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Here's the essay I just wrote for the Tim Horton's scholarship application. The essay topic was "why are community service and volunteering so important in today's society" I couldn't go over 500 words, they had the cell you submit the essay into rigged to where it cut off any words passed 500 so I had to do some crafty editing.

Community service and volunteering are important in today�s society because since WW2, Americans have known great gains in nearly every aspect of life. Crime is down, wages are up, the average home size is getting larger while the average family size shrinks; most everyone has a bedroom, a car and a cell phone to themselves. Equal rights are becoming a reality, more people are graduating high school and more are going on to college. At no point in the history of humanity have we lived longer, healthier and easier lives. Yet, with all this progress most Americans still don�t think they�re happy, they believe things are getting worse in this country. The �American Dream� has been achieved since most people have a decent place to live, a car, a career, a family and a retirement account. Now we are left wanting more; bigger houses, two or three cars, Tivo, IPod, designer dogs, $6,000 Rolex watches and all the other novelty items we think we need. Society has confused �need� with �want�, and is now left dissatisfied after a certain purchase or experience fails to fill the void. I believe the reason people are so dissatisfied with current society is because we have failed to give back.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow studied human motivation from the 1950s to the 1970s. In his Hierarchy of Human Needs, Maslow theorizes there are levels of development a human must reach, one building upon another, in order to successfully advance up the pyramid toward the ultimate goal of self-transcendence. At the bottom are the basic physiological needs of life: air, water and food. The next levels are also basic needs, safety/shelter, belongingness/love, and self-worth/esteem needs. Once these are met, we focus on our needs for knowledge and beauty. We as humans have a need to know and a thirst to be surrounded by the aesthetically pleasing. The top two levels are self-actualization and self-transcendence. The self-actualized person has achieved success in family, career, finances... they have reached their potential. The self-transcendent individual has met their need for the other seven levels in Maslow�s pyramid and reaches down to those who are still struggling with their climb. They are focused on helping others realize their potential, to help others become self-fulfilled, and to strengthen the weakest links in the chain of society. Most people in our culture have become self-actualized, and have become stagnant in that level, not transcending themselves to benefit the greater good. I believe that it is detrimental to our personal happiness and cultural satisfaction that we give back to our communities by helping others to become self-actualized.

I�m a single mother, working on a B.A. in Community & Human Services. I want to teach GED in youth crisis centers, drug rehabs and women�s shelters. I have also completed two terms of service with AmeriCorps National Service, totaling almost 3,000 hours of volunteer community service in those programs.

I'll be highly surprised if I don't win one of the scholarships. They are awarded by region so I'm competing with Timmy Ho staff in Buffalo and the Rochester area. "Designed to recognize our store employees, this scholarship program emphasizes the importance of education in our employees� futures, as well as the importance of community service. We are providing a total of 220 scholarships, 200 in Canada and 20 in the United States, each valued at $1,000 CDN/USD. Our program is open to all eligible Tim Hortons employees, as well as the children or grandchildren of Tim Hortons store employees." Now I don't know how many applied for the scholarship, I still think I'm in the top 20.

Things are going pretty well. I've been smoking too much weed though, started out with a cough two weeks ago and now it's a sinus/tonsil infection. I'm going to try to cut down on the "extra-curricular activities", though the biggest dillema in my life right now is trying to become happy like how I was before I started screwing (around with) Greg, yet the person I was then wouldn't be a good mother so... trying to find balance there. Other than that it's all good, I got both court dates already, got half of my tuition reimbursement 3 weeks earlier than I thought I would, am moving along alright in my classes... so I'm keeping an eye out for any comets, brimstone or bullshit heading my way.

Always remember to quit while you're ahead.

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