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CanScribe Career College offers two annual scholarships to any military spouse. Entrants submit a one to two page essay describing their personal motivation for applying, including background information, how this career choice will impact their life, their plan of action to complete the course, and future aspirations. Below is the entry from one of our 2021 Military Spouse Scholarship Essay Winners, Emily Salazar.
My Hero, whom I also like to refer to as my Mother, is the oldest of 5, born somewhere in the heart of Guatemala. The details of which are beyond me. Her mother was pursuing her own nursing career in a different city to provide a better life for them.
In spite of the presence of older family members, the load of the single mother had fallen on my mother at a very young age. She carried said load in the best way she knew how to. She’s a wonderful woman, and it is my wish to make her proud every day of my life, in every way that I can.
My father is the main character a story which I am sure you have read or heard about many times before. Playing both the hero to his story and the villain in others. Also grown up in Guatemala, he was one of the youngest of his siblings.
Taught at the age of thirteen that the solution to most, if not all of his problems is found at the bottom of the bottle, he became a prisoner of his addiction. Something I never understood until he passed away. It was something I couldn’t accept, because in my eyes he always chose alcohol over us. I held a lot of resentment towards him, and I blamed him when I could for my own shortcomings.
I grew up being very close with my sister, who is two years my senior; playing indoors, colouring, reading and making play forts. She’d make up games and stories to distract me from the fighting on the other side of our bedroom door, not realising that she was a fortress herself.
On the other side of that door was my mother enduring abuse from my alcoholic father, from whom she always protected us. That protection included constant reminders of what he had done to provide for us. She was not wrong.
She’d help us see him through rose-coloured glasses, because she felt that it was better than how she’d grown up, without a father present. My parents were divorced by the time I graduated from high school, which somehow translated into my father relinquishing all his responsibilities; I had to turn my part time summer job to a full-time position for the foreseeable future.
My mother never asked me for the help, but she didn’t have to. I knew what I needed to do, and I filled that role to the best of my abilities, and with what was made available to me. As a result, I didn’t go to college like I had planned to. It was a significant setback for me.
Andre and I have been together for almost six years, and we recently got married. He and I grew up in entirely different worlds. He grew up on a farm south of Edmonton, with his Canadian roots from very deep; I grew up in sixteen story buildings in Toronto, or as some would call it, Downtown, Canada with my immigrant parents, a story that isn’t rare in the city.
Before getting married, Andre was posted in Manitoba and asked if I would go with him. I sold what I could of my belongings, quit my job, hugged my loved ones goodbye and packed the car to embark our new adventure. As we drove through Winnipeg and continued to Shilo, there was the road in front of us, and nothing but the flattest land I had ever seen. He had a job secured, and a place to take me to. That was going to have to be enough. In hindsight, I can’t help but think that the landscape was a foreshadow of the path I had to lay for myself.
The day before our wedding was one of the busiest and most elated days of my life. I couldn’t get the ringing out of my ear, which I think served as a reminder of a missing detail; something I hadn’t done yet. My fiancé came home from work and had a troubling look on his face, one that I couldn’t place. I asked him over and over if he could please tell me what was wrong, and reminded him that he could tell me anything. He told me to sit down and wait for my mother to call. It was a call I wasn’t prepared for.
My father had passed away, and suddenly…everything had changed. I knew my father was sick, and we weren’t on the best of terms. To be perfectly fair, I had enough time to call him and make my peace with him. Now, I have to make peace of my own with the knowledge that I never even said goodbye.
My life in Toronto was so different, and not just in scenery. I had my job for over six years; I had benefits to cover the expensive medication that treats my brain tumour, and had a steady paycheck to help my family. My independence was very important to me. It’s been almost two years since we moved to Manitoba, and I haven’t quite settled in yet.
I’ve had four part-time jobs, I’ve waited at bus stops under a scorching sun, and driven through blizzards to get to work for a minimum wage, which was just nearly enough to cover my medicine, and some home expenses. It is time to lay my own path in Manitoba. I need it for my husband. For my home. And ultimately, for my own peace of mind.
Andre and I have decided to postpone trying for a baby so that I could put all of my energy into my education without distractions. Having a part time job will also allow me concentrate on this. Even if I were to settle into a full-time job here in Manitoba, we could easily be posted out and I’d have to do this all over again. For my mental health, I don’t know if I can do that. This education would be imperative to the stability and happiness of my home, and my own.
Narrowing down to one or two things that compel me to take on this exciting task, is a difficult one. I can assure you, however, all of the above is a combination of motivation for my present, aspiration for my future, and to achieve the part of my life that had to take a back seat in my past.
Do I deserve the scholarship? I don’t pretend to deserve anything, really; I can only hope I do. But I do all that is within my human capabilities to work for and earn everything in life. In this case, I’ll have to let the people who took the time to read this to decide. To them I say this; I will work hard and pour my effort into this education to earn it. To you, I’d like to say thank you; for taking notice of this essay and for giving it, and myself, even the smallest amount of time and consideration.
If you’re a military member, military spouse or military family member, a police member or police family member, a First Nations individual, someone who has had to deal with a lot of difficulty in life or has done a lot for your community, or someone who wants to study at our Kelowna campus, you may qualify for a CanScribe scholarship. Learn about the different scholarships here and apply if you feel you qualify. Remember: It never hurts to try! Students can only take advantage of one scholarship or bursary at a time.
CanScribe is committed to offering excellence in education. As a leader in online training, we hold true to our core values of integrity, honesty, and empathy. We facilitate the achievement of ambitions and goals to empower people in their professional and personal lives. CanScribe supports programs and initiatives, both locally and internationally, positively impacting the world around us.