The Community Foundation for Crawford County is pleased to introduce Harley Howell, a recipient of one of the 20 Doug and Renee Leuthold Scholarship awards and one of the three Dr. Joseph and Susan Shadeed Scholarship awards.
Harley, the daughter of Teresa Williams and Shawn Sharp, is a 2021 graduate of Galion High School. She is attending North Central State College and studying Social Work.
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What inspired you to choose your intended major? "My inspiration didn't reveal itself to me under intense & prophetic realizations, rather in a slow yet steady cycle of all the ways, I and other misguided peers, always seemed to fall one tally too short of the big break everyone is told they have equal opportunity for. The reality is, children of mental illness, addiction, & poverty, are 78% more likely to repeat the stories as their previous kin. This is not for lack of trying. This is because despite their overwhelmingly higher efforts to achieve greater, community & resources are overwhelmingly scarce. My mother has the mind of ruthless CEO, numbers can fly by and arrange themselves into every category in her brain in a matter of seconds. She is a housekeeper. My father has the mind of a beautiful philosopher, his way with words alone bears more weight than a thousand stones. He is a contractor. My friends carry the minds of artists much like what you would see at the Sistine Chapel. They, for the most part, all scrape by on retail and fast food salaries. There are thousands of children sitting in a classroom at this very moment slinging in straight A's and good spirits, teachers telling them how "gifted" they really are, but they bear no generational wealth or privilege that others do. In fact, they bear the burden of wondering which meal they will have to steal this week from the cafeteria, or which strange man will their mom bring home tonight just to get the lights turned back on. There are too many extraordinary and creative minds that will slip through cycles of poverty and never get the chance to embark upon their professional paths at full potential. People with brains of geniuses, that could add so much value to our community, often are held back from doing so because they were not given the same knowledge or resources as others. My goal is to break the stigma of mental illness, poverty, and addiction and be an advocate for these children who deserve a fair shot. No one should have to crawl from the depths of hell just to see a glimpse of water, while others are bountifully bathing in it." What are your career and life goals after you graduate? "After graduation, my hopes are to enter a case management position. I want to spend my career helping ensure that a person's circumstances do not determine the limits of their future. My mind thrives on what others find boring and meticulous. My soul is a mere spreadsheet, organized on the daily. I have always believed my purpose on this earth was to make beauty out of the mundane & ordinary. I would love to help find financial resources for those in poverty, special educational programs for those with mental and learning disabilities, & community engagement that will support the unsupported and connect our community instead of divide it even further."
Congratulations and good luck in the future, Harley! To learn more about scholarships offered through the Foundation, visit www.cfcrawford.org/scholarships |
