There is always some type of processed, thrown-in-a-plastic bag-food we consume daily. This and habits people make are always influenced by industries, and famous, rich people at the top of the political food chain. Award or not, I want to influence the top-of-the-food chain- people to shift eating habits, ingredients used for processed foods and educate families about the relationship between food and exercise inorder to reach America in one swoop. In order to better educate the American population, there needs to be a change in our “food pyramid”. Americans are taught the basic principles of health, starting with the food plate. The food plate displays grains, vegetables, dairy, protein and fruits. However it has scarcely any facts or information for people to comprehend. This lack of information causes people to overeat or undereat a certain food category, like “grains”. Grain is an edible seed of a grass plant, i.e. wheat, corn, oats, and rice. Grains are essential to the diet but people are now ignorant of carbohydrates. This is an essential nutrient to our bodily functions that doesn’t just include grains but also spinach, beans, and healthy fats- nuts and avocados. The food plate also lacks information giving no examples or proportions. As a country struggling with diabetes and obesity, we need to know how much bread is too much for one meal. For a new food pyramid, I would include the macronutrients the body needs provided with examples and serving sizes for one meal, fluids and activity. Activity between meals is important. It is taught for an average person to exercise for about 30 to 60 minutes but not explaining that it doesn’t have to be in one-sitting. Exercise isn’t always going to the gym, it can be: walking, dancing, and even gardening. The average American watches TV while eating at least one meal a day, usually dinner. Doing this can lead to mindless eating causing overeating. To prevent this, limit the frequency of eating in front of a screen and try to walk after each meal. Walking or doing a simple activity will aid your digestion and decrease fat build-up but being lazy, maily sleeping, after a meal will increase the risk of storing more fat. Thus, in my goal to better influence America I want to add this small detail of activity after a meal. Finally, eating habits and activity are not important until you look at ingredients food is made with. Everyone knows there are nutrition labels on food items but do not forget about the ingredient lists. Everything put in the body is either going to aid or hurt the individual’s nutritional balance, i.e. soda or fast food. Consuming those substances is fine but too much leads to weight gain and risk for health problems, just because of the ingredients. Soda, loads of sugars and dyes, and fast food, unbelievable amounts of preservatives and fatty oils. Due to this, I want to introduce food substitutes for current foods. Reaching the top of the political food chain with this substitution idea, assuming that it works, America and other countries can be greatly benefited in the long run. Because who doesn’t love chips? What about chips with 5 or less ingredients instead of 20 or more? Change for better nutrition in America doesn’t have to start out with a big push but these simple changes can make a big difference if considered by the big influencers. Nutrition is important for living a full, long life. So let’s be a person who is here for a good time and a long time.

It has only been two years for me since living in a single parent household. However it has felt much longer than that. It already had felt like a single parent household because my dad wasn’t actively present in our daily lives but now with my father gone and only my mother to support us it has felt like a no-parent household because our mom is so busy she can’t attend sports events or banquets. This is the main struggle that I have to still overcome living in a single parent household because this leads to arguments and misunderstandings about house rules and discipline. Being in this household has proven to be difficult because sometimes it feels like we are only roommates and not an actual family. Our house and family structure is always a mess and everyone just works, eats, sleep and repeats. These obstacles are still present but me and my sister are trying to actively change this mess along with finally being able to speak up to our mom. In order to tell her our faults and her faults we have to find a way to speak up to her, which proves terrifying. I have gotten more confident as I kept on doing cross country, wrestling and track. Though my sports were more of a gateway they proved to be confidence enhancers. We are afraid of upsetting Mom still and telling her faults in our family will make her angry because she thinks it’s telling her what to do or how to act. This obstacle is still in progress. Once we came to be an actual single parent household our family became more in ruins. My brother brought upon bad behavior which my sister and I have been trying to fix, which my mom is not helping with, and we are seeing improvement. No obstacles have been completely cleared since this upbringing is still new but we are slowly figuring out our lives from here. Sports have been a life-saver for me because not only do they release stress but also proves to me that I can still improve on something and shows what I am made of. Though being in this household structure is already challenging enough, sports have been giving me the fun challenges before facing the real ones. All the sports I have done were to get away from home, become closer with my friends and, most importantly, find improvement in myself. I have not only gotten physically stronger but mentally too. Standing up for myself, against my mom especially, has gotten easier, same with speaking my mind. I have gotten over the fact that my mom is too busy to attend awards ceremonies or sports events and it’s hard to swallow but it's reality. Another obstacle I had to accept was the fact of growing up too quickly. With this household structure growing up quickly is inevitable and sports helped me understand leadership and responsibilities of growing up. It’s impossible to say that anyone who comes out of a single parent household is considered “normal” because this has lasting effects on a child to an adult, especially when it’s still fresh. The obstacles that this structure provides is not the normal structure that most families have to deal with. These kids come out being more mature knowing how much that parent has to work to support a family by themselves and the kids understand making sacrifices, leadership and maturity. There will always be obstacles coming our way. All that matters is how are you going to handle them.

My family has raised me and my siblings with a strict hand and “my way is the highway” ideal. This makes it hard to find myself and my path, especially when my parents decided to divorce. I always knew there was something brewing among my family but I could never quite figure it out until I begged my mom to tell me the hidden facts about our family. Even through this struggle my love for health and cooking has not wavered. Because cooking ties back to lots of memories with my whole family cooking together I was skeptical to pursue this profession however I made it my own. I realized through my love of sports, also brought on because of my family, I enjoyed helping advise athletes on nutrition and workout routines; making me feel like I was needed. I am still a hard core people pleaser even after how long I have been trying to fix it, old habits die hard. I became like this because of my ‘devil’s advocate’ mother and having to cater to my parent’s every wants and needs. Because of that I began to feel the need to always help people, which I enjoy doing. So through my love of nutrition and helping others I decided to pursue being a nutritionist. With this career I plan to continue helping people in what I know best.

Everyone wants to read a book that they can relate to. A good book has good characters and a plot where no reader can put it down. If I wanted the world to read one book that would be Life of Pi by Yann Martel. This novel hits many topics that readers can relate to. This includes: religion, loss, hardships, journey, stranded, alone, finding yourself, moving, discrimination, enemies to friends, and bullying. Life of Pi is about an Indian boy that grows up in a zoo and is trying to find his way by trying out religions and being close to a tiger, which his father teaches him at a young age why not to trust apex predators. On a boat to move to the states, with his family and the zoo animals, the ship sinks and Pi is the only survivor, along with some animals and the tiger. Throughout his journey Pi has to learn to survive with the tiger, Richard Parker, while being at sea. Readers relate to the struggle of characters in novels such as Pi’s life. Even if it is a fictional novel it still teaches a lesson that life will be difficult and we must always persevere by having faith and being adaptive. Readers can learn certain lessons and relate to many books however Life of Pi relates to almost all lessons. Having such a wide variety of themes and morals allows a greater audience to enjoy and relate to this novel. Thus I would suggest Life of Pi to anyone not only because of relatability but the personal enlightenment that the novel has on individuals.

I strive to prove my dad wrong. My dad is everything I don’t want. I want to prove to myself and to my family that I can be better than what my father showed us. And since then, I have been in a steady relationship, pursuing a trade, became the National Honor Society (NHS) president and finally found myself. My father was a misogynistic man. He made it out to be that women are for men’s pleasure, that we belong in the kitchen and only raise children. He stuffed my siblings and my head of false accusations about men and women, alike. Saying women are not good leaders and that men only think about one thing. I love to see the good in people, which can be a flaw at times, so I wanted to believe him however once I joined high school all his accusations drowned. I found myself becoming a great leader, in classrooms, NHS, sports and clubs. Even when I wasn’t a captain of my sport I still guided my team, even as a first-time wrestler I pushed myself to become a well respected leader among the team, being one of the few girls that wrestled. I slowly worked my way up through the NHS from member to secretary to president. Being president has been the hardest especially in the middle of the year when our sponsor left. Finding a new sponsor and leading the NHS like regular was the hardest task however the board and I prevailed. My father might have left before he got to see me as the NHS president but I was still able to prove that I, a woman, am a great leader. Not only did I prove to myself that I am a leader but I am proving that boys are not all the same and don’t only think about one thing. I am proving this by dating an amazing person. Though my father is not living with me and has not met my boyfriend I am showing that he is different from other men because all men, women alike, are different. And it’s not me who is proving that but my boyfriend. He has shown me more respect and love than I couldn’t find in my dad. The type of college and time spent was important to my dad. He thought if you spent a longer time in a college or university then you are smarter than the people that were in college for less time. This put pressure on me and my siblings, saying we have to go to a college or a university. But in all actuality, you don’t. I have realized that going to a community college or a trade school is perfectly fine and that is where I am going. I am pursuing nutrition. I don’t need to attend a college where I have to go to other classes not related to my career path when I can go to a trade school for two years that is solely based on nutrition. I will prove my dad wrong that I can be successful with only two years of post-high school knowledge. How I can also prove this is by not following all of societal norms and following what makes me happy. My dad has flaws, like everyone. He has taught me and my siblings how to be independent. His harsh parenting and flaws made me a better person. I was able to learn from him. I was able to learn how to renovate a house, terrace the environment, camp, and fend for myself. By proving my dad wrong I am showing him that I am independent. I am showing him that I am finally finding myself. Finding myself is the hardest task because this is where I am asking questions of my childhood beliefs. My dad taught me that being conservative and Christian was the only way and that hippies, tree-huggers, and democrats were always wrong. However I am finding that loving nature and animals is not being a hippie or tree-hugger, and if it is then call me one because what humans are doing to the Earth is just hurting us. I love nature and I want to preserve it. My dad would bring me down if I told him that. He would persuade me that humans are better and that we can do whatever we want but we aren’t. Humans are not better than nature. Being conservative is just following men so that the society is all masculine. Being raised in Christianity makes you question it more. By proving to my dad that I am finding myself I have to be independent, making my own decisions. I am not saying I am better than anyone, I just want to find myself. I feel like I have been trapped in my dad’s image and what path he wants for me and not what I want. I know that divorce is common but it impacts, not just the parents, the children. I am one of those children. I empathize with those children, young or old. I want to prove, not only to my dad or myself, to those children that after a divorce it's hard to find your path again but it’s possible and don’t give up.

Being a woman is no easy feat. Women are like foreigners in a country, we have to have better manners and work harder than the locals do and if we fall short then we have to work back from the bottom all over again. It was hard to accept myself as a nurturing woman, as we usually tend to be, because my father was misogynistic and disrupted my perspective of who women truly are. Sure we like to follow the modern trends not to feel left out but we love to keep our bodies healthy. After shrugging it off countlessly, I finally realized that I want to be a nutritionist to advise people how to live healthier. Living with a misogynistic father tore me apart. I love to cook but when I said I wanted to be a chef what crossed my mind were things that women have been told ‘women belong in the kitchen.’ I was not having it. It was hard to let cooking go so I thought about other careers. Constantly, the mini hobbies I would acquire never stayed but cooking, athletics and eating healthy did. Though, I thought those were just hobbies as well. I soon realized that I really do like cooking healthy food for people and giving people nutritional advice. This inspiration was during wrestling season. Many times my dad told me and my sisters we couldn’t do sports with guys, like wrestling, because it was dangerous but once he left my life I finally took a stand. At first, I was afraid to join the wrestling team. It would mean me going head to head with boys in combat but that gave me more of an urge. And now my Coach says that more girls have asked to wrestle because I did; because I showed them that it was possible. What irked me was that wrestlers had terrible eating habits and, to me, that needed to be fixed. I am all about eating healthy, and losing weight healthily, so I had to show the boys how it’s done. Wrestling drove me to love nutrition. I strive to make the world healthier starting with eating habits. I grew up with grandparents farming and making farm to table food. I love agriculture and the cycle of what you take out of the Earth will have to return eventually. So I plan to start with nutrition. I want girls to know that they don’t have to look like a model but they can feel like one. Nutrition isn’t just about food but the processes and activity of the person. This field shows a person they don’t have to be buff to be healthy or fit, greatly benefiting women because we live in a society where we have to be skinny but not too skinny, ect. Next, I would like to expand on nutrition and show people that you can use your food for much more. Instead of using chemicals to clean, use natural ingredients, vinegar, lemon and rosemary. Also, use all vegetable scraps, which I have done, to make vegetable broth and once you are done with the scraps, use them for compost; continuing that cycle. Finally completing it with a farm to table experience. It's hard for women not to be swayed by models or actresses on TV, even it gets to my head, because there is one thing that they need to know: everyone is different and perfect in their own way. Our diversity is what makes us all unique, making nutrition amazing because everyone needs different nutritional plans.

Technology has a mixed impact on the world no matter how helpful or not it is. It depends on how it is used, how long, and why. There have been theories that technology is going to be our downfall however one technology that has a possibility of making the world a better place is the space program, either be rocket ships or rovers. As stated, any type of technology can hinder the world. The space race continues between countries, as in ‘who can go further?’ which leads to competition and rivalry; results in a nuclear war. The space program has a possibility to make our world a better and more knowledgeable place only if countries stop fighting because there is still not enough funding for these projects. Because each country wants to show the other one up they make nuclear weapons which can destroy our world but if we use the technology and money put into those world-destroying weapons and we have world participation then humanity might be able to reach further out into outer space building off the technology we already have. Using rovers to go to planets has extended our knowledge and research but there is a limit because we haven't been able to go further than a little past the moon. Theories about space have been made but have not been proven. If world leaders start cooperating in research about space then theories can start being answered. Going further out into space, we might be able to find aliens, new resources, livable areas and new material. There is potential that has not been touched, both in space and space technology. But this is just an ‘if.’ There is a possibility that our world could have a similar goal and work together but that is not humans. We want to be better than the other, thus the space program has potential in creating a better place than the one we live in but senseless violence will have to stop first.

Imagine a world where no one was pressured to choose a religion or a college. Imagine a world where all parenting styles were the same or where there was no abuse or hard discipline. That’s a fantasy I would love to live in. I might not have a mental health problem but I live with a by-the-book-definition ADHD brother. Living with him has changed my perspective on parenting and my actions and words, my beliefs since childhood becoming a lie and my relationships improving. My young brother does not understand how he is changing me and my sister for the better but he is and I see improvement in myself, him and my relationships. All my beliefs I have grown up with have gone out the window. Starting from base one with beliefs is difficult. My life was ruled by a gaslighting, misogynistic, and narcissistic father that I have finally broken free from, but before me and my sibling could break free from those shackles my brother was born. My father treated my brother like he was an only child and my brother soon picked up our father’s shackles and started using them. This angered me and my sisters, especially when our mom did not try to fix both of their actions.now that our fathers shackles are off, we are all trying to shake off the mental stress we were all under, but my brother doesn’t understand. He has kept those shackles, which me, my sister and mom are trying to cut off. I knew that I lived with bad parenting so I started doing research to be better in the future but to do that I would have to start my change now. Wanting to be better I picked up on my quick irritability when I talk with my brother, thus I have been focusing on my patience. Because I wanted to be better, trying to give my ADHD brother a better childhood, better manners, teach him what he doesn’t know and understand the way he acts, I have found that I have improved in understanding and patience which has improved my relationships with my family and friends, especially my brother. Although my relationship with my mother has improved, there have been setbacks because I have been attempting to understand my brother and better parenting methods. I finally started speaking up to my mom, pointing out her wrongdoings and her actions and words that cause childhood trauma. This has improved my confidence but it still makes me nervous to speak up because I am not used to it. Though I see that my mom is gradually allowing me and my sister to step up as role models from our brother. I am pursuing nutrition, which seems far from mental health concerns but it plays a big role. Some People with mental health, like my brother, don’t understand the reasons why you can not eat certain foods or too much of them. With nutritional knowledge it’s easier to show them or guide them, although it may take time, that they don’t need to take out all of their favorite foods to be healthy but be on a calorie deficit, meaning they can eat their foods but in smaller portions. I have been through it constantly where my brother goes on a rampage because he can not get exactly what he wants which has proven, to me, that I must have a lot of patience for. But if you give them options and be patient, things will be more smooth. Living with an ADHD brother tests my patience and creativity. One thing in nutrition is that clients will be stubborn, mostly from not wanting to eat what they should. It’s just like trying to feed a toddler broccoli, they won’t eat it unless you are creative in presenting it. With picky clients you must be patient and find ways to hide the foods they don’t want to eat. My brother testing those bounds and me loving to experiment helps me become more creative in how I make healthy food taste good and still give a person the nutrients they still need. It’s tricky to live with someone with a mental disability but it gives me an insight into what other people have to live with and how they think and act. My perspective has changed a lot because of my brother being himself and me working around him and around the shackles that I have lived with. With those shackles starting to rust away I am starting to find my way and become a better person that will help my brother, family and myself.

My coach always told our team “Once a wrestler, always a wrestler,” which still applies to a first year wrestler that started in senior year of high school, me. I pride myself on keeping myself busy, taking on leadership roles, being a student-athlete, cooking, and a role model. Because I am thought highly of at school, by the students, admin and staff, and I do not like to let people down, I can not drag my feet for a second. With all that pressure, losing is like being stabbed in the heart, however I restrain my emotions, this is why wrestling comes in handy. ‘When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.’ I have stopped believing this phrase. Lemons are not natural fruit, humans crossbred citrons for lemons. This means that humans create their own problems, dealing with the consequences. But the complication can later be lemonade. Everything that I do has consequences like joining the wrestling team. Junior year during the winter season, I did not participate in a sport because of Culinary Far East and I was recovering for track and field. My family are runners but I was reluctant to start because it hurt. Once I started getting better I thought I was unstoppable. It gave me joy to be a runner because no one else wanted to. Wrestling taught me that I was wrong. Think about doing cross country while fighting someone that is resisting you. Getting to this point, joining the wrestling team, was a hassle. Because I am a dedicated runner and cook, I did not want to disappoint anyone because of wrestling. My father always told me not to wrestle but I saw a chance and slowly approached it. I first became the manager so I could participate in Culinary Far East and prepare for track. After watching one practice on the sidelines a fire lit inside of me. I could not just sit and watch, I needed the action. I felt guilty for not assisting my Culinary team but I was completely invested. After wrestling season, I realized I liked contact sports and running competitively has lost some value to me. I was raised a hard working individual so I thought that I did not learn from wrestling. How wrong I was. My body went through training it never went through before. I experienced heartaches from losing wrestle-offs and to boys, however during my second match I won my first win, best day of my life. I showed people that I was strong, mentally and physically, without having equipment or padding on. I never won any brackets but I did get third place in the Kanto finals and I made it to Far East. During my season I voweled I would beat at least one guy then during the Far East finally did. I learned a lot from wrestling. I learned how to eat properly, maintain my weight. I learned what sweet victory tastes like and how bitter losing was. And I learned what I really wanted to be. Of course I always looked forward to being a Chef but when the boys did not eat properly and I had to maintain or lose weight alongside them, there was a spark. I wanted to become a nutritionist. To help individuals to get the right nutritional guidance they need. “You can take the wrestler out of wrestling but you can’t take wrestling out of the wrestler.”

This day and age is heavily revolved around technology, sometimes for good use but others with mal intentions. As far as I know, I would not know next to anything about nutrition and better eating habits if it weren’t for technology. Technology is how we communicate now and share new ideas. So if someone does not own the latest technology then they are out of luck until information starts spreading by word of mouth. Becoming a nutritionist it is our sworn duty to fit a healthier lifestyle to each individual. This is possible to be achieved without the use of technology, however, that poses many difficulties. Technology is convenient for advertising, sending out information, gathering information, and research. Since everyone lives a different lifestyle it is difficult to assist a person via technology or in person through the nutritional guidance needed. To ensure that each individual gets the most accurate nutritional advance possible they need to fill out surveys, tests, quizzes or consult in person, even then technology would be used to record information so as to not lose it. Technology has various uses when it comes to nutritional care. In addition to gathering and storing information from individuals, technology assists the nutritionist in finding the best solution for each person. If someone has diabetes or went through a particular procedure then the nutritionist needs to find ways that would best suit those individuals needs. Factors other than procedures and health issues determine their nutritional plan, such as age, gender, activity level, sleep schedule, and weight. Research also involves how different foods pair well together to achieve a certain purpose or what certain foods do to your body, good and bad. This is likely the information being researched while in nutrition classes however it is important to take all this information into consideration. Lastly, advertising and sending out information is key for a nutritionist. Nutritionists, even training coaches, are found across the web, especially on instagram, to inform those who are willing to listen. Either these people are trying to sell a product or a program or simply enlighten people about eating behaviors and health benefits. There is a saying ‘What’s on the internet stays on the internet’ and as I progress on my path I am likely to do what it takes to serve anyone in need of my help which means scouring the internet and using it. If everything stays on the internet then there should not be any problem accessing the information needed to complete my goals. Although the main goal is not revolved around technology, nutritionists still heavily rely on it to better take care and assist those in need of health coaching and for their training as well. Nutritionists still need to rely on their common knowledge and good sense but using technology of today will better assist with other issues later on. Furthermore, nutrition has also peaked biotechnology’s interest and there is collaboration among the departments of knowledge to create better quality products. Nutrition has many branches to sprout from and technology is one of the main branches, at the bottom, supporting the weight of the smaller branches up top. `

Waking up and knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life doesn’t happen to everyone. I wish it was that easy but it is not. I was taught to cook and fend for myself at a young age. For a long time I cooked because my family needed me to. Cooking with my family was usually a fun experience, especially baking cakes with my sister. We were a duo, I would bake the cakes and she would decorate them. But I cook for more than just my family needing me to cook. I strive to cook for others. I cook for the joy it gives me, even through the struggles. When I cook for others I don’t look for anything in return, I enjoy cooking for others to see the joy on their faces. It makes me proud to be able to make people happy because of my food. I have learned countless cuisines. Made food from scratch and using the food that I have harvested from my own garden.. This has allowed me to think quickly and creatively make food from what is left in the fridge. I give a lot of the credit to my culinary class in school. In my culinary class we would have days where our chef would give us a “creative day.” We had to come up with a single proportioned dish with what was in the fridge and pantry within the time of the class period, this also meant cleanup too. Sometimes I was short on time so I would go with my gut instinct on certain foods. I always try to make different foods because making the same dish over and over again gets a bit boring to me, thus I experiment. However, there is a caveat, I don’t like to follow recipes because I feel free when I go off recipes. My creative culinary brain loves to experiment with other foods, spices, herbs and desserts. The thought of being a chef and having a restaurant alway weighed in my mind. I was always nervous so then I thought about how I can apply my culinary skills to help those around me, which I love to do. As a nutritionist I could cook healthy food for people who need help and provide insight. Being an athlete I understand the pressure of eating right, and getting the nutrition in the body to support the high level of activity. And with my culinary and nutritionist mindset I could help athletes, like myself, hospitals and families that struggle with food allergies. I didn’t wake up knowing what my future career goal was going to be but now I am seeing my path get clearer and clearer.

Ever feel trapped? Inside yourself? School? Life? Maybe a video game? I frequently feel trapped and it’s a struggle to be set free. There are always helping hands that can pull you out of the abyss but sometimes relaxing and having a good time while working hard is all you need. Finding the balance is that issue. If you feel trapped then you have not balanced your life yet. That is what Sword Art Online (SAO) teaches me and that is what makes it so captivating, other than the amazing animation, characters and plot. The anime is not entirely long but that is a big factor to why it is one of the best animes I have seen and why I continue to rewatch it because it compacts a sophisticated plot in a short amount of time. Not only that but I can rewatch it countless times because it has a balance of everything: characters, emotions, good/bad, mystery, romance, action; even though in the protagonist’s life it’s hard for him to find his balance. There is a main focus on one character only until someone special shows up in his life through the game he tries to escape reality with. This particular game, however, trapped all of its users to complete the 100 floors of the game, the caveat… they die in the game they die in real life (IRL). The protagonist, unlike the other players, goes off to beat dungeons by himself thus becoming stronger until he meets the girl he did his first raid with. He tries to enjoy every minute he can while she is uptight and he shows her she can loosen up. With their growing relationship they go on raids, solve murder mysteries, and both beat the game but by completing all 100 floors. Even though the anime is set in a game the protagonist lives in the world like anyone would IRL. He isn’t given anything, he works for what he wants, he faces challenges, and meets people on his journey and some stay; just like how life works. SAO is a relatable anime that teaches me to live with what you have and balance your world.