I from grades 6-10 volunteered at the Chatham Shark Center which is run by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, this is a center that is dedicated to helping break the fear and mystique around the Great White Shark, and helps educate the public about the efforts to protect and learn about these amazing creatures in our local oceans. It's a nonprofit organization that the center and other outside donors are helping fund. I originally was just a member of the gills club, their all-girls stem club that helps get girls interested in the science fields. I did a camp and then visited the center and started volunteering the next week. I loved seeing the fear of these mysterious creatures disappear as people learned about them, and how important they were to our ecosystem not just locally but worldwide. I did this for a long time but then I had to get a job to help my family and ensure that I was going to be able to save up for things like a car, tuition and other things such as that. While volunteering I learned that working for money is great, but you get a different form of satisfaction from being able to teach people or care for people in your free time is better, in many ways, it's more satisfying. The ability to use my knowledge on something I was very passionate about to be able to teach others and make their fear surrounding an incredible species disappear was amazing. I can imagine that once I am educated on criminal investigation and forensics more I am going to find ways to inform and educate while donating my time, I think it will be incredibly satisfying once more, just like how it was when I was younger teaching people about our local sharks and fish. I still want to continue helping and informing others in my future career. I am going to be attending school for Criminal Investigation and Forensic science, I want to use the skills I'm going to learn to help solve crimes and help make sure that the affected families can get answers. I specifically have a passion for wanting to solve cold cases, the idea of finally giving a family closure and being able to put someone who deserves to be behind bars to justice sounds amazing to me. those are the types of things that I see myself doing to help people.

I don't want to be that person who gives a stereotypical response but I guess here I am, and that's what I am doing. The book that transformed my life was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I say that because this book is what ignited my love for reading, which in some ways has become how I found what I want to do. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, people might think that it is way too advanced for a first-grader to be reading, however, I somehow got my hands on a copy. I started reading and didn't stop after that, I after finishing that first Harry Potter book got into the more age-appropriate Magic Treehouse series, I read all of those books, however after that, I seemed to fall out of reading, a lot of big changes happened in my life, we adopted my brothers and I fell into a sort of depression because of that so I stopped reading. I could notice the changes in my feelings not only because of that but also because I lost my love for reading. Then seventh grade rolled around and I once again found a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, which once again ignited my love for reading, I read not only Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but also the entire series, all within six months. After that, I read a ton more books and found that passion. When I moved to High school I joined the writing clubs, I took a whole bunch of English classes, but I got burnt out. Sometimes when you are surrounded by something you love for so long you just do. But my brain craved that entertainment and I started to binge TV shows this is how I found out I loved Forensics and criminal investigation, my passion and what I am choosing to study in college. So now instead of reading books like Harry Potter, I am reading books about crime, and people solving crimes. But if I hadn't read books at a young age and made it so that my brain needed the stimulation, who knows if I would have found my passion, something I will be studying, however, I still read like I did when I was younger. I will occasionally pick up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and reread it just to ignite that passion for books that I once so simply had.

American Teen By: Alexa Delano When did working two jobs at 19 going to college become the norm There are only 24 hours in a day Your told you need 8 hours of sleep So now there is 16 12 hours are spent working Now there is 4 4 hours for school, time for hobbies, and eating And 8 for sleep Taking into account eating, cleaning, self care those 4 hours turns into 2 2 hours to do school That schedule is not healthy That schedule is why so many people drop out That schedule is what many students are doing When did working two jobs at 19 going to college become the norm Growing up told “oh your so smart” but not smart enough for free college Growing up told “you can't get that, we need the money to get dinner” but not poor enough for free college. When did struggling to get by become the norm Growing up told “follow your brain not your heart” so that you don't struggle like your family “But I want to follow my heart” you can't do that, you won't be successful and make money “But if I follow my brain, what if it doesn't work out?” then try again find a way to make it work When did working two jobs at 19 going to college become the norm Those two jobs aren't even enough And now your failing school Achievable dreams just beyond their reach But we don't have extendable arms so that reach is just a little too far A little too far to sacrifice everything Our money Our sleep Our basic needs So our dreams become distant Those distant dreams less achievable Those dreams unachievable

The year 2022 was a big one for me, I was 18 years old trying to navigate the world as an adult and boy it was crazy. I feel as if this journey needs just a little bit of backstory just to sort of explain where this all started. I graduated high school freshly 17, and homeschooled since freshman year of high school and as much as I appreciate that as I have been able to work and learn how to be responsible in ways people my age couldn't imagine it did leave me lacking in the social interactions with people my age department. I decided on a whim to apply to something called the Disney College Program and that is where this journey of growth and let's say self-rediscovery. May-September of 2022 was the biggest few months of my 19 years so far and that is when this important, yet short journey began. I arrived in Florida and to my new apartment an anxious 18-year-old girl who had never spent more than 9 days away from home let alone lived in another state across the East Coast. I met some of the best people I have and probably will ever meet and they are still my best friends. My roommates are truly what helped me in this journey of self-discovery. I through my years have been traumatized pretty badly by some friends that I have had and I had lost all hope in making any good ones. But these three girls changed my life. I learned that you can trust people and that you can't let the people and experiences of the past ruin your future. These girls helped me in my journey to finding out exactly what I wanted to do in my life and showed me a whole new world and side of myself that was lost when I left school. I will always cherish those memories that were made. I may have been very young compared to them but I think that's what's so special to me about the relationship that we all had. I was like the little sister and they were the big sisters that growing up I always wanted. I learned how to be an adult on my own and now that I am back home and trying to figure out my next steps in life, I will always have the advice they have given me to help me grow as a person and help teach me that not all people are bad. I think that even with all of the changes that I have experienced in the past year, I will always have the things that haven't changed, I still have that anxiety and issues with a lot of people, but that doesn't scare me away from making friends or creating memories like it used to. I think that I have discovered a lot about who I am as a person and now I don't let those around me influence the things that I do. I live my life for me and I don't let anyone or anything hold me back from my dreams anymore.

I value my independence most of all. As a 19-year-old young woman who has worked since the moment I turned 14 and it was legal I became financially independent as a young teen. I think that independence in this day and age can be hard to come by. I think that my independence will be incredibly helpful as a woman going into STEM. Especially forensic science as I plan since the criminal justice system is still a male-dominated field. Independence is such an incredibly important skill when it comes to career and job advancement, as someone who has worked since 14 I have seen how the skill of independence has brought me to the places I have been. I started at a small candy store where I was very dependent on other people's direction and I notice now how that held me back from learning things. When I turned 16 I got a job at Dunkin Donuts and that is where I learned independence. I quickly learned that being able to do everything on your own is a skill that many successful people have learned how to do. At 16 I was a shift leader, and I was acting assistant manager when I was 17 and officially promoted at 18. Something that I credit to my independence that our other employees didn't have. My independence brought me to move across the country alone at 18 to work at Disney for an internship, something that I am incredibly grateful for. Everyone, there was seeking their independence by working there and helping to progress their dreams such as me. While working at Disney has absolutely nothing to do with Forensic Science or the STEM field it was an experience where I met Thousands of people a day and I was able to learn about their lives and the things that they did and that was incredible. Without independence, I would never have been able to have those experiences that I know I will forever cherish and use those skills I've learned to get me into the field of study I wish to enter. Independence is a skill that not everyone has. However, the people who have true independence seem to live happier and more successful lives as they don't depend on those around them to do their job. That is why I think independence is the most important skill that someone can have at any age. This is why I value that I have had this skill for so long, and seen how it has already helped me in my life.

A song that has an incredibly important message to me is Answer: Love Myself by BTS, this songs entire message is to love yourself. Although the lyrics are in Korean and not in English, if you look at the translated lyrics the true meaning shows itself. The song explains how having high standards for yourself and not understanding that sometimes you can't always meet those expectations isn't a bad thing. The message is to learn how to love yourself even if you make mistakes or you aren't perfect in your own eyes. That overtime you are able to learn how to love yourself mistakes and all, people aren't perfect. Everyone has this picture inside that is what we think that we need to be to make ourselves perfect in our own minds. But sometimes we can't achieve that goal we have for ourselves because it's too hard to achieve. We should always take a deep breath and just realize that we are perfect how we are and not have such high standards for ourselves.

When playing online games people oftentimes become someone who is not themself, they typically embody this brand-new online persona and forget who they are in the real world and that their actions oftentimes have real world consequences. As a frequent online gamer, I have experienced this firsthand that people become an entirely different person online. One of my best friends who I often hangout in person with is one of the sweetest people you would ever meet. However, if you get her on an online gaming platform her entire personality shifts and it's like she has a second personality. One time in particular we were all online playing a game, there were probably five or six of us at this time and all seemed to be going well until she began to lose, she got really mad and got extremely upset with one of our close friends and they fought for a while. After that confrontation online things were never the same for them in person. This happens more often than people let on and it is a tragic side effect of the amazing technology that our society has today. All these young children playing hours of online games a day have become extremely used to this toxic online environment and it is starting to show in their interactions with their friends and family causing a drift between their personal relationships with people in person. As someone who has two nine-year-old brothers I have seen the changes in their interactions with people online and in person after playing online games with groups of people like Fortnite and Overwatch. While games like this can be fun and mentally stimulating, they are extremely risky to allow young and impressionable children to play, not because they are violent but because of their online party system exposes children to strangers of all ages who may have varying levels of explicit language and very little filter when online and don't realize that their actions are influencing those that are not entirely sure what is right or wrong and will most likely copy the words or actions that they hear. Which then can impact their life in school and friends and can even cause them to get in trouble or lose access to the things that they like. I think that while video games are an extremely fun pastime it is something that should be closely monitored while young and impressionable and that people should be extremely careful when it comes to what they say online while in a gaming party or forum.

I have in my life owned two dogs, but I have been surrounded by dogs my whole life, dogs have played a very important role in not only my life but in my family's life as well. I currently own a 5-year-old Docker (dachshund cocker spaniel mix) named Sadie, but this first story that I am going to tell is one of my first memories that I have. When I was a young child my grandmother lived in Florida, so we went to go visit her and she had a pool, she also had two dogs. I was in the pool in some floaties, and I swam away from my dad who was in the pool with me. These dogs hated the pool and never ever went in it but as soon as I was out of my father's reach, they both jumped in and swam on either side of me and made sure that nothing happened, I think that this is where my love for dogs came from. The dog that I currently own Sadie, is the last living thing we have from my Great Grandparents, their two dogs had a litter of puppies, and we took in the tiny runt. Sadie is such a wonderful dog and has become such a huge part of my life, I have trained her since the moment we got her, and she can do so many fun tricks like playing dead and rolling over. She loves taking walks at our local cranberry bog, so we exercise together all the time. Sadie has been a huge bonding experience for my dad and me. Back before I was able to bring her to the bog alone my dad and I would go on a walk together and talk about what we did that day or what our plans would be for the next few weeks. Dogs have had such a positive impact on my mental health and Sadie in particular has played such a huge impact on how I have mentally done. I got Sadie at a very hard time in my life and I think that without her I would have struggled a lot more with the death of my great grandfather, but I know that I will have a piece of him with me for a little longer in Sadie and that means the absolute world to me. Sadie and the other dogs that I have owned have played a huge part in my life and I think that everyone who can, should be given the life changing opportunity of owning a dog at least once in their life.