Mia Lemanowicz (NJ) High School Scholarship Recipient - Impactful

Standing in front of hundreds of guests, I was amidst an amazing accomplishment. This moment in time had not come easily. Auditioning for the role of giving my class speech, writing the address to graduates, and most of all, performing in front of a crowd of students, teachers, and parents was such an achievement. My heart racing, I could remember when something like this seemed an impossibility.

When I was diagnosed with delayed language development as a toddler, my mother enrolled me in Early Intervention and sought the best speech therapists in the area. After I underwent surgery at three years old, I could finally hear; but still had a huge deficit in phonemic awareness. We spent hours at our little table in the kitchen, where my mother led me through exercise after exercise in phonics. There were moments of frustration and tears. I vividly remember getting up from my chair, shouting, “It’s so unfair. My friends are playing with dolls, having tea parties and I have to sit here working! Why did this happen to me?” Wiping my tears, my mother replied, “I know this isn’t fair. You didn’t do anything to deserve this, but God has a plan. We need to work hard now so that life can be easier in the future.” Instead of being envious of others, I put in the time to attend speech sessions and work independently on my skills. And indeed, years later, that hard work paid off. My moment of standing in front of the graduation audience as I gave my class speech and embracing the feeling of accomplishment is the way I want every child to feel after hard work “back at the little table.”

My early adversity was impactful, and I will use this as a core value to guide me to pay it forward by specializing in language development and opening the door for others to achieve their dreams. I have a social responsibility to empower others to overcome challenges of their own. With your help, I will.