“I am writing you to thank you for the extremely generous $5,400.00 Rita Benford Sampson Memorial Scholarship fund. I am extremely grateful to be the recipient of your scholarship.

I have lived in different parts of Amarillo, Texas. from the south side at Gene Howe Elementary School to where I graduated on the north side at River Road High School. I come from a split family, where my brother and I lived with my mother until I was 11 years old. After that my brother moved in with my father, and from that time forward, I lived with my mother and stepfather. Once I graduated from River Road High School, I enrolled at Amarillo College, where I graduated with my Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice. During my time at Amarillo College, I was working part time while enrolled as a full time student to help pay for college. Now I am a senior at West Texas A&M University and I will be graduating in December of 2023.

I am a Criminal Justice major focusing on policing. I am pursuing a career as a Texas Game Warden and I will be applying to the Texas Game Warden Academy this fall. In an effort to stand out in this very competitive career field, I have completed over 100 ride-along hours with the game wardens and I have also volunteered with two different organizations. One of the organizations I volunteered for was the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where I helped take care of wounded wild animals and also picked up and released them. I also volunteered for Texas Parks and Wildlife where I helped out at kid fish events to teach young children how to fish and how to enjoy the outdoors. By doing this I was able to achieve a job offer as a Texas Game Warden Intern during the 2022 summer. This was a very sought-after internship and only 12 students across the state received the job offer.

Receiving this scholarship is a tremendous honor, and it will help my family and me greatly with the financial aspect of college. I have always worked a part-time job in order to help my parents pay for my college and your generous scholarship will relieve us from the burden of worrying."