Please support me in reaching my $85 application fee to college My overall goal is to work with families and use my educational to guide my career in the right direction for a positive impression. I have three wonderful children that have taught me how to strive, accomplish, and conquer. With limited finances, I was able to utilize the city resources and make it work for us. The Winston Salem Journal became my lifeline of things to do in the community. We visited libraries, watched outside movies in the park, got involved with community baseball, strolled art galleries, and did it all for free. One season, I can remember we visited so may church trunk-or-treats inside the community that the kids were begging to stay home for Halloween. Amazingly, I outdid my kids. That was a wonderful feeling to have fun and without money! On January 2009, I got a phone call that my mother was in the hospital and had a stroke. It gave me the chance to utilize the Certified Nursing Assistant skills I gained working on the dementia unit for several years, and I dedicated my time to helping my mother regain vital quality of life. Her path to recovery is an honorable journey filled with crazy emotions. Today she lives by herself, pays her bills, cooks, cleans, makes friends, and gives directions. Unfortunately, we are not able to spend as much time together because of the fulltime commitments to make work and happen. It can be difficult to overcome and carve a balance between working three jobs, attending classes, volunteering, and managing study time. Despite all of my barriers, college will become a resource to achieving my goals of giving to the community and growing educationally. Life carefully places everyone where we are needed; we do not always see the bigger picture. Therefore, my life experiences have made an impact on me, and I want to offer a helping hand in the workforce while continuing to volunteer in my community. I am a determined leader that can set the example of giving back while attending college and after graduation. Empowered families grow strong communities, strong communities empower our youth, and empowered youth weave together a fabric that makes history. There will be new opportunities to resources, and my education will affirm that anything is possible by paying it forward by recognizing the organizations that assisted me in carving my academic path. Thank you in believing in me Sonia