JustJobs is proud to announce the nine finalists for our current scholarship award, which include future therapists, foreign diplomats, engineers, illustrators, healthcare and medical professionals, counselors, and professors. We received thousands of quality applications, but are incredibly impressed with the passion, integrity, and honesty that these nine finalists exemplify in their essays.
Now we need your help in choosing the one scholarship award winner! The final selection process will involve three different factors:
- outside voting
- comments left by visitors
- the JustJobs scholarship committee’s final review of the essays on January 30th.
Please help us with our selection by voting for your favorite essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options on the left side of the essays) and by leaving comments or clicking the ‘star’ icon above the comments section.
Stephanie Sammons, Therapeutic Recreation, Eastern Washington University
During my sophomore year, I was involved in a terrible automobile accident. I suffered a traumatic brain injury, which changed the course of my life…I could no longer handle the demands of the Honors program, and had to relinquish my scholarships…Instead, though, I began taking art and theater courses, in which (due to the reduced reading load) I was able to succeed. I discovered that I had some aptitude for art and design, and I eventually worked my way to a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art…But my true dream was to become an Art Therapist — to help others find the same comfort, healing, and sense of achievement that I’d found in my arts courses.
Click to read Stephanie’s entire essay and vote!
Sarah Katz, Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley
When most people hear that I have chosen to major in Middle Eastern Studies, they tend to assume that I have family from the Middle East. Indeed, despite having been raised in a culturally Jewish environment, my political interest in the Middle East region also originates from another, entirely different source. For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in solving interpersonal conflicts, on both an individual and grand scale. Subsequently, the politically tumultuous atmosphere of the Middle East caught my eye when I was still in high school.
Click to read Sarah’s entire essay and vote!
Rebecca Nagurney, Bioengineering, Pennsylvania State University
I was diagnosed with hypophosphatemic rickets when I was 2 years old, and I have been a patient at the Alfred I. duPont Children’s Hospital in Wilmington Delaware since then. After seeing and experiencing the amazing work of doctors and medical professionals, I decided that I want to become one of them so that I can help sick children. Being at the hospital many times over the years, I have seen many sick children and I have met some that were not able to go home. I think the procedures and devices that are used and being developed are extraordinary. I want to be a part of the teams that help develop devices and perform procedures that heal and cure the children.
Click to read Rebecca’s entire essay and vote!
Natalie Sabillon, Illustration, University of Kansas
I really want to write and illustrate children’s books. I think it would be a lot of fun to create a book in not only Spanish and English, which are the two languages that I’m fluent in…but French as well…I don’t know who will end up reading my children’s books, or who I will reach, but I hope it is somebody who was like me—who is little and doesn’t get to experience all the same things that other little kids experience, but still gets to have fun, and be young. That’s really what I’m looking forward to doing.
Click to watch Natalie’s video essay and vote!
Allen Gomez, Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida
One day I came across a photo that changed my thoughts…one that Pulitzer Prize-winning Kevin Carter witnessed first-hand. It is the photo of an African girl in Sudan lying on the ground, appearing to be dead. The part that touched my heart…was the vulture sitting behind the girl…This girl was not yet dead, but she was so malnourished and lacking medical care, that even the vulture realized the time had almost come for her…We are the dominant life forces on earth, but…there are millions like her that suffer from the same malnourishment and lack of medical care. This photo…inspired me to pursue a career in the medical field.
Click to read Allen’s entire essay and vote!
Stephanie Dominguez, Family Studies and Human Development, The University of Arizona
I believe that everyone in this world deserves to have somebody reminding them that they can do whatever they set their mind to if they are willing to work hard. Growing up, I had a father who never attended college and never saw the importance of pursuing higher education. My expectations for myself were always higher than the expectations he had of me…This is one of the reasons why I feel like a counselor’s job in the lives of students is so important. Someone needs to be there to fill in and provide the encouragement, knowledge and guidance that many students will not receive from anyone else.
Click to read Stephanie’s entire essay and vote!
Gina Valerio, Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
As far back as I can remember I enjoyed taking objects in my house apart – the remote control, my Barbie convertible, pretty much anything that had exposed screws, I went after. The curiosity to figure out how things work, and the exponential ability to re-work them to complete new tasks, has forever intrigued me…The mechanics of how all of the different aspects, hardware and software, work together to make a functioning machine continues to thrill me. For me the choice to major in Engineering was made when I stopped reading the instruction manual for assembly required products.
Click to read Gina’s entire essay and vote!
Derrek Coleman, Physics, University of California, Berkeley
I see the cycle of ignorance and poverty repeating itself in cities and cultures across the world. It seems to me like education is the single most empowering gift that a child can receive. It opens them up to new options and possibilities and gives them the strength of mind to tackle life’s problems head-on. Being a teacher isn’t just about teaching chemistry, history, or algebra. It’s about supporting these children as they grow up and encouraging them to take care of themselves, their families, and their communities.
Click to read Derrek’s entire essay and vote!
