Applicant #9: Kennadya Rodgers-Grundhauser

Kennadya Rodgers-Grundhauser is a 23-year-old from St. Louis.

Kennadya's video application:

Kennadya online:

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Kennadya's current situation:

I am currently in pursuit of an Engineering degree. Although I am pretty sure of which direction I should pursue within engineering, I think other opportunities come along that interest me outside of my career. I am a promotional model/ brand ambassador. In this field of work I interact with new people on a daily basis. I am a very inquisitive person and passionate about things dear to me. I am a firm supporter of Breast Cancer so I always represent the cause with a pin, bracelet or even a ribbon in my hair. I am a strong minded individual who knows the difference between when it is time to lead and when it’s time to stand down and learn so that I can lead. To my girls scouts I am know as Ms. Nadya but to you I want to be known as your Young & Free St Louis Spokes model.

Kennadya's blog post:

What the future holds for my generation?

I feel like the future holds a vast amount of opportunities for our generation, many of which we do not and are not taking advantage of. I think that we it are losing out in a many ways than one. I feel as though if we were to actually take time to think, read, socialize and network on the things that we want to become in life, we would realize that we ourselves are the only people that can take us to that place of triumph, at the pace we want to go. In life I have heard the saying “it is not who you are, it is who you know”, but I feel like that saying is now to the point of being non-existent as this is becoming a world of “what you know”.

Education is the key to success whether we would like to believe it or not. Some people luck out and become famous and gain success and those are the ones we look up to but, they still are educated whether they did it formally in a College/ University or at home sitting in the front of the computer READING all day. This generation to me is more focused on materialistic things and what we want now and how quick we can get it. We do not stop to think about our futures or what we want later in life. I feel like our generation is one that is not fully prepared for the unexpected like children or freak accidents. With this being said we are not even thinking about the long term like buying a house, car or even retirement. We do not realize that if we do not start to build a strong foundation for our futures in the present, it may not be able to withstand the storms we are to face in the future. If you do not understand it’s kind of like the story 3 Little Pigs. You have the straw house, the stick house and the brick house. Except in this case the stick house is a wooden house.

Straw: Poor/Low Income

Sticks/Wooden House: Middle Class

Brick: Rich/Well Off

Many of us, or should I say all of us, wish that we will be in a position enabling us to live in that brick house one day, but what we do not realize is that we have to be prepared to work for it. Every decision we will make from the age of 18 or have made from that age will contribute to the living in this brick house. Although many of us will end up in the wooden house living a middle class life, which may be comfortable for some but, others will regret that they didn’t take the time and plan and invest accordingly to make it to that brick house. Another thing we have failed to realize is that some of us may end up in the straw house from poor choices, lack of planning and executing those plans. We envy the people that are born in the brick house thinking that there situations are what is going to get them where they need to go, but they too have to work to maintain that brick house.

In my growing I found that the one’s that do not have are the ones that cherish the most. They are the ones that work for what they have and feel proud and take care of it. They prepare for the tornado when there is sun outside so a little rain and thunderstorm doesn’t shake up their life. I found that when I work for something or towards something I VALUE it more because I know how hard I had to work for it.

Now tell me if you would cherish something you had to work for more or something that was given to you?

Kennadya