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2024 - Smile Scholarship Winners

"How will you make a positive impact on the world?"

Elizabeth
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Alaina Stasiak

Everyone everywhere wants to make a positive impact on the world in one way or another. For some, that means to keep to a small scale task that only a few can see. For others, that is conquering a large feat that the whole planet can see and feel. For me, I want my positive impact on the world to help inspire the next generation of artists. Like many of us, I started drawing at a young age and greatly enjoyed it. I would draw anything I could see or think of. As a child, I also watched quite a bit of animated television shows and movies. One day, I thought “Hey, I can draw that too!”, and that is exactly what I did. That single thought has put me down a long path over many years, drawing as much as I can to get better at my craft. This brings us to the present day, now I am going into my senior year of college to earn a bachelor’s degree in animation. Though I have made it far into my artistic journey, with many impressive milestones under my belt, I can only give my thanks to the artists and animators before me that brought me this far. I will make a positive impact on the world by inspiring young artists with my work and give them the same motivation I had when I was younger. Having someone of influence in your craft is a great motivator to keep you going despite the ups and downs. Once I graduate, I plan on getting an industry job in television animation. From there, I hope to help create shows that inspire others like how they inspired me. My ultimate dream is to direct something of my own to be broadcasted for all to see. I am slowly working my way up there, as I have aided in two short films at the Savannah College of Art and Design. One of them is Beyond, a film about a spider monkey and a kinkajou trying to climb a tree together. I am very proud of the work my team and I have done for this film. The director is also submitting it to be viewed in many film festivals around the country. We all start off small no matter what our profession or dream is. Slowly, that brick builds up to a towering building in the blink of an eye. With the right push, motivation, and inspiration, you can build an entire city.

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Anna Mclaughlin

As someone passionate about working with children in the fields of psychology and dance, I envision making a positive impact on the world by helping individuals, specifically children, develop emotional resilience, and fostering creativity and self-expression. My persistent interest in psychology developed from the first job I started working since living in Champaign: tutoring at a Champaign elementary school. Before starting this job, many aspects of educational disparities were unknown to me. Immediately, my eyes were opened to a socio-economic crisis leading elementary students to fall desperately behind in multiple subjects. The realization that I was tutoring around a quarter of the fifth-grade class in third-grade level math came as a major shock. I began to question and hypothesize how and why so many of these children were two years behind their grade level in math, when one day, the fifth-grade teacher expressed to me how difficult it had been getting certain students caught up due to consistent absences and lack of focus. She revealed how the school had a major shortage of bus drivers, causing certain bus routes not to run on various days. While one may not see this as a huge issue, many students on these routes do not have access to transportation from their guardians, leaving them with no way of getting to school. She also shared how many of her students might benefit from psychiatric evaluations, but the guardians of these children either cannot afford it or do not see the issue at hand. Hearing just these few “answers'' to the questions I had been asking myself evoked a realization that I, as a tutor, am only capable of doing so much for these children in terms of their education. The real change has to be made in addressing disparities and inequalities, along with implementing policies for change. Through gaining an education in psychology, I want to change the world positively by working in schools as either a school psychologist and/or in administration to ensure children can reach their full academic potential regardless of psychological and socioeconomic boundaries. Since the age of two, I have been enrolled in dance classes. The art of dance has influenced my life and molded me as a person in countless ways. I believe that everyone, especially children, deserves to experience the arts. I plan to positively impact the world through dance by influencing others to build confidence and self-expression. For me, dance is a powerful tool for building trust and allowing me to express myself creatively. As a dance instructor or mentor, I can help people, especially children and adolescents, develop self-assurance and find new ways to communicate their emotions. I feel the world can also benefit from emotional support and cognitive development in children. By working with children through dance, you can contribute to their holistic development. Through my current and future work in psychology and dance, I hope to see a future where every child is able to thrive emotionally, physically, and creatively; bettering the way society functions as a whole.

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Emma Edens

The field of education has been laid on my heart since I was young. Growing up with my mom and both of my grandmothers as teachers, I grew to understand what passion looked like. I learned what it looked like to have a deep love of children, literature and education. This is just one of the ways that lead to fostering a deep desire to be a light in others’ lives and I am looking forward to achieving that through my future career as an educator. For some background, I am attending Olivet Nazarene University where I am studying English Education with an ESL endorsement. During my time at Olivet thus far, I have jumped headfirst into my area of study. Most notably, I served as a group tutor at a low-income school district near my university. Here, I was given the chance to create lessons and teach them to middle school children. Furthermore, I was able to create informal and formal assessments, lesson plans, and activities for my students. This opportunity not only solidified my desire to become an ELA teacher, but it fanned a new desire into flame—the desire to teach at a low-income school district. In low-income districts, there is often a lack of funding and opportunities; therefore, I want to serve as a bridge for my students—connecting them to the success I know they can achieve. Moreover, currently, the issue of low-income schools is a very dark area, and I want to bring light to it. I want to give back to schools in and around the community that gave so much to me, therefore I would like to teach in an area school that is close to home. With that being said, I have always had a passion for English and I am looking forward to using that to touch the lives of my students. Additionally, I am drawn to the field of English as a Second Language (ESL) because I have a deep empathy and understanding for individuals who find themselves in an environment where they are surrounded by a language different from their own, leading to feelings of isolation. Therefore, within that arena, I am eager to contribute to breaking down communication barriers, fostering cultural inclusivity, and creating a supportive environment where language becomes a bridge rather than a barrier. I firmly believe that this passion I have in this area of education will lead to making the world a better place for all of us.

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Gianna Grivetti

Living in a country of conveniences allows society to assume that essentials, such as running water, constitute as bills to be paid and nothing more. The amount of work and money that is poured into having accessible water in households, industries, and public areas is not even thought of. I only think of this complex process due to my internship at Chamlin and Associates. Through visiting local water treatment plants and learning the importance of water piping systems, I realized how truly fortunate we are as a country. If a town failed to have any type of water treatment or water supply, a thriving town would cease to even exist. Unfortunately, for many people in the world, running water is a luxury rather than a convenience. Over two billion people worldwide do not have the means to possess clean water in their homes or in their surrounding areas. They may have to travel to obtain water or their closest water sources are extremely contaminated. It is difficult for communities like these to afford millions to install a treatment system and plumbing. Communities in the United States also have difficulties attaining money to better their water systems and must spend years paying off loans for improvements. With my newfound knowledge from my internship, I now want to study the complexities of providing drinkable water to communities. By utilizing my education, I can start by offering my services to local communities or other places in the United States. I could do projects ranging from the repainting of an old water tower to completely redesigning a water treatment plant. Even though our country is highly developed, the richest of neighborhoods still experience trivial problems like water main breaks. Providing help for my home country is clearly important, but one day I hope I can make a difference in a country that does not have the fortunes of the United States. Designing something as simple as a well for an impoverished town can make a world of difference. Making an impact on the world unfortunately costs a pretty penny. As I hopefully grow to establish a name for myself either here or elsewhere, I could create a benefit towards putting water essentials such as wells in communities that need it. For towns who simply need repairs for their water systems, I hope to be the engineer they look towards. By pursuing my education, it will incline me to truly contribute to the environment and people around me or thousands of miles away.

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Rubi DeLaTorre

My journey toward positively impacting the world is based on my academic ambitions, personal experiences, and future pursuits. By starting my freshman year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study Community Health, I am driven to make a positive impact on the world, particularly in women’s health. This journey, inspired by experiences as a child of immigrant parents and a large family has instilled in me a heartfelt appreciation for diverse perspectives and the important role of healthcare in empowering communities. This profound passion of mine to work in women’s health all began firsthand by witnessing my parents, especially my mother, navigate the healthcare system in a new country. This experience of watching her overcome these challenges inspired me to pursue a career where I could advocate for women facing similar obstacles. This drive has led me to my dream of becoming a physician assistant in women’s health- a role where I can directly support women by providing them with care, respect, and equality. My dream to directly support patients with care, respect, and equality goes hand in hand with my minor in Spanish. This minor reflects that I aim to bridge the gap of the significant language barrier in healthcare. From going to doctor appointments with my dad, who does not fully understand the English language, to helping Spanish-speaking people who come up to me at my hostess job to order, I truly do understand how difficult it is to insert yourself in an environment you are uncomfortable in. I will ensure that language is not something that should affect who or who does not receive healthcare, because everyone deserves to be cared for, regardless of linguistic background. Moreover, growing up in a large family, I have truly realized that I have the great ability to listen, empathize, and connect with others. (Little me would never think that my siblings would benefit me that much!) Having encountered many people with these skills in the De La Torre 2 healthcare field, I have realized that skills like these are invaluable and incomparable to making a patient feel cared for. Especially in underserved communities. By using my background, education, and passion, I am determined to make an impact, ensuring that every woman, every person of a different background, and every patient has the opportunity to lead a healthy and fulfilling life. My goal is to be a beacon of support in the healthcare system. Through my education, linguistic skills, and work in women’s health, I hope to make a difference in the lives of those I serve. As I continue down this journey, I am driven by the idea that everyone deserves quality healthcare and the fact that I am dedicated to being a part of the solution.

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Leah Williams

Making a positive impact in the world is why I am studying to become a social worker; making a difference in the lives of children and families who need it is what I am choosing to do in my life. My hard work and dedication in school and my career will pay off the day that I get to help a child work through their struggles and make a positive impact in their life. Becoming a social worker will be challenging, I often hear how I will become ‘burnt-out’ when I tell people my desired career path, but the end goal of helping children who are facing adversities in life is the driving force behind the career path I have chosen to take. Social work is one of the most necessary, but underrepresented careers in the world today; we need help in this area now more than ever. So many children in need go unnoticed or fall through the cracks of the system every day. Children put in tough family situations need a person to represent them and fight for them. They need a person to see them and hear them when nobody else will. There are so many stories of kids who are struggling and reaching out for help, but are often ignored; only when it is too late do people begin to ask “how did nobody see that they were in need of help?” I want to be the person who sees the distraught child and helps them before it is too late. All children deserve a chance in this world to be successful or to live a fulfilling life; there are many children who do not get this chance. Without help, they begin to feel worthless and overlooked, they begin to fall into the stereotypes society puts on these kids. I want to make sure the children that I cross paths with are given a chance; I want them to feel understood and inspired. Growing up, I had a friend who the system failed. Her and her siblings screamed for help, only to be ignored by everyone who was supposed to help them. The only person on their side was their social worker. That is who I want to be for kids in similar situations. Their social worker is the person they could trust, the person who would listen to them and fight for them, even when nobody else would. Their social worker made such a positive impact on their lives, and one day I hope to do the same for other kids. I want to be the person who makes a positive impact on their lives, who pushes kids to become successful, despite their tough situations at home and the stereotypes they face because of it. I may not be making a positive impact in the world as a whole, but making positive impacts in the individual lives of children who need it will be fulfilling and worth the hardships and adversities I will face along the way.

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