Danayha Hunt

Losing both my parents due to health issues changed my life in ways I never expected. My father passing from cancer when I was 3 created a gap I still have today and simply can’t fill. My mother battled scleroderma, raynaud’s syndrome and drug addiction when I was 14, both of their deaths greatly affected me in so many different ways. Watching my mother decline for 2 years before she passed on October 31, 2021 was incredibly difficult to cope with. Throughout my middle school years my mother would be strung out on drugs in her room, I didn’t see her much and it became normal for me. She struggled a lot with her mental health and wasn’t the best mother to me and my siblings causing a strain in our relationship, but I still loved her.

Her death took a toll on my family both emotionally and financially. We always lived paycheck to paycheck, we never had any type of insurance. If my mother had life insurance me and my siblings could afford college without having to struggle. We could have given her a proper funeral. Instead, I had to make the difficult decision to move from my hometown Baltimore to Texas with my father’s side of the family to ease the financial burden. Having to leave everything behind and start new was painful and difficult, adjusting to Texas was harder than I expected. I had no friends here, I wasn’t close to my father’s side of the family causing my mental health to be at an all time low.

When I first arrived in Texas I lost all my motivation, it felt like my world was ending and nobody understood how I was feeling. Eventually I picked myself up, I refused to allow my circumstances to get in the way of my goals. By the end of the year my hard work paid off and I was able to raise my grades, since then I’ve pushed myself to get 80s and above in all my classes. I never believed college was a real option for me until now. If I stayed in Baltimore I wouldn’t have considered applying but now I can see myself attending and obtaining my degree. If my financial situation had been different I could consider other options other than community college, but this is the best option for me financially. Even with having a lower tuition I know I’ll struggle with paying it and balancing school and work all on my own. This is a challenge I’m willing to go through, nothing will stop me from continuing my education.

Losing both of my parents due to health reasons made me want a career in the medical field, being able to help others in ways I wished I could’ve helped them. This scholarship is one step closer to that, one step closer to making them both proud and proving to myself that it’s possible despite all my hardships.