The Dream Scholarship - Essay

​Hello, friends! I applied for the Umass Dartmouth Dream Scholarship. The scholarship requires students to write about their dream, how they will achieve it, and how the scholarship will help. Below, I have listed my essay. Enjoy!
 
 
The Dream Scholarship Essay - Samantha Gottlich
Neon platform shoes, bedazzled feather boas, gaudy jewelry; if you asked six-year-old me “what do you want to be when you grow up”, the answer was clear. I wanted to be in fashion. In high school, I was known for my towering high heels, voted “Best Dressed” in our yearbook, and the paper wrote articles stating “Gottlich: Dressed to Express”. But there was one issue that kept me from sprinting into the world of professional runway modeling. “Too fat. Too short.” For years, I tried to decipher who created the rules and regulations on what was considered beautiful and acceptable. As junior year began, I started my initial marketing positions and I envisioned my future. I dreamt of being a key asset to a marketing team of a company that produces campaigns that empower men and women to embrace their appearances while selling great products.
As a society, we are constantly engrossed and influenced by advertising. I want to produce advertising that shows consumers everyone is beautiful, no exceptions. A dream like this is not too far off, companies such as Aerie has ditched airbrush in their advertisements. I believe advertisement can change towards including heavier bodies, frequently including Muslim and Indian women, and showing handicap consumers as the “new norm”. I believe in my dream of revolutionizing the advertising industry because I believe everyone is beautiful and seeing advertising that are more diverse will make society less judgmental and more accepting. People will be happier and full of self-love and eating disorders will lessen if they see that they are accepted and loved. Representation matters and advertising is everywhere.
I have been pushing myself to work in professional marketing settings and internships since high school due to my dream. Currently, I run a Facebook page titled “Beyoutiful – the Positive Campaign” and I will continue to spread the body positive and self-love through images and videos. I will continue moving up the latter in marketing through more positions and internships until the day I can begin my career. From there, I will push and create advertising campaigns that have models and actors that are diverse. I will continue fighting to produce and air campaigns that are inclusive until the day news outlets and people alike are praising the company’s bold campaigns.
The scholarship will help me achieve my dream more than I can say in 500 words. I am a first generation college student and I had to leave my previous school due to not being able to afford it after the price rise. I thought my dreams were done until I found Umass Dartmouth. The scholarship will allow me to continue learning which will allow me to continue working in marketing which will allow me to someday reach my dream of revolutionizing the advertising industry. I am passionate and I adore learning, marketing, and positively influencing others. If I am given this scholarship, someday soon the advertising industry will flip and a radical body positive revolution will begin!