Fall 2026 Winner of the Conflict Conqueror Scholarship

Haylee Light

Haylee, a college freshman studying Exercise Science at Hardin-Simmons University, is the Fall 2026 recipient of the firm’s Conflict Conqueror Scholarship. She writes about the adversity she faced throughout her childhood and how the family support she received and the personal growth she achieved helped her improve her mental health and academic performance.

Read Their Essay Here:

Growing up in a household of separated parents and substance abuse, I developed an understanding of conflict on the battlefields at a very young age. I grew up in an unsuitable environment full of drugs and alcohol. This within itself was a conflict that I was too young to deal with on my own. My parents got divorced when I was just over two-years-old. I lived with my mom, Allie, while my dad was forced to work extra after she kicked him out. She used to use me to get extra money from my dad for her own benefit. This was an issue that occurred quite frequently. Anytime that I did even the smallest of things, I would end up getting disciplined. Instead of being disciplined in a healthy manner, I was constantly being yelled at for any and everything. There were even days when I had to skip school due to having bruises and handprints on me in places like my back, face, leg and more. I would be punished for things that either Allie, my brothers, or their dad, Blake, did.

At the young age of four, Allie had placed a deadbolt outside on my door. She would use this to keep me in my room to keep me out of her area while her and her then current husband drank and did whatever else. The days after their drinking nights, I was in charge of cleaning up their messes left behind. This continued until I was around the age of eight. Allie had moved to South Carolina and left me and my brothers with our ill grandmother, and our great aunt. She did not say her goodbyes to us before she left. At this point, she was going through her fourth divorce with the same man, and she was moving in with her boyfriend in a beach house in Charleston.

Once, she came to visit and I told her that I missed her and I was crying to the point my eyes felt like they would fall out. She took me with her, causing me to miss school. I was staying in a house full of alcohol and drug abuse. No child should be exposed to that environment. The more that I was introduced to this atmosphere, the more I was affected personally. Allie was so consumed by these addictions that she would choose them over her own family.

As I got older, I continued to struggle mentally. By the time I was 10, Allie got arrested and I was told by my great aunt that I had to keep it a secret. My entire family lied to me, stating that if I told anyone about the absence of my mother, then I would never be able to see anyone from that side of the family. I believed this lie, and I lied to my brothers. Every “Haylee, Where’s Mom?” a lie fell from my mouth. It was always “She’s at work”, or “She’s out with her friends.” I only told one person and that was my friend. Someone overheard me telling my friend about my situation, and I started to be made fun of by other students, saying that I would end up like her. But I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because I was scared that I’d get in trouble for talking about my predicament.

One night I was struggling with personal conflict. I called my friend Brynn, whom I had met while visiting my dad here in Texas leading to our parents becoming close, about everything that was going on not knowing that she had her phone on speaker. After her parents heard me tell Brynn everything from the past few months. Her parents then told my dad and after much guidance and praying, he took action to get me out of that environment. The day that my dad had traveled all the way from Texas to Georgia to get me, no one had any clue that he was there until he was 10 minutes away from my aunt's house, that way they couldn’t hide me away from him. I was in ballet practice for the Cinderella ballet, and one of my friends in the same dance number as me came up to me and told me “Haylee, your dad is here and needs to talk to you.” I thought to myself that my dad shouldn’t be there; it was only October and I didn’t get to see him until December. When I saw Blake standing beside my dance teacher my heart dropped and I started crying. I was scared that I was in trouble and that he was going to hurt me. As we left he was telling me that my dad was also at our “house” and when I got inside I needed to pack. I slept in the back room which was an open area with no doors and no privacy. While packing, I could hear my great aunt and Blake arguing back and forth about how they had failed and how they would never see me again. This made leaving harder.

After moving to Texas and living with my dad and my stepmom, who I now proudly call my mom, my mental state disintegrated to the point of crying at any little mood shift. Additionally, I was consistently lying and I was never satisfied with anything I ever did. I always thought that I was never enough. I was consistently hurting myself, wishing that I wasn’t alive. Allie would send me letters, she would talk about how once she got out of jail I would come back to her and I’d be her little girl again. Each letter I cried to, having the thought that I had let her down.

It took time, but the more that I connected with my dad and mom, the less mentally conflicted I was. My mom told me that even if I don’t feel like talking to her or my dad, that I still need to still communicate to someone about my feelings. In recent events, me and Allie had a falling out in which I voiced my thoughts and needs without fear of her belittling me. I went from failing all of my classing and almost being held back in second grade, to having an unweighted GPA of 3.8. I have grown in telling the truth and my ability to have a more positive mindset to understand that not everything is my fault, and if it is, then I can learn from my mistakes.