On November 13th 2024, I submitted my Jesse Fell scholarship to Illinois State University. This scholarship was offered to me because of my outstanding academic achievements throughout highschool. To be qualified for this scholarship, I had to submit an essay talking about how a book, movie or song related to my life and I chose the song “Love Yourz” by J Cole. I honestly had forgotten I submitted this application to the scholarship since I hadn’t got an update yet.
But on January 7th, I received an email from Illinois State University saying that I had become a Finalist and in order to actually obtain this scholarship, I had to proceed to the next step which was an interview with the university.
Now I had no problem writing the essay but an interview? I think not.
I was never really good at interviews for some reason, when I’m interviewing the only words that seemed to appear in my mind were “uh” and “um”. The day had finally arrived.
February 7th, I was in Mrs.Mixan office waiting for the zoom call to begin. 11:30 had finally struck the clock and the Illinois State university representative appeared in front of me. Immediately after the zoom call, I felt confident like there was no way I did not receive the scholarship. Me and the lady laughed during the conversation and everything flowed smoothly, well to me. The lady mentioned that it was like I knew the questions she was asking before she asked as if I prepared myself for the interview which of course I did. The night before I had been on TikTok looking for questions that the interviewer would’ve possibly asked me.
On Tuesday February 18th, I was in Honors Forensics when I received the email reading “Congratulations, Tyana! You’re a Jesse Fell Scholar at Illinois State University.”
My first reaction was to tell my mom. Previous to that day, I had never really won anything academically. This scholarship reassured to me how much of a bright young girl I truly am. Having something to be proud of and being able to boast about it if I wanted to, something that made me feel above my peers. The Jesse Fell scholarship is Illinois State University’s most prestigious scholarship, so, yes, believe me when I say I told everybody about my accomplishment.
This scholarship wasn’t just money to me but it was also a reminder to myself of how dedication and hard work pays off because before applying to this scholarship, I had been reflecting on my previous high school classes and how I had been enrolled in honors and AP classes since my freshman year, but it wasn’t until my senior year I had questioned my own intelligence.
Why did I choose the hard route in highschool? Staying up late nights and stressing everytime my grade moved. Why didn’t I just enroll in normal classes like my friends? This scholarship is why.
If it wasn’t for those classes my GPA wouldn’t look the way it does now – meaning I would have never even been looked at as a candidate for this scholarship.
In the end, it paid off, and I’m forever grateful for this blessing.
