Each 2-5 paragraphs

Short Biography (include your hometown, chosen educational institution and field of study). Highlight areas such as your academic, extracurricular and community service accomplishments, any part time jobs, travel or hobbies that may relate to your career goals, as well as obstacles already overcome in pursuit of your goals.

For the purpose of this narrative, I googled myself and found out my namesake, Sherman Paul (age 74), was a literary scholar who wrote studies of Emerson, Thoreau, and other American writers. In addition to this he also served in the Army Air Force (1942-1946) and earned the Carver Distinguished Professor of English; Wow, what a life! I then wondered what sets me apart from him or anyone else. I've been told I am gregarious and a great pal. I love going out bowling or playing mini golf with my close friends. I live for family game nights, cooking, and being a great big brother. But if there is one thing you must you know about me, it is that I am very diligent. I may not be that super smart kid with perfect ACT scores or the best writing skills, but I outwork most teens when it comes to my ambitions. I believe this scholarship was created for hard-working individuals like me who strive to be well-rounded and successful.
My primary goal is to graduate in the top 10 of my class. To achieve this, I modified my class schedule to include Dual Credit Economics, Advanced Placement Chemistry, Advanced Placement English IV, and Pre-Calculus Honors. This was hard to manage as I had just landed a job at Subway. I anticipated working only 10 hours a week. Instead, I worked five days, 25 hours a week. Many nights I went to bed at 3:30 a.m. after doing my homework, leaving me just a few hours of sleep before waking at 6:30 a.m. I didn’t expect this type of workload for my senior year but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to achieve a goal.
As an athlete, I’ve learned the importance of being 100% astute, both mentally and physically. If either of these attributes is missing, performance may suffer. When deciding my career path, I wanted to stay involved in sports in order to help others cope and overcome adversities they may face in life. With this in mind, I want to attend a university with not only a great Kinesiology and Clinical Psychology program but also skilled professors who can mentor me through internships or externships. I would like to branch off into fields such as physical therapy, exercise and sports science, or behavioral counseling. When researching the schools to attend in the fall all of these ideas were taken into consideration. With this scholarship, I can find a university that has an intimate student-to-faculty ratio. I would like to attend a school where I'm not just a number but someone who can make a positive impact. This idea motivated me to aggressively apply to over 20 colleges. Yes, I know this is a lot, but I believe a college education is a worthy investment. Finance guru Dave Ramsey once said, "Today, live like no one else, so tomorrow you can live like no one else." What teen talks like this? Me, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. After countless hours of discussing it with my parents and weighing pros and cons the institution I want to attend in the fall is Texas State University.
With all that I have achieved, it may seem as if it has been easy pickings but I’ve been faced with many trials and struggles along the way. There have been plenty of setbacks. At the beginning of my sophomore basketball season, I had dreams of making the Varsity team. I worked harder than anyone else in the off-season. I practiced twice a day and even met with the coach for one-on-one guidance. I felt I deserved to be on the team. So when the coach put me on the Junior Varsity team, I was devastated. I was brought to tears by feelings of failure, sorrow and anger. I felt as if all my hard work had been for nothing. Later on I had a talk with my coach, and he explained how