Gabrielle Lasanta
School: Florida State University
House: Polk Scholarship House
Year: Spring 2015-Current
I am Gabrielle Lasanta, a current fifth year senior at Florida State University majoring in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. I grew up with a small family consisting of only my mom and sister, so when I was accepted into SSF and discovered that I would be living with 30 other girls, I had no idea what to expect. I especially would have never expected to meet some of the most driven, hardworking, and intelligent women that I now consider family.
Growing up, my mom had always taught me to never let anything get in the way of my education. I watched my mom work countless hours to support my sister and I so that we could have the opportunities that she did not have. My mom was six credits shy of completing her bachelor’s degree, but had given it up so that she could give everything she had to my sister and me. I was not going to waste what my mom had sacrificed for me, and so I did everything I could to ensure I would go to college. The day that I was accepted into not only Florida State University, but also their Honors Program, I knew that this was only possible because of my mom. My mom is my biggest inspiration. She came back to college, while I was a sophomore at FSU, to finish her degree in Economics and a minor in Computer Science. I watched my mom excel in her classes as she strived to be the best student she could be. She taught me that even when something seems impossible, you go for it anyways if it something you truly love.
I lived at home for my first two and a half years at FSU, but this served to be a challenge as we lived almost 40 minutes away from campus. When a friend of mine told me about the Southern Scholarship Foundation, I knew that this could alleviate a lot of the financial burden of commuting to campus and stress of living so far away. SSF has truly been a blessing as I was able to be right next to campus and I was able to grow as an individual and develop essential skills that came with community living. The amount of opportunities that the Southern Scholarship has given me has been endless. I have had to opportunity to get involved with SSF and serve in my house as a Business Manager and Treasurer. I have been able to learn more about the many cultures of my housemates and ultimately realize how similar we all really are. Although we grew up in different cities and were exposed to different backgrounds, we all care about one another like family and motivate each other to never give up. SSF has given me more people to add to family and that is something that I will always be grateful for.
