By pursuing higher education via Campbell University, I hope to achieve most of all a level of

self-validation for all that I’ve accomplished throughout my journey through academia. Getting a
high school diploma is a satisfactory credential to mark my entry into the workplace, but by
completing my undergraduate studies at Campbell University and then at Campbell’s accredited
law school I would accumulate degrees that would distinguish me as a more than qualified young
adult who has been trained at the utmost level to succeed and excel at his chosen profession.

I chose Campbell University to complete my undergraduate studies because it best

accommodates my individual needs as a student. It has a very intimate and small-scale campus,
so walking in between academic buildings I won’t feel like a lone speck trying to stand out in a
beach of sand. I also identify with the Christian-based mission statement of Campbell, which
allows for a much more accepting and hospitable campus to thrive in socially. The English Pre-
Law track is also an excellent hybrid of my two biggest passions: legal studies and English. This
way, I truly get the best of both worlds as a quintessential foundation that I can build off of once
I get into law school to become an attorney at law.Most of all, I smile the most when I’m
walking on the Campbell campus and talking with the students and faculty which in my opinion
is a telltale sign of why I would feel most comfortable and at home attending Campbell in the
Fall.

A pivotal moment in my life that definitely influenced who I am today as a young adult
happened in the Spring of 2016 when I was invited to participate in the American Legion
Oratorical Contest. It was a public speaking competition, where contestants like myself would
have 8-10 minutes to give a speech before an audience on a specific aspect of the U.S.
Constitution. My speech was based on citizenship, which was the main focus of the 14th, 15th
and 19th Amendments. Now up to that point, I hadn’t spoken by myself in front of a sizable
audience. I always had my mom and dad speak on my behalf on social events or had a more
outgoing friend of mine speak up in a group presentation at school. So, being able to walk
onstage to face an audience of maybe 50-70 people was definitely challenging for me, but at the
same time it allowed me to step up. So while I was backstage pacing back and forth anxiously, a
thought crossed my mind: Mess up and you can simply do it again, but if you don’t even attempt
it what does say about you? So I did. And to me this competition wasn’t about winning or losing;
it was about proving something to myself. It was about proving that I could speak my mind on
my own and captivate the attention of an audience who didn’t even know who I was, which is
something that I would have to do in a public speaking heavy profession like the field of law.
And even though that achievement wasn’t traditionally academic, it taught me a lot about myself
and the potential within me. This was the moment where I finally spoke on my own behalf, and
silenced my biggest critic: which so happened to be myself.

In May when I was first notified that I would be receiving this scholarship I was overjoyed and
jubilant beyond words. It truly meant the world to me that the Mary Ferebee Howard Scholarship
Fund would contribute so generously to the financial cost of admission to attaining my college
education, and that initial realization upon reading that email still resonates with me to this day.
The scholarship committee has invested in my college education with a truly substantial sum that
I will forever be grateful for, and it is my obligation as a recipient of their charity and altruism to
live up to their expectations as best as I can. I will do my best to excel in my academic studies, to
maintain a respectable GPA, and most importantly to graduate Campbell University with a
degree worthy of the time, tenacity, and due diligence that I’ve put in over the next few years.
No matter how grueling or challenging the workload becomes throughout my college career, I
will do my best to succeed inside and out of the classroom and justify every cent that they’ve
donated towards making my dream of becoming a lawyer a reality at long last. The Mary
Ferebee Howard Scholarship Fund gave me a key to unlock the door of higher education, and to
show my gratitude I will do my best each and every day of my college career to walk through
that door the successful and well-rounded young adult that I know I will one day become.