City Girl to a Two light stop town

Greetings, my name is Triniti Charles. I am entering my sophomore year at Sterling College, majoring Health Science, and minoring in communications and coaching. I chose these particular topics to study in based on my passions in sports, and personal research. I am on the Women’s Basketball Team at Sterling College, and this is my story on how I ended up in a small town called Sterling, Kansas.

In my senior year of high school my father was laid off on October 26, 2018 in the middle of my senior year and basketball season. I knew then that this unfortunate circumstance could be the turning point of our lives. I offered to quit the team and get a job to help support my family, but they knew that the passion and joy that I had for basketball was unlike any other so they told me no and to finish out my senior year and enjoy myself. In addition, most of my “friends” began to avoid me because they knew I would not have a ride, gas money, or money in general to go out. I found myself stressed and depressed. I thought was losing everything. My thoughts began to manifest, and all I could think was, “why me? what did my family and I do to deserve this?” We attended church every Sunday. From there I became angry, angry with the world, coaches, teachers, and students because they did not know my situation and they could not help me. Our family sacrificed so much for countless people and here we are struggling to make ends meet.

One day, I received a text message from a close friend who I had not heard from since their graduation in 2017. He saw my team and I on the news and decided to reach out. He then asked me if I have any scholarship offers, and I told him yes. “Where from?” he asked. I finally could not keep up my front, “I have no scholarship offers, but I plan on walking on a team.” The next day, I received a phone call from the Women’s Head Coach of Sterling College, KC Bassett, offering me a spot on the team to play college basketball. A few months later, I went on a visit with my family and signed to be apart of the Lady Warrior family and Sterling community. Now, I am apart of countless amounts of clubs and attained leadership roles. I am very excited to be a part of this campus and community, but due to our financial status I may not be able to return. Receiving this scholarship will help with cost.