Scholarship Application
Previous Essay Winners
Carys Collin
I have had many amazing mentors and teachers that have helped me to achieve my goals. My first hearing support teacher, Ms. Carol Mantsch, helped me from the very beginning of my journey with my cochlear implants and made listening and speaking fun. Dr. DeVita Jones, my first grade teacher at Devon Elementary, taught me to believe in myself and my abilities and to always strive for success. Ms. Christine Shanley, my hearing support teacher at Conestoga, supported me as I planned for post-high school life and always went above and beyond to help me to find opportunities to grow. The last teacher I would like to thank is Mr. David Anderson, my junior year AP Government teacher, who taught me the value of a strong work ethic.
During high school I was involved in:
Conestoga High School Varsity Swim Team (Freshman-Senior)
Phoenixville YMCA Club Swim Team 12+ years
Conestoga High School Cross Country (Junior-Senior)
National Honors Society
National Art Honors Society (officer position: Parliamentarian)
Eastown Library Volunteer supporting the Summer Reading Program
Lifeguard at Waynesborough Country Club (4 years)
I will be studying International Business in the Honors College of The University of South Carolina beginning in the fall of 2024. I have chosen this major because I am interested in business economics, global workforces, and the intersection of supply chains across countries. Within this major, I will continue my study of languages and use these skills in my planned study abroad.
Shane Tyree
Shane Tyree is graduating from Downingtown West High School. After High School he’s going to college at
Delaware County Community College for Baking & Pastry Arts.
He would like to thank his teachers/mentors Angela Kottmeyer, Chef Emily Landis, and his hearing support teacher
Robyn Evert. Throughout his highschool career Mrs. Kottmeyer helped him find his passion for food during his Junior year.
As for Chef Landis, she helped him learn a lot of things such as new skills and boosting his confidence level in the industry.
Mrs. Evert helped him with his hearing goals throughout his Senior year and would like to thank her for it.
As well as giving him the opportunity to participate in this scholarship.
Shane was born with mild-moderate bi-lateral sensorineural hearing loss but has a passion for baking.
He would like to own a cafe or bakery in the future. He likes to bake at home for fun and for his family as well as baking for
family events and parties. The more he does it the more fun he gains. His first dessert he ever made was
vanilla creme brulee. He would make it a lot and his family enjoyed it. Ever since then, he learned how to make bigger
and better desserts and plans on baking them in the future.


Emily Reester - 2020 Essay
What would you like the world to know about you?
We are born with five senses: sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell.
To everyone around me, I look just like everybody else, but if you look close enough at my ears, I’m not.
Day in and day out, I wake up and the first thing I reach for are my hearing aids, sitting on my nightstand.
I do not have normal hearing like everyone else, and this has defined me.
It is no joke: it is not easy being able to hear everyday. It took a long time for me to be comfortable with who I am,
accept my reality, and embrace it; once I did these things, my hearing loss empowered my every moment. It is something
beautiful, something positive and influential, and I want to share this light with the world.
I like to look back and think about the small moments that have shaped me into who I am today. To me, it is the
small moments that count like the time I was first able to introduce myself, my disability, and my accommodations
comfortably to a teacher; the time I could comfortably respond when kids in school pointed to my ears and asked,
“what’s that?”; the countless times I asked my friends to speak up so I could hear; and the times I repeatedly asked
my dance teachers to wear my bluetooth microphone, even when they replied no. Moments like these, where I accept
and embrace my reality, have strengthened my courage and advocacy.
In the summer of 2018, I proposed a panel to the Alexander Graham Bell Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing’s National Convention, and my proposal was accepted. I collaborated with one of my best friends — who
is completely deaf — and we presented our stories about living with hearing loss. As I was sharing my story with strangers
— people like parents of hearing impaired children and hearing loss support teachers — they were eager to listen; they
wanted to soak up the significant moments from my life. They asked the types of questions you cannot find answers to in
a book, and I was able to talk with and help them to the best of my ability. A mother of a hearing
impaired daughter of my age asked about our methods of advocating for ourselves in the school environment.
I told her and the whole audience about how I work to meet my teachers every year prior to the first day of school
to introduce myself, my story, and my accommodations. I shared that it was not easy to find the courage to advocate
for myself, but I surrounded myself with people who were always kind and encouraging. As we talked, I saw the tense
shoulders of mothers of hearing impaired children lower and the worried creases on their foreheads lessen.
I saw light bulbs go off for hearing loss support teachers who gave affirming nods to every response.
By the end of our panel, I realized something that I will always keep with me: I was a light of hope for these people,
living proof that we have no limitations in life.
Reflecting on the convention later in the year, I remembered the signs of relief in the parents and the support from
the teachers. Therein lies the positive influence I set out to achieve; I saw a beautiful change in the outlook of my audience.
This was only the beginning of a journey to forever release the light that is my disability. It differentiates me from everyone:
it has empowered me, pushed me to find myself, and will continue to propel me to the best version of me.
Emily Reester

Jennifer Castillo 2021 Essay
My Journey as Trilingual Deaf Student
Jennifer Castillo
November 23, 2020
My Journey as Trilingual Deaf Student
Working twice as hard as everyone can be overwhelming, especially if you are like me. Everyone has their own
unique background; but mine isn't as simple as most. I am Mexican-American and I am deaf. I was born deaf
and raised in a Hispanic household where I struggled to learn Spanish and English with my limited hearing. I first
learned English Sign Language then American Sign Language. In my Hispanic household where my parents
could not help with my homework, projects, or applying to colleges, I had to learn to be independent from an early
age and help my parents translate information in languages I struggled to understand. I do not blame my parents for
not helping me, they worked so hard to provide for me and my family. I had to work twice as hard to make my
parents proud and make me feel satisfied with my achievements. I will be the first person to go to college in my family.
I have been the first person to do many essential things in my family.
My hearing loss currently presents as a bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss. This means that without
amplification, I do not have access to auditory information. When I was five years old, my hearing began to get
worse and hearing aids alone were no longer benefiting me. I was recommended to look into cochlear implants.
My parents decided that I would have surgery on one ear when I was seven years old. Due to my
late access to sound, I’ve learned everything late unlike my peers who began to talk at 2 years old.
My implant was successful, and I was able to make my way through life and school, catching up
and determined to always do my best. Throughout school I needed many accommodations to be
successful and access the auditory information in my classrooms. I was pulled out for multiple services
including speech therapy and hearing support. During these services I would not only work on my
articulation and auditory skills, I also received extensive academic support.
Previewing and reviewing classroom material helped me hear, understand, and learn. I was always being
pulled out of class, the center of attention, and missing fun activities. I felt like an outcast, but I know how
hard I worked and how far I came.
A decade later I was faced with the decision to get a second cochlear implant on my own. After much
deliberation I decided to get the surgery because I wanted to experience how it worked. I had no memories
of my previous experience with my first cochlear implant surgery. Having one cochlear implant was adequate,
but I have learned to never settle and always push myself further. My goal was to influence the younger generation
so they know that they can achieve anything. I was inspired by my two younger cousins who happen to
both have cochlear implants. I may have cochlear implants on me, but it does not mean I do not want
to be deaf. I still identify myself as being Deaf and am proud of who I am and what I have accomplished.
In my world, I see both perspectives on how things work. In the hearing world, people should not treat those with
hearing loss differently. They should also learn sign language like other foreign languages in high school
to spread awareness and help others in the world. In the deaf world, we struggle to communicate with the
rest of society. We have limited opportunities because people do not think we are capable of doing anything.
Many hearing people think we cannot do normal things. I can do normal things, it's just that I cannot hear on my
own. I work two jobs, I am captain of the track & field team at my high school, I teach an ASL club, and do well in school.
Having hearing loss has been an obstacle in my life, but an obstacle that I have overcome and will continue to overcome.
It has not kept me from accomplishing my goals and I want others with hearing loss to know that there is nothing that can
stop us.