“I am grateful to the Cal-Nev-Ha Children’s Fund for this amazing opportunity and for subsequently helping me with my educational endeavors. I’m majoring in Biology and entering the Honors College at UNR, and I’m hoping to get accepted into UNR and UNLV’S BS/DMD Program, which would aim to allow me to enter dental school early. My career goal of eventually becoming an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon is preceded by over a decade of post-secondary education, and I expect my student debt to accumulate throughout the years.
With this scholarship, my family and I will not have to worry about the equivalent of a significant portion of a single year, or even a full year, of college. I will be able to solely focus on how well I perform in school rather than the financial burden of going to college in today’s society. The cost of a fulfilling education is never free, but scholarships like this remind me that anything is possible as long as one tries. The privilege of receiving free money to go to school is enough to know that I will always have something supporting my endeavors and career goal. This is an amazing opportunity, and I will ensure that each cent of this scholarship will not go to waste.
In Key Club, I have served as the Division 28 South Service Coordinator (2017-2018), the Southwest CTA Key Club Vice President of Community Service (2018-2019), a member of the Division 28 South Spirit Team (2019-2020), and the Southwest CTA Key Club President. In all of my leadership positions, there was always something new to learn within the four core values: leadership, inclusiveness, character building, and caring. As defined by Key Club International, “leadership is grounded in humility and service to others. A true leader listens, recognizes, and empowers.” My strength as a leader has been to listen intently to the voices of the members, as demonstrated by various times when I’ve invited general members to express their opinions, suggestions, and ideas for me to review and take action upon.
My leadership positions have also allowed me to expand my open-mindedness and objectiveness. There were many instances in which I had to be neutral and understanding of people and situations that were extremely difficult to be neutral in, and the same applies to situations outside of Key Club and in my academic and personal lives. I find it difficult to listen to something that I do not agree with, but being a Key Club leader has taught me that I cannot ignore anything that comes into view because I cannot act solely on my own opinions and values; a variety of opinions contribute to excellent ideas and plans for all parties, and diversity is always welcome with open arms.
As defined by Key Club International, inclusiveness encourages the welcoming of people from “all backgrounds and ethnicities to join in serving and making a positive difference in our world,” and acknowledging that all kinds of people are here to serve the greater good will contribute to greater success and overall happiness–– peace, essentially. It is during times like now that people need to understand how important inclusiveness is in life because many people lose sight of the underlying goodness that people have, and many aren’t aware, understanding, or even accepting of others because they aren’t open-minded; this causes me to educate others on things that they may have not been aware about or things they have been ignorant towards, such as how racism and oppression are terrible things and how remaining neutral when put in the front lines of these issues means to side with the oppressor.
Character building is defined by KCI as “everyday acts of kindness, integrity and teamwork to grow stronger relationships and communities,” and educating others and giving others a nudge towards the right direction will create an everlasting impact on every person involved–– every person being able to show/have a little more empathy and to learn a little more about each other. The last core value of Key Club is, in my opinion, the most important–– caring. Without caring, there is no compassion. Without caring, there is no hospitality. Without caring, there is no love. I have applied this core value anywhere and everywhere I can, and it has shown to be especially prevalent in my wanting to go into the medical field to help the people of my community.
Key Club has shown me a love like no other, and I do everything in my power to share the same love with every person in my life, whether it be my friend/family member or even just a stranger.”
Caitleen Navarro