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More than a decade ago, as part of ACT’s 50th anniversary celebration, ACT established the ACT Scholars Program, as part of a pair of endowments to
More than a decade ago, as part of ACT’s 50th anniversary celebration, ACT established the ACT Scholars Program, as part of a pair of endowments to
I am an African American student who attends Kirkwood Community College. I am from Chicago, where I went back and forth from my mom and my dad’s house, both being single parents. I am not a first-generation college student, as both my mother and father have graduated from college.
My motivation for going to college and earning a degree was a better life for myself. I wanted personal growth and to gain the skills necessary to help others along their journey as well.
I started working labor jobs young to earn money and doing so helped guide my values and gain a respect for every type of job out there. I just personally sat back and evaluated my future and didn’t want to work a manual labor job the rest of my life.
The biggest challenge I experienced being a first-generation college student was the lack of financial support. Our family comes from a humble living, and I am trying to support myself while attending classes. Since my mother and siblings could not attend college, I did not have the knowledge or the experience to navigate applying to get into college. I also did not know the resources and support teams available to me.
There is a sprint every fall semester. It’s not at the cross-country meet beneath a beautiful canopy of fall foliage, nor is it an athletic sprint on one of the many playing fields as fall winds turn to a cold winter blue. It’s the college application sprint to meet early decisions and priority deadlines.
One of best things that you can do is apply for anything and everything you have an interest in. I am not the best writer, and I don’t feel like I had all the skills listed for my internship position, but I was interested in developing those skills, so I applied. If I only applied for roles that I had all the skills for, I would be overqualified and leave no room for myself to develop my skills and abilities.
More than a decade ago, as part of ACT’s 50th anniversary celebration, ACT established the ACT Scholars Program, as part of a pair of endowments to
Throughout all four years of high school, I planned to decide on a college and major that I would stick with, which was the mindset
More than a decade ago, as part of ACT’s 50th anniversary celebration, ACT established the ACT Scholars Program, as part of a pair of endowments to
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