Demonstrate that you meet or exceed your program's current minimum academic standards. This is a prerequisite for consideration. Optional Criteria (Choose at least one to address in your essay): Overcoming Hardships: Detail any academic or personal challenges you have faced and successfully overcome. Describe how these experiences have shaped your academic journey and personal growth. Scholarly Excellence: Highlight your academic achievements, research contributions, or any scholarly work that reflects your commitment to your field of study. Leadership Experience and Potential: Share examples of your leadership roles, initiatives you've spearheaded, or ways in which you've positively influenced others. Reflect on how these experiences demonstrate your leadership potential. Advocacy for Social Justice: Explain your involvement in social justice causes, including any activism, volunteer work, or projects aimed at making a societal impact. Financial Need: If choosing to address this criterion, provide a clear and compelling explanation of your financial situation and why you require scholarship support. Include any relevant personal or family financial challenges, your efforts to secure funding, and how this scholarship would alleviate financial burdens. In your essay, begin with a brief overview of your academic qualifications to satisfy the mandatory criterion. Then, choose one or more of the optional criteria to focus on in your essay. Your personal statement should offer a narrative of who you are as a scholar and individual, describing how your experiences, achievements, and circumstances make you an ideal candidate for the Encouraging Graduate Academic Progress Scholarship.