Sean Wallace |
By Marilee Petranovich
Representatives from Cellular One were on campus last week
to recognize UNM-Gallup nursing student Sean Wallace as the “#BeUNLIMITED
Scholarship Challenge” winner. Dominique Mayes and Dominic Vigil of
Naked Mobile presented Sean with a check for $1,000, a new cell phone and free
phone service for one year. Sean’s winning entry included an essay and a
text message that represent his philosophy on life and learning.
Sean Wallace & Cellular one team |
Sean’s text message reads “Easy is not an option.
Greatness is not a God-like feature, only the special among us will ever taste
it; it truly exists in all of us. Dreams don’t work unless you do.”
The goal of the Scholarship Challenge was to honor the hard work and
perseverance of students. In accepting the award, Sean very
eloquently acknowledged the support of his family “I wish my mom and
grandmother could be here on-campus to see me today. They are my biggest
supporters. I hope my essay and text message influence people to keep
going. “
Sean’s essay is below in its entirety.
Sean Wallace & UNM-G Nursing Staff |
Sean Wallace & UNM-G Financial Aid Officers |
“I would send the text message because I would want to
inspire at least one person to get up and do what they want to do to better
themselves. The world we live in today is hard and education is the key
to becoming successful. Everyone wants the easy way, whether it’s being
fit or good at something. Well the text message is a statement that hard
work is worth all the effort, if you just take the first step. I want
people in my community to read my message and realize it is possible and it’s
not too late to change your life for the good. Life is not easy, it’s
hard and if it’s hard, go through it with hard work and don’t let someone’s
words shape your image. The most inspiring statement I ever heard and
that is similar to my message is that, ‘the wealthiest place is the grave yard,
we won’t know what inventions or great ideas that would’ve changed people’s
lives.’ So how my message is similar is by telling people that it is
possible. You can go from bad to good; failure is what makes people smarter
and stronger. So I want whoever is going to read my message to not stop
working towards whatever dream they have because you’re tired, but to stop when
you earned it.”