I can not express how grateful and honored I am to be a recipient of the Lutzie 43 Foundation’s 2023  Prepared for Life (PFL) Scholarship. I want to thank every person who went into making this scholarship possible and for bestowing the honor on me to be a recipient of it. For the entirety of my life, I have been an Auburn fan. Growing up I went to all of the football games, including the years that Philip Lutzenkirchen played for the Auburn Tigers. Philip’s name was well-known and loved around our house as we watched him play throughout his four short years at Auburn. Now getting the opportunity to be an Auburn student myself, it makes getting this scholarship even more meaningful and humbling. I now get to tread in the same places that Philip himself did and hope that I can make an impact on the Auburn community just as he did. 

This scholarship has brought so much comfort to me and my family as it is taking some of the financial burden off of our shoulders. I am attending Auburn University to obtain a major in Nursing and a minor in Human Development and Family Sciences. Having some health problems myself, I saw firsthand how nurses affect not only the patient but also that patient’s family. From a young age, I decided that I wanted to go into nursing so that I could help people just as the amazing nurses in my life had impacted me and my family. I believe that God has put me where I am and had me go through what I went through so that I could have a unique perspective to help me best serve my future patients.

Going through the Safeguarding Your Legacy Curriculum opened my eyes to so many things that I had not thought of before. I have always done my best to be the safest driver that I can be especially when hearing of circumstances of how Philip lost his life. However, some things still surprised me and made me reconsider my own safe driving habits. Now getting into my car I take my 43 Key Seconds to check and make sure I have a “Clear Head, Clear Hands, Clear Eyes and Click It” before turning the key. I not only do this when I am driving but also make sure that whoever I am riding with is being a safe driver so that we are not putting ourselves or others in danger. 

I want to once again thank the Lutzie 43 Foundation for allowing me this opportunity to receive this scholarship. I will use this and try to make my life more like Philip’s by loving and serving my community just as he did. I will also advocate for safe driving in every way possible so that fewer people will have to suffer tragic losses because of car crashes due to distracted, impaired and unsafe driving. This scholarship will better help me to “Live like Lutz, Love like Lutz, and Learn from Lutz.”