School shut down because of the COVID outbreak so I was stuck at home with nothing to do. Almost everyday my friends and I would play Mario Kart on our switches. We would spend hours playing the different game modes, laughing and screaming at each other. Racing each other was always so fun, I’d always win but once they got their older siblings to play it was over for me. We played other Nintendo games too, mostly games you could play with friends. Mario party and Mario tennis are other notable ones but Mario Kart was always our favorite. Especially the Renegade Roundup Mini game, a game similar to Cops and Robbers. My friend and I were placed in different teams, he was robber and I was the cop. I had to chase him and his other team members and catch them. I remember singling him out, deliberately choosing to only chase him. I would always catch him off guard, he’d be driving around cautiously trying to avoid anything and everything around him and I would race to him and catch him. That round, my team won by a landslide. The next round, he was the cop. I remember making fun of him as he would try to catch me and end up crashing into a wall. Mario Kart helped me cope with the isolation of being in quarantine. I didn’t see my friends at all in person for almost two years but I would play and spend time with them for hours when we had the time. Every time I meet up with anyone that has a switch, I always ask if they have Mario Kart.

As a little girl, I loved learning about the world around me. I wanted to know all about the different ecosystems that reside on earth. I would spend hours reading books about the relationships different organisms have with others in their habitats, how different environments are better suited for some species, and how human activity is disturbing these ecosystems. As I grew up, my passion for the environment stayed. Now I am in college, I am studying biology to become a field biologist. I aim to use my expertise in biology to advocate for environmental issues that need to be addressed to the world. My day job would be being a field biologist but I also aim to be a volunteer social worker in my free time. I love creating connections with people and learning about their lives. I want to help people in ways they can’t help themselves. I want to take online courses and use my social work degree to help those in need. I am very passionate about the environment but I am just as passionate for humanity. The environment does not have a voice and some people in terrible situations don’t either so I want to be their voice. The person who stands up for them.

I never had a close relationship with my grandma. She didn’t visit much and when she did visit she would play “jokes” on me that always made me cry. As a kid, I was genuinely scared of her because of that. My mom would drop everything she was doing and spend hours on the phone with her. I remember asking myself why my grandma was mean to me and why my mom would choose to spend her time with her and not with me. As I got older, I understood. My maternal grandparents blamed me for taking away their daughter. My mother lived with them all of her life before I was born, she lived there with her husband at the time and my half siblings. When my half-sister died and my mom separated from her ex husband, she met my dad. She had me years later after my half-sister’s death and moved to the United States with my dad, leaving her parents behind. To be honest, I will never truly know why my grandma acted that way. I just assume that’s why. As time passed, my grandma’s health started to decline. My mom’s mood seemed to depend on my grandma. If she had a good day, my mom was happy. If she had a bad day, she would blow up at small inconveniences and take out her anger and sadness on me or whoever was there. When my grandma died, I didn’t feel sad or anything about her death. I felt sad for my mom and my half-brother. I sympathized with their feelings because, even though I didn’t have the best relationship with my maternal grandma, they were close to her. My mom fell into a deep depression after. She wasn’t able to go to her funeral or even see her in her last moments because she was in the United States and couldn’t afford to travel. My mom’s mood became worse. It felt like you couldn’t breathe near her because she would yell at you. My mom was working more hours to pay for my grandma’s medical bills and funeral so she wasn’t home a lot. A lot of the things my mom did were put on me when usually we would do it together. I started to cook, clean, do laundry, and everything else that needs to be done around the house. My dad was separated from my mom at the time and my brother moved out so I was truly alone most of the time. It felt like my grandma’s death had also killed my family. I was the only one talking to everyone and checking in on them. I was the only one who asked how their day was. I was the only one who took care of them because no one else would. Her death helped me realize how strong I can be. It helped me learn how to help someone who is grieving and be a shoulder to cry on. Her death showed me that not only I can be independent but also support those around me. Now that my grandpa is on his deathbed, it’s happening all over again. But this time I know I can help my family through it.

I have been a fan of Sabrina Carpenter since her Girl Meets World days. I always thought her character was funny and felt connected to her because of her relationship with her mother. After Girl Meets World ended, I continue to follow her on social media. I loved her personality and her style throughout the years but remained a causal fan. Seeing her in other shows and movies made me feel nostalgic because I still associated her with Girl Meets World, one of the shows I liked to watch. I didn’t find out until around 2018 that she also was a talented singer. I loved Sue Me from her Singular Act I album and listened to Looking at Me on repeat from her Singular Act II album. Now with her overwhelming increase in popularity, I’m so happy to her receive the recognition she deserves. Espresso is such an amazingly catchy song that instantly brings up my mood. Please Please Please is another one of my favorite songs from her, her lyricism and vocals are so satisfying to hear. Because I liked a Boy will never not fail to make me cry and make me screen the lyrics out. Sabrina has been in all sorts of media that I consumed since I was little. From watching her on Girl Meets World, seeing her in random movies like Tall Girl, to listening to her music now.

From a young age, I knew I wasn’t a normal girl. I couldn’t understand why I only could be one gender. Why I’m only seen as a girl. I remember I was being bullied and one of my classmates would try to insult me. She said I dressed like a boy and that my name shouldn’t be Angelina but Angelo. She would use masculine pronouns when referring to me while giggling to her friends. I couldn’t understand why I was unphased and almost happy when she would do that. I didn’t realize until high school that my gender identity wasn’t only being a woman, but something else. I couldn’t find an appropriate label for it but the genderfluid label seemed the most at home for me. The online genderfluid community made me feel safe and seen but as soon as I got out of my online world, I was hit with how the world treats people who are not what is seen as normal. I stopped telling people I was genderfluid because I was so tired of explaining and defending my gender identity. I was tired of being told I was just “confused” or that I was just “going through a phase”. When I would put down that I went by any pronouns, I’d get confused looks. When I would say I went by they/them pronouns, I’d be told “but you look like a girl” because I dress feminine. From then on, I only put that I go by she/her pronouns and will only talk about my gender identity if I know the person will understand. As an adult, I aim to major in biology or social work. Two very different fields but both areas I am passionate about. I’ve always loved research and investigation as well as making connections and empathizing with people. If I were to go the biology route, I’d definitely go into plant biology or environmental science. If I were to go the social work path, I’d work in child welfare or be a medical discharge planner. I intend to pursue a bachelor’s degree and later on a masters. With my degree, I intend to help those in the LGBTQIA+ community as much as I can. If I become a social worker I’ll be an understanding ear to those in difficult situations when they may not have that kind of support. Even if I don’t pursue social work, I’ll try to create an inclusive space wherever possible to ensure those around me can feel comfortable enough to be themselves.

As a child, I was in and out of hospitals. I was poked and prodded by doctors and almost every week I had a bandage on my arm from having bloodwork done or because I was hooked up to an IV. My family didn't have the time or money to go to hospital visits and I seemed better so we stopped going as frequently when I was around 7. Time passed and suddenly I was in 7th grade. It was my dad's birthday when I had a supposedly short doctor's visit when I was sent to be hospitalized. I was hospitalized for two weeks. So many tests, so many sleepless nights, so many questions that were never answered. I was connected to a social worker when the doctors deemed me ready for discharge and I'll always remember how comfortable she made me feel. She tried to help me adjust to a life with chronic illness and pain. She gave me tools and support to juggle school, pain, and my social life. It was something I never experienced before. I was diagnosed young, too young to understand and to even register that I was different. I was just told that I needed to take my medication and that I should take breaks when I needed to. Instead of making me feel like an outcast who needs to be handheld through life, she made me understand that, yes I am different, but that it won't effect the dreams I have. It will be a hindrance but only something that holds me down, not something that stops me. I was undecided on what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to help people any way I could. I thought about being a physical therapist, a paramedic, and a counselor, but I eventually landed on social work. I specifically want to work at a hospital. Whether it be working with children, the elderly, or adults, I want to be able to help provide them with the resources needed to succeed once discharged. I want to be a confidant that people can turn to so that the burden of the unknown can be put on me, a little help in their hard journey. I know from first-hand experience the difficulties having a chronic illness has as well as the comfortability that is stripped from you when you leave the hospital. I had many experiences with social workers I admire to this day that helped me adjust to life after hospitalization. One of my many goals in life is to give that sense of hope you need to keep going, even after a giant change in their life.

For 10 years of my life, Minecraft has been a constant. My earliest memory of the game was coming over to my best friend's house after school, at around 9 years old, and playing Minecraft with her on her dad's PlayStation. Playing multiplayer was an outlet for me that let me be creative and explore the world around me. I created many different worlds, each having fond memories attached to it. One where my first love and I played all summer vacation, spending hours on building the perfect house for us. Another with my best friend where I taught her how to play, both of us laughing when she got blown up by a creeper for the 5th time in a row. A world I created with my family members that we went on every time they came over for the holidays, each one of us had a house that was connected to a minecart system. A source of nostalgia and comfort to me, Minecraft has been and will stay being one of my favorite games. Being able to spend quality time with my loved ones, spending hours laughing, and creating new wonderful memories is something I wouldn't trade the world for. Throughout the years, I've lost friends and family but through Minecraft, their memory will live on. The memories I created with them sticking with me for the rest of my life.

I think the most common character people would choose is Eleven/Jane and I would choose her too. She has supernatural powers that would aid in fighting whatever threat we are faced with. With her telekinetic and telepathic powers, she can physically and mentally overpower almost any enemy. She can throw and move objects at the enemy as well as, with enough force, use her telekinetic powers on them. The next person I would choose is Hopper. He is a strong man who can effectively use both ranged and melee weapons and is well-versed in hand-to-hand combat. He and Eleven work well together and could provide support to one another. He could also try to take over and get her to safety when she overuses her powers. He is a great leader who can pull his own when in a fight. For me, thinking about the first two were obvious, considering their skillsets and mental fortitude, but choosing the last character was difficult. I considered Max because she is one of my favorite characters and I feel like she is a quick thinker when put in stressful situations. I also considered Nancy because of her good aim and intelligence, but in the end I chose another character. I chose Lucas because he is an underrated character who can be really good at coming up with effective plans on the fly. In season 3, he was the one who came up with the idea to shoot fireworks at the Mind Flayer. He would be the brains of the operation that would help both Hopper and El succeed in fighting this new supernatural threat.