ESSAY PROMPT: Please compose a 600-700 word essay that addresses each of the following: Describe a need within your community. What do you plan to study after high school? How will your future education help you impact that need within your community?

Gene Denton 19

A need in my community is more inclusivity. I come from &&&&&&, a small tight-knit community, which means everyone knows everyone. It is hard to come into this community if you weren’t ever raised in it. Most of the people in my class I have gone to school with since Kindergarten. I have loved growing up in &&&&&&, and knowing everyone my entire life, but I am gay. Being gay in &&&&&& isn’t a bad thing, but it isn’t the easiest thing. I have always been as safe as possible in my school, but in my junior year of high school when I was outed, that view changed for me. I always thought I was welcome in my community, but when people were finding out that I was gay, that kind of changed. I lost friends that had been my friends, since the very beginning, I lost relationships with adults I trusted, and most importantly it kind of seemed like I had lost bonds with some of the staff at my school. In the Fall of 2023, I plan on attending The University of Kansas, west of Kansas City in Lawrence. Lawrence will be my new home and I have never been more excited to be moving into and joining an inclusive community for all types of people. I plan on majoring in Political Science BA, and double minoring in Social Justice in the US, and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies. During my time at KU, I also plan on joining the LEAD Program, which is a program that speeds up legal education, so I can complete my undergraduate degree and law school in the span of 6 years. After my time at KU, I plan to join corporate law, but I also want to do pro bono social justice work and inclusivity work. I would like to start my pro bono work back in &&&&&&. I would like to be the one to open the citizens of &&&&&& eyes, and show that it is okay to be gay and that it is okay to be different. Being the “gay” kid in the community is kind of hard. Everyone expects me to be this perfect human being, and that I have to live up to some stereotype, but that isn’t the case. I want every kid that is a part of the LGBTQ youth to know that it is okay to live true to yourself because, at the end of the day, you are living for yourself and nobody else. I want to establish a program at &&&&&& that welcomes all LGBTQ youth, and anyone that is struggling with their sexuality, because being gay is hard, but struggling with your identity, and having no one to talk to is even harder. &&&&&& has welcomed me, and that is because I have been here my entire life. This community has been welcoming to others, and I want to change that. Nobody deserves to be looked at differently or treated differently just because they are different. I want my future program at &&&&&& to be a safe space. When it all comes down to the end, I want at least one kid to say that I helped them with finding their true selves. Going into law isn’t an easy field to go into, but finding out how you’re going to make a difference with such a prestigious and lucky education is even harder, and that’s why I want to start with LGBTQ youth in the community that I come from. I hope that you will consider awarding me this exceptional opportunity and scholarship.

 

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