Chappell Roan is one of my favorite musical artists. She has had a massive impact on my life, as a young queer student. I recall the very first time I heard one of her songs - "Pink Pony Club." At first, I didn't realize just how much I enjoyed it, and yet I kept coming back again and again to examine and dissect her songs. One of my favorite songs is "Kaleidoscope." It not only feels like a rejection song, but it also discusses that the love she expresses comes in so many forms and shapes. It warps and changes over time, yet it is still that same, undying feeling of love. That is what I love so much about it. Platonic or romantic, it is still love. Her music gets me through my day a lot of the time. I struggle with a lot of mental health issues, and her music gives me a little bit of energy and motivation to make it through. I support her career, not only because it means she can make more amazing songs, but because she is almost like a representative for the LGBTQ community. In the music industry, I don't really know that many LGBTQ artists, so seeing one that is so open and honest about who she is is extremely refreshing and relieving, especially with the world we live in right now. Chappell Roan has made a huge impact on my life and the lives of my friends and family. Her music makes me smile and get through my day, and I can't wait to hear more.

My father left, and moved to Florida when I was about 12 or 13. I'm almost 17 now, and I have lived with my mother and grandmother ever since. Growing up without my dad was hard. As much as I hated him, I missed thinking I had a good dad. Then, I reached 8th grade. I had a fantastic history teacher named Mr. Raymond. He was extremely interactive, fun, and he cared a lot about his students. I loved getting to be a part of his class, and despite the struggles I was facing that school year, I always deem that year the best school year of my life. He made me look forward to coming back to school every day, and I always hope that one day I can have another teacher like him. He drove me to be successful because of this. Without him, I probably would have stayed home way more than I did. I even passed his class with a 100%. I can't say that about any other teacher that I've ever had. He made things fun, and I think that is what helps students learn. Instead of reading off of a screen, he talked to us and actually made history a core part of our day. Because of this, I always viewed him as the father I never really had. The support he gave me makes me want to prove to him that he didn't misplace it. I want to exceed the expectations he had for me and show him that it was because of him that I was able to thrive. I guess one of the main reasons as to why I loved his class is because I got to see what a real father is supposed to look like. My dad is nothing like Mr. Raymond, Mr. Raymond is so much better. Even though I only got to see him for one school year, the impact he had on my life and how I view it far exceeds the impact that my dad left on me. He made me realize that not all fathers are going to abandon their kids. That kind of closure he brought me makes me want to push forward and be a better person for him. Even though I am not a man, I want to some day be a parental figure that my child can look up to and love. That's how I think all parents should be. Mr. Raymond changed my life, and I want him to see what I can do with that positive impact.

I often try to view life as a flower. Flowers are very fragile, yet they hold a delicate beauty that is hard to match to anything else. They wither and decay in the winter. The thing is, they always come back in the spring. That's where I tend to view life, too. Life has its low points, where it feels like nothing will ever get better, but we just have to wait for spring. I'm going through a winter right now. I'm doing my best to hold out and wait for the spring that I know will eventually come, but it's hard. My relationships have been deteriorating, both due to my mental health and theirs, and it feels as though I am stuck. For a while, I believed that I wanted to become a therapist. This is because due to my own struggles, I ended up in therapy for about a year. I had so much respect for my therapist, and I wanted to do something similar in order to lift people out of the cold winters that they have found themselves stuck in. I wanted to be able to bring their spring closer, even if it was only a little. However, as much as I would love to do this, I have found myself commonly being labeled as the therapist friend -- and it wears me out. I have my own mental struggles, and I find it extremely difficult to help other people handle theirs. I had a few friends vent to me so often that I just found myself not caring (whether it's due to the fact I was worn out or the fact that they would never listen to my advice, I'll never truly know). I don't want to "not care." I care so deeply for my friends, and I have realized that I need to improve my own mental health so that I don't become so apathetic to theirs. Becoming a therapist just isn't the path for me, and I have come to the realization that that's okay. I have found another passion of mine that I wish to pursue, and that I have not grown worn out from: Forensics. I know this sounds pretty crazy -- I was worn out from my friend's mental health, so I decided to go into true crime? I guess that this is my way of finding people's spring. I can bring people closure to their lost loved ones. This is what I think I am meant to do in life. This is how I can find my spring. Life is fragile, and we only get one. If that's the case, I want to spend mine doing what I can to help the community and help bring justice to those who are no longer here to use their voices. As of February 17th, 2025, I am 16 years old and I don't really know where life will take me. But, despite all of the winters and springs my flower has gone through, it's still growing. I'm still growing. I think we all are. And that's okay. We will all be okay.

Mental health has always played a massive role in my family dynamics and relationships. Both me and my mom have been diagnosed with depression, and it has put a massive dent in our relationship. Due to her not having proper medication, she has struggled to take care of both me and my sibling emotionally. She comes home from work and doesn't interact with either of us, and she gets agitated when we attempt to talk to her. Due to my own depression, I have struggled to see our relationship ever improving, despite being on my medicine. My mother takes a lot of things very personal, and she is extremely petty when it comes to me vocalizing my feelings on things. I have realized that because of this fear, it has also impacted how I handle friendships. I want to improve on this and become better, which is something I have already begun practicing. My own mental struggles make me truly realize that growing up is something that I'm not really ready for. I never truly felt like a kid in the first place. I feel like a flower that has bloomed to early and wilted too soon. Wilted in the harsh, cold environment that it is surrounded by. Much like the flower, I'm tired. I'm tired, but I need to keep pushing. That's the thing with flowers, they wilt and wilt again and again, but they always find a way to rebloom in the spring. They rebloom and become stronger. Life is like a flower in that way. It has it's low points, but there will always be a spring that follows. That's how I try to look at it, anyway. I've been very pessimistic recently, so this outlook on life has been relatively hard for me to truly follow and believe.

I have come from a family that has always struggled when it comes to finances. For majority of my childhood, I have stressed as to whether or not me and my family will lose our home. Financial education has been something I have had to teach myself, since my dad is absent and my mom only burdens me with her financial problems instead of teaching me how to better them. I have taught myself to be responsible with anything, even when it comes to financial choices that aren't responsible at face value. For example, there is a skin that I want in a game that is pretty expensive, so I have decided to save up until right before the skin is taken down before I decide whether or not to buy it. Chances are I won't, because I know the time will come when I no longer play the game. Even with irresponsible spending, you need to be responsible about it. I plan on using this information for when I move on into adulthood because it will allow me to treat myself while not overdoing it and spending far too much money tham I originally intended. I have also taught myself that in order to save up for something I want to buy, such as a computer, I need to save up for at least double the price of what I want to buy. This is because when I buy it, my bank account doesn't take as much of a hit as it would if I were to buy it as soon as I was able to afford it. I will be applying what I have learned about this when I grow up and want to buy a car. By that point, I will be paying for things such as taxes, bills, etc, so buying a car would heavily impact what I can and can't afford. However, if I have extra money saved up, I can fall back onto that money and continue to buy a car responsibly and safely without having to worry too much about my financial situations. Finances have always played a massive role in my life, and now - with the assistance of my job - I can continue to teach myself how to provide for myself responsibly and maturely, while preparing for my future and still being able to treat myself with things I enjoy and love.

Forensics has recently played a phenomenal role in how I wish to pursue further education. It fascinates me how teams of people work together in order to assist countless families in bringing justice to their lost loved ones, and I hope to become a part of that team. It hurts my heart to hear about cases that have remained unsolved, because I understand that the families and friends never receive the closure that they deserve. They never get the closure that the one who did this to their mother, father, brother, sister, friend, uncle, or aunt served justice. I want to be able to bring not only justice, but closure. I want families and friends to be able to rest easy knowing that whoever commited such horrid acts is locked away in prison for the rest of their life. I have personally never gone through something as horrible as this, but I often feel for people. I understand that they are hurting. I wish to play my part in ensuring that their mental distress is somewhat eased.