Imagine that you are applying for an Excelsior College Alumni Scholarship.  You will write an essay that not only describes yourself and your educational and career goals but applies what you learned in Module 5 on persuasive writing to convince the Alumni Scholarship Selection Committee that you should be the individual chosen for the scholarship being offered. (Note: Because this is a persuasive essay, it is preferred that you use first person language for this writing style.)

For this assignment you will compose an essay by going through the writing process step-by-step to develop your final reflective essay paper. 
Your paper should include the following elements, with are each explained fully in at least one well-developed paragraph.

Introduction: Provide a short introductory paragraph/thesis statement. In this paragraph, introduce yourself as a student and professional (or new professional) to the reader. For example, share your degree program and area of study/interest, and how long youve been in school. You might also share what you are currently doing for work, for how long, etc.  In your introduction refer to why you are writing the essay and offer a summary statement as to why you should receive the scholarship.

Goals: What are your career and/or future educational goals? How will your degree help you with your career, educational, or personal goals?

Challenges Overcome: What challenges did you face in going back to school or being successful in school?  What strategies did you use to overcome these challenges?

Benefits of Scholarship: Describe how an Excelsior scholarship would be helpful to you with your current degree program or a future program.  Here you want to be convincing as to why you should receive the scholarship above other applicants.   

Conclusion: Provide a persuasive concluding paragraph that shares what you have learned about yourself through writing this essay, why you think you would be a qualified recipient for a scholarship and your vision for the future after earning your degree.