What college is to me

Aweso Muya

26 May 2020

Scholarship Essay

My name is Aweso Muya, I am 19 years old and I was born in Nairobi Kenya. I grew up in Salt Lake City Utah. My family immigrated to the United States when I was 5 years old to leave a war-torn country, which at the time slowed my family from living a prosperous life. My family decided to immigrate to the United States for a better life, a better education, and the opportunity to chase “ The American Dream”. I believe that my family and I are fortunate to be living in the United States because numerous refugee families are revoked the opportunity to live in the United States. I greatly understand the value of a college degree and how it can significantly distinguish me from my competition in the workforce. With that being said, it’s clear to see that I value my education. Adapting to Salt Lake City, Utah was very difficult for my family at first because of various adversities. One of the first obstacles was a cultural shock because my family was living in a third world country, so keeping up with modern times was very difficult. However, with the help of our community including our friends, neighbors, and our caseworker my family overcame this adversity within months.

I aspire to one day become a successful entrepreneur and own multiple businesses in a vast array of industries. I know that going the entrepreneurial path in life takes a lot of self-motivation, however, I’m up for the task and I know what I need to do to get there. Firstly, I need to finish college. In my perspective, a college degree shows to employers that you are credible and have the required skill sets to perform a job that correlates with your field of study. From a young age, I was taught by my mother to do well in school, in hopes of having a successful career in my future. The second aspect of becoming a successful entrepreneur is gaining as much experience in the business field as possible. It’s not a secret that you have to practice to get better at anything, so I intend on participating in a lot of internships. Something that I’ve come to realize is that many colleges provide their students with internship opportunities. When I found this out, I instantly knew that I had to take advantage of this opportunity when I enrolled in college.

I would like to share my five prerequisites for success in life and in college. I will also be giving an explanation as to why I choose these prerequisites. My first prerequisite is work-ethic, Work-ethic is essential for growth in any aspect of life. In my definition, work-ethic is having the capability to take care of priorities promptly without procrastinating. My second prerequisite is maturity. I feel as though showing maturity is an impressive attribute. In my opinion, showing maturity represents that you also have a responsibility which shows you have self-discipline. The third then would be patience. Unfortunately, the journey towards success in life doesn’t come fast, so with that being said, it’s evident as to why having patience is important. Then the fourth would be communication skills. Good verbal and written communication skills are essential in order to deliver and understand information quickly and accurately. Being able to communicate effectively is a vital life skill and should not be overlooked. I like to see it like this, to communicate well is to understand, and be understood. My final prerequisite is perfectionism, my definition of perfectionism is the ability to analyze previous work that you’ve done and then to give yourself constructive criticism.

College presents me with the chance to cultivate a lifestyle of my choosing. Whether I want to have a busy lifestyle saving people’s lives in the medical field or working at home creating computer programs for an IT company, with college I can choose whichever route I want to pursue. Many people from my country would literally do anything to be in my shoes, So I understand that I’m not just pursuing a college degree for myself and for my family. I’m pursuing a college degree to show to the people with a similar background as mine, predominantly immigrants and minorities, that anyone can obtain a college degree, as long as your willing to work hard and stay committed it’s more than possible.