Joivonnah Childs
Bronx, NY
Bronx Center for Science and Math
Age: 17
At three in the morning with bloodshot eyes, the house was quiet except for the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard. As I looked at my just-finished resume I stared at the computer, asking myself: "What is the point of all this?" Frustration and exasperation overwhelmed me and I was losing control quickly. I was frozen at the most important time in my life. At that point, I felt my dad's arm around me and my mom caressing my hair as she whispered a silent prayer. "We're going to get this scholarship application done," my father said with hope, "so let's get to it." They stayed up with me all night and mailed it while I was at school the next morning. Looking back, if I wasn't encouraged by my parents, I don't think I would ever have had the energy and perseverance to compete for the Annenberg Scholarship. But the process was just beginning. My parents mailed out what would be the start of a nerve-racking, magical, and life-changing experience.
It was my junior year, or, as my principal says, "the most important year of your life." Sitting in English class about a month after I completed the application, our college adviser pulled me out to inform me that I was a semifinalist. On to Manhattan for the final interview! The interview required a written essay, group interviews, individual interviews, and lunch interviews, and finally it was over four hours later! About a month after the interview, I learned I was a finalist and that I would be taken to Philadelphia to meet the director of The Annenberg Foundation.
The experience of going to Philadelphia and meeting the other finalists, and most importantly, years of hard work in middle school, high school, test prep classes, and the support of my church proved to be a winning combination. My undergraduate education is now fully paid for, and I will have my own computer and the opportunity to travel abroad and pursue my dreams without finances being the deciding factor!
The paradox in all of this is that my scholarship was awarded not so much based on "what" I am. Rather, the Annenberg Foundation was seeking to understand "who" I am. The moral of the scholarship story: Be yourself and understand how to communicate the "who." Leave the "what" for your transcript and standardized tests.
