Name: Mia Melgarejo
House: Badcock
I found out about SSF through a friend. At that point, I hadn’t applied to many scholarships and I was still extremely unsure of what I wanted to do after high school. When I got accepted, I decided to take the plunge and move out to Gainesville for school instead of staying at home. I am absolutely loving it. Being a part of this scholarship has given me the opportunity to befriend so many people that I never would have come across otherwise. Instead of staying home and doing online classes at a local college, this scholarship has given me the chance to expand my horizons and live away from my parents for the first time in my life.
Many of my friends back home in West Palm never came up because all their classes were online, so I was super apprehensive about coming up alone. The friends I’ve made here are absolutely the best. I really lucked out with the girls in my house. I’m a very social person and I’m very happy that they’re social as well. We haven’t had many opportunities to see other houses much but I’m very happy with what I’ve seen from them! Everyone I’ve come across is extremely nice and pleasant. Now next semester I’ll have my new friends as well as my friends coming up from home. Never a dull moment!
I am the first to go to college in my family. I hope to make them proud. This scholarship lifts a huge financial burden off their shoulders. Recently I went back down home for a week and it was lovely. Although at the end of the week I was itching to come back up to Gainesville. While I love my family to bits, I was majorly missing my second one. They become a bigger part of my life each and every day. I adore the sense of community that this scholarship provided me with. Surrounding myself with like-minded, intelligent people is very helpful in making my goals a reality. I’m very thankful to have this scholarship and I hope to stay as long as I can.
