We are pleased to announce the winner for our 2024 College Scholarship Essay Contest!!
And the winner is…Olivia Clark
The Winning Essay
I Am Not My Hair
My name is Olivia Clark and I’m a senior in the Academy of Science, Research, and Medicine at Paulding County High School. I’m striving to pursue a career in speech pathology after graduating from the University of Arizona with the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Major in the fall of 2024.
As a senior in high school, I have worked hard to ensure my acceptance into a good college. I am an honors student and have taken twelve AP and ten honors classes since my freshman year. Through these classes, I have learned the discipline needed to be successful in a rigorous environment. I have also learned to be organized and manage my time efficiently. These skills have helped me to balance my academics with school activities successfully. I am a student-athlete and a member of multiple school organizations including HOSA, Black Student Union, Multicultural Club, Interact Club, Sources of Strength, and Baking Club. I am also a proud Envision Youth National Leadership Forum alumni.
This scholarship will help me with my out-of-state tuition. I am proud that the University of Arizona has accepted me and I will work hard to be an asset to all who support me in my goal of becoming a speech pathologist.
I was drawn to your scholarship because I am a pediatric cancer survivor. The open-topic essay was also especially appealing because I have been reflecting lately on how my past experiences have shaped me into who I am today. I’ve concluded that my battle did not define me but instead molded my character. I’m a survivor. I am Not My Hair.
Curly, twisted, or straightened? Hairstyles didn’t matter to the little girl, her head on a bleak hospital pillow. She lay in the bed sleeping off the foul side effects coursing through her glass body. I was that little girl. Anyone who saw my naked head and face drained of blood could tell I was dying. I felt those adults’ sympathetic stares.
Their pity swirled over my cold head like smog. The sadness was contagious – spreading across each adult’s face like the cancer cells multiplying in my weak veins. Those two and a half years of battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia were filled with many dark moments, one of which was when I started to notice that I looked different from all of the other girls in elementary school. They all had hair; some wore it curly, some twisted, and some straight. As the girl without hair, I felt as powerless as Sampson.
Hair grows. As I approached adolescence, my hair slowly crept over my shoulders, but my “curls” were left damaged by the chemotherapy. My roots reluctantly grew curly while the tips of my hair were straight and dead. As a middle schooler, having hair with a split personality caused my peers to perceive me as strange. At first, kids would refer to me as a boy because my hair was so short. Then as it started to grow my peers looked at me crazily. They’d question me – Why don’t you cut your hair? Despite these comments, I refused to trim my dead ends. Instead, I chose to love and nourish my damaged hair through all of its changes. Chemo may have taken my curls but it couldn’t take away who I am, a survivor. To me, the conflict emerging in my hair was a sign that my life could flourish. Cancer would not be my end. As a survivor, I know my beauty comes from cherishing all aspects of my life. Accepting the uniqueness of my hair was the beginning of accepting my past, my present, and my future despite the cruel odds I started with in life.
Now, as a senior in high school, my days are as full as the curls on my head. People no longer look at me with sadness; instead, their eyes light up when they see me. They see me for who I am now: a leader, a shoulder to cry on, and a beacon of hope. I walk with confidence, not because of my hair, but because I am a survivor. I understand that from the tangles in my hair to the spring in my curls, my hair proves my journey is worth living. Each resilient strand of my hair gives me a reason to choose goodness each day, to take advantage of every moment, and to plan for the future.
OLIVIA CLARK FAQ…COMING SOON
1. What school are you attending?
I’m a student at the University of Arizona as well as the W. A. Franke Honors College.
2. What is your major?
I’m pursuing Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences with a minor in Korean Language.
3. What plans do you have after you graduate?
After graduation, I plan on staying in Arizona for graduate school so that I can become a Speech-Language Pathologist. After I receive my certification, I’ll move back to Georgia to work at a Speech clinic until I open my own multilingual clinic in Atlanta.
4. What are your interests and hobbies?
I love to paint. My favorite paintings I’ve made so far are of photos I took of incredible landscapes like the Santa Catalina Mountains here in Tucson, Arizona. I also love to crochet, scrapbook and journal. I always craft with meaning. When I’m not crafting, I’m spending time with my best friends whether that’s talking, shopping or finding a cute cafe to enjoy.
5. Share whatever you would like about who Olivia Clark is.
Hey everyone, this scholarship has been a great blessing to me and I’m beyond thankful to those who donated to this foundation as well as the people who selected me to be a winner. Thank you. I’m a college student right now but before that I was a girl in high school hoping that all her efforts would land her into a college that felt right. I’ve come an extremely long way since May. It’s so easy to doubt yourself because the future can seem very uncertain but since landing in Arizona, I’ve learned the value of trust. I trust that nothing in life is guaranteed except God’s guidance. I had never even heard of the University of Arizona or even been to Arizona before I started applying but the more, I learned about this school the more I felt a connection. During high school, I was a co-founder of the baking club, varsity tennis player, student in the academy of science, research, and medicine and still was unsure if colleges would want me. I had done the work but doubted myself. Despite that doubt I was accepted into 8 colleges by God’s grace. Even now that I’m here I doubt whether I can finish an assignment on time, but I’ve learned to take a step back, realize all the goodness God has given me and I turn to Him. I’ll continue to try my best here at school so I can become the woman God wants me to be. Until then, I’ll continue to stay on God’s timing.
Meet Our 2024 College Scholarship Essay Winner…Olivia Clark
A Word From Our Executive Director