During the course of the next ten years, I will be taking classes at the College of DuPage to complete my general education requirements and to get started on a business degree. I hope that these classes will help me to transfer to my eventual dream school; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While at U of I, I will take more business classes to obtain a degree in Business Management. I do not want to become a business manager, but this degree will help me on my path to becoming a Human Resources Consultant. I want to work with companies to help them improve their employee relations. I am also considering minoring in Psychology. I’ve always been very interested in psychology, and I may have to serve as an intermediary in employee disputes while working in HR. I think that having a background in psychology would help me to better facilitate solutions and understand how employees think.
The Presidential Scholarship would allow me to help pay for some extra expenses I would have in college that not many other students do have. I have a physical disability, and while it has never stopped me from doing well in school or being an active member of the community, it does present some unique challenges. In school, I have always had a one-on-one aide to help me with physical tasks like setting up my books or taking things out of my backpack. An aide was always provided for me in school, as an adult, I need to hire my own personal attendants. Having a PA will give me the same opportunities in college as everyone else, and I wouldn’t have to rely on college staff or other students in my classes for help. This scholarship, which could cover my full tuition to COD, would allow me to use the money I would have spent on classes, on paying a PA to assist me during the day.
As a person with a disability, I feel very strongly about disability rights, I currently volunteer for a company called AbilityLinks, which helps people with disabilities find employment and employers find people with disabilities to hire. I contribute to their blog and research topics such as disability culture, employment, and social media. During my research of disability culture, I have found many examples of those with disabilities having a very difficult time finding a job. I hope that by obtaining a position in HR, I can help companies hire more people with disabilities. If any kind of discrimination were to occur in a company that involved someone with a disability, I think that my status as someone with a disability would help me to remedy the conflict differently than if I did not have a disability.
I am very passionate about the environment as well, and I hope that my position would allow me to help the company I ultimately work for to make more “green” choices in their materials, and in the way that they do their work. Things like recycling, encouraging employees to bring in their own refillable water bottles, or even starting a garden are all ideas I could encourage the company to use.
The Presidential Scholarship would really help me to further my college aspirations and help me to get the career I really want, in HR. Once I get into that career, I hope I can use my position to help those with disabilities, and to help the environment.
