Meet Serena Jacobs, our 2016 Scholarship Winner!
Essay Topic: Tell us about the superhero or superheroes that have influenced your education. Also, tell us how this scholarship will help you reach your goals!
Ever since I was very young, I’ve always been told, it’s nice to feel important, but it’s more important to be nice. These words are a small glimpse into the kind of woman that I was given as a teacher, confidant, encourager, role model, and more importantly, as a mom. My mother is selfless, compassionate, nurturing, and dedicated, not only to me but to each one of her students. My mom has been a teacher at Reading High School for nearly 30 years, so long that she’s had the opportunity to teach generations of the same families. My mother is a woman that is adored by the Reading community and that is what makes her a superhero. She doesn’t wear a cape or mask, but she can do it all, and still manages to be lovable.
As a child, I always thought that women in high-powered careers were cold, domineering, and severe, so I was afraid when I started to think that I wanted to be a woman who worked. However, my mother quickly silenced my fears. While it took me years to realize that there is no greater job of service than that of a teacher, I quickly understood that my mother is an incredibly hard worker, and does not have an ounce of coldness, hostility, or anger in her body. What really amazes me though is my mom’s ability to be absolutely selfless. My mother suffers from three autoimmune conditions that make her day-to-day life more difficult and more painful than many other people her age. However, she doesn’t take days off from school, regardless of her pain level, because she has a deep-rooted need to care for and educate others.
It makes me proud to be the daughter of a woman who has spent her career sparking the imaginations, fostering the dreams, and beginning the careers of students from all walks of life. The Cincinnati Superhero Scholarship will help me to continue to peruse my dream of becoming a lawyer, a dream that my mom has always supported. The funds from this scholarship will allow me to continue working one part-time job while in school, rather than picking up a second job to finish funding my 2017 spring semester.
Despite obstacles and nay-sayers, my mother has taught me to believe in my ability and to never quit working until I achieve my dreams. It has been an absolute privilege to grow up in the presence of a superhero, and I only hope that some of my mother’s goodness and love rubs off on me.
