International Scholarship

As I sit in my bed, I think back to past. I remember the different experiences I had in each of the places I lived in. The red-colored house in Aguascalientes, Mexico, was the only house I could have ever called my own. It was the smallest house I’ve lived in. It had one bedroom, one living room, the kitchen, and the bathroom. Of course it was not necessary for it to be big since only my mom, my dad, and I lived in it. As a little girl, I would say proudly, “My dad built it with his bare hands.” But where is that house now? It is gone. Emptied, with such sadness, loneliness, and almost abandoned, for the remaining resident is my father.

Many couples divorce. My parents divorced when I was at the age of seven. Before this, all three of us occupied a small apartment in Oklahoma City. It contained as much as the house did, but it was even smaller. We lasted there one year, until the divorce. I stayed with my mom. We traveled north to Denver, Colorado, where we were taken in by my aunt. It was the third time I had moved, but this is when things got complicated for my mother and me. My mom felt like we were taking space from my aunt’s life. I enjoyed living there because the house had a descent size and it was decorated amazingly. Our part of the house was the basement, and it was all to ourselves, but two years later another move occurred.

“Back to Mexico,” my mom said. “That is where we will go.” So we did. After getting used to living in one country for three years, starting from zero in another one was definitely tough. This move included a new school, new friends, a new community, and a new house. Surprisingly, I adopted extremely well. The house was my grandparents. Without doubt, it was beautiful. Small trees in front of the house made it more recognizable from the surrounding houses. The bancas made of cement were used to spend the evenings sitting in front of the house watching the little kids play hide and seek, kick ball, tag, or even jump rope as the sunset came in. I was one of the many kids who participated in these games. I loved it there. I felt free. My life; however, was still not how I wanted it.

Four years passed. These were years full of excitement and childhood. In spite of this, I was no longer a kid. At that time I was twelve years old, and education for me was coming to an end. In Mexico, education is harder to obtain. For that reason my mom made the decision of once again relocate. “Moving, again,” I said. It was ultimately the best move of my life. The house I moved in belongs to my uncle and his wife with their two kids. It is undeniably the biggest house I have lived in. From the outside it looked some what small, but as I entered, the view changed. I counted five bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living rooms, the garage, the laundry room, and closets everywhere.

This has been the fifth time I changed houses and so far, it is the last. My mom and I are still settled there. Still, something about knowing that four out of the five places I have lived in are not places we owned but rather have just been borrowed as a temporary settlement, makes me want to reach for whatever is out there in the world that I can obtain to change this situation. I have constantly heard my mom say she wants to be able to decorate her own house, have her own ways of running the house, and simply have her own house. She has not been able to obtain this because her allowance does not permit her to do so. I came to this country for one reason: to expand my education. The only way to do it is by attending college, but in order to do that, money is needed; the kind of money that I do not have a hold of.

Ever since I started attending high school, I began hearing the word scholarship. I questioned where I would be able to receive a scholarship. I know I have what it takes to go to college, the education, the readiness, and preparation, but what I do not have is the money. The lack of money is really a big issue for me. I picture myself in a college classroom, listening to the professor teach the lesson for the day. I see the stack of books lying on top of my bed while I study, but most importantly, I see myself as a successful person after college. I want to earn enough money to look out for myself, and what matters most is looking out for my mom. I can finally buy her a house. I want to make sure, however, that it is better than the one she has been wanting. I wish to attend college to better my life, to find a settlement and not move around like I have previously. Through scholarships is practically the only way I will be able to make my drams reality; therefore, my education depends on the scholarships.