The Sky's the Limit by Esme

The Sky's the Limit by Esme - April 2025 Scholarship Essay

I am a high school senior at Horizon Honors in Phoenix, Arizona with a 3.71 GPA. This year, I have dual enrollment through South Mountain Community because I was looking to my future, knowing that I wanted to get a foundational and affordable education through my local community college. I am also currently enrolled in EVIT (East Valley Institute of Technology) in the aesthetics program, where I plan on being licensed. The course of study that I am excited to pursue is one in business. I also plan on expanding my skills and knowledge by pursing further licenses. I took an extra course through EVIT, and I am now licensed in chemical peels. I would also like to take a course in laser removal through the NALA Institute (National Association of Laser & Aesthetics), which has the most advanced laser aesthetics training in the world, and is located in Scottsdale, Arizona. I feel that a degree in business would empower me to open my very own business in the cosmetology, wellness space. A quote that resonates with me is, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." What gravitated me towards the aesthetics program is what felt the most authentic to who I am and what I enjoy. Making people feel pampered and relaxed, letting people take time for themselves is invaluable and so important in this day and age of mental health.

I believe I should be awarded this scholarship because I plan on making a positive impact on the world in the beauty community through diversity and inclusion. Hispanic culture has empowered my life by the way it has informed my mindset and how I view the world. I was fortunate enough to have been born in Los Angeles County, and then I moved to San Francisco, where my parents are from, at the age of 5 until the age of 11, and then I moved to Phoenix to start middle school. I say I was fortunate enough because what all those cities have in common is their amazing diversity! My mother is half Costa Rican and half Puerto Rican, and my father is a quarter El Salvadorian. Those cultures within my family have shown me family values, fierce love, and hard work. I was blessed to have been able to visit Puerto Rico with my grandfather, who is 90 years old, last summer and visit the town of Manati, Puerto Rico where he was born and raised. It was an experience I'll never forget! To see the home where he was raised, to hear his stories of family trips to the local beach are memories I will always cherish.

Being a Latina in the cosmetology industry and one day being able to own my own business, branching out and franchising, marketing my own aesthetic products - the sky's the limit in this creative business of beauty and lifestyle! Receiving a scholarship to start my college career would mean opportunity and freedom. It's an opportunity to begin my future with endless possibilities and with the freedom to focus on my studies without the burden of financial debt being brought into that future. Receiving a scholarship would mean not placing that burden on my parents, who are themselves paying off student loan debt on top of making ends meet. I have worked hard in my high school career to be able to, hopefully, be eligible for any scholarships to assist financially with making my dreams come true, which is truly priceless!