Example Of Admission Essay On Scholarship Essay

I am an immigrant from Jerusalem, as is the rest of my family. People hear that and assume my parents were rich professionals or some such. That was not my family’s experience. My family came from a dirt poor neighborhood in Jerusalem. Everyone hears stories about terrorism and violence there on the news, but what most people don’t realize is that it’s so much worse in the slums that aren’t judged colorful or tragic enough to be worth a globe-trotting journalist’s time. If a problem isn’t sexy enough for a journalist to care it’s a safe bet the politicians won’t care either, meaning the people who had the money and influence to improve things didn’t. Eight years ago my family immigrated to the United States and I got to learn about being poor in America.
My father was not involved with raising and supporting me and my three brothers. My mother had to do that on her own, and for the first two years all five of us shared the same one bedroom apartment. As the oldest son I did my best to help her do that from the moment I was able. Back in the old country I worked as a helper to my mother when she worked as the unofficial and unpaid nurse for our neighborhood. As a teenager and young adult in the US I worked a series of low-end jobs to help my mother provide for my younger brothers, and shamefully I still made more than her at some points. I am the first person in my family to attend college. I’ve paid for my education without taking a single dollar from her: tuition, books, room and board, the works. I’m not a stranger to hard work, but the days when someone could work their way through college without some form of financial aid are over. If I’m going to finish my degree and make my plans to attend med school afterward a reality I need scholarships to help me get there. And I don’t just need that sort of support; I deserve it.