2026 Scholarship Essay Contest
The attorneys at Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks, P.A., are dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of the people we represent and in the North Carolina communities we serve. In keeping with that commitment, we are pleased to announce our 2026 scholarship contest to help some deserving students in North Carolina with college education expenses.
Our law firm recognizes the importance of attaining a college education to pursuing a fulfilling career in the 21st century. We are pleased to assist. The winners will receive a total of $3,000 in scholarships.
Congratulations to Our 2026 Winners!
We’re thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s competition:
First Place: Iman Ismail
One contribution that I have made to my community is a food pantry that I have started working with my church. Every week we pass out food to people both who attend our church, and in the community surrounding the church. This food pantry is a benefit to people in the community around us because there are many homeless people living in the area surrounding our church, and having at least one guaranteed meal a week is impactful.
One of my biggest long-term goals is to continue the church ministry and be able to have the benefits reach out and bless more people outside of our small community to others such as people that don’t necessarily have a church home that they can receive these benefits from. Another long-term goal is being able to provide people with more than just breakfast food and enough food to last them until the next week of services. When the program first started, we were able to do that. We had frozen meals, meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, and all types of other food for people to take home with them. There was no limit and all of it was free, however we had to stop due to problems with our collaboration with the food market providing us with these foods.
I want to work on collaborating with another company to help us bring this back so that families in need can have guaranteed meals for the rest of their week, until they can get more. One immediate goal that I want to achieve is helping to get more of the other youth to help us with the program because I want us to still be able to continue and have multiple people available so that if some people can’t come, we’ll always have other people ready to help. This is an immediate fix because the pastor of our church is a close family friend and his children, whom me and my brothers grew up with and are extremely close to, and my brothers are already helping me and my cousin every week to pass out food to the people.
Another short-term goal that I can easily see to immediately is using the weekly church announcements so that people who ae members of the church know about it also. There are around 80 people in our church, and around 60 of them are elderly people who mostly live by themselves. Without working, some of them are living in precarious financial situations and I believe that as a church we should work together to make sure that they know they have an available way of being able to feed themselves every week. By making the people aware of the opportunity available to them, we can help give them a little more ease.
Second Place: Erik Cabrera
Both of my parents are Hispanic. My dad is from Mexico and arrived in the United States when he was 19 to work and help provide for his family back in his country. My mother is from Argentina and her family moved here when she was 15. She learned English, graduated and became a teacher to help Hispanic students and families and teach English Second Language. My parents taught me to work hard and help the community every chance I get. They are my biggest role models. Since I was little I would see them translate for people in stores, provide advice to Hispanics, and the list goes on. I am proud to be able to speak English and Spanish fluently. I am able to help newcomer students at my school and translate for them and explain class work when they need help. I also help newcomers at my school communicate with teachers.
I volunteer at the local Elementary school where my mother works, Franklin Elementary, and I am a mentor to several of her Hispanic students. Every time I go the students get so happy to see me and they see me as a role model. They always tell me they want to go to North Surry High school (the High School I attend) and play football like I do. I always tell them they can do anything they set their mind to do and if they work hard they will be able to achieve their goals. My mother tells me her students are always asking about me and want to see me. That makes me feel good about myself because I know I am making a difference and inspiring the future Hispanic generation of my small town. I also use my bilingual skills to help people when I am out and about that need help. Multiple times I helped Hispanic people that couldn’t communicate in the stores and restaurants. My dream is to go to college and become an engineer.
I want to give back to my community and continue to help Hispanic people and everyone I can. I want to continue to volunteer at churches, schools, and community events. I want to have a degree in engineering and go back to my local elementary school and show kids that everything is possible if they work hard and achieve their dreams.
Receiving this scholarship would ease the financial burden of college for my family and allow me to focus on academic success. My mother is a teacher in a public school in North Carolina and she is still paying for her college education. This scholarship would help me focus on my studies and fully commit to becoming a skilled engineer and to give back to my community as I progress toward my engineering degree.
