Seeking financial aid, grants, scholarships, etc.

To whom it may concern:

My name is Amber Bernhardt and I am a senior in high school. I live in Canton, Ohio and go to Choices High School. I have had a rough time getting through school due to many family and personal problems and am almost ready to graduate. Yet, I have no way to pay for college. My mother is a single parent raising my and my younger sister. For 13 years, for financial reasons, we lived with my grandmother, scrimping and saving so that we could move into a place of our own. Finally in May of this year we were able to move into a duplex of our own. We currently have one vehicle between two houses and that's a difficult move to pull off, especially since I am the only one in my entire immediate family with a driver's licsense. My day usually starts at about 6:30am, when I wake up to take my little sister to school. I come home do laundry, dishes, or some other odd job that needs done around the house. At about 10:45am, I take my uncle and my mom to work. They work at the same restaurant and for the same people that they've worked for since before I was even thought of, yet, they get paid very little. After I take them to work I come home, try to catch up on homework or relax for a little while before 1 o'clock rolls around, which is when I have to go back to the restaurant and pick my mom and my uncle up for their break inbetween shifts, which they work everyday. I take my uncle to my grandma's, which is where he currently lives, and my mom and me go home. At 2:40pm I go to pick my sister up from school, come home and get my stuff for school and my mom. I take my little sister to my grandma's, where she stays after school while I go to school and my mom and uncle are at work. When I drop my sister off at my grandma's, I also pick my uncle up, in order to take my mom and my uncle back to work for the night shift. Then when all that is done and over with, I take myself to school. I am currently going to night school because of my family needing my availibility during the day in order to get to work, school, etc. I have had a very long hard road to try to walk on and get through school in order to graduate with an actual high school diploma. I had to drop out of school for about a year in order to get a job and help my family with bills. I finally went back to school in September and will be graduating with an actual high school diploma in June. I keep emphasizing "actual high school diploma" because I was so worried that after dropping out, I would only be able to go back to school and obtain my G.E.D. Thank god that is not the case. My mom has her G.E.D. and I've seen that it doesn't really do alot for you in the world of work. So, I've pushed myself in order to be able to get back in school and now I'm finally going to meet my goal of graduating. I have dreams of going to college and obtaining a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy with the hope of opening my own Pediatric Occupational Therapy Center in the future. Occupational Therapy has been the career that I've wanted to pursue for about the past 5 years. I fell in love with Occupational Therapy when after years of rigorous physical therapy sessions my little sister had endured due to complications at birth, she was sent to an Occupational Therapist. I would go with my mom and my sister to her therapy sessions and I would watch the drive and the passion that the therapists had and I imagined how wonderful it would be to help make the lives of children who are less fortunate, easier and more normal. I knew then that it was a very rewarding and wonderful career. That would be awesome if I could have all of my dreams come true, but in order to do that I need money. The one thing that has stopped most of everything in my life from becoming a possibility. I really honestly believe that there are people out there who want to help and will help, you just need to ask for it. Although I am very hardworking and pretty satisfied with my life, this is one thing that I really NEED to ask for help with and this is my way of reaching out and asking for someone to please help me. I am a very selfless person and am always willing to help others, which is the why it is so hard for me to ask for help. I would really, really apprieciate the help if anyone out there can afford to. I will not let you down or waste your money. I am willing to work as hard as I possibly can to obtain my goals and dreams. I just need a little help to get me started on a successful path.

Sincerely,

Amber Bernhardt

Canton, Ohio