The culinary arts are, in a sense, the root of all food services. Whether that be restaurants, family dinners, or a single-person meal, all of these represent the the foundation of what the preparation, cooking, and presenting of food is meant for. What truly captivates me about the culinary arts is the supply-chain/ cause and effect system that operates throughout the whole process. When it comes to forming and maintaining a good relationship between the producer and consumer just as the relationship between producers and agriculture there needs to be a nurturing aspect about it that grows both parties. So in a way, the social fabric of all relationships is pushed automatically because in order for both parties to succeed, there needs to be a social interaction at all times. Going back to the supply-chain effect, the way that the raw material is transformed and transported all the way into the restaurant's dinner tables is truly amazing. The chain of producing to consume has been around for centuries, and I don't see it going away any time soon. In fact, I believe the culinary arts are one of the central things that we do as humans that will simply never disappear. Humans need food to survive. And the methods used to provide it are so universal and limitless that it is easy to assume that the service of restaurants and agricultural farms will be forever present on the Earth.

"WORK UNDER CORPORATE MANAGERS AND LET THE GOVERNMENT TAKE CARE OF YOU" Growing up in a family with humble beginnings, I have always been surrounded by the attitude of self-giving. My family has gone through tough financial times and thankfully we are in a stable place now. Both of my parents are employees. My mother is a school teacher and my father is a logistics manager. We have moved countless times in my life; and when it comes to staying in a comfort zone and being unwelcoming to change, it has never happened in my life where I have stayed in a place for more than 8 years. The more I think about it, I reflect on how my life has been in constant change due to my parents' jobs and their hope for their children to have a bright future. However, my passions have led me to go against the expectation that has been present for the last hundred years. "Go to college and get a secure job and let the government take care of you." I have heard this countless times in my life and by listening to financial educators such as Robert Kiyosaki and Tony Robbins, I realize how important college truly is. College is made for connections and opportunities to go out into the field. By going into the field of business, I am able to learn how to put myself out there and make connections with others. Our country is in need of financial stability. There is a lack of management in our economy and people don't seem to have the financial education needed to support the rest of their lives once they retire. I plan to make a positive impact on the world through my career by creating jobs and teaching people how to take care of their own financial future. My parents have taught me the importance of selflessness and community service. Charity is a big part of our lives and I plan to grow that along with the blessings I receive in the future. I plan to work hard in college to make connections and learn as much as I can so I can apply everything to the real world and make an impact that can last for generations.

While I was still in high school, in order to pass over to my junior year I had to achieve 150 hours of community service. As a Boy Scout at that time, I had a general idea and I have had experience in doing community work. But when reflecting on what options and different paths I could take in doing service hours, I realized that I had never gone to a nursing home. This realization caused me to look into nursing homes and figure out where I could dedicate my time in order to serve and help those who can't do so themselves. Once I signed up and walked into the nursing home I noticed how many elderly people were present in the rooms and the slight number of nurses that were presently helping them. This caused me to feel some sort of pain, but a pain that was longing to serve people in these circumstances. Both of my grandparents on both sides of my parents had passed away before I was 14 years old, so I never had the chance to connect and learn from someone who had all the experience in life that could be passed on to me as some sort of advice. That day I connected with so many elderly people who were extremely kind and welcoming. I saw how helping others brought me happiness of my own. Helping these people who were sometimes left behind by their own children made me want to speak up about that tendency children have once they grow up. These are parents who helped their children grow up and are now unable to take care of themselves. Therefore they deserve all the love in the world.

When thinking about financial education and how it can have total control over one's future, I think of all the books I have read over the past years that have taught me how to reach financial freedom. And out of the many pieces of advice I have received from countless people who have already attained that freedom, there is one that has shed light on not only my life but many others. In his book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki stated that the 10th rule for becoming wealthy is "Teach and you shall receive: the power of giving." Essentially that when being in need of something, it is contingent on first giving it away, for it will come back in buckets. I always grew up with parents that enforced the importance of charity. Ever since I was a kid, I have witnessed a transformation from my parents from being overly cautious with their money to simply trusting their generosity and giving money and time to the ones that truly need it. I saw my parents struggling to pay the house bills to donate ten percent of their income to charities every year. My parents have shown me many important lessons that I can apply to my life. However, being generous with my time and money is something that has become central to my life. In the world of money, there is no problem with attaining extreme wealth if it goes towards the greater good. Most prominent figures today that has made their name known through their investment strategies and advice have one thing in common. And that is the spirit of giving. Giving something away and then receiving it back tenfold is one of the universe's greatest mysteries; and Robert T. Kyosaki's advice helped me understand that perfectly.

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores different virtues and questions how those virtues are present in a friendship. The three types of friendship shown are friendship of utility, the friendship of pleasure, and friendship of virtue. Aristotle asserts generosity as a virtue in which the man is giving and doesn't care about what is taken away from him. In fact, the generous man will be happy to give what is his to others in order to reach the fine or the greater good. I found that generosity is necessary for the friendship of virtue because both friends in the relationship help each other reach the greater good. The excellent friends in the relationship do virtuous actions in order to help each other therefore giving them the pleasure of being in a state of good. The reason why this connects to the prompt is because of the way in which my life has been shaped due to the gifts I have been given in this life. Due to my amazing status in life, I feel like it is my duty to give back. As I am applying to college, one of my main goals in life is to give back. Not only to my parents but to my community. The generous man is considered an excellent friend in the friendship of virtue because he helps his friend reach the greater good. These goods are to be used well if they are to benefit the friend in the relationship who receives them. Therefore, the goal of the fine was reached by the generous man because it reflects his desire to benefit his friends for the greater good. By reaching this goal, success in virtuous actions can be perceived as happiness.

“ What is Real will Prosper” - XXXTENTACION Jahseh Onfroy, better known as XXXTENTACION, was a rapper who was born in Florida. He came from a difficult background where he saw his uncle take his own life, and had to stab a man who was assaulting his mother. How has this person impacted me? I was raised in an almost perfect household with amazing parents, I lived in Mexico and now in the U.S, where I have met great people as I now focus on college. So how can a person with such a dark background positively impact my life? The thing about Jahseh Onfroy is, that even though there was so much adversity and hate from the media due to his allegations; he focused on changing his life for the better. From being this hated persona who would fight his fans at concerts he changed into a person who interacted with his fans in such a positive way one wouldn’t believe he was ever so angry. How did he change? Jahseh kept being scrutinized by the media and despite all of this he kept a positive attitude toward the world around him. I had never been so interested in a celebrity as I was with him. His music wasn’t the appeal, it was his person, his story. He taught me that no matter what anybody says about you, you know your true intentions and therefore you will succeed. He would go and donate to local shelters and ask children what their dreams were. And at the end, he would always say if one wants to achieve something, they have to set their minds to it to accomplish their goal. The last words Jahseh said to his fans were, “If I ever die, and I’m not able to see out my dreams, I at least wanna know that the kids perceived my message, and were able to make something of themselves, and able to take my message, and use it, and turn it into something positive, and to at least have a good life. I want to make sure my life makes at least 5 million kids happy. Or they find some sort of answers or resolve in my life regardless of the negative around my name, because I know my goal in the end and I know what I want for everyone, and I know what my message is.” Jahseh’s death gave me a new sense of maturity and outlook on life. Today, I have learned through the years that one has to pick the right people to grow with to be successful. Jahseh was a person who had to be mature at a young age but due to his dark childhood, his anger was used as an escape from reality. However, he turned a new leaf, and through his music, he changed many lives and continues to do so today.

After my sophomore year ended, COVID was getting worse and my family had decided to move to San Antonio. That would mean a new school, new friends, and new opportunities. I wasn't too excited for this change in my life, especially by how things were going with the pandemic. I didn’t care about school anymore, I was just wasting my time by playing video games and not spending my time being productive. I had heard that the school I was going to called themselves a “Classical School.” I didn’t know what this meant but I knew that it would be different from the school I was used to attending. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. I stayed optimistic. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. Giving myself a second chance in my education helped me raise my standards. Now I am on the road to college where I plan to succeed in order to help my community and my close ones.

My favorite designer is Virgil Abloh. As the creator of many brands namely "OFF-WHITE," Virgil Abloh impacted the world through the designs and messages that he conveyed in his work. The journey that he has taken from his early life until his recent passing is one that many should look at. Although I hadn't known much about Virgil before his passing, I already knew the impact he had done through his main brand which was extremely popular and still is. Virgil dove into what it meant to be a fashion designer and truly believed that being a fashion designer today was not the same as fifty years ago. The fashion industry is limitless and is full of potential. What I love most about the fashion industry is that it's an art form, just like every other art out there. The patterns and colors to dress right, the right placement of a logo in a shirt, the right length, and the right material; everything can be drastically changed and still maintain its fashion. The main thing that inspired my love for the fashion industry was the subjectiveness that came with it. No matter what one wears, the thing that would matter is whether the person wearing the clothing felt comfortable in it. Nowadays, social stigma does not matter when it comes to "judging" someone based off on what they wear. I love the fashion industry because anybody can take part in it, and there is no sense of separation because everyone in the industry has a passion for the same thing. And at the end of the day, that is art.

Aristotle once said, "Happiness is not pleasure, nor is it virtue. It is the exercise of virtue. Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one's life." Now, people can argue about this saying in many ways. Some may say that happiness is achievable before death, others agree with Aristotle and prefer the Nichomaquan Ethics as an understanding of human emotions. However, the way I see it is that we can experience happiness but not achieve it until death. What makes me happy is the people I have in my life. And while they don't immediately help me reach happiness their presence is what helps me achieve happiness. My family makes me happy. The people I meet make me happy. My girlfriend makes me happy. One thing that all humans share in common is that they need someone to rely on and experience happiness with them. All the people I've met make me happy because of the moments I've had with them. Happiness is essential to human beings because we all desire to be with someone. Everybody wants to achieve happiness, and I see that as being forever in a state of happiness. One can be happy for a moment then sad the next. And what makes me happy right now- while writing this essay- are the people I converse with every day. They help me be a better person by exercising my virtues and helping others. Community service is a big part of my life, and helping others is a thing that I enjoy doing. As an Eagle Scout, service to others is a thing that has been taught to me for a long time. The meaning of life is to attain happiness. And the people I love help me achieve that.

My life has been full of blessings. I have an amazing family with 2 parents that raised me to be the person that I am today. And throughout my whole life, even though there has been some trouble economically, I have never gone a day without food. Therefore, I am grateful and blessed. The reason why this connects to the prompt is because of the way in which my life has been shaped due to the gifts I have been given in this life. Due to my amazing status in life, I feel like it is my duty to give back. As I am applying to college, one of my main goals in life is to give back. Not only to my parents but to my community. As an Eagle Scout, I learned many virtues, and one of the things that stuck with me the most was community service. I served in countless community service projects including one that was led by me in which I built a gaga-ball pit for a school. Apart from scouts, my family and I every once in a while try to make food baskets and give them out to the homeless. The reason why all these examples of giving back are so present in my life is because of the blessing that was given to me. As I mentioned before, I want to give back because my life has been very stable and I know there are people out there who never had what I experienced even at such an early stage in my life. My parents have always taught me to give back, and as I grow in life I will make sure that giving back is one of my main life goals.

As a person who is known for making others laugh. I have recently taken advantage of my gift and used it to spread joy to others. As a Target employee, it's crucial for the guests to feel welcome; and there have been many cases where I help guests bring groceries back to their cars. One time, when I was helping an old lady, I asked her about her day. She told me about how her daughter was fighting cancer and (without getting too into it) how her life was unbalanced. I stayed quiet and listened to her and finally when she stopped I told her a funny story about how in school I dropped my phone down the toilet (it's true). She laughed so much that she wanted to give me a hug because I had just made her day. I will forever remember this because of how I was able to cause a change in her day. Another way I make others laugh is in school. I'm not known as the class clown but I try to give good vibes to everyone as much as I can. And whenever I see someone who looks sad, I go up to them and converse with them and try to make their day better. I love making people laugh and I feel happier than ever when I see how I can change people's moods. This essay made me realize that I can do so much more for the people around me. Making others happy has been a gift of mine and I plan to use it for the rest of my life. Thank you.

This year has been very important for me. Having turned 18, I went to a weekend retreat that would enable me to plan out this year and set a couple of goals that I can achieve. I separated my goals into six categories: Body, Mind, Soul, Finance, Apostolate, and Education. For the body, I planned to do 1-minute planks every day, do night stretches, and do one lap around the neighborhood. For the mind, I planned to read 10 pages from a book every day, sleep early, and wake up at 6:30 latest. Then in the soul (my spiritual life), I planned to listen to a religious podcast every morning on my way to school, pray for a couple of minutes every day, read 3 books written by saints, and overall get closer to God. For finance, I plan to reach 5 figures working my job at Target and not spend a single dime. Also to invest in a Roth IRA, and to invest 5 percent of my earnings into stocks. For my apostolate, (which means spreading the word of God) I planned to be a good example to my friends and family, to call people three times a week, and pray for everybody. Finally, in my education, I want to study some area of school every day, to ask questions in class to understand and win at least one scholarship. All of these goals that I have set for myself have either been completed or are in progress. I believe everybody should have a bucket list for every year so they can have a clear path on what they plan to do and hopefully achieve it.

When it comes to relaxation and taking it slow when it comes to life, I usually go out and hang out with my friends or just stay at home with my family. There is a mental stigma that goes around saying that mental health can be solved through staying at home... alone. But when one stays at home, what does that give way to? Social media or simply neglect of duties and activities one could be doing to take their minds off what bothers them currently in life. Human beings are made for relationships and connections. The human desire to talk to somebody or to simply be around a group of people is something that resides in each one of us. I take care of my mental health by being open to others and forming relationships that enable me to release what I have stored up inside. The mental stigma that I previoily mentioned goes along with this, people believe that by sitting gin your room with your thoughts will eventually make one feel better. But if one already feels overwhelmed and fatiged due to their present circumstances, the last thing they should do is stay at home and let whatever is bothering them continue doing so. When I talk and hang out with people, I distract myself from things like final exams, going to college next year, and things that will eventually come my way that it is okay to be stressed about. The one thing people should focus on when keeping their mentality healthy is to have someone to talk to.

The world is a place where everybody is subject to their own will. As human beings, our purpose in life is determined by our actions and what their outcome is. Nonetheless, our world is being affected by something greater than overpopulation or the economy. I believe the biggest problem facing the world right now is disconnection. Take disconnection as separation, or the disjunction of humans. We live in a world that is governed by the internet, where people can live in their own world and formulate their own opinion on it. While this sounds pleasant to someone with no real knowledge of the cause of this, we need to realize that the internet changes and formulates one's opinion based on what they see in their everyday lives. Disconnection has caused a disruption in the harmony of human beings. Interactions that should be face to face, therefore making it realistic, has diminished because people are used to hiding behind the screen where they can say whatever they want. This causes many different problems, problems that I cant fit into a 300-word essay. The reality is that the internet is a useful, necessary tool for the advancement of technology and communication not only in this world but potentially in the universe. What I try to convert through this essay is in no way or means degrading the internet. I believe that its use is abused and the people who are most important to our race are being affected by it the most. And that is our youth. As an 18-year-old who wants to understand more of the reason for our disconnection, I advise that in order to solve this people need to reassess themselves and use the internet as a tool to grow. Not to dehumanize themselves.

All my life I was purely and single-handedly invested in video games. But over the past 2 years, I have found myself enjoying making music through piano, guitar, or producing it electronically. I have also picked up my long-lost love for reading, but not with novels, I have gotten into personal- growth and financial education books. I have set myself goals every day to read 10 pages and learn from everything that I read and apply it to real life. Furthermore, I work at Target, where I learn communication skills with guests every day and learn how to interact in a friendly and efficient way. As I finish high school, I see myself going to the gym and exercising as much as I can to feel more confident in myself. although I have no particular reason for working out, I want to test my ability to stick to something and work with it. Finally, I have gotten reconnected with my spiritual life. I consider it a blessing to stray away from the previous hobbies mentioned to learn more about my religion so I can share it with others. This is truly my favorite hobby: To learn more about my religion and using it to amplify my spiritual life.

My best skill is making music. I started producing around 9th grade and recently started using my voice to create full songs. I am improving my skill in many ways. I listen to music every day, and I love exploring different genres and artists. I love music because it's limitless and universal, and that helps me a lot when improving in music. To be specific, I improve my music by watching many videos of tutorials and efficient ways to make music. As a producer and now a songwriter, I have expanded my knowledge in music and continue to do so by learning different methods and programs to make music. I want to be involved in the music industry through marketing, I have sold many beats to artists and I understand the market when it comes to music. By improving my music and growing my love for it, I'll be getting closer to achieving my goal.

A change that would make education better for future generations is a deep understanding of everybody's background. Whether that be family, friends, or mental issues overall. There has been an increasing number of depressed alumni in our schools, which showcases what type of situation they are going through inside and outside of school. Although schools are tackling this problem nowadays, there needs to be a change where every student feels accepted. In the world-renowned book "Rich Dad Poor Dad," Rich Dad told Robert that "If parents in each generation always or often knew what really goes on at their son's schools, the history of education would be very different." Although this quote takes place in the context of how schools should be teaching financial literacy, the interpretation of this quote has been very subjective to the reader. Not only should parents know what goes on at their children's schools, but they should be directly involved in what happens. When it comes to bullying and discrimination in the classroom, the teachers should be involved and should never "avoid" the reason. It is truly sad that in the one place children should be gaining their education is where there are shootings. And these shootings are caused by misguided and hurt children. Although I am not defending their actions in any sort of way, I believe their actions are a result of the lack of people that care for them. Schools claim they "aim" and are "working" on this horrible issue haunting kids. The problem is that there should be no progressive aspect when saying that the job is "being solved". The job needs to "be solved" in its completed aspect. And it is because schools are doing the ongoing action progressively that students are progressively being killed in the progress. I believe that schools need a reformation that does not involve "trying," but "doing." All in all, I wish for a change in how we view each other, and how we treat each other. Education should be a place where students make connections and thrive to become ready adults for the world that is waiting outside of their homes. Background knowledge on students and a helping hand will make a change, but only if it is done now.

A piece of art that inspires me is one that I recently came across of and its name is "Forever Always" by Ocampo. Ocampo’s optical illusory “Forever Always” highlights two aged facial profiles of a man and a woman staring into each other’s eyes with two traditional Mexican characters in repose and a golden goblet between them. The illustration depicts what I believe is the Virgin Mary in the man's hair. Although I don't know the specific meaning I'm sure that the man has some sort of relationship between the woman he's staring at and the Virgin Mary in his hair. The reason why this painting inspires me is that people can look at this painting and find infinite meanings for it. The way we look at the world is the same as when I look at the painting. Many pieces of art inspire me but this one really depicts how a painting can have multiple perspectives and themes. One has no boundaries when creating art and as I said before, the world can be seen from many different perspectives just as this picture can be seen for its different meanings. Art is universal, so in this painting.

I have used marketing tactics ever since I was young. As a freshman, my parents stopped buying me clothes and I was more aware of the expenses my parents had to deal with. The lights, hot water, food, even gas that would be spent on taking me to sports and other places. And as a result of that, I decided to start selling snacks at school. I remember the day that I first bought everything and I posted it on my Snapchat. And after 10 minutes I had already pre-sold everything in my inventory. I lived close to the border, so I would travel to Mexico every 2 weeks on a weekend to buy snacks at a cheap price in order to increase my profit. I went on for about a year and started selling to my whole high school. And it got to a point where I even hired friends to sell for me while I would pay them 10 dollars a week. Furthermore, I got into music production. And after I expanded my craft to the point it could be sold to artists, I went to Instagram and researched marketing tactics. I even bought a pdf from a successful beatmaker that had so many secrets to promoting music to other people through social media. I did this for about two years, and after selling over 100 beats, I made over 4 figures in revenue. Recently, I gathered the courage to at least try to sing on a track of mine. Making instrumentals was fun, but in the end, the product felt unfinished since there wasn't a voice that would give more life to it. I meddled with different programs and after creating hundreds of songs, I finally found the sound I wanted and I continued to expand on it over time. This made me feel like I had a purpose. I had a goal when listening to my music. I found myself enjoying the process of studying music and finding different ways to alter and create different sounds. The possibilities were limitless. I always had a gift for making money, and now that I want to pursue Marketing as a major, I realize that I want to create my own business. While I don’t really know what exactly I want to do in my business, I know that my business has to be an organization that is worldwide and can help billions of people. I want to impact the world and make a difference in it. There are too many people doing the same thing and hoping for a change, I plan to do the opposite. I want to make the change by doing everything differently from what people do. Even now, working at Target as a front-of-store attendant, I realize the hard work I need to put in in order to prepare myself to be financially free in the future. Instead of hanging out with friends or wasting my time on things that won’t help my future such as scrolling through my phone, I use my free time to read personal and financial development books to expand my knowledge on the market today and learn how to be up to date in current events in the world. I have signed up for online courses involving negotiation, marketing, and even being a remote systems integrator.

Aristotle once said, "Happiness is not pleasure, nor is it virtue. It is the exercise of virtue. Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one's life." Now, people can argue about this saying in many ways. Some may say that happiness is achievable before death, others agree with Aristotle and prefer the Nichomaquan Ethics as an understanding of human emotions. However, the way I see it is that we can experience happiness but not achieve it until death. What makes me happy is the people I have in my life. And while they don't immediately help me reach happiness their presence is what helps me achieve happiness. The simple pleasures in my life bring happiness to me. My family and the people I meet bring happiness. One thing that all humans share in common is that they need someone to rely on and experience happiness with them. All the people I've met make me happy because of the moments I've had with them. Happiness is essential to human beings because we all desire to be with someone. Everybody wants to achieve happiness, and I see that as being forever in a state of happiness. One can be happy for a moment then sad the next. And what makes me happy right now- while writing this essay- are the people I converse with every day. They help me be a better person by exercising my virtues and helping others. Community service is a big part of my life, and helping others is a thing that I enjoy doing. As an Eagle Scout, service to others is a thing that has been taught to me for a long time. To be happy is to be in a state of happiness. And the people I love help me achieve that.

My life has been full of blessings. I have an amazing family with 2 parents that raised me to be the person that I am today. And throughout my whole life, even though there has been some trouble economically, I have never gone a day without food. Therefore, I am grateful and blessed. The reason why this connects to the prompt is because of the way in which my life has been shaped due to the gifts I have been given in this life. Due to my amazing status in life, I feel like it is my duty to give back. As I am applying to college, one of my main goals in life is to give back. Not only to my parents but to my community. As an Eagle Scout, I learned many virtues, and one of the things that stuck with me the most was community service. I served in countless community service projects including one that was led by me in which I built a gaga-ball pit for a school. Apart from scouts, my family and I every once in a while try to make food baskets and give them out to the homeless. The reason why all these examples of giving back are so present in my life is because of the blessing that was given to me. As I mentioned before, I want to give back because my life has been very stable and I know there are people out there who never had what I experienced even at such an early stage in my life. My parents have always taught me to give back, and as I grow in life I will make sure that giving back is one of my main life goals.

“I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS!!!” Driving back home, I screamed at the top of my lungs in joy as I listened to the song I had just created. Everything sounded perfect. The bass, the drums, the guitar strings… my voice. The sound I had been looking for the last year had finally emerged, and I was in tears. The song sounded unique. It sounded special as if nobody could copy it in its creative process. As I rode home, I took mental notes on tweaks that I would do to the song to make it sound even more complete. Listening to my music - listening to me- made me feel special. The meaning of these feelings was becoming clearer, day by day. I started producing music around 9th grade. That’s when my eyes opened to the different paths I could take. My world was only concerned with school, friends, and video games. I was living the life of a normal teenager. So I would think to myself sometimes, “What can I do to play my part in this world?” “What makes my life notable?” “Unique?” What is my purpose?” I realize that just like a song, we all complement this world in one way or another. Whether that is through a subtle, clean sound- or the main centerpiece like a melody. Every piece, every fragment- is crucial to making a song beautiful and complete. As someone who truly believes this, I want to play my part in this world by being successful in whatever I will be in the future. And later use my success to help others not only in my community but in the world.

In today's society, many people desire a luxurious lifestyle with a big house, fancy cars, and being rich. However, being raised in a middle-class family, I understand the necessity of living frugally. I want to be a millionaire. But not in terms of money. I want to have a million friends, millions of people that I love, a family that depends on me, and a strong spiritual connection to God. I aim to be financially free getting out of college and throughout the rest of my life. Although I previously stated that I do not want to be a millionaire in terms of money, I do. But the reason is not so I can buy a big mansion or luxurious cars, I want to be financially stable to spend time with my family and teach them to do the same. I believe that life is too short to spend all my life working. Therefore, my dream life involves spending time with my family and not worrying about money. Furthermore, I want to be an active member of my community and help those in need. When I tell people that I desire a simple lifestyle regardless of being a millionaire. People tend to confuse the meaning of "rich" and "wealthy." Being rich is living the luxurious lifestyle I have previously talked about: spending money 24/7. And to be wealthy is having a net worth that speaks volumes about how much one is prepared economically. I want to be wealthy. Being wealthy means having enough money to not work for the next ten years and still be able to support my family. My dream life is not about money, but freedom. I wish for everybody to strive for financial independence so they can strive for the same goal.

"Patience is a virtue" - William Langland We have all heard this quote at some point in our lives. When our parents tell us to wait for something we want instantly, when we wait in lines at a store, or even when waiting for a significant change to happen in our life. However, when I hear of patience, I think of time. Time is the biggest factor in relationships, work, and even life in general. Time and patience are what fuel me to expand on my relationships with people and form relationships. When I think of time, I think of what exactly I am doing in my life that will help me reach my goal. I believe that everyone who wants to be successful in life must undergo a series of obstacles that determines whether that person is truly capable of being successful. Life is hard. And nobody can change that. Throughout my life, I have moved cities and even countries over five times. So when it comes to meeting new people and making connections, it is evident that it takes time to form friendships. And building upon them takes a while. Patience is crucial to living a long, healthy life because patience is the perfect balance of time management and self-control. Patience is what fuels me to my goals. We are governed by a society that believes in fast changes and believes that someone's life could change in an instant. While that may be true for the 1 percent, the 99 percent have to work hard in order to achieve their goals. And that goal can come tomorrow or in the next five years, but living through patience will make one's journey completely worth it. Patience is definitely a virtue that is necessary in our world today.

The change in my life that turned everything around for me happened during COVID. After my sophomore year ended, COVID was getting worse and my family had decided to move to San Antonio. I wasn't too excited about this change in my life, especially by how things were going with the pandemic. I didn’t care about school anymore, I was just wasting my time by playing video games and not spending my time being productive. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. As a senior in my Great Hearts, I have realized that moving schools were the best thing that could've happened to me. My last school did not empathize education with the students enough, and I had no idea how college would impact my life. These works have pushed my intellect and not only made me think of education as important but also being aware of current world events.

In today's society, many people desire a luxurious lifestyle with a big house, fancy cars, and being rich. However, being raised in a middle-class family, I understand the necessity of living frugally. My goal is to follow my education in business so I can become financially independent in the future and help those around me. I want to be a millionaire. But not in terms of money. I want to have a million friends, millions of people that I love, a family that depends on me, and a strong spiritual connection with God. I aim to be financially free getting out of college and throughout the rest of my life. Although I previously stated that I do not want to be a millionaire in terms of money, I do. But the reason is not so I can buy a big mansion or luxurious cars, I want to be financially stable to spend time with my family and teach them to do the same. I heard someone say once, "Money makes you happy once you give it away." My "why" is because I want to give back to my community. I believe the blessings in my life have been given to me not because I somehow deserve them (which I don't). I was given a home and a lifestyle I am content with because much is expected from me in the future. I truly think that the gifts I received and the passion I was given to be successful were so I can eventually help those less fortunate than me. I believe that life is too short to spend all my life working. Therefore, my dream life involves spending time with my family and being an active member of my community. By not worrying about my financial stability, I can focus on those around me instead of being self-centered. When I tell people that I desire a simple lifestyle regardless of being a millionaire. People tend to confuse the meaning between "rich" and "wealthy." Being rich is living the luxurious lifestyle I have previously talked about: spending money 24/7 on material things. However, to be wealthy means having a net worth that speaks volumes about how much one is prepared economically for the future. I want to be wealthy. Being wealthy means having enough money to not work for the next ten years and still be able to support my family. My dream life is not about money, but freedom. I wish for everybody to strive for financial independence so they can strive for the same goal. This vision of mine can impact the world positively in the future because everybody should strive to be a leader. I want to be a leader not for people to do things for me, but for me to serve those under my wing. I believe that being a leader means being the last person to receive help, and by that, I mean helping everybody else without expecting a reward. The world is in need of leaders that are not ego-centric and want what is best for the community. My hope is that people will step outside of their comfort zone and strive to be better people for the good of everyone.

What does it mean to be independent? In our world, where have we learned to be independent? What about the time the thirteen colonies separated themselves from Great Britain to form an independent country? What did independence mean to them? All throughout history, humans have formed and established connections due to many circumstances or events that eventually help them lead better lives. From our county's history, we have learned to be independent so we can create a government that is dedicated to the service of its people. To be independent, one needs to understand that although human behavior is oriented to a need for a connection with another human, an independent person must learn how to be self-sufficient. Ever since we are a child, we have been raised to be dependent on our parents. And as time passes by, they aim to help us grow into a lifestyle where we will eventually be independent and go out into the real world and lead our own lives. As an eighteen-year-old preparing to go to college, my central goal has been to prepare financially in order to be financially free once I graduate. By working at Target, and learning to finance me, I am in the process of becoming an independent person. This impacts my life because one of my main goals is to take care of my family and repay my parents for everything they have done for me. Being independent has given me a new perspective on life. And in order to be self-sufficient, I plan to work as hard as I need to in order to become financially independent.

When I looked at this prompt, I sat back and smiled, "This is the hardest prompt from Bold.org I have heard so far." And it is not because I have no love for myself. Not at all. Reading this prompt made me think about all my strengths and weaknesses and realize that all of them make me who I am. So to answer this question, something I love about myself is that I AM myself. When people scroll through social media or look at TV, they see millionaires and celebrities. And I know many people who think to themselves, "I wish I was that person." Do you? That person's life is not depicted fully through that TV screen but yet we as humans desire what we don't have. Raised in a humble home, I have learned to be grateful for what I have and cherish the blessings I have been given. Those blessings are infinite. I have a love for my family and friends, I love to help my community, and I have a love for learning and reading. And although there are weaknesses in me like procrastinating and failing to meet certain goals because I lack self-mastery, I realize that just like every human being in the world, I am a work in progress. This is why despite my mistakes, I wake up every day with the desire to be better. I love that I want to work on myself. In a sense, what I love about myself is something that everybody has, but has not put into practice yet... Just like me, every person has the capacity to grow. To learn. To discover and appreciate the wonders of the world. Humans are imperfect, therefore we are able to learn. I love that I am not perfect.

My life has been full of blessings. I have an amazing family that raised me to be the person that I am today. And throughout my whole life, even though there has been some trouble economically, I have never gone a day without food. Therefore, I am grateful and blessed. The reason why this connects to the prompt is because of the way in which my life has been shaped due to the gifts I have been given in this life. Due to my amazing status in life, I feel like it is my duty to give back. As I am applying to college, one of my main goals in life is to cause a positive impact in the world by giving back. As an Eagle Scout, I learned many virtues, and one of the things that stuck with me the most was community service. I served in countless community service projects including one that was led by me in which I built a gaga-ball pit for a school. Apart from scouts, my family and I every once in a while try to make food baskets and give them out to the homeless. The reason why all these examples of giving back are so present in my life is because of the blessing that was given to me. Like I mentioned before, I want to give back because my life has been very stable and I know there are people out there who never had what I experienced even at such an early stage in my life. My parents have always taught me to give back, and as I grow in life I will make sure that giving back is one of my main life goals.

Just to think about self-care can be a task in itself. It is an essential part of living. We get so busy and caught up living in our everyday lives that we forget about the most important part, ourselves. I'm currently in the process of applying to college and working 20 hours a week, and I forget to spend time with my family and just work on myself. Stress management and self-soothing techniques are critical for surviving modern work,.I usually try to sleep early and eat what I should every day. Prayer is a big thing for me especially when times are tough. But one thing I want to start doing is working out, I know that exercise is a big factor when it comes to body health and how it can impact my daily life. This will be tough for me but I know that it will help me have more time to do the things I love. Self-care is a responsibility to yourself. We are raised to help others and be selfless and while these thongs are necessary for leading a good life, we rarely get taught to focus on ourselves. Our lives are too short and too fragile. Practicing self-care is something everybody should do since by helping themselves they are more capable of doing acts of service for others. My life is extremely important to me as it should be for everybody. And to love someone, one needs to love themselves first. Self-care is one of the many steps taken in order to accomplish this. And in order to live our lives in accord to this, taking care of ourselves will help us live better lives.

In today's society, many people desire a luxurious lifestyle with a big house, fancy cars, and being rich. However, being raised in a middle-class family, I understand the necessity of living frugally. I want to be a millionaire. But not in terms of money. I want to have a million friends, millions of people that I love, a family that depends on me, and a strong spiritual connection to God. I aim to be financially free getting out of college and throughout the rest of my life. Although I previously stated that I do not want to be a millionaire in terms of money, I do. But the reason is not so I can buy a big mansion or luxurious cars, I want to be financially stable to spend time with my family and teach them to do the same. I believe that life is too short to spend all my life working. Therefore, my dream life involves spending time with my family and not worrying about money. Furthermore, I want to be an active member of my community and help those in need. When I tell people that I desire a simple lifestyle regardless of being a millionaire. People tend to confuse the meaning of "rich" and "wealthy." Being rich is living the luxurious lifestyle I have previously talked about: spending money 24/7. And to be wealthy is having a net worth that speaks volumes about how much one is prepared economically. I want to be wealthy. Being wealthy means having enough money to not work for the next ten years and still be able to support my family. My dream life is not about money, but freedom. I wish for everybody to strive for financial independence so they can strive for the same goal.

Today, America lacks influential figures. But what I mean by that is people who stand united together for the common good of the people. The world today looks at celebrities to be influenced by and even though it inspires some, celebrities have overtaken the world and there is a lack of morality in most of these influential people today. I believe that although there are influential figures that stand for the good of everyone, there is only a minority of them. Even our world leaders, who should stand virtuously and serve the people, only choose a fraction of them and seek to help only those who form some sort of alliance with them. Therefore, if I were to be a highly influential figure, the main thing I would stand for would be unity. Throughout human history, every major world event has been caused by separation in classes. Essentially, there has always been some sort of social class separation between two groups that eventually cause them to create conflict with one another. Every war and battle has started because of dissimilarity and separation, and after the conflict ends, the two sides agree to either leave each other alone or unite together. So in a sense, the world has always lacked unity. Even today, there are many conflicts between religions, social groups, and overall people with different views. Therefore, seeking unity as the human race is the best course of action in order to move forward. I truly believe that the human race can work together. After all, it is a human characteristic to desire to be in contact with each other. That's why we have mouths to speak with, ears to listen, and eyes to see and understand. The world is in need of those who seek this outcome. Thank you.

As a person who has been raised by parents who are very service-oriented, I understand the mindset of helping others in our community. My religion and the blessings in my life are centerpieces that inspire me to help others that are in need. Ever since I was young, I was taught that giving was a service and should always be something I should be involved in. Therefore, the acts of service I have done in my life have taught me many values about helping others and being selfless. To begin, as an Eagle Scout of America, I have done countless acts of community service. For instance, my eagle scout project involved building the gaga ball pit by talking to the beneficiary and buying the materials, and coordinating with many people to assemble it. The many acts of service I did in Boy Scouts helped me become selfless and look out for others in need. In my family, we also strive to do acts of service. Throughout the year, we make food bowls and drove around the center of our city to give them out to homeless people. It's something we don't do too often and I wish we could be able to do it more. Furthermore, throughout high school, I served in immigration centers and took care of the people who were waiting to go to their new homes. In my opinion, this was the hardest act of service I had done since it was heart-wrenching to see kids the age of my siblings undergo these difficulties at such a young age. My life has been full of blessings, and the world is full of people who have been subject to unfortunate situations. Therefore, I need to help them and use my position to serve others.

"Man often becomes what he considered himself to be" - Gandhi. Throughout all my life, I have experienced many different scenarios where I have to prove to myself who I am. Whether that be in my fourth-grade oratory speech competing for state in front of a thousand people, or in a high school basketball game competing for finals. I truly believe that just as stated by Gandhi, a person is who he believes himself to be. Society expects many things from individuals today that everybody's self-perception has been shaken. Depending on how everybody is raised, there is a contrast between people who are confident to those who perceive themselves to not be confident. Essentially, confidence to me means the mindset to do whatever you set your mind to, no matter what society may think of it. I have been raised by parents who believe that it is up to me to accomplish my goals. As to how I am working on being more confident in myself, I constantly try to put myself out of my confront zone. People today are chained to their dependence on others and tend to run away when things get difficult. As someone who experienced this in my early life, I learned that by stepping out of my comfort zone I was able to grow not only in the situation I was presented in but as a person. I believe everybody should strive to leave their comfort zones in order to get used to adversity and learn how to deal with it. This life is too short to live it in fear, and I believe that if everybody strives to be confident, people will be more open to each other.

Aristotle once said, "Happiness is not pleasure, nor is it virtue. It is the exercise of virtue. Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one's life." Now, people can argue on this saying in many ways. Some may say that happiness is achievable before death, others agree with Aristotle and prefer the Nichomaquan Ethics as an understanding of human emotions. However, the way I see it is that we can experience happiness but not achieve it until death. What makes me happy is the people I have in my life. And while they don't immediately help me reach happiness their presence is what helps me achieve happiness. My family makes me happy. The people I meet make me happy. My girlfriend makes me happy. One thing that all humans share in common is that they need someone to rely on and experience happiness with them. All the people I've met make me happy because of the moments I've had with them. Happiness is essential to human beings because we all desire to be with someone. Everybody wants to achieve happiness, and I see that as being forever in a state of happiness. One can be happy for a moment then sad the next. And what makes me happy right now- while writing this essay- are the people I converse with every day. They help me be a better person by exercising my virtues and helping others. Community service is a big part of my life, and helping others is a thing that I enjoy doing. As an Eagle Scout, service to others is a thing that has been taught to me for a long time. To be happy is to be in a state of happiness. And the people I love help me achieve that.

I have used marketing tactics ever since I was young. As a freshman, my parents stopped buying me clothes and I was more aware of the expenses my parents had to deal with. The lights, hot water, food, even gas would be spent on taking me to sports and other places. And as a result of that, I decided to start selling snacks at school. I remember the day that I first bought everything and I posted it on my Snapchat. And after 10 minutes I had already pre-sold everything in my inventory. I lived close to the border, so I would travel to Mexico every 2 weeks on a weekend to buy snacks at a cheap price in order to increase my profit. I went on for about a year and started selling to my whole high school. And it got to a point where I even hired friends to sell for me while I would pay them 10 dollars a week. I would say that every month I would get around 1,000 dollars, easily. I knew I had a knack for business and I realized this every day as my business grew. Furthermore, I got into music production. And after I expanded my craft to the point it could be sold to artists, I went to Instagram and researched marketing tactics. I even bought a pdf from a successful beatmaker that had so many secrets to promoting music to other people through social media. I did this for about two years, and after selling over 100 beats, I made over 4 figures in revenue. I always had a gift for making money, and now that I want to pursue Marketing as a major, I realize that I want to create my own business. While I don’t really know what exactly I want to do in my business, I know that my business has to be an organization that is worldwide and can help billions of people. I want to impact the world and make a difference in it. There are too many people doing the same thing and hoping for a change, I plan to do the opposite. I want to make the change by doing everything differently from what people do. Even now, working at Target as a front-of-store attendant, I realize the hard work I need to put in in order to prepare myself to be financially free in the future. Instead of hanging out with friends or wasting my time on things that won’t help my future such as scrolling through my phone, I use my free time to read personal and financial development books to expand my knowledge on the market today and learn how to be up to date in current events in the world. I have signed up for online courses involving negotiation, marketing, and even being a remote systems integrator. As I am writing this essay, I realize that just like a song, we all complement this world in one way or another. Whether that is through a subtle, clean sound- or the main centerpiece like a melody. Every piece, every fragment- is crucial to making a song beautiful and complete. As someone who truly wants to avoid college debt and be financially free, I want to play my part in this world by being successful in whatever I will be in the future. And later use my success to help others not only in my community but in the world. I believe that everyone has a purpose, and I want mine to have a lasting impact on the world.

A life event that made me who I am was when my family moved from Mcallen to San Antonio. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. As a senior in my Great Hearts, I have realized that moving schools were the best thing that could've happened to me. My last school did not empathize education to the students enough, and I had no idea how college would impact my life. In my new school, I have read countless works from Aristotle and Plato, who were people I was aware of but I thought I wasn’t smart enough to read from. These works have pushed my intellect and not only made me think of education as important but also being aware of current world events. This experience helped me elevate my standards in education and realize that education is a crucial path students must take in order to lead successful lives in the future.

My life has been full of blessings. I have an amazing family with 2 parents that raised me to be the person that I am today. And throughout my whole life, even though there has been some trouble economically, I have never gone a day without food. Therefore, I am grateful and blessed. The reason why this connects to the prompt is because of the way in which my life has been shaped due to the gifts I have been given in this life. Due to my amazing status in life, I feel like it is my duty to give back. As I am applying to college, one of my main goals in life is to give back. Not only to my parents but to my community. As an Eagle Scout, I learned many virtues, and one of the things that stuck with me the most was community service. I served in countless community service projects including one that was led by me in which I built a gaga-ball pit for a school. Apart from scouts, my family and I every once in a while try to make food baskets and give them out to the homeless. The reason why all these examples of giving back are so present in my life is because of the blessing that was given to me. Like I mentioned before, I want to give back because my life has been very stable and I know there are people out there who never had what I experienced even at such an early stage in my life. My parents have always taught me to give back, and as I grow in life I will make sure that giving back is one of my main life goals.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Harper Lee Human beings are different in many ways, and that can be demonstrated by how one acts, looks, or simply thinks. But one commonality in every person is the desire to be loved. And to be loved entails being heard. The world we live in is ruled by so many distractions that many people, including myself, are subject to losing focus. And that's where empathy, which essentially means to understand each other's feelings comes in. I have noticed in conversations with my friends, whenever we hang out, we have no habit of speaking over one another. While this is definitely rude, it has been a common habit not only with my friends but with a lot of conversations nowadays. The quote stated above by Epictetus essentially claims that listening is just as important as hearing. And when one listens to others' thoughts or emotions, there is common respect between the two. As someone who aims to go into the field of business, I recently discovered that one of the main components in successful business life is making connections. Being a senior in high school, I practice having conversations every day in seminars we have in class. When I listen to others speak their mind, I block out any distractions or lingering thoughts I have. This is because listening is opening one's mind to another. And by listening, the other person's thoughts are taken in and appreciated to the fullest. Empathy towards others is what makes them feel special and heard.

Aristotle once said, "Happiness is not pleasure, nor is it virtue. It is the exercise of virtue. Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one's life." Now, people can argue on this saying in many ways. Some may say that happiness is achievable before death, others agree with Aristotle and prefer the Nichomaquan Ethics as an understanding of human emotions. However, the way I see it is that we can experience happiness but not achieve it until death. What makes me happy is the people I have in my life. And while they don't immediately help me reach happiness their presence is what helps me achieve happiness. My family makes me happy. The people I meet make me happy. My girlfriend makes me happy. One thing that all humans share in common is that they need someone to rely on and experience happiness with them. All the people I've met make me happy because of the moments I've had with them. Happiness is essential to human beings because we all desire to be with someone. And that is joy. Everybody wants to achieve happiness, and I see that as being forever in a state of happiness. One can be happy for a moment then sad the next. And what makes me happy right now- while writing this essay- are the people I converse with every day. They help me be a better person by exercising my virtues and helping others. Community service is a big part of my life, and helping others is a thing that I enjoy doing. As an Eagle Scout, service to others is a thing that has been taught to me for a long time. To be happy is to be in a state of happiness. And the people I love help me achieve that.

When it comes to reflecting on what type of person I am, it really takes a lot to figure out what made me who I am today and how I look at myself as time goes by. I believe that I am a person who always accomplishes whatever I put my mind to, as long as I work hard for it and truly want to accomplish it. I see myself as someone who truly cares about others and wants to be involved in their lives as much as possible. I also believe that my connection with God defines me as a caring individual who truly wants to live out the Catholic faith. Moving to San Antonio really made me realize that my life is something that comes with a plan. My new school really elevated my standards in education and made me realize just how important education is in my life and how it will affect it for my future goals. And now I live every day to achieve the goal that is set out for me in life. Finally, I plan to grow up into an individual who is virtuous in his actions and lives his life to the fullest. Mostly, when it comes to my family I really want to grow into a caring father who is always there for his children by supporting them in every way possible in order for them to live out better lives than I ever will. I also want my faith to grow to new heights and have God in the center of my life where he will take care of everything that I cannot control. I am currently looking at Business as a major, and as someone who wants to be extremely involved in my future family’s life, I plan to work as hard as I need to in order to be the best father I can be.

My life has been full of blessings. I have an amazing family with 2 parents that raised me to be the person that I am today. And throughout my whole life, even though there has been some trouble economically, I have never gone a day without food. Therefore, I am grateful and blessed. The reason why this connects to the prompt is because of the way in which my life has been shaped due to the gifts I have been given in this life. Due to my amazing status in life, I feel like it is my duty to give back. As I am applying to college, one of my main goals in life is to give back. Not only to my parents but to my community. As an Eagle Scout, I learned many virtues, and one of the things that stuck with me the most was community service. I served in countless community service projects including one that was led by me in which I built a gaga-ball pit for a school. Apart from scouts, my family and I every once in a while try to make food baskets and give them out to the homeless. The reason why all these examples of giving back are so present in my life is because of the blessing that was given to me. Like I mentioned before, I want to give back because my life has been very stable and I know there are people out there who never had what I experienced even at such an early stage in my life. My parents have always taught me to give back, and as I grow in life I will make sure that giving back is one of my main life goals.

After my sophomore year ended, COVID was getting worse and my family had decided to move to San Antonio. That would mean a new school, new friends, and new opportunities. I wasn't too excited for this change in my life, especially by how things were going with the pandemic. I didn’t care about school anymore, I was just wasting my time by playing video games and not spending my time being productive. I had heard that the school I was going to called themselves a “Classical School.” I didn’t know what this meant but I knew that it would be different from the school I was used to attending. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. I stayed optimistic. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. Living boldly helped me elevate my standards in education and realize that education is a crucial path students must take in order to lead successful lives in the future.

Before I moved to the U.S. I was raised in Mexico. And my parents struggled to support us financially at times. I never noticed this hard time until last year. Now that I am working and investing into my future through reading books and investing my money, I have stopped into the adult world everybody must go into at some point in their lives. When thinking about the future, I don't think about luxurious cars or a big house. I think of paying back my parents for all their hard work so I could go to school and live a good life. I think of giving to my community just as my now-successful dad does extremely often. I believe that in order to become wealthy, one must learn to give first. I recently read the book: "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and I can clearly recall that the seventh step to becoming rich was to give away money. As an Eagle Scout, I have served my community countless times and plan to do so for the rest of my life. When I think of college, I think of a resource that will help me understand how to world of business works. One of my primary life goals is to be financially independent. And in order to do that, I have to put in the hard work now in order to become successful. There is another book, "The Slight Edge," that focuses on the compounding of time as one does mundane things in their daily life that will have a big effect on them in the future. I plan to do what is hard now so that my life can be easier in the future. My future career, although undetermined, involves having time for my family and living life to serve others.

A Greek philosopher named Epictetus once said, "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak". Human beings are different in many ways, and that can be demonstrated by how one acts, looks, or simply thinks. But one commonality in every person is the desire to be loved. And to be loved entails being heard. The world we live in is ruled by so many distractions that many people, including myself, are subject to losing focus. I have noticed in conversations with my friends, whenever we hang out, we have no habit of speaking over one another. While this is definitely rude, it has been a common habit not only with my friends but with a lot of conversations nowadays. The quote stated above by Epictetus essentially claims that listening is just as important as hearing. And when one listens to others' thoughts or emotions, there is common respect between the two. As someone who aims to go into the field of business, I recently discovered that one of the main components in successful business life is making connections. Being a senior in high school, I practice having conversations every day in seminars we have in class. When I listen to others speak their mind, I block out any distractions or lingering thoughts I have. This is because listening is opening one's mind to another. And by listening, the other person's thoughts are taken in and appreciated to the fullest.

After my sophomore year ended, COVID was getting worse and my family had decided to move to San Antonio. That would mean a new school, new friends, and new opportunities. I wasn't too excited for this change in my life, especially by how things were going with the pandemic. I didn’t care about school anymore, I was just wasting my time by playing video games and not spending my time being productive. I had heard that the school I was going to called themselves a “Classical School.” I didn’t know what this meant but I knew that it would be different from the school I was used to attending. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. I stayed optimistic. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. Staying optimistic helped me elevate my standards in education and realize that education is a crucial path students must take in order to lead successful lives in the future.

"Patience is a virtue" - William Langland We have all heard this quote at some point in our lives. When our parents tell us to wait for something we want instantly, when we wait in lines at a store, or even when waiting for a significant change to happen in our life. However, when I hear of patience, I think of time. Time is the biggest factor in relationships, work, even life in general. Time and patience are what fuel me to expand on my relationships with people and form relationships. When I think of time, I think of what exactly I am doing in my life that will help me reach my goal. I believe that everyone who wants to be successful in life must undergo a series of obstacles that determines whether that person is truly capable of being successful. Life is hard. And nobody can change that. Throughout my life, I have moved cities even countries over five times. So when it comes to meeting new people and making connections, it is evident that it takes time to form friendships. But I understand that time is what fuels me to be better. Patience is crucial to my life because patience is the perfect balance of time management and self-control. Patience is what fuels me to my goals. We are governed by a society that believes in fast changes and believes that someone's life could change in an instant. While that may be true for the 1 percent, the 99 percent have to work hard in order to achieve their goals. And that goal can come tomorrow or in the next five years, but living through patience will make one's journey completely worth it. Patience is definitely a virtue that is necessary in our world today.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - MLK As human beings, we were given many functions: To eat, sleep, and listen, but most importantly, to speak. Speaking, in itself, is the one defining thing that sets us apart from other living organisms in our world. Therefore, speaking is one of the main functions given to us humans in order to communicate and understand each other. I stay committed to speaking my mind when presented with situations requiring a second opinion. If there is a situation going on where people can be negatively affected and they cannot speak up, I believe it is necessary for everybody to speak up when it is correct. From MLK's quote, it is understandable how in those times he needed to speak up in order to address the situation dealing with racism in our nation. And even from a controversial situation like that, it can be derived all the way to a simple disagreement between family members. Martin Luther King said that it is the moment when we stop speaking our minds that our life starts to hold no meaning. Our life was given meaning through our speech, and if everyone were to keep their thoughts to themselves and never speak their minds, the world would be a secluded place with no future in development. The reason why we humans were able to grow so much is because of the different opinions that were brought against each other in order to formulate an outcome that would be better for their society. Our lives begin to expand and have true meaning when we speak out about what we believe is right. That is the reason why we have our minds and our speech. To make the world better.

After my sophomore year ended, COVID was getting worse and my family had decided to move to San Antonio. That would mean a new school, new friends, and new opportunities. I wasn't too excited for this change in my life, especially by how things were going with the pandemic. I didn’t care about school anymore, I was just wasting my time by playing video games and not spending my time being productive. I had heard that the school I was going to called themselves a “Classical School.” I didn’t know what this meant but I knew that it would be different from the school I was used to attending. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. I stayed optimistic. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. Staying optimistic helped me elevate my standards in education and overcome adversity, realizing that education is a crucial path students must take in order to lead successful lives in the future.

"Patience is a virtue" - William Langland We have all heard this quote at some point in our lives. When our parents tell us to wait for something we want instantly, when we wait in lines at a store, or even when waiting for a significant change to happen in one's life. However, when I hear of patience, I think of time. Time is the biggest factor in relationships, work, even life in general. When I think of time, I think of what exactly I am doing in my life that will help me reach my goal. Patience is related to time, and with patience, one has to understand that it takes time for things to come. I believe that everyone who wants to be successful in life must undergo a series of obstacles that determines whether that person is truly capable of being successful. Life is hard. And nobody can change that. Throughout my life, I have moved cities even countries over five times. So when it comes to meeting new people and making connections, it is evident that it takes time to form friendships. Nonetheless, I understand that everything comes to be through time, and I have to take advantage of that. Patience is crucial to my life because patience is the perfect balance of time management and self-control. We are governed by a society that believes in fast changes and believes that someone's life could change in an instance. While that may be true for the 1 percent, the 99 percent have to work hard in order to achieve their goals. And that goal can come tomorrow or in the next five years, but living through patience will make one's journey completely worth it. Patience is definitely a virtue that is necessary in our world today.

After everything that has happened throughout the past couple of years, the changes that have occurred not only in America but in the world, are definitely life-changing. The world today is (in a sense) reverting back to the way it was before the pandemic. However, the consequences that came when the pandemic was at its highest changed some families forever. When it comes to areas such as healthcare & technology, it looks like there will be an increase in production and emphasis to create and develop more as human beings. Something as simple as “washing your hands” will now be stressed more than ever before. And with technology, experiments and innovations will formulate in order to be more prepared for the future. Transportation will not have a major change; in a sense, it relates to social interactions due to the fact that a lot of transportation today moves a large group of people from one place to another. So in terms of social interactions, people have indeed found new ways to communicate as if from a distance. In fact, the ability to see each other face-to-face has heavily relied on more than ever when everybody was quarantined. For instance, when the pandemic surged and everybody was forced to stay at home, ZOOM became the most used “interaction app” out of nowhere; and this goes on to show that social communications were affected, but not blocked. In terms of education, the world faced an obstacle that was definitely hard to overcome. But thanks to applications such as “Microsoft Teams” or “ZOOM,” teaching returned to every student. Consequently, though, the formation was to be at home, and distractions would be more prevalent during these times. I was definitely a victim of this. Moving cities in a pandemic, I was introduced to a new school with higher standards of education, and let's just say that it was not the best start to my junior year in high school. Now that I attend the school in person, I realize how crucial it is for a student to be physically in the classroom. The engagement levels completely surpass the level of concentration one has when learning through a computer. After the pandemic, education will receive all types of reform. For example, the SAT will now change mostly to digital in order to have better opportunities for all students to have a chance to take the exam. And this is obviously a change that was made due to the pandemic. Lastly, I would like to add one area of daily life that impacted hundreds of families throughout the world: religion. Many families that would attend their services were now forced to stay at home, and maybe attend it through a live stream. But one has to question the impact on the spiritual life of the religious person who needed to be there physically to feel the presence of their religious figure. I have heard of many families who unfortunately abandoned their religion due to their failed connection with their church or ministry. After the pandemic, society is sure to change how they interact spiritually and how they choose to follow their religions. This aspect of life is one that is central to many members of society. And post-pandemic, one is sure that religious institutions will change how they keep their followers engaged no matter what the circumstances are.

1. I deserve this scholarship because I don't do anything after school except play video games. My desire to be lazy is growing exponentially every day and I can't wait to leave school so I can keep playing. This scholarship will help me pay for my in-game credits so I can buy more things to entertain myself with :). 2. I literally just want to play video games. Do not talk to me about college or anything that's for poor boys. 3. So this one time I was at the trampoline park. And I and my friends decided to go through an obstacle course as fast as we could. As I was going through the obstacles and jumping and ducking, I saw this huge wall I had to climb up on. With my big muscles, I climbed and slid down the slide and beat all my friends.

The most inspiring book I have read is The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Out of the hundreds of books I have read throughout my life, I have never experienced a change like this. As a Catholic, it is my calling in life to achieve the ultimate end, which is happiness with God. I read this book this year, and at that moment I was at a very low moment in my life spiritually. The descriptions of what the afterlife is and what awaits us after death is told in such explicit detail by Dante that it was fear that brought me closer to The Lord. And thankfully, that fear is turning into love. Not only did this book change my perspective on my spiritual life, but Dante’s Inferno made me come to life in my in-class seminars. At our school, we have a class dedicated to reading books like these and then discussing them for the class period. At first, I was very quiet but this book made me desire to understand it more. The book is a poem, and the descriptions aren't always straightforward, but through my questioning and research (which I had never done for a book by myself) allowed me to understand the book and get the most out of it. Now I practice my communication skills in class every day and seek to be the best Catholic I can be.

A Greek philosopher named Epictetus once said, "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak". Human beings are different in many ways, and that can be demonstrated by how one acts, looks, or simply thinks. But one commonality in every person is the desire to be loved. And to be loved entails being heard. The world we live in is ruled by so many distractions that many people, including myself, are subject to losing focus. I have noticed in conversations with my friends, whenever we hang out, we have no habit of speaking over one another. While this is definitely rude, it has been a common habit not only with my friends but with a lot of conversations nowadays. The quote stated above by Epictetus essentially claims that listening is just as important as hearing. And when one listens to others' thoughts or emotions, there is common respect between the two. As someone who aims to go into the field of business, I recently discovered that one of the main components in successful business life is making connections. Being a senior in high school, I practice having conversations every day in seminars we have in class. When I listen to others speak their mind, I block out any distractions or lingering thoughts I have. This is because listening is opening one's mind to another. And by listening, the other person's thoughts are taken in and appreciated to the fullest.

After my sophomore year ended, COVID was getting worse and my family had decided to move to San Antonio. That would mean a new school, new friends, and new opportunities. I wasn't too excited for this change in my life especially by how things were going with the pandemic. I didn’t care about school anymore, I was just wasting my time by playing video games and not spending my time being productive. I had heard that the school I was going to called themselves a “Classical School.” I didn’t know what this meant but I knew that it would be different from the school I was used to attending. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. I stayed optimistic. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. Staying optimistic helped me elevate my standards in education and realize that education is a crucial path students must take in order to lead successful lives in the future.

After my sophomore year ended, COVID was getting worse and my family had decided to move to San Antonio. That would mean a new school, new friends, and new opportunities. I wasn't too excited for this change in my life especially by how things were going with the pandemic. I didn’t care about school anymore, I was just wasting my time by playing video games and not spending my time being productive. I had heard that the school I was going to called themselves a “Classical School.” I didn’t know what this meant but I knew that it would be different from the school I was used to attending. Once I moved, my Junior year at Great Hearts started horribly. The first quarter was entirely through ZOOM and I had no inspiration to pay attention. As a student who had straight A’s in his first 2 years of high school, I was not prepared for the standard of education they had at this school. We were required to read works from Homer like The Iliad and The Odyssey, books that I thought would only be read in college if one wanted to study ancient greek works. But as time went on and I attended the school in person, I pushed myself to be on par with my new classmates because deep down I knew that I was a person who could compete with them. In my second quarter, I received straight A’s in all my classes and I felt like all my hard work would pay off if I continued to push myself. As a senior in my Great Hearts, I have realized that moving schools were the best thing that could've happened to me. My last school did not empathize education to the students enough, and I had no idea how college would impact my life. In my new school, I have read countless works from Aristotle and Plato, who were people I was aware of but I thought I wasn’t smart enough to read from. These works have pushed my intellect and not only made me think of education as important but also being aware of current world events. This experience helped me elevate my standards in education and realize that education is a crucial path students must take in order to lead successful lives in the future.

My life has been full of blessings. I have an amazing family with 2 parents that raised me to be the person that I am today. And throughout my whole life, even though there has been some trouble economically, I have never gone a day without food. Therefore, I am grateful and blessed. The reason why this connects to the prompt is because of the way in which my life has been shaped due to the gifts I have been given in this life. Due to my amazing status in life, I feel like it is my duty to give back. As I am applying to college, one of my main goals in life is to give back. Not only to my parents but to my community. As an Eagle Scout, I learned many virtues, and one of the things that stuck with me the most was community service. I served in countless community service projects including one that was led by me in which I built a gaga-ball pit for a school. Apart from scouts, my family and I every once in a while try to make food baskets and give them out to the homeless. The reason why all these examples of giving back are so present in my life is because of the blessing that was given to me. Like I mentioned before, I want to give back because my life has been very stable and I know there are people out there who never had what I experienced even at such an early stage in my life. My parents have always taught me to give back, and as I grow in life I will make sure that giving back is one of my main life goals.

“I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS!!!” Driving back home, I screamed at the top of my lungs in joy as I listened to the song I had just created. Everything sounded perfect. The bass, the drums, the guitar strings… my voice. The sound I had been looking for the last year had finally emerged, and I was in tears. As I heard every single sound play its part in the song, excitement rushed through my body, making me grip the steering wheel and rock back and forth- enjoying the music to its fullest. The song sounded unique. It sounded special as if nobody could copy it in its creative process. As I rode home, I took mental notes on tweaks that I would do to the song to make it sound even more complete. Listening to my music - listening to me- made me feel special. The meaning to these feelings was becoming clearer, day by day. I started producing music around 9th grade. That’s when my eyes opened to the different paths I could take. My world was only concerned with school, friends, and video games. I was living the life of a normal teenager. So I would think to myself sometimes, “What can I do to play my part in this world?” “What makes my life notable?” “Unique?” What is my purpose?” At the time, music was the one thing that would excite me the most, so as I continued making music I realized that it opened so many doors for me. I could work with different artists, meet new people, and dive into the business of how music reaches everybody in the world. As I continued to listen to music and expand my knowledge, I started looking into marketing my sound. By selling my music (which, at the time, was just instrumental), I went into Instagram and started promoting myself through ads and direct messages to different artists. I learned how to predict my followers’ moves and ideas as I progressed to selling my music on a larger scale. Over the next year, I sold over 100 beats to different artists earning almost 5 figures in sales. Music made me realize that I was an entrepreneur. I loved communicating with people and showing them the music I worked on, which would potentially lead them to buy the instrumental. Recently, I gathered the courage to at least try to sing on a track of mine. Making instrumentals was fun, but in the end, the product felt unfinished since there wasn't a voice that would give more life to it. I meddled with different programs and after creating hundreds of songs, I finally found the sound I wanted and I continued to expand on it over time. This made me feel like I had a purpose. I had a goal when listening to my music. I found myself enjoying the process of studying music and finding different ways to alter and create different sounds. The possibilities were limitless. As I am writing this essay, I realize that just like a song, we all complement this world in one way or another. Whether that is through a subtle, clean sound- or the main centerpiece like a melody. Every piece, every fragment- is crucial to making a song beautiful and complete. As someone who truly believes this, I want to play my part in this world by being successful in whatever I will be in the future. And later use my success to help others not only in my community but in the world.

The world is a place where everybody is subject to their own will. As human beings, our purpose in life is determined by our actions and what their outcome is. Nonetheless, our world is being affected by something greater than overpopulation or the economy. I believe the biggest problem facing the world right now is disconnection. Take disconnection as separation, or the disjunction of humans. We live in a world that is governed by the internet, where people can live in their own world and formulate their own opinion on it. While this sounds pleasant to someone with no real knowledge of the cause of this, we need to realize that the internet changes and formulates one's opinion based on what they see in their everyday lives. Disconnection has caused a disruption in the harmony of human beings. Interactions that should be face to face, therefore making it realistic, has diminished because people are used to hiding behind the screen where they can say whatever they want. This causes many different problems, problems that I cant fit into a 300-word essay. The reality is, the internet is a useful, necessary tool for the advancement of technology and communication not only in this world but potentially in the universe. What I try to convert through this essay is in no way or means degrading of the internet. I believe that its use is abused and the people who are most important to our race are being affected by it the most. And that is our youth. As an 18-year-old who wants to understand more of the reason for our disconnection, I advise that in order to solve this people need to reassess themselves and use the internet as a tool to grow. Not to dehumanize themselves.

As a person who is known for making others laugh. I have recently taken advantage of my gift and used it to spread joy to others. As a Target employee, it's crucial for the guests to feel welcome; and there have been many cases where I help guests bring groceries back to their cars. One time, when I was helping an old lady, I asked her about her day. She told me about how her daughter was fighting cancer and (without getting too into it) how her life was unbalanced. I stayed quiet and listened to her and finally when she stopped I told her a funny story about how in school I dropped my phone down the toilet (it's true). She laughed so much that she wanted to give me a hug because I had just made her day. I will forever remember this because of how I was able to cause a change in her day. Another way I make others laugh is in school. I'm not known as the class clown but I try to give good vibes to everyone as much as I can. And whenever I see someone who looks sad, I go up to them and converse with them and try to make their day better. I love making people laugh and I feel happier than ever when I see how I can change people's moods. This essay made me realize that I can do so much more for the people around me. Making others happy has been a gift of mine and I plan to use it for the rest of my life. Thank you.

My best skill is making music. I started producing around 9th grade and recently started using my voice to create full songs. I am improving my skill in many ways. I listen to music every day, and I love exploring different genres and artists. I love music because it's limitless and universal, and that helps me a lot when improving in music. To be specific, I improve my music by watching many videos of tutorials and efficient ways to make music. As a producer and now a songwriter, I have expanded my knowledge in music and continue to do so by learning different methods and programs to make music. I want to be involved in the music industry through marketing, I have sold many beats to artists and I understand the market when it comes to music. By improving my music and growing my love for it, I'll be getting closer to achieving my goal.

Aristotle once said, "Happiness is not pleasure, nor is it virtue. It is the exercise of virtue. Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one's life." Now, people can argue on this saying in many ways. Some may say that happiness is achievable before death, others agree with Aristotle and prefer the Nichomaquan Ethics as an understanding of human emotions. However, the way I see it is that we can experience happiness but not achieve it until death. What makes me happy is the people I have in my life. And while they don't immediately help me reach happiness their presence is what helps me achieve happiness. My family makes me happy. The people I meet make me happy. My girlfriend makes me happy. One thing that all humans share in common is that they need someone to rely on and experience happiness with them. All the people I've met make me happy because of the moments I've had with them. Happiness is essential to human beings because we all desire to be with someone. Everybody wants to achieve happiness, and I see that as being forever in a state of happiness. One can be happy for a moment then sad the next. And what makes me happy right now- while writing this essay- are the people I converse with every day. They help me be a better person by exercising my virtues and helping others. Community service is a big part of my life, and helping others is a thing that I enjoy doing. As an Eagle Scout, service to others is a thing that has been taught to me for a long time. To be happy is to be in a state of happiness. And the people I love help me achieve that.

An example of hardship was when I built a gaga ball pit as part of a community service project to achieve my Eagle Scout Rank. When I was planning this, I had moved from Mcallen to San Antonio, and my troop was located in Mcallen. So I had to coordinate with the beneficiary and my troop in order to make the project possible. The gaga ball would be built at Idea Mission Public School, which was located in Mcallen. So planning the project and communicating with the beneficiary was a challenge. Therefore, I had to communicate with my troop and the beneficiary of the project in order to be successful. There were times where my parents wanted to step in and help out with planning the project. However, one of the requirements for the project was for me to be the leader. I demonstrated leadership by how I took charge of communicating with the troop and beneficiary and how I convinced the beneficiary to not only allow me to build a gaga ball pit but to pay for the materials which were something that would have set the project back indefinitely. Once I attained the materials, I recruited my friends from school and separated them into two groups with a team leader each to ensure efficiency. We painted the wood and once it was ready, my dad, older brother, and I went down to Mcallen to assemble the pit. This took a lot of planning and leadership since I had to consider many factors such as transportation, the safety of the wood, and the other materials that would be needed to assemble the pit. I had to coordinate with my troop on the date of assembly, food, drinks, how many volunteers would show up, and how much time it would take to assemble the pit. In Boy Scouts, there is a four-step method to teach, this is called EDGE. To Explain. Demonstrate. Guide. And Enable. When assembling the pit in the school, I put together 3 teams with a team leader for each and I explained how the gaga ball would be built. After that I demonstrated how to assemble the wood together, then I guided them on where to screw the wood. Finally, I enabled the project to be set forth for the best efficiency. There were many instances where I had to make a hard choice, for example, It was very hot and we were having trouble carrying the wood to the field. So as I saw the volunteers struggling I decided to take a thirty-minute break which delayed the project. However, everybody got their energy back and finished the project. There was leadership involved in how I made decisions that would not only affect the project but the people that participated in it. Overall, I overcame hardship in my actions to complete the project with the most efficiency with the help of volunteers. This experience was a big step in my life because community service is a big part of my life.

So I was on facetime with my girlfriend. And we were both messing around talking about life and laughing together. And out of nowhere, I got emotional. I was so happy because I never felt this connection with someone in my life, I'm usually someone that keeps their emotions to themselves, but I felt like my true self would come out when I was with her. The prompt says Happiness is an essential part of a healthy life. I feel like I'm living my best life right now and I wouldn't change it for anything else.

My favorite book I have read so far in my life is "Confessions" by Saint Augustine. I read this book about 2 months ago for my English class as a senior. And having read many books from Aristotle and Plato, I have never been more interested by a book like this. I am from a Catholic family and knowing that my faith in my religion is always changing. I really questioned myself with Augustine wheat the essence of God is. How can time travel in eternity, what is eternity? To be specific (since there are many different topics), the relation between time and memory is something that really captivated me. I realized that even though time is all around us, we have no clue about what time really is. I realized that I can push my own intellect by questioning myself and answering my own questions as Augustine does to the best of my ability. This book inspired me to read more works from different authors seeking Truth and it allows me to reach a better state of mind. A true state of mind.

The most inspiring book I have ever read is Confessions by Saint Augustine. I read this book about 2 months ago for my English class as a senior. And having read many books from Aristotle and Plato, I have never been more interested by a book like this. I am from a Catholic family and knowing that my faith in my religion is always changing. I really questioned myself with Augustine wheat the essence of God is. How can time travel in eternity, what is eternity? To be specific (since there are many different topics), the relation between time and memory is something that really captivated me. I realized that even though time is all around us, we have no clue about what time really is. I realized that I can push my own intellect by questioning myself and answering my own questions as Augustine does to the best of my ability. This book inspired me to read more works from different authors seeking Truth and it allows me to reach a better state of mind. A true state of mind.

A piece of art that inspires me is one that I recently came across of and its name is "Forever Always" by Ocampo. Ocampo’s optical illusory “Forever Always” highlights two aged facial profiles of a man and a woman staring into each other’s eyes with two traditional Mexican characters in repose and a golden goblet between them. The illustration depicts what I believe is the Virgin Mary in the man's hair. Although I don't know the specific meaning I'm sure that the man has some sort of relationship between the woman he's staring at and the Virgin Mary in his hair. The reason why this painting inspires me is that people can look at this painting and find infinite meanings for it. The way we look at the world is the same as when I look at the painting. Many pieces of art inspire me but this one really depicts how a painting can have multiple perspectives and themes. The way the prompt said, "Art makes the world a more beautiful, creative, and happy place, allowing everyone to express their creativity." Shows how one has no boundaries when creating art and as I said before, the world can be seen from many different perspectives just as this picture can be seen for its different meanings. Art is universal, so in this painting. Thank you.

An example of adversity I endured was when I had to make up for a test I had failed by staying after school and completing make-up work. It took a lot to, first of all, convince my teacher that I would work hard to do all the classwork needed to make up for the failing grade. After 3 months, I ended with an A+ in the class. This type of resilience helps me in times of hardship where I need to push through to achieve my goal. I have excelled in my perseverance to always get the job done. When I set my mind to something, I do my best to accomplish it to its fullest. The field of study I want to study is business. Once I graduate, I want to start my own business to not only help myself and my family but my employees and my customers. I plan to design something that will better the world and will help millions to live more efficient lives. Changes that I want to accomplish in both business and myself are that I want to be more involved in others' lives by growing my intellect and just learning more about myself and who I'm supposed to be.

I have always moved in my life. I was born in New Jersey but my parents were from Mexico so we moved there and I was raised there. When I was 11 I moved back o the US and I lived close to the border for 6 years. After being in a school for 5 years thinking I would graduate from there I moved to San Antonio as a Junior. The change was tremendous and the new school had elevated expectations when it came to education. I realized that education is something that is crucial if one wants go be successful in life. I plan to be a person who can help those around me and live the best life I can in terms of being comfitable. I didn't have this mindset when moving, but when writing this, I realize that moving changed my outlook on how my life is.

I am an Eagle Scout of America. And I have served in numerous service projects to help out my community. I organized a project where I built a gaga ball pit for a school that didn't have that many forms of entertainment for the students when it came to going outside for lunch. I lived 4 hours away, but I got in contact with the school's principal and we set up the most efficient way to paint and set up the gaga ball pit. When it comes to changing my community for the better, I have served in nursing homes and help at immigration centers for months now. I hope for a better change in my community and the world so everybody can help each other be their best version of themselves.

Friendship is willing to put everything on the line for the other. Friendship is doing something the other likes but you don't, just because you want to make your friend happy. Friendship is knowing that you mean the world to someone, and someone means the world to you. Friendship is all this and a lot more that couldn't possibly be put into words. But most importantly, friendship is forever, no matter what. If you have a true friend, even if you move far away or just lose touch with each other, you will always be friends. That is what friendship is.

Just to think about self-care can be a task in itself. I never really thought about it, to be honest, but it is an essential part of living. We get so busy and caught up living in our everyday lives that we forget about the most important part, ourselves. I'm currently in the process of applying to college and working 20 hours a week, and I forget to spend time with my family and just work on myself. I think this essay will help me to appreciate and not take for granted the things that I know I need to do for myself and to show love to the most important person, me. Stress management and self-soothing techniques are critical for surviving modern work, I usually try to sleep early and eat what I should every day. Prayer is a big thing for me especially when times are brought. But one thing I want to start doing is working out, I know that exercise is a big factor when it comes to body health and how it can impact my daily life. This will be tough for me but I know that it will help me have more time to do the things I love.

I don't simply want the world to be a better place, I want the people living in this world to feel like they belong and live good lives. I want my community to thrive and be open to each other as in how they communicate. I want everybody to help each other out and simply be good people to each other. As a boy scout, I have served in countless community projects and as an Eagle Scout, I can say that all these projects didn't only shape my life, but changed those who I helped for the better. Community service is a huge part of my life, I love helping people in any situation to make their lives better.

Understanding mechanisms is crucial to human cognition because they underlie the causal relationships that explain the events and phenomena in the world around us. This can help us to predict outcomes, make inferences, and grasp broader systems. In short, understanding mechanisms helps us to “infer the unknown from the known” (Johnson & Ahn, in press). We can use mechanism to explore saving electricity using gears, as in the ones we use everyday: in our cars and in electrical circuits. Mechanisms have no limits, and that's what makes it so special.

Just like a song, we all complement this world in one way or another. Whether that is through a subtle, clean sound- or a main centerpiece like a melody- every piece, every fragment, is crucial to making a song beautiful and complete.

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To be true to yourself means to act in accordance with who you are and what you believe. If you know and love yourself you will find it effortless to be true to yourself. I'm not afraid of who I am today. As difficult as it may seem at first, I didn't have the courage to accept myself. Yet I did not take action or pretend to be someone else for the sake of gaining acceptance. Many young people believe that when they do things to please their peers, such as drink when they shouldn't, or behave and party in inappropriate ways, they will be popular and well-liked. They go against the advice of their parents or their own common sense only to find themselves in trouble and not accomplishing what they hoped. Self-respect comes from being true to the real you and from acting in alignment with your fundamental nature. When you respect yourself, others will respect you. They will sense that you are strong, confident, and capable of standing up for yourself and your beliefs. I am true to myself by how my uniqueness shines through in everybody's eyes and I feel accepted not just by others, but myself.

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Investing into stocks has never been as convenient as it is now. People have become rich by just investing a small amount of money and watching it grow.

Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889: The Starry Night seems to reflect Vincient's turbulent state of mind at the time, as the night sky comes alive with swirls and orbs of frenetically applied brush marks springing from the yin and yang of his personal demons and awe of nature.

A vaccine known as Ervebo, made by the pharmaceutical company Merck, was tested in a clinical trial in Guinea performed toward the end of the outbreak in 2016 that proved the vaccine effective. Another Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 2018, and the ongoing epidemic has spread to become the deadliest since the West Africa outbreak, with 3,366 reported cases and 2,227 deaths as of December 2019. This discovery really is important since Ebola has been a very horrible sickness in the past years.

We are all humans. All of the same race. We all have the same attributes and have one mind that makes us unique. The fact that we can communicate and solve problems by working together gives hope that humans can one day reach a better future for everybody.

The new tech that I'm most exited for is glasses that serve as a cellular device. There’s a race to be the first to make a set of glasses that everyone will wear, which means they have to be fashionable and sleek enough to wear all day and everywhere you go. And for that to work the glasses need to be as efficient as possible. I would love to use these.

To begin, my life really wasn't centered around education. It was when I moved from Mexico to the United States that I realized how important education would be in my life. Moving from town to town, school to school, it was hard to adjust to different environments and people. But I realized that when I set my mind to something and apply myself to it, I always accomplish it. Now that I have a clear goal in mind, I plan to get a degree in business and a minor in music since it has always been my passion. I've always had a mindset that allowed me to see business in everything. two days ago I applied for my first official job, and regardless of that I had already made 5 figures in selling music that I've created. These two degrees will support by future goals by allowing me to make the correct decisions in crucial times in order to receive the best outcome. I feel like I've looked far enough into the future to know what I want to be and what my goals are. I plan to graduate college with a bachelor's degree and furthermore into a master's when I have the money. This scholarship will make the future more attainable since where I come from it takes a lot of work to reach a master's degree. Thank you

Generosity is a virtue that is presented in the action of giving and being selfless. When speaking of the generous man, Aristotles says, "Givers, too, are called generous; but those who do not take are not praised for generosity but rather for justice; while those who take are hardly praised at all." I completely agree with this definition of generosity because being selfless doesn't mean that it has to be praised. Generosity is the art of being a selfless human being.

A philosopher questions the answers and answers the questions. - Me

An example of adversity I endured was when I had to make up for a test I had failed by staying after school and completing make-up work. It took a lot to first of all convince my teacher that I would work hard to do all the classwork needed to make up for the failing grade. After 3 months, I ended with a A+ in the class. This type of resilience really helps me in times of hardship where I really need to push through to achieve my goal.

The link between physics and spirituality is found in the depths of mathematics. Just as the mind mediates between body and soul so does mathematics connects physics and metaphysics. Spirituality is concerned with matters of the spirit. It is aimed at developing an integral man with deep awareness of his values.

To begin, my life really wasn't centered around education. It was when I moved from Mexico to the United States that I realized how important education would be in my life. Moving from town to town, school to school, it was hard to adjust to different environments and people. But I realized that when I set my mind to something and apply myself to it, I always accomplish it. Now that I have a clear goal in mind, I plan to get a degree in business and a minor in music since it has always been my passion. I've always had a mindset that allowed me to see business in everything. two days ago I applied for my first official job, and regardless of that I had already made 5 figures in selling music that I've created. These two degrees will support by future goals by allowing me to make the correct decisions in crucial times in order to receive the best outcome. I feel like I've looked far enough into the future to know what I want to be and what my goals are. I plan to graduate college with a bachelor's degree and furthermore into a master's when I have the money. This scholarship will make the future more attainable since where I come from it takes a lot of work to reach a master's degree. Thank you