Inspirational Stories

I will never underestimate my parents' sacrifices to provide my siblings and me with the millions of opportunities we have due to their hard work. My parents were born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Both were born to families who instilled the traditional family value of grit in every walk of life. My parents both obtained a high school diploma with the intent of seeking higher education, but the obstacles of living in a developing country robbed them of the chance. Despite their lack of college degrees, my parents ― inspired by meritocratic ideals ― worked night and day to ensure there was food on the table, clothes on our backs, and most importantly, they never failed to instill the value of our education.

I get my determination from my mom and my strong will to succeed from my dad; both of my parents have inspired me to continue to learn and pursue a degree. My greatest passion is learning, as I am committed to optimizing my hardships in order to grow. There have been multiple points throughout my college journey where I have felt unsure and overwhelmed, not because I doubted my ability to do well in college but from fear that I would not be able to get the chance to prove myself due to my family's financial status.

Throughout high school, I packed on as many AP and dual-credit classes as my schedule could handle in hopes that obtaining college credit from those classes would lessen the cost of my college tuition. However, towards the end of my high school career, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and it was then that my concerns switched from trying to spare my parents from the overwhelming cost of college to watching them struggle to pay for the medicine I needed to survive. However, I did not allow my condition to prevent me from learning. Instead of studying at a big university, I enrolled at Metropolitan Community College where I started my bachelor's degree in Biology, and I was able to complete those two years without any debt. However, in transitioning to the University of Missouri, Kansas City, I faced another uphill battle balancing tuition finances.

Fortunately, I was given the honor of receiving The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Scholarship for Blood Cancer Survivors which will help fund my education and allow me to continue to pursue the degree I am passionate about. This scholarship will also allow me the opportunity to return the favor to my parents by showing them that all they have taught me about hard work, grit, and the value of knowledge has finally paid off.