A Friend In Need by Georgia

A Friend In Need by Georgia - March 2026 Scholarship Essay

A time when I helped someone in a significant way was in high school, when I had a friend who had many issues at home. It got to a point where he started staying with my family and me for a while; I was getting him to and from school, his extracurriculars, making extra food, and bringing it to him when his parents weren't around to make anything, so he wouldn't have to worry. He needed stability, and I wanted to be that for him. I took it upon myself to make sure he always knew he didn’t have to worry if things went south, that he always had a home and family to fall back on if and when needed. He truly was and still is considered family to me to this day, and he always reaches out when he can't pull things together himself.

Throughout all of this, I really finalized the thought that little lingering thought I've had all my life that helping people is what I was meant to do, regardless of what that looks like. I always knew that the best version of me was the one doing things for others, and this was one of those times when I got the opportunity to experience what that feels like firsthand, in the rawest form. I went through some of the realities that come through that, such as being an open ear to someone even when you have a million things going on on your side of the world, and I got firsthand experience in a different kind of leadership position that's more just instructing on tasks. I got to sit and invest in getting someone I truly cared about where he needed to go, while also feeling the weight of the responsibility it came with, yet I wouldn't change a thing about the experience.