Scholarship Essay - 2002-04-26

April 26, 2002

Mack Rapp Education Fund
4742 Arlington Center Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43220-2901

To Whom It May Concern:

It’s been almost a year since I last wrote a scholarship essay – the last of dozens I’d written in my determination to acquire the money I needed for college in the face of major financial setbacks my family had incurred. At that time I’d written of the future: Of my aspirations to pursue my passion for design and of my dream to not only do something ambitious and exciting with my life, but to do something meaningful. (My missions and service trips to Haiti and the Dominican Republic had shown me a world needing far more than a hot new computer color.) I also wrote of how the past had prepared me to achieve my dreams. I wrote of how 12 years of homeschooling had endowed me with the self-discipline, initiative and tenacity to take on whatever pursuit I set my mind to, and I presented much evidence in this regard – achievements ranging from revolutionizing the design of our state-wide high school magazine (I served as the 2000-2001 Design Editor), to earning top marks in AP courses (while taking time to design interactive websites to help struggling classmates along). I believed I had potential for success not only in my school-work, but also in the real world, and was always eager to debunk the “homeschoolers are unsocialized” myth with mention of my work with everyone from professionals in my web design business, to my Haitian peers to whom I taught English on my missions trips, to the little children I instructed at Flo’s Gymnastics.
These were the skills I had packed and ready to take to The Ohio State University as I started off my first year with hard-earned sophomore status. I was ready to show an incredulous world that I, the “homeschooler,” could do more than just survive at a place like Ohio State.
Now, here I am, writing another scholarship letter, and in taking a moment to glance backwards at my first two and a half quarters of college life, I realize that last year’s ambitions have morphed into this year’s triumphs: I’ve set my pace with a 4.0 earned not by fixing my eyes on a grade letter, but by exploring and seeking to conquer this rich world of knowledge around me. I’ve faced down obstacles, small and large, to entering a major in which as even professors put it, “only the strong survive” – from faithfully trekking to 7:30am Engineering Graphics classes in the dark dead of winter, to arduously taking on the deadline-driven design project competition and portfolio review that guards the door to the Design program through which only a select 15 can enter each year. And along the way, I’ve not lost sight of my heart for the world, having made it a priority to reach out to those who need friendship the most. Although I’ve always considered myself American through and through, as a Korean adoptee I’ve found a unique bonding-ground with international students. Through volunteer opportunities with International Friendships, I’ve been able to learn more about my own ethnic background while aiding these students in their transition to English and the United States.
I have only just begun my college journey, but already I have seen what were once but words of aspiration becoming tangible reality. I can now write about the present, for I have done just what I set out to do. I’ve done more than survive. I have shown that I can thrive.
There are still many obstacles ahead of me, and the cost of education is not the least of these. I am willing to do all it takes to meet expenses through my own work and initiative, but I hope that you will consider helping me in my pursuit of excellence.

Thank you very much,


Alexa Weber