On both sides of my family, I have family members that are or have been involved in the military. From the Air Force to the Coast Guard, my family involvement in the military is anything but the same. Even though all of the lessons and stories I hear have impacted me, it is my grandfather's stories that I truly hold dear. Throughout the course of my whole life, I have always looked up to my grandfather and his character. He is the most respectful, honest person I know and is never afraid to go on an adventure. Every once in a while-when I can get some one on one time with him- I like to ask him questions about how he became the person that he is today and how he does it all. He always answers my questions with a story shortly followed by a lesson to accompany it. For example, one piece of advice given from him was "Even though you may have nothing, you can always have respect. Everyone needs to show respect from the president all the way to a homeless person." That piece of advice has always stuck with me and has always given me something to live by. The reason for this piece of advice was because of his past experiences. My grandfather served in the Vietnam War in the Air Force. He said that often times people would take him in and feed him and take care of him if he was staying in a base near a city. Even though they didn't have much, they treated him with kindness and respect which he reciprocated. This exchange of respect gave him many allies and friends when he was fighting overseas and he later says that it even impacts his actions back in the United States. Due to his firsthand experience when fighting, he found respect more valuable than acting entitled or better than other people. I have always held this piece of advice and story dear to me and it is one of the most valuable lessons that I have been told and I still live by this everyday and probably will tell this to my family. Without my grandfather telling me this story, I wouldn't realize how he is the great person that he is. Although I haven't lived through what he has, the story and lesson he has given me will allow me to live with morals and increase my chances of success.

One thing or trait that I have obtained throughout my life is the ability to persevere through adversity and the ability to work hard to achieve a goal. Although the way I was raised has definitely played a role, some of the best books I have read support these actions and traits that I have achieved. Two of these books been "All The Light We Cannot See" and "The Book Thief". Now although these books take place in similar time periods and the messages are very very similar, the stories they tell are different. In "All The Light We Cannot See" a story is told regarding a German boy forced into becoming a Nazi, and a blind french girl just trying to survive. Now obviously both characters are faced with adversity and challenges but, it is how they survive that is truly inspiring. The boy ends up getting trapped in a basement with a few of his comrades and he almost gave up. However, he persevered and was able to escape. The girl faced many challenges with being blind in a strange city being chased by German soldiers. But, she learned to adapt to her surroundings and she eventually learned to thrive. In "The Book Thief" Leisel lost her original birth parents and brother and was sent to live in a foster home in Germany. While being faced with grief and fear of a new surrounding, Leisel was able to adapt to persevere to her new family, friends, and home while still keeping the morals that she considered important to her. Therefore, both of these books have definitely reinforced the idea of working hard and being able to persevere through certain challenges or issues that could possibly be faced throughout my continuation of education or just throughout life in general. Throughout my childhood, I have been astounded by my mom's ability to help people. For context, my mother owns her own physical therapy company in my home town. Even since I was little, I have always been a very compassionate, kind person and have always been willing to help people. In fact, I spend lots of time and sometimes even my whole weekend helping my moms patients do year work if they are unable. Therefore, my continuation of my education will be focused on achieving a medically centered career. To this day, I still love helping people and that is what I can and will achieve when I continue my education.

If I could have everyone read one book, the book I would have them read is "The Book Thief". The Book Thief tells the story of a young girl faced with many challenges and issues during the course of World War Two. This girl lives in an area with her foster family-after her original family has passed away- where reading non-German books is not allowed. However, this girl's love for reading is the only thing connecting her to her birth family and she refuses to let it go. Along the course of her experiences, the readers get to see Leisel's compassion and perserverance truly emerge. Even though she has constant battles with the reading, she also finds herself in moral dilemmas. Her foster family comes into contact with a wanted soldier. But, instead of turning him in to the Germans, they keep him safe and show compassion and kindness. The acts of kindness this family demonstrates throughout the book creates a feeling within readers that could possible create a sense of urgency to include more compassion in their own lives, even though this story is fictional. The Book Thief originally seems like it is just a story about a girl trying to survive and thrive when faced with adversity but, it tells other stories of compassion, kindness, and perseverance. I think everyone should read the book because it demonstrates that even though we may sometimes face conflict and challenges, we can still maintain some essential qualities needed to keep within our own personalities.

Both sides of my family have played some sort of role in the military. On my dad's side it was my grandfather along with my dad. On my mom's side it was my grandfather and my great grandfather. Whenever I have had conversations with any of my family members regarding the military, it has been interesting to hear about all of their different experiences. For example, on my mom's side, my grandfather served in the airfare and he flew fighter jets. I am always fascinated with the way he tells me about doing flips in the planes, being shot at and carrying soldiers to battles and dropping them right on the field. My dad on the other hand has different stories to tell. My dad was an officer and was originally given orders to help fight in the Vietnam War but his orders were shortly canceled. Even his stories are very valuable in providing insight into the life of someone serving our country during hard periods of time. Although I don't get to hear stories from the grandfather on my dad's side due to his passing, the pictures that I have found makes me wonder what his life was like when he served in the Navy. In short, a good amount of my family has served in the military. In fact, my family members have each served in a different branch. My grandfather in the Air Force, my dad in the Army, my grandfather on my dads side served in the Navy and my great grandfather served in the Marine Corps. But one thing that they all have in common is the people they worked with. Every family member that I have been able to talk to has expressed their gratitude for the healthcare workers in the field. Coincidentally, that is what field I am to go into. During the course of my undergraduate program, I aim to major in biology with a pre-med track. After obtaining my undergraduate degree, I aim to go to medical school. In terms of specialty, I aim to either work in the surgical field or the field of pediatrics. My whole reason for going into the medical field is to help others. I want to improve people's lives and help them past obstacles that they cannot pass alone. I want to help people the same way my family has, just in a different way.

When it comes to Zendaya, you could say I am a pretty big fan of hers. Actually, I was a fan of her before she became extremely popular. In fact, I was a fan of hers during her Disney Show, K.C. Undercover. But over time my adoration for her has grown and grown. However, one of the things I adore most is her acting. Most might say that they admire how good of an actor she is and how well she plays roles but I admire her diversity. To explain, I admire how she can play so many different roles so well. From MJ in Spiderman to Anne in The Greatest Showman and even to Rue in Euphoria. With these roles being so different, it is even more impressive that she does them well. MJ in Spiderman is a sassy, nerdy role while Rue can be seen as self-destructive and impulsive. The difference in roles helps to showcase her acting skills and abilities when put into different situations and roles. I admire this aspect of Zendaya because she has built her career from the ground up and has become incredibly successful all due to her hard work and her talent as well.

My personal favorite aspect of the game is the animals. I have had a love for animals ever since I was little and at one point I dreamed of owning as many animals as I could. Minecraft was able to allow me to express myself and the amount of animals in the game allowed me to really own as many animals as possible. It also allowed me to pick the animals based off of my mood. Whether it be dogs, cats, pandas, horses, or more! The different options were always there for me to have and I loved it. Every time I started a new world, I would make either a farm or a zoo. In this area, I would have different sections for every animal. Such as a fenced area for horses, a glass exhibit with bamboo for pandas, etc. Not only did this help my creativity but my social skills. Very often, my neighbors would come over and we would take care of the animals together and it created some really great friendships that I still have even years later. Minecraft's animal aspect helped me a lot, even though it seems like just a silly game to most.

In my junior year of high school, I decided to enroll in AP Language and AP Seminar. However, both of these courses were taught by one teacher, making the class year-long. On the first day of the class, the teacher, Ms. Taylor, came in and the first thing she said was "If you don't have tough skin, then you need to switch out of my class." Now while that was terrifying, I liked how blunt she was. At first, I thought about switching out with some of the other people in the class but I wanted to finish the class since I had already committed to it. As the school year progressed, I started to like her more and more. Although she was rough and what some would consider mean at times, I liked her honesty. While some teachers might be nice and easy on students, Ms. Taylor was harsh and tough but her intentions were good. After every single practice paper and essay, she would always say "I am only tough on you guys because I want you to succeed, not because I care about my pass rate." After the first time, she said that it made me realize that she was the teacher I needed. In the past, I have had teachers who would grade purely on participation and it made it really easy for me to pass all of the classes. But Ms Taylor's AP Language and Seminar class made me realize that not everything in life would be handed to me and Ms. Taylor made me work for the grade I wished to get. At the time, I did not appreciate the class and I did not like her very much. However, looking back, the class was good for me to take. She taught me how to have confidence in myself, how to write a good solid essay, how to put together a great presentation, and most importantly, she taught me how to take criticism. Something from that class that I will always carry with me is the fact that people will improve if you are just honest with them. After that class, I have always remained honest to others and open to criticism. Before I took that class, I had no self-confidence and it was so hard for me to take criticism even to the point where I would cry. But, thanks to Ms. Taylor, not only am I a better writer, but a better person as well.

To give some context, my mom has managed her own physical therapy business for over 20 years and my aunt was once a neurosurgeon before she made the decision to retire and is a holistic neurologist now. Growing up, I was able to witness firsthand the field of medicine. Ever since I can remember, I have loved going into my mom's clinic to help even if it was just something as simple as doing laundry. But as I have grown up and been able to assist more with patients, working has made me realize how much I truly love helping people. Being able to witness people getting back to what they love after facing obstacles and seeing people progress and recover after surgeries or accidents brings me so much joy to the point that it has made me realize that helping people is how I want to spend my life. Whenever I was given the opportunity to shadow other doctors, I took it all in and appreciated the opportunity. However, a good amount of the time I was told that I needed to choose a career that revolved around having kids and a huge family. Although, yes, I do want to have a family, my career is what is the most important to me as of now. I know that women all over the world are expected to start families and that is expected to be their only priority. Going back to my childhood, yes my mom obviously had a family but she also had a career and was able to do both let alone be good at both. Ever since I was little, she has raised me with the idea of independence and I don't need to rely on anyone else. This is the kind of mentality I want to show girls all over the world. I want to show that is possible to be a rockstar in the medical field and have a family of my own. In terms of my impact of the healthcare field in particular, I want to make a lasting impression that women can make just as much of a difference as men. Statistically speaking, men do make up a good majority of physicians in the field. But, I want to inspire women everywhere that they can make a difference too and they don't have to stay home to prioritize having a family over their profession.

One of the movies that has made a great impact on my life is the movie Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. Now although it might not seem like this movie would have that much of an impact but for me, it taught me that it's okay to be myself. The main character, Donna, begins the movie by getting up and singing during her graduation in front of her whole graduating class. She has absolutely no regard for the fact that she might be made fun of or ridiculed. Instead, she just acts like herself and does what she loves which turns out to be singing and music. Later on after the graduation ceremony, she decides to take her life into her own hands and try something new, traveling around the world. While she receives a slight judgment from her friends at first(later on they support her on her decision to travel) she decides to do it anyway even though she might create waves with her friends. Along her travels, she meets three different guys and each begins to like her for her just being herself. When she settles down in Greece, she sings at a bar and everybody instantly likes her. This scene in particular shows Donna's outgoing and adventurous personality which I aim to have. Donna's character is not only iconic but a character that I idolize. I idolize her originality and how she embraces herself. Even when I was little, I was always afraid to be my goofy, fun self because I was scared I was going to be made fun of or ridiculed. But after watching this movie, I learned that it is completely okay to be myself, even if I do end up being made fun of. This movie made me realize that no amount of teasing or bullying is worth hiding your true colors and being miserable and unhappy. Today, I know that it is best to just be yourself. In fact, I plan on taking this knowledge into my new journey in college. Now, I am nervous about going to college. But, it gives me a new opportunity to better my education and build a solid foundation for adulthood. However, I will be keeping the mindset of being myself with me when I go. I am excited to embrace my true self and see where this next step in my life takes me.

If I could make a crossover episode, I would cross the show "Best Friends Whenever" and "KC Undercover". In terms of a storyline, KC could majorly screw up a mission, making her and her family fail. But, she finds allies with Cyd and Shelby. To go back a little, the Cooper family would have this huge mission that requires them to collect codes to prevent the bad guys from collecting everyone's data on social media. The codes are collected online and then transferred in person to gain access to every social media platform that has ever existed. KC and the Coopers go to a gala to intersect this transfer of codes but KC gets distracted by Marisa. Marisa desperately asks for KC's help getting attention from a boy(let's give him the name Michael for now)and allows the bad guys to transfer the codes. KC, upon realizing her mistake, feels instant guilt for letting Marisa distract her from a crucial mission that impacts the entire world. She also gets grounded by her parents. She calls the agency for advice and they give her two names: Cyd and Shelby. KC travels to West Portland High School to ask for their help. She disguises herself as a student to grab their attention undetected. She grabs them out of the hallway and into an empty classroom and takes off her disguise and says "My name is KC Cooper, I need your help saving the world". Cyd and Shelby instantly agree to help and grab KC's hand to go back in time. Cyd instantly goes to the bad guys to try and intercept the code transfers but gets kidnapped, leaving KC and Shelby stuck in that time period. KC and Shelby try to get help from past Marisa but fail and KC almost runs into her past self. But, KC goes to Arnie for help. With Arnie's technological knowledge, he is able to track Cyd and the bad guys using Cyd's watch she received from KC. KC and Shelby travel to the warehouse and save Cyd from the bad guys. On the way out the door, Shelby reaches for the codes and ends up fighting with one of the bad guys but is able to escape with no harm. The trio travels back to the ball in order to get the codes to past KC. But, KC runs into her mom in the past. However, with a quick explanation and a quick bonding moment, the codes were snuck into past KC's pocket, ultimately saving the world. Then, the trio head home. KC says goodbye and thanks Cyd and Shelby for all their help. Upon her return home KC says hello to her family and her mom gives her a smirk and a wink and tells her how proud she is of her for overcoming her obstacles as the lights fade out.

Going into my freshman year if you had told me I would have spent my high school career on the wrestling team, I would have laughed in your face. Then again if you had told me my first two years would be impacted by a pandemic, I would’ve had the same reaction. Starting high school in the middle of Covid-19 had its own issues even without attempting to participate in a sport. To backtrack a little, during my freshman year I really struggled to interact socially and make friends due to the lack of communication the summer beforehand. I was shy and timid and kept to myself when I was at school. This created a lot of anxiety and worry for little freshman me and I thought that I would never be able to “fit in”. with the other people and student at my school. I was always nervous that I would do something wrong and be seen as "weird" or "different". The constant change between online and in person definitely did not help with these issues. When I started wrestling, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But, within the first week I was a completely different person. My teammates(and still very good friends) were able to help me find my place and become more confident in my social skills whether it was Facetiming after practice or hanging out at tournaments, I had become a part of a team. Even though I only completed the year with fourteen matches, the aspect of being on a team changed me for the better. I have learned that is more than okay to be myself and do what's best for me. Now, even with the setback of Covid, I am so much more confident and social than ever before and I have wrestling to thank for it.