Change Starts Here

Patricia Lute First Place 2021 Future Alumni Essay Contest 2020 came to all of us like any new year, fresh and full of promise. However, just a mere three months into the blossoming year a swiftly circulating pandemic swept through every corner of the globe, collectively pausing our lives, and leaving distant memories of life without constraint. Days began melting into nights effortlessly, time became inconsequential and amid this pause; death would come in rapid succession with profound numbers. Within these moments of panic and chaos, the choice to continue my education and the desire to help create a positive impact in the lives of those whose health was declining was formed. As a stay-at-home mom of two daughters, time isn’t easily afforded. When brick and mortar schools shuttered their doors; the world of online education opened theirs. I knew who I wanted to become; I’ve honestly known it since I was a small child. I was destined to become a nurse. It was with this dream; albeit ...

Kimiyonn Sadler Second Place 2021 Future Alumni Essay Contest Academic achievement has been on my agenda since the beginning, but life has a way of humbling us all. Being a high achiever is something that came naturally for me. I was determined to use my intelligence to accomplish remarkable things in life. I wanted to create an exceptional life for my family and I. I took the smart, straight, and narrow path of consistent straight A’s, several academic accolades, and plenty of college acceptances. I made plans for university straight out of high school like any other bright-eyed, bushy tailed 18-year old. Unfortunately, the pressures were too much for me to thrive properly. Finances were short. Navigating university as a first-generation student with no guidance was not an easy feat. A stable support system was non-existent. Often, I struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar environment and felt out of place. My mental health declined, making my college experience sufferable and too much t...

Kimon Noel Third Place 2021 Future Alumni Essay Contest Kansas sang to us in 1977, implanting the thought that all we are is dust in the wind exemplifying how fragile and brief of an existence we yearn to enjoy. 44 years later and those words became a personal gospel floating around in the atmosphere of uncertainty.  Imagine a windy day at the beach and the free-spirited unsaturated sand being blown and swept around with each draft. The many millions of grains with unpredictable futures and no discernable destiny just taking flight with the current of opportunity. Some find themselves leaving their sandy counterparts behind for rocky and muddy seaside fickleness while others make their way towards the vast ocean of the job market. In one way or the other, we are somewhere between deep ocean water diving in the depths of our academic rewards or relaxing unfavorably behind the cumulative mounds of sand wondering what's beyond it.  This was particularly my mental status’ home add...