I have had many leadership opportunities throughout my life, one of which I am very grateful to receive was being selected to be a Residential Community Mentor (RCM) at Clemson University. I was given training and real-life experiences in professionally solving interpersonal issues during this role. This, in turn, has instilled confidence in me, strengthened my leadership and conflict management skills, improved my understanding of interpersonal issues, and taught me how to approach a situation with active listening and an unbiased mindset. In the situation presented, with continuous and escalating arguments at the workplace, I would fall back on the training experiences I was given. I would take the first step of verbally calming the situation down. Following that, I would separate both persons and allow them to explain their sides of the situation one-on-one to ensure I understand the situation fully and have as many details as possible. If persons not involved nearby or who knew of the escalated conflict, I would gather their statements about the presented issue by having them recount what was going on to prevent as much bias as possible. After the situation has been calmed down, if the persons in conflict can be around one another, I would mediate a conversation between the involved persons. During the mediation, I would keep all conversations civil, promote ideas to solve the conflicts, and have them consider the other person's viewpoint. If the persons could not be in the same room in a productive manner, I would have each person brainstorm, separately with me, drawing conclusions about solutions to the issue and work with both persons to implement said ideas. After the initial conflict has been handled, it is essential to follow through with the solutions discussed, so I would supervise and ensure the start and follow-up of the solutions are occurring. I would help immediately after the conflict and continue to check in at later times to see how the solution that has been agreed upon is working. As time passes, I would check in with each person involved, separately, to ensure they feel the issues have been resolved. I would follow up with any persons whose statement was taken during the initial stage of gathering information, so they can confirm that each person is honestly doing better and the number of conflicts has been eliminated or significantly reduced. If the solution implemented is working, I would continue to follow up with increasing increments of time between check-ups until it is no longer needed. If the solution implemented does not work, I would brainstorm more solutions with the involved persons to find one that they feel would work better. I would then repeat the follow-up steps until the involved persons feel a correct and beneficial solution has been reached.

When I was little I always loved animals, science, and math, when I got to learn something new involving one of those things at school, my parents would never hear the end of it. I continue to love all of those things to this day, my love of learning plays a major part in who I am. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my interests when I was little, they all seemed so random, but after my dog, Skylar, got diagnosed with cancer. I decided I wanted to become a veterinarian, so I could help prevent things such as that in the future. I remember walking into the examination room with my dad, I was maybe eight or nine years old at the time and I was so excited because I had just got to pet a cute dog out in the lobby while waiting to be called back. Once we had gotten into the room the veterinarian came in and started talking to us while examining Skylar. After Skylar had gotten her blood drawn and examined I remember the vet coming back into the room to deliver the terrible news. I had no clue what was going on, all I knew is that one minute I was sitting on the floor next to Skylar playing and talking to her, and the next I look up to see my dad crying, it was the first time I had truly seen him cry. So naturally, I asked him what was wrong and it was his turn to tell me the bad news. I remember sitting in shock on the car ride home very silent, holding Skylar close to me with her head sticking out the window and tongue dangling out of her mouth while she enjoyed the car ride. When we got home my dad told my mom and then called my twin sister and younger brother downstairs to tell them. I remember us kids taking hundreds of pictures with her and taking her to get chocolate ice cream on the last day. After that dreadful visit to the vet where we had found out Skylar's fate, I decided I didn't want to have any other little kids see their parents cry and I would do anything I could to prevent that, so that day I decided that I wanted to become a veterinarian. After our first year without her and a lot of tears shed, my family and I got a cute little puppy and a year after that my youngest brother came into the world. We named the puppy Kira and that solidified my resolve to become a veterinarian because I don't want anything to happen to her. I have wanted to become a veterinarian ever since that day because I want to help animals and their owners stay connected for as long as possible. I want to be able to put my love for math and science and animals to use and make a difference in the world. Even if it is a small difference, I want to be able to help both people and animals experience joy, friendship, and love. Because everyone loves their pets, they are a part of our families and without them, our lives would be drastically different. The idea that I can help ease an animal's pain or prevent it all together and make people happy all while doing what I love is what has inspired me. I feel like by pursuing this pathway I can leave my mark on the world and make it a much better place.

When I was little I always loved animals, science, and math, when I got to learn something new involving one of those things at school, my parents would never hear the end of it. I continue to love all of those things to this day, my love of learning plays a major part in who I am. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my interests when I was little, they all seemed so random, but after my dog, Skylar, got diagnosed with cancer. I decided I wanted to become a veterinarian, so I could help prevent things such as that in the future. I remember walking into the examination room with my dad, I was maybe eight or nine years old at the time and I was so excited because I had just got to pet a cute dog out in the lobby while waiting to be called back. Once we had gotten into the room the veterinarian came in and started talking to us while examining Skylar. After Skylar had gotten her blood drawn and examined I remember the vet coming back into the room to deliver the terrible news. I had no clue what was going on, all I knew is that one minute I was sitting on the floor next to Skylar playing and talking to her, and the next I look up to see my dad crying, it was the first time I had truly seen him cry. So naturally, I asked him what was wrong and it was his turn to tell me the bad news. I remember sitting in shock on the car ride home very silent, holding Skylar close to me with her head sticking out the window and tongue dangling out of her mouth while she enjoyed the car ride. When we got home my dad told my mom and then called my twin sister and younger brother downstairs to tell them. I remember us kids taking hundreds of pictures with her and taking her to get chocolate ice cream on the last day. After that dreadful visit to the vet where we had found out Skylar's fate, I decided I didn't want to have any other little kids see their dad cry and I would do anything I could to stop that, so I decided that I wanted to become a vet. After our first year without her and a lot of tears shed, my family and I got a cute little puppy and a year later my other brother came into the world. We named the puppy Kira and that solidified my resolve to become a veterinarian because I don't want anything to happen to her. I have wanted to become a veterinarian ever since that day because I want to help animals and their owners stay connected for as long as possible. I want to be able to put my love for math and science and animals to use and make a difference in the world. Even if it is a small difference, I want to be able to help both people and animals experience joy, friendship, and love. Because everyone loves their pets, they are a part of our families and without them, our lives would be drastically different. The idea that I can help ease an animal's pain or prevent it all together and make people happy all while doing what I love is what has inspired me to pursue a career in the STEM pathway. I feel like by pursuing this pathway I can leave my mark on the world.