Sharon Towers Memorial Scholarship

Full Name:​ Clayton Smith

Mailing Address:​ 345 U Ave

City:​ Paton State:​ Iowa Zip: ​50217

E-Mail Address:​ claytonsmith5431@gmail.com

High School:​ Paton-Churdan Community Schools

I have been accepted at: ​Iowa State University

Anticipated Degree:​ Marketing Major and General Business Minor

I Plan to Enter College:​ August of 2019

The purpose of this scholarship is to help aid students to obtain a higher education. The recipient
receives a $2,000 scholarship to be awarded the 2​nd​ semester of their 1​st​ year of college.

Any graduating high school senior in Greene County, including Paton-Churdan and Greene
County Community School Districts, continuing their education may apply. The scholarship is
awarded and the recipient is based solely on the written essay. The decision of the Sharon
Towers Memorial Committee is final.

The essay should be a minimum of one page and must address the following: Sharon was a
prominent member of our community. Her hard work ethic and commitment to her family drove
her to achieve great things in her life. Sharon was a simple person who strived to achieve higher
goals. How will you handle future challenges in your life and how will you work to overcome
these difficulties? Include your future goals and what makes you the best candidate.
Clayton Smith

While in school, I was lucky enough to be able to know Sharon and to witness her as a
role model in our community. Sharon showed me what it means to take a difficult challenge and
to see the best through it regardless of the outcome. I have realized that everyone is going to
encounter difficult situations at some point in their life. It is not the situation that should define
you but instead the path that you take to overcome that adversity and deal with the challenges at
hand that defines your character.

To me, sports have truly shaped who I am and is one of the main reasons I have worked
so hard throughout my high school career. I have had to overcome some of my own life
challenges through my sports career that have defined me today. One example of this would be
during my junior of year, when I was overlooked as being a strong asset to the football team. I
continued to work hard at what I loved to do. Even though I knew I wouldn’t make the varsity
starting team. A few weeks into the season, my hard work paid off and I was given an
opportunity to fill in at a starting position. This gave me the chance to show off all of my hard
work and dedication to the game I love. With this opportunity, also came many challenges.
Midway through the season, I remember hearing a loud pop in my knee and felt a pain I had
never felt before when I stood up from a tackle. What I did not realize was that I had torn my
meniscus and some cartilage in my knee. Despite my injury and continual pain, I continued to
play on my knee for the rest of the football season. I could have given up the moment I got hurt,
but I knew that giving up would have been the easy option. I told myself that my team needed
me and I needed to continue to prove to my coaches that I was an important part of the team. To
me, giving up never seemed like an option.

After the football season was over, I had to make the difficult choice to either sit out
basketball which I equally love or have the surgery I knew I would need. Although I continued to
be in pain, I decided to play every game as hard as I could, showing my passion for the sport and
not letting my team down. Half way through the basketball season, I had finally went to the
doctors and got an MRI, it was at this point that my family decided that I would have to have the
surgery as soon as basketball was over. This was another extremely difficult decision as I knew I
would have to work twice as hard to get healthy for the baseball season and that I would have to
Clayton Smith

miss spring baseball which was my chance to prove my worth to a new coach.

To me this was a year long difficult situation that molded part of who I am. While I have
watched other teammates and classmates in the same situations, give up and quit because it was
too much for them, I knew that was not who I wanted to be. To me, never giving up, working
even harder to accomodate my injury, and to make the best of the situation showed others to
persevere through life’s challenges. I not only proved to others that it could be done but I proved
this to myself and that felt great. The following year, my hard work had paid off as I was not
only chosen as a member of our football leadership team, I was chosen as a co-captain of our
team and I earned the Ben Carmen Hardest Working Ram Award postseason. It was then that I
realized that I had successfully overcome a potential roadblock and I had set the stage for the rest
of my life.

While my achievements through sports have been rewarding and it has been great to
model this mindset, I also realized that it is also important to give back to my school and
community and to help others that may be facing hardships. I wanted to help those in need, as
well as, support those who are unable to do things on their own. Though I did not really know
how or what I was going to do to help in my communities I figured out along the way.

My sophomore year of high school, I was inducted into our National Honor Society thus
giving me a way to help in my community. Through NHS the last three years, every Friday
during the school year we make and pack what we call “Rocket Packs.” These Rocket Packs are
large bags of food that we give to kids at our school to take home that may be food insecure or
might be struggling to keep afloat. These kids are so happy and grateful to take home these pack
and it makes me feel great inside to be able to help those in need. This was one of my first
experiences with helping others overcome difficult situations in a different way and I knew that
more could be done so we have since also organized a money drive for cancer, organized blood
drives, volunteered at homeless shelters, and helped deliver toys through toy drives in the winter.

Another important way for me to help in my community came from my football coach
who quickly became my friend and a huge help to me in this journey to help others. With our
Coach Moore, we had made a choice to do something for our communities every weekend and
Clayton Smith

even sometimes on the weekdays. Many of us started to do things like coach youth basketball,
youth baseball, youth football, and even referee the same sports at times. While helping these
kids it made my day seeing them so happy and to know that they looked up to us. They loved
that we had showed up to help them, as well as, hangout with them. Besides helping with youth
sports, we became committed to helping surrounding communities, as well. These activities
included town clean up days, fixing up homes, raking yards, helping people move things in and
out of houses, helping with ragbrai and other town events, as well as many more activities. All of
these community service experiences, not only gave me pride in my community but also showed
me that sometimes giving back to others and helping them overcome challenges can give you the
strength to overcome your own, if needed.

I know that I will face other difficult situations in my life but my experiences in high
school this far have shown me that I can tackle anything with hard work, a positive attitude, and
the ability to never give up. Next year I plan to attend Iowa State University and major in
Business and Marketing. After college, I hope to have a career that continues to allow me to
work towards my life goals of having a successful career while also being an important part of
my community. I feel as though I am the best candidate for the Sharon Towers Memorial
Scholarship because I try to live with the same principles that she lived by in her daily life. I
have worked hard and shown others that giving up is never an option even when things are out of
our control. I am not afraid to show that faith, family, and my community are all important parts
of my life and it is these things that will continue to support me through those difficult
challenges that are sure to come my way.