Katherine

My name is Katherine, and I attend Gompers Preparatory Academy in Southeast San Diego. Although my mom has always provided for my brother and I, I have not had many opportunities because of financial strain. As a kid I had many passions: ballet, salsa dancing, swimming, hip hop classes, and karate. My mom wanted so badly to encourage me, but when money got tight, inevitably I had to stop participating in my activities. Even as a kid, I knew my mom was struggling; I never complained though, even though I didn’t understand the why. I do now. As a kid, I was sick, which added stress in an already stressed situation, my mom trying to feed a family of three, caring for a daughter who produced hospital bills as easy as breathing, and dealing with an abusive ex-husband suing for custody. Eventually life’s stresses lessened, but they never went away.

But because my mom has always emphasized the importance of education, I dedicated myself to my studies. I challenge myself through AP courses and striving for A’s to prepare for college and to have more opportunities for scholarship money. Because we still have financial limitations, I was unable to use sports for scholarship opportunities, and instead sought out programs that would enrich my education and allow me to contribute to my community.

In my community, there are a lot of kids like me, so I used my energy and passion I once had for activities into community service. On Thursdays, I participate in StarPal, which is a program that promotes healthy relationships and gives back to the community. We work to provide at-risk youth an opportunity to build stronger bonds with local law enforcement officers and sponsor activities to give kids better choices in their free time. On weekends and the first of Wednesday of each month, I attend Paddle for Peace which is a non-profit organization and mentorship program that focuses on bringing kids from ower income and diverse backgrounds to the coast to educate them about ocean through hands on learning, connecting with mentors, and exploration – opportunities they rarely have on their own. On Friday nights, I help at my local church by joining the staff to care for and teach younger kids who are not yet old enough to attend classes allowing parents and siblings to participate in church classes and activities. All of my community service programs are about connecting with my community members, connecting with younger kids and teaching, and exploring marine biology – one of my potential career paths.

I hope that by being in these programs that I will always be able to pursue something that I am passionate about. I do not know what the future entails for me but I know that I am spending my extra time on things I hope to pursue someday, learning and growing with others, mentors, and connecting more deeply to my own values. Whether I become a teacher, officer of the law, or a marine biologist, these programs have offered me lessons that will transfer to college life and beyond by instilling in me service leadership, connections, and life skills.

My mom may not have had a lot to give my brother and I, but she instilled in me the importance of taking every opportunity available, as well as creating my own. She left her home country to give us a better chance for our futures, she taught us perseverance and grit, she taught us that we could overcome any challenge.

All I have is my determination to succeed, and I have done everything to ensure I also have the grades, work ethic, and investment in programs to grow myself as a person of high character. I plan on applying to University of California San Diego, Florida International University, University of California Santa Barbara, University of California Los Angeles, and Brown during my senior year.

I am taking multiple AP courses in order to prepare myself and learn the skills that will help me succeed once I am on my own in college. During my college years I hope to not only improve on myself but to inspire my younger cousin. I push myself not only to prove to others that even with the cards I was dealt I chose to make the right decisions, and to be someone my cousin can look up to.

As my main focus is Marine Biology as a career path, I have used skills I learned in these programs to make connections with students studying Marine Biology, staff and teachers at Scripps Aquarium, and others in the field.

I know that I have the means to be successful in anything I do, what I don’t have is the financial means to purchase tools and resources that would benefit my education and dreams further. That is why I am applying to Bridge for Kids.

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I have the grades.

I am applying for this grant because I believe I could use the money to benefit my education. I have nothing else for me but good grades and grit, so being able to use the money to be able to purchase things to make my studying easier would be a dream.