To understand what fully ignites my spark and makes me fearless, you must first understand where I come from. My name is Idil Guled and I come from a family that is of Somali descent. I am a first generation student, so growing up I always had my parents on my back about how important school was since they weren’t able to finish it themselves. On top of that, because my parents were both unable to obtain a higher level of education, and were only able to provide things that were only of necessity to us. Because of the money that my dad used to make, we were considered to be among the low income households. However, recently my dad got laid off of work due to budget cuts within the company that he worked for and to this day, is still looking for a job that can support a family of eight. In our country today, finding stable jobs that can support a family of such has become very difficult and seems nearly impossible. Due to my family’s financial hardships, they would like me to go to a community college and spend two years there and later transfer over to another university of their choice. However, it is not in my interest to do such thing. I cannot tell you how many times i have heard them say that I would not be able to find a way to pay or even get accepted into such a school like the University of Maryland. What really ignites me and makes me fearless is when I am doubted. When people challenge me and tell me that I am unable to do something, it makes me want to work ten times harder and prove to them that I can indeed succeed and do it with high flying colors. I would love for the University of Maryland to give me this chance to prove to my family and everyone else that has doubted me, that money should never hold a hardworking and dedicated person back from achieving their dreams and goals.
