in the middle of a financial crisis. This scholarship will help me to reveal all my skills and intentions while studying and become an important and useful member of society. All in all, I will be very grateful to be considered for this scholarship and I promise to do my best and use this chance to make my educational dream come true. Your support means a fortune to me. Even though there is such an option like work for students to pay for educational needs, I think it influences negatively on grades. I would not like to turn down my dreams and neglect the hard work and attempts of my mom but rather to become a winner and get a chance to live my life decently. At this stage of my life, the most important thing is to gain progress in my education and start the way to a big success. As a Arkansas resident, I cordially request for your help in pursuing my goals as I work hard and strive for excellence.