Mah Life by Jacob

Mah Life by Jacob - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

I still remember standing on the sidelines of the makeshift obstacle course after my run through it. There was sweat running down my face, I was covered in mud, and cheering my lungs out for my approaching teammate to the finish line, all of that with the Alabama sun shining on top of me to top it all off. It was the final week of X-treme military summer camp, and we were being pushed to our physical and mental limits. Each task, whether it was crawling under barbed wire, team-building challenges, or early morning wake-ups into drills, was made to test our grit, determination, and drive. I wasn’t sure I would make it through that first day. In fact, I sent letters out to my family to try to pull me out of the program already, but by the end of the course, I walked away with something more than just a cadet certificate. I had gained a new outlook and a deeper connection to the military values my parents had lived by over the years they had served.
As a military child, moving from state to state was not unusual. What was unusual to me at the time was my parents’ constant separation because of their deployment. Just as I would start to build friendships and settle into a new school, it would be time to pack up and start over. It wasn’t until middle school that I would finally stick around in Texas with only my mother. On the other hand, my father wouldn’t end up moving in with me until a few years later.
While in Texas, I attended Sconzo and Lone Star College, I realized balancing both workloads required a constant amount of effort and organization, planning, scheduling, and working with chess club. These organizational skills were developed during that summer camp constantly come into play within my life, and I do my best to stand by every day. I plan to major in Computer Engineering. My interest in technology at a deep level began with a birthday gift, an iPad. Then I started thinking deeper about electronic functions. This quickly grew into a passion. I built my own PC from scratch recently for my birthday, and now I’m in the process of securing an internship at a local electronics repair shop. There, I hope to gain personal experience building and fixing devices, not just for fun, but also as a way to support myself financially later in college.
Lets switch it up a bit with what I do outside of my academics, I’m the Vice President of our school’s Chess Club, where I plan to organize tournaments and mentor newer members to make chess easy to understand and teach more experienced players something new. I’ve always loved the strategy and patience a game of chess requires. It brings me peace of mind where I can focus on me, my opponent, and the game. Every Friday, I go volunteer at my local elementary school, Deerwood Elementary, and help the staff in their duties, such as assisting younger children with their academics. Whether I would be explaining a math problem to a kindergartener or cleaning tables for next lunch, I take pride in knowing I’m giving back to my community.
Both of my parents are now retired from the military, and while they continue to support me in every way they can, the cost of higher education is the real challenge. I want this scholarship not just to ease the financial problem moving into college, but to make the effort I’ve put into becoming a scholar and a future professional all the more meaningful.
I hope to work at the intersection of software and hardware, whether it’s developing new technology, improving cybersecurity, or even helping underprivileged communities gain access to reliable tech. I want to use the skills I’ve built, from military camp to chess club, from repairing computers to service learning, to make an impact in the world and make sure everyone remembers the last name Pearson. With your support, I’ll be able to continue to push forward through college, into a career in technology, and build toward a future built on service and my creativity.