Scholarship Winners
2024
Clayton Hurley
Nominated By: N/A
Amount: 2000$
From: Holts Summit, MO
College: State Technical College of Missouri
Winning Essay
My name is Clayton Hurley. I am the grandson and worker for a Missouri Valley member. I live in Holts Summit, Missouri. I am currently 19 years old and I am currently a dual major. I am soon to be a triple major as a student at State Tech. I currently have a 3.441 GPA with 89 credit hours so far. I am still currently in classes for my degrees. I am taking a dual major right now with HVAC and Business. Next year I will start my degree in auto body. I have also made the dean’s list in the 2023 spring and fall semesters. These degrees will help my life goal which is in the future I would like to achieve the ability to take over my grandparent’s ice company. To help achieve that goal I am taking HVAC and business at State Tech as a dual major.
I am also going back to school to do an auto body degree next year. This way with these degrees I will be able to run the business with my business degree. Then with my HVAC and autobody degree I will be able to work on the ice merchandisers by fixing the refrigerant systems and the body of the merchandiser. These will help me run the ice business to the best of my ability. I am also working an Ice company in the ice plant, office, body shop, and delivering ice. I am trying to learn how every aspect of the company works and what it would be like for me to take over. This will help since I would know how everything works and how much work goes into making a company run and operate the right way. With my degrees I can also do a lot of work myself to save money for the company and help the workers since I would know how to work on the equipment myself. This would save my money and time. This is my plan for my life and in the future. With this Missouri Valley scholarship I would use the money to help pay for my HVAC, Business and auto body degrees.
This scholarship would help my future self by helping me pay off the college debt which will help me focus more on running my grandparents ice company also I would like to become a member of Missouri Valley when I am out of school and in the ice business more that way I can help others and learn from others in the Missouri Valley committee. Thank you for reading my paper and giving me this ability to earn a scholarship to help with my schooling. Thank you for your time.
Cailyn Prost
Nominated By: TNT Plastics
Amount: 2000$
From: Perryville, MO
College: University of Missouri - Columbia
Winning Essay
Goals are an essential part of a person’s life. They allow us to create a vision for our futures, and they give us a sense of purpose in the world. Goals drive us to work harder and focus on the things that we have decided are important to us. All my goals in life obtain different things, but ultimately, I want to achieve my definition of success and happiness in all aspects of my life. I have been setting goals for myself from a very young age. I wanted to do things like have a solo at the christmas concert, or make the soccer all star team. All of those goals seem small to me now, but back then, they meant everything. Now as I am about to graduate high school, I am realizing that some of my biggest goals that I’ve set for myself so far are about to be achieved.
My goals these last four years started as getting the best grades as possible for myself. Then as I started to engage in athletics, I decided I was going to work and train as hard as I could to be the best athlete I could be, all while maintaining A’s in all of my classes. Lastly, I have uncovered a goal that I didn’t fully know I had. This was to create as many meaningful relationships with friends, classmates, and family as possible. As my high school career comes to an end, I am getting closer and closer to realizing what goals I truly want to set for my future.
These goals lineup with the same goals I set for myself during my elementary and high school careers. I want to give 100% of my effort, focus, and energy into all of the activities and organizations I am involved in, as well as striving to create numerous significant relationships with others. These situations would include making friends, keeping my grades up at college, working hard for a job, even if it’s just an internship or minimum wage job, traveling and meeting new people, or working hard to be a great mother if that is what God wants. Anything that gets thrown my way, I want to be involved with it, and make it something of importance for myself.
Setting specific goals for yourself to achieve is incredibly important. However, working as hard as I can to achieve these goals is how I will shape my own life, accumulate my strengths, and set myself apart from others. I don’t quite know where my life will take me, but I do know that whatever I end up doing, I will earn it for myself and deserve it.
Dylan Romero
Nominated By: N/A
Amount: 2000$
From: Nederland, TX
College: Texas A&M University
Winning Essay
Starting my college career, I have thought a lot about my life goals. Some of my goals have remained unchanged since I began this journey while new goals e now included. My three biggest goals are being successful at college, becoming a physical therapist, and not take life for granted.
When I first started high school, I knew I wanted to go off to college. Several of my cousins attended Texas A & M University, and I dreamed of attending there as well. It took hard work and dedication to achieve this goal, but A & M is where I want to go. I did not even apply to any other colleges, and I am beyond excited that I achieved early acceptance to the college of my choice. However, I did not just want to attend, I want to immerse myself in the full college experience. My goals while I am here include joining at least one student organization, becoming a member of the honors program, and graduating with honors. Once again, I know.
that hard work and determination will be in ever higher demand to reach these goals, but I know it will help me with other life goals as well.
After college, my goal is to gain acceptance into physical therapy school. It is a highly competitive field of study with few spots open to potential applicants. It will be challenging to maintain the necessary grades and find valid work experience to ensure acceptance, but I am drawn to this profession. As an athlete myself, I have had my fair share of injuries. After completing physical therapy school, I hope to become a physical therapist and work specifically with athletes. Being able to help other athletes resume playing a sport they love would be a very fulfilling career. Since the pandemic, I have one life goal that is new. There were many.
things I took for granted before the pandemic. When the pandemic began to escalate, I had just started baseball season. I played nine games during spring break and had not really had a chance to enjoy my time off from school. When school and sports were temporarily
suspended, my friends and I were actually excited. Never did I dream that the rest of school and the entire season would be over. Never did I dream we would have to keep our distance from friends and loved ones. Never did I dream of how much I would miss the simplest thing in life.