You cannot be a team of common men. Dream big dreams, wish upon a star, Hakunna Matata. Disney has been a huge part of my life since I was a little kid. My favorite thing about Disney has always been the stories that were told. As a little girl, I loved seeing the princesses, especially Belle. As an undiagnosed autitistic kid who found joy in reading, I saw myself in her. I saw that it was ok to read and to be knowledgable. Now, I am a rising junior biochemistry major with a minor in psychology. Ariel taught me that it was ok to be curious and want to learn more about a specific thing. For her, it was humans. For me, it has been, and looks like it always will be, chemistry. As a young kid, I collected things about chemistry. Books, drawings, figurines, knowledge. If you could have it, I wanted it. As I grew older and started to change, so did the Disney movies I watched. I got to see Brave, where Merida was a strong willed, independent girl who wanted her own life. I have always wanted to live as me, rather than the person everyone expected me to be. I got to see how I didn't need a prince to come and save me. I could save myself. I could stand up and fight for what I believed in. I got to see Tiana, in the Princess and the Frog, work to get what she wanted. In her, I saw my stubborn, strong willed self who would work towards what she wanted until she got it. In Frozen, I saw the sisterly bond that I formed in Girl Scouts. I saw how an act of true love doesn't have to come from a man, and that I certainly don't need a man to make something of myself. I realized that the sisters I had FOUND and their love were more important to me than the brothers I was born with, who never treated me as an equal. I got to watch how, in Miracle, 20 young men, many of whom did not even like each other, turned into the best team at the Winter Olympics in 1980 under the lead of a coach who people didn't believe in. No one believed in Herb Brooks or his team, just like my teachers didn't believe in me when I was younger. That being said, they rose to the occasion and won the gold medal, completing the Miracle on Ice. I rose to my occasions, earning my Eagle Scout and now being in a good place to get into the accelearted Master's program for Biochemistry at my college. Disney taught me how to be me, even if no one else liked it. Growing up as a Disney kid taught me that it was ok to be weird and a little quirky, because it's better to be me than to pretend to be someone else. When I struggle with things today, I turn to my favorite movies, stories, and characters from when I was little. The seven-year-old girl inside of me still dreams to be a princess one day, just maybe not in a gown and a tiara. She dreams to be herself, truly and completley, like her favorite role models were. In her mind, that's a real princess. Disney allowed my younger self to dream wild dreams. Disney now allows my 19 year old self to work towards those dreams and be the best person I can be.

When I was younger, I never understood how many people struggled. When I transfered schools, I realized how little some people had. My new school system, BVP, had a population of almost 65% of the families living below the poverty line. However, these families seemed to give the most of everything they had, whether it be time, money, or any material goods they had. In January 2021, I started my Eagle project, which was a drive for a local organization to get health and beauty, kitchen, and other basic household items that people below the poverty line needed. I had set up a donation box at my high school and the high school of my town, Lincoln, which had a very wealthy population. I recieved one small box of diapers from Lincoln. From BVP, I had five large boxes of a variety of items, which were all overflowing. In the boxes from BVP, I also found little notes from kids. One that really stuck out to me was a little six year old girl, who had donated her christmas present to me. She wrote that she was so happy that I was trying to help people who are less fortunate. This little girl had only been given soap and shampoo for Christmas but decided that someone needed it more than her. I reached out to the girl's older sister and found out that what this little girl had really wanted for Christmas was a teddy bear. She had never had a new one before. I decided to go out and get her one, using the money I had earned from working at a summer camp the year prior. Some teachers helped me get it into her classroom, on her desk, with a little note that said "You will go so far in life with your big heart. Never lose your glow. Thank you, Secret Santa." She was so happy and my drive was a huge success, helping hundreds, if not thousands, of people around Rhode Island. I continue to see major issues with the inequity of money. Some people have so much while others have so little. One of the things I enjoy doing is donating what I have to other people. I spend a lot of time tutoring people for free when they do not understand something. When I get late night from my school, I use extra money from my meal swipe to donate ceral and chips to our food pantry. I love helping out with Naragansett Council's Scouting For Food. I've been participating since I was three. I recently had to stop because I am no longer in the state during that time but I still partipate in my church's annual thanksgiving drive when I'm home. I help organize the food pantry at St. James and sometimes go out with my father to do a major restock. There is so much food in this world, much of it goes to waste, and yet there are still people starving to death because they do not have access to the food they need. This is unacceptable. I want to continue working on making food easier for everyone to access, whether it be through donating to food banks or delivering food myself.

"Triggers are relentless. They ain't gonna quit. They don't go away just because you don't believe it." Triggered by SkyDxddy is the song that has the most important message for me. Triggered is about how some people handle PTSD. I was diagnosed with PTSD at age 14. Almost 5 years after my traumatic event, my PTSD still kicks my butt. It is nice to see someone understand what I go through and respond similarly. To deal with everything inside my head, I like to write poetry. My poems take the darkness out of my head and put it on paper. I feel like SkyDxddy does the same thing with her music and it makes me feel heard and connected to people. PTSD is not something I would wish on anyone, even the people who caused mine to occur. It makes it so hard to function on a daily basis but when I listen to Triggered specifically, I feel like I'm being hugged and welcomed into a community of people who understand what I have been through and how I still struggle with it today. Not only there, the song is incredibly useful in teaching other people about PTSD because it helps them see what goes on inside their minds.

I want to move on I want the pain gone I want a future Not this suture All I can do now is bake I am so done with eating cake I can barely breathe I want to be dropped in the lethe I can barely see I can no longer be I want to move on I want to see past your con You lied, cheated, and stole I guess sex was your only goal I said no and you took it away And you expected me to stay I walked away and left you behind I hope that one day I’ll go blind Blind to the pain inside my soul Maybe then I’ll finally be whole I just want to finally move on I’m done being positive, a proton I wish I could run from you Run far and fast, bid you adieu But I can’t, I’m stuck in mud Or is it a pool of blood Is it mine? Is it yours? Is it from the wild wars? It doesn’t matter now, I’m dead Lie me down in my final bed 6 feet under, buried deep All because you were a creep See that spirit, running far She shines like a little star She’s finally free, gone with the wind She always tried her best to be kind And you still decided to kill her Say goodbye, she’s now just a blur

"The Flight of the Eagle explains how we got here today. Our Eagle's journey began two years ago, with a simple dream..." Be the best, be an Eagle, show up, smile and work. No matter what I do I will always be an Eagle scout; my two years of intense volunteering, leadership, planning, and learning made sure of that. While working on becoming an Eagle Scout, I had to plan, execute and give leadership in a project. I decided to do a drive for a local charity that would help them support many families who live below the poverty line. It wasn't as large and fantastical as I had originally imagined, part of running a drive during covid times. However, it meant everything to the charity I worked with. An email I got from them a few weeks later told me about how happy people were to be getting items such as soap, pots, and pans. Many of the families that went through there had been out of basic necessities for a while, making it even more clear how desperately this project was needed. I promised myself that I would make large donations of basic items to charities more often, hopefully on an annual basis. Making a positive impact on the world doesn't necessarily mean changing the world. It can mean changing someone's world. I know that I changed the world of many families with my Eagle project. I hope to continue changing people's worlds through my studies at college and continuing to volunteer my time, energy, and money to help other people grow to be the best they can be.

Billy Joel is one of the best American artists from the 1970s and '80s. His classical use of the piano is beautiful and never fails to move me to tears. When I was younger, I refused to fall asleep until my parents played "Goodnight My Angel", also known as "Lullabye", which Billy Joel wrote for his daughter when she was little. It is impossible to come close to the number of chart-topping songs he wrote in such a short span of time and I can listen to him on repeat and never get bored.

"You can do anything! You can be anything! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't! You are a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man to help her!" I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have heard that and the person thought they were being helpful. For the longest time, it had never occurred to me that I couldn't do something simply because I was a girl. When I was in third grade, my teacher asked us what our favorite subjects were. I said science. She pulled me aside and told me I couldn't like science because I was a girl. I later found out she applauded my male friend for saying science as well and encouraged him to continue with science. I left the school system a year later and entered middle school. My fifth-grade science teacher was female and constantly encouraged me to be curious about science. Throughout my entire school career, I never forgot what my third-grade teacher told me. I am one of the lucky ones. I turned her doubt into my motivation. I am currently a senior in high school who is taking classes at my local community college and will be attending the University of Scranton as a biochemistry and neuroscience double major in the fall. Often times I am asked why I tell the story of my third-grade teacher when it comes to empowering girls. My answer is "my teacher meant to discourage me but actually empowered me by giving me a reason to keep going. Do not try this with all kids." My teacher, for whatever reason, wanted to discourage me rather than empower me. I turned it into an empowering statement after crying to my older brother. he told me to just prove her wrong. That is what I'm doing. My older brother was more empowering than my teacher because he knew how to motivate me. There is no one way to motivate and empower every young girl. Everyone is different. My brother knew that telling me to prove someone wrong would push me for years. Even when I struggled to find a reason to do work, my older brother came back to me. "Prove them wrong, dummy. They want to tell you can't? Show them that you can and you will just to spite them." That was empowering for me but would not be empowering for someone else. In order to ensure we are empowering women and meeting the demands, we need to get to know every young girl. If the young girls have someone to look up to, someone to emulate, someone who looks like them doing what they want to do, they will feel that they are able to do it. I had my mother to look up to and my older brother to keep me on track. People ask why I don't like the "you can be anything" statement as a way to empower others. My answer is simple. Those girls never thought they couldn't until you said that. I never thought I couldn't do something because I was a girl until my teacher told me I couldn't. Don't tell girls they can do anything. Show them. My brother and I read books written by women, about women, for women, to help me keep going. I read about every female scientist I could find. Empowering goes back to the age-old adage "show not tell." Don't tell girls they can be anything. Show them examples of women to look up to and help guide them. Show them how to be their best.

"Wake up! Wake up damnit!! Don't leave me! Not like this!" I was 12 when I almost died in the locker rooms of my YMCA after trying to drown myself. My friend shook me until I woke up in the showers. In three months, I tried to kill myself over 17 times. It took me another two years to get diagnosed with depression, anxiety, insomnia, and OCD. Over those two years, I had developed anorexia and body dysmorphia. Later on in that year, after a violent rape, I was diagnosed with PTSD. I am 17, almost 18, now and I still struggle with these. Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with DID or multiple personality disorder. I have at least six alters, ranging in ages from four to 16. Legally, I am mentally disabled because of the long list of illnesses I have. That being said, my "disabilities" do not stop me from doing everything I can to help myself and other people. Many people have told me to find a bright side to my rape. Find the silver lining, they say. I don't think there has to be one but I did learn many things. I learned how to fight, not just physically but mentally. I had to fight with myself to stay alive. After my rape, I wanted to give up everything and move on to nothingness but I fought with myself. I started telling myself reasons to be alive, which mostly consisted of my friends and family. By telling myself my reasons to be alive, I learned how much I could do for other people just by being alive. I brought happiness to my parents just by being there. And by forcing myself to stay alive, I brought happiness to my grandfather. I able to see him a few more times before he died and I sang to him the last time I saw him. He loved it. I guess the thing I learned is really corny but also true. "Keep living because no one can be you." I almost screamed when someone told me that when I asked for a reason to stay alive. I didn't want to be me and I didn't think anyone else would want me around. I was sorely mistaken. My friends wanted me around and my family loved me more than the world. When I was diagnosed with PTSD, my friends and family stood by me as I started my road to recovery. How can attempting suicide and being raped not affect you? The short answer is it will always affect you. After starting therapy to help with my PTSD, I realized just how horrible the system is at helping people with rape-related trauma. The current treatment plan for any form of PTSD is to sit and calmly talk about your trauma. After a little research into neurons and how PTSD affects connections between them, I realized that this was the worst way to help someone besides telling them to get over it, which is often heard by rape survivors. Because of the pain I felt in therapy, I decided I was going to major in biochemistry and neuroscience to help other survivors. I hope to find a way to combat the physical changes that occur to the brain when PTSD is developed, either with therapy or medicine.

Seraphina.trident; artsitic_beaurty_by_aes; Seraphina_sweet_shop I never chose to be a woman but I'm glad I am one. I will be one of the first female Eagle scouts. I am going to continue to break barriers. Being a woman doesn't make me weak, it makes me strong

Eagle Scout candidate, theatre kid, choir geek, artist, writer, sister, daughter, honor student, AP student, Royal, rape survivor. How can one person be so many different things? Very easily. I am a 17-year-old Eagle Scout candidate from Rhode Island who wants to major in biochemistry and neuroscience with a minor in psychology to become a professor and researcher. I would like to research PTSD and the physical changes that occur to the brain. I would like to find different ways to treat PTSD and help people who have PTSD, like me. The biggest influence on my life had to be when I was raped for the first time on May 19th, 2018. Before that, I thought I would be a talent agent for musicians. When I developed rape-related PTSD, I wanted to find different ways to help people who suffer from rape-related PTSD like me. I learned that the regular treatment for PTSD consists of sitting down and calmly talking about the trauma. This is not how humans process trauma. I would like to research the changes that occur in the brain when PTSD develops and see if there is a way to counteract those changes. Simply, I would like to help people's brains reverse the changes that occur after their traumatic event. Through my treatment, I realized that medications often have many different side effects that are detrimental. For example, one effect of PTSD is the inability to sleep. One of the medications that are given to people with PTSD to help them sleep is Mirtazapine. Mirtazapine has the side effect of an increased appetite. The increased appetite often leads to an increase in body weight. For people with rape-related PTSD, having more body image issues is the last thing they need. Because of my experiences with the PTSD treatment plans, I have decided that I want to change them. PTSD treatment plans often do not take the physical changes into account. Through double majoring in neuroscience and biochemistry, I hope to find medications that counteract the physical changes that occur in the brain from PTSD. If I had never developed PTSD from being raped, I probably would not have learned about my Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID. I wouldn't have focused on mental health as much as I have. I also would not have fallen in love with teaching the way I have. Because of my PTSD, I hope to be a biochemistry and neuroscience professor who helps their students be the best they can be.

"To help other people at all times" My biggest artistic ambition is to change the world using my art. I am in the process of writing a poetry book about how my rape affected me. I was forced to grow up very quickly because my childhood was stolen from me. I did some research and realized that anywhere between 1 in three and 1 in six females, just females, are raped. About 1 in 33 males are raped. I realized that rape was far more prevalent than anyone ever talked about. My ambition with my book is to change that. I want to start the conversation about rape and what it does to people. I want to force people to see that there needs to be more research into rape and its effects on people. This scholarship will help me pay for my college education. I am planning on majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience with a minor in psychology. I want to find new treatment plans for rape-related PTSD, the subsection of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that is commonly found in rape survivors. Currently, the treatment plan is to calmly talk about the trauma. That is not how the human brain processes trauma and it needs to be further researched and talked about. I hope to get my Ph.D. in biochemistry and become a professor. After becoming a professor, I would like to work on getting a Ph.D. in neuroscience and focus my research on the physical changes of the brain when PTSD develops. By focusing on the physical changes, I am hoping to find better ways to treat PTSD, either with therapy or medication. My art was a way for me to process what happened to me. I hope my art can help pave the way for others to process what happened to them.

What is mental health? Why should we teach about it? What does it do for our students? Just the other day, my father said that mental health is something that psychologists came up with to make more money and that everyone had thought about suicide. As someone who tried to kill themselves over 20 times, that was really invalidating. He then went on to say that rape-related PTSD is easy to get over. He seems to have forgotten that his daughter has rape-related PTSD. I have had a lot of experience with mental health, starting from a very young age. When I was four, my personality splintered, creating an alter who calls herself Little One, and giving me Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. I have more alters now, with varying ages. At the age of 12, I tried to kill myself 17 times in three months. I went to therapy but the therapist refused to diagnose me with anything and called it "pre-teen angst". At 14, I was cutting every day and became anorexic. I went to a new therapist and got diagnosed with depression, anxiety, OCD, insomnia, anorexia, and body dysmorphia. On May 19th, 2018, I was raped by my then-boyfriend. I developed and was diagnosed with rape-related PTSD before my sophomore year in high school. How did this all affect me? Before I was diagnosed with PTSD, I thought I was going to be a talent agent for singers. After my diagnosis and the beginning of my treatment, I became frustrated with how it was going. I was expected to sit down and calmly talk about what happened to me. No one acknowledged the phsyical changes to my brain that occurred when I developed PTSD. Because of this, I wanted to find better ways to treat PTSD. I started doing some research and found that going into biochemistry and neuroscience would help me find better treatment plans for people with PTSD. I decided that I also wanted to teach, having enjoyed my summers teaching merit badges to kids at Camp Yawgoog in Rhode Island. My goal now is to help as many people like me as possible. I want to help people find different ways to treat their PTSD so they don't get frustrated and give up as I did. My relationships took a major hit as I went through my mental health journey. I lost the connection with my father that I had. He has become more understanding but it is still hard to connect with him when he doesn't believe everything I have gone through. I also lost a lot of friends as I tried to understand what happened to me. When I came out about my rapes, some of my friends refused to believe me and called me a liar. Unfortunately, that mindset hasn't changed in some. I felt really betrayed and it became much harder for me to trust people with that information about myself. Now, I am called a cold, guarded, secretive person and not without reasons. I don't trust easily and I tend to do things on my own more because of the betrayals I have gone through. The way I see the world was completely altered. When I was younger, I used to think that the world is a happy place. I was a happy-go-lucky child who thought that the whole world was her playground. I thought no one would hurt me. Now, I am very cautious. I constantly look over my shoulder and I keep my keys in between my fingers when I walk anywhere. I now understand that the world is not the beautiful kind place I thought it was. I understand that the world is very complicated and sometimes good people get hurt in the crossfire. I understand that people may not be trustworthy. I understand that people can affect how you see yourself and I want to help people understand the power they have. My world has grown darker since my mental health journey began but that's okay. I am lighting my world on my own and I will light other people's. Mental health is a hard topic to talk about. However, it needs to be discussed more. Welcome to the wide world of mental health. We're not as scary as you think we are.

Write, bake, draw, paint, repeat Between my poetry book, paintings, drawings, and baked goods about rape and rape awareness, I don't have much time for anything else. I enjoy using my experiences to help other people. No matter what happens, I will always be a rape survivor and I want to help other people get to where I am. My poetry book, Goodbye Childhood, is filled with poems I wrote while trying to process everything that happened to me. The poems cover topics ranging from self-harm to losing friends because of what occurred. My drawings help express the feelings I still struggle with. My favorite is a girl with her mouth sewn shut and a blindfold on her eyes. She's completely covered in pink cloth with a magenta strip over her chest. On her torso are the words "I'm fully covered. Am I still asking for it?" to show the damage that is done when people ask what rape victims were wearing. All around her are words that have been said to me when I came forward about my rapes. These comments are very damaging and I wanted to show that. Towards the bottom of the page, there are the words I say to counteract what I am told. I say "my rape was not my fault", "don't blame me. Blame my rapists" and other statements that take the blame off of me and put it on my rapists. In my paintings, there is a lot of acceptance messages. The one I have hanging in my room is a teal ribbon on a black background with the words "I am not a victim. I am a survivor" to remind myself not to let myself be the victim. I was a victim once, but every day I make the conscious choice to keep going and survive. My baked goods are used to counteract the panic I feel when I have a flashback. Baking, and then eating delicious foods, is a really good way to counteract panic. The brain connects eating with a sense of calmness because if my life was in danger, I wouldn't be eating. I color my bakes off of the sexual abuse and domestic abuse survivor ribbon, meaning teal and purple. My favorite set of cupcakes I made had purple and teal frosting twisted together. It looked really pretty and reminded me that I am still a survivor, even if I still feel like the victim. My art is how I process everything that goes on in my head. I used to spend a lot of time inside my head, reliving what happened to me. By taking those feelings and pushing them out in various forms of art, I can start the long process of healing. I am hoping to use my art in some activities that People Against Rape, an organization that my friend and I are starting, will host. I'm hoping that my art will open people's eyes and force them to see just how detrimental rape is to the survivor and the people around them. In the future, I hope to keep creating as a way to process what happened to me. I know that the healing process is going to be lifelong and I hope to use art as a coping mechanism throughout the whole journey. I hope to add some more poems to Goodbye Childhood and then publish it. After that, I hope to continue writing poems and maybe publish another book. I have the idea of writing one called Hello Adulthood, a sequel to my first one, with poems about learning how to be an adult and function in the world. I also want to donate some of my paintings, the ones with ribbons about abuse, to different organizations to give to people who want them as reminders of how strong they are. Art has been a healing coping mechanism for me. I hope that my art can help heal other survivors and remind the people that have never walked our walk to be compassionate and understanding of their friends and family.

"Again! Again! Again!" You can never forget the iconic moment in Miracle where Coach Herb makes the boys do buckets because they didn't work hard enough during their game. Growing up in a hockey family makes it very hard to not like movies that include hockey, especially since my brothers and I watched this movie at least four times a year when we were little. The 2004 Disney movie about the 1980 US Olympic hockey team is a heartwarming story of how a bunch of hockey players came together to beat the best hockey team in the world, the Soviet team. When I was younger, it was the only movie my brothers and I could agree on watching. As we got older, the movie became a symbol of our childhood. We would watch it whenever someone was sad or my older brother comes home from the Naval Academy. Hockey is very hard for me now, because of an issue I had with a hockey player when I was 14. Still, Miracle is my favorite movie. It's the only thing that involves hockey that I can watch without getting sick. Miracle is a reminder of simpler times. Times before I quit playing hockey, and was hurt. No matter how long it has been since I've seen Miracle, I will always have it memorized. I will always jump up and start saying the lines with the actors when I see it. Miracle is always going to be my favorite movie because of the nostalgia connected to the movie and the calming emotions I feel when I watch it, even during the nail-biter last game against the Soviets.

Eat, swim, write, sing, help everyone, sleep, repeat I wish that could be my life every day. Unfortunately, there are bills to pay and people to help but if money wasn't an issue, I would be that person. I would sit on the corner of a street and play music for all to hear. I would donate more time to community service. I would start a Scouts BSA troop for girls in whatever town I am in and be a Scoutmaster. I would dance in my kitchen while cooking or baking, singing my favorite songs on the top of my lungs. I would go to schools and play music for the kids. I would teach kids how to write poetry, songs, and stories. I would work with animals and train service dogs for kids with PTSD. I would open my house every Sunday and have everyone in my neighborhood over for a Sunday dinner. I would invite kids from the local Foster care system to stay in my house and give them everything they need. I guess you could say I'm a people pleaser. If I never had to worry about money, as in I had more than enough to survive, I would do everything in my power to help other people. I am an Eagle Scout Candidate. When I work on my project, I feel so incredibly happy and blessed to be given the chance to make a difference in someone's life. I would love to continue that. I want to help as many people as I can, whenever I can. Whether I teach a kid a few chords on the guitar or I give food to a family that's struggling, I want to help people. I hope to be a professor at a college in order to make sure that I can achieve that dream. I have always wanted to help people, from being a part of BSA since I was little and the way my parents raised me. Money is a social construct. If I never had to worry about it, all of my time and energy would go into helping people who may have to worry about money. Just because I can bring myself up doesn't mean I should leave everyone else in the dust. Everyone deserves the chance to rise up and be the best they can be. Everyone has the ability to be great, it just needs to be fostered.

Wake up, eat, write, paint, draw, sing, dance, stretch, school, homework, stretch, sing, sleep, repeat My daily routine as a junior in high school was definitely different than I had originally imagined. I didn't mind the lockdown too much because it allowed me to focus on my art, whether it be writing poems for my book or working on my vibrato for a solo. I've been an artist since I was just a little kid and it has saved me from some of my darkest moments. Being an artist means that you can express how you feel in a way that makes other people feel it too. Whenever I sing, I make other people feel the emotions I feel when I hear that song. When I draw, I let people see the fear I feel in my heart and have been using drawing to express that fear. Using art to process my thoughts has helped me work through some of my darkest times. Art drives me to change the world through my experiences and how I express it. I used to write poems and hide them. Now, I am working on a poetry book called Goodbye Childhood. I hope to publish it sometime before I graduate with my undergrad degree. I have been debating showcasing the drawings that have helped me process my rape. Because I created it with my darkest moments in mind, it can be hard to show to people. That being said, I am very connected to my art and I know that it can help someone else. I hope that my drawings about the effects of rape and my poetry book about growing up too fast can help other people understand what people are going through. My art could change someone's world. When my kids and grandkids are old enough, I hope to sit them down and let them go through my sketchbooks and poetry book to help them understand the world I grew up in. I know that my art has connected me with a group of survivors that I would not have conversed with otherwise. In my rape support group, I showcased a few of my drawings and it helped other people talk about how their rapes affected them. I do not know how my art could affect the rest of the world, but I hope that the world will see the pain that everything I have gone through caused and force people to open their eyes. I hope that, through my art, future generations will have a chance to be heard and believed when they come forward about sexual assault and rape. Maybe I can change the world with my art. Maybe I can't. I do know that I can change someone's world by reminding them that they are not alone in their walk against mental illnesses. Art is a universal language and it is the language I will use to make people see how their words affect people.

"No one can love me. I'm broken. I'm damaged goods. I was raped!" I was 16 when I screamed that at my friend, who has become my best friend and brother. I have struggled with loving myself since I was about eight. It all started when I was kicked out of my church choir for being on a swim team and not being able to make every practice at 14:00 on a Saturday. I developed depression and anxiety before I was 10. By the time I was 12, I had tried to commit suicide at least 17 times. At the age of 14, I developed anorexia and body dysmorphia and was placed in the psych ward of my local hospital. I was released a week after being admitted. I went on a church retreat where I met a boy who would become my first boyfriend, abuser, and rapist. I was 14 when I was raped for the first time. I spiraled after that. It has been 1,038 days since my first rape. I am a 17-year-old Eagle Scout, founder of a group called People Against Rape or PAR, honors student, and future biochemistry and neuroscience major at the University of Scranton. It has been a long time coming. I have slowly started accepting myself for who I am, quirks, cracks, struggles, and all. Struggling with self-love has caused me to become more compassionate and led to me choosing my majors. I hope to be a college professor and research how the brain changes with depression, PTSD, anxiety, and more. I want to help people who have struggled with loving and accepting themselves as I have. I believe that everyone deserves a chance to be who they want to be, even if others don't agree or believe in them. I used to have very toxic relationships. I would hang out with people who made me feel worse about myself and I would do whatever I could to get their approval. Once I found my place at my camp, I started to learn how to appreciate myself. Now, I have healthy relationships with people who help me feel good about myself. I help them on their bad days and they help me on mine. Self-love is something that everyone should have but very few people do. Loving and accepting yourself for who you are can be incredibly difficult and scary, especially if it means accepting something that others might not. I had to accept myself before I could be open to anyone else accepting me for who I am. There are days that I still struggle with loving myself but one thing will never change. I have come a long way from where I was and I have no plans to ever go back. I also will never allow someone to sit there alone. My friends dragged me through the darkest days of my life. I intend to do the same for whoever needs me to.

"What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see!" Thank you, Lin Manuel Miranda, for that beautiful definition of a legacy. It is something I replay in my head whenever I feel like school is getting too hard for me to continue. "What is a legacy?" That is a wonderful question. To me, a legacy is something you leave behind in the hearts of those you have touched. I already have a legacy because I have already touched people in my life, whether they are still a part of it or not. A legacy is how people remember you, whether it be positive or negative. Leaving a legacy means that you have done something that someone will never forget. It doesn't matter if one hundred people remember who you are or just one. What matters is that you did something that affected the other person so much that they will hold on to it forever. To leave behind a legacy means that you have greatly affected someone's life. There are so many different kinds of valuable legacies. The legacy I want to leave behind is one of kindness, giving, and the refusal to listen to other people telling me what my limitations are. I want to teach people that it is possible to be kind and giving and still put your foot down and stand your ground. When I was younger, people told me I could never be an Eagle Scout because I am a girl. I am currently the first Eagle Candidate from my troop, one of the first female Eagle Scout candidates from Rhode Island. I will leave behind the legacy that no matter what anyone else says if you set your mind to it, you can do it. I will also have the legacy of the first Eagle Scout of Troop 438 North Smithfield, which is an honor above honors. Becoming an Eagle scout is very difficult because it takes a lot of patience, perseverance, grit, determination, and a drive to get there. Becoming an Eagle Scout in less than three years is not only rare, it's almost unheard of. You must spend at least 16 months in a leadership position before you can go for your Eagle board. That time doesn't include the time it takes for you to reach the rank of Star. I will be joining my sisters in the rank of Eagle, among the first class of female Eagle Scouts. People talk about legacies as if you leave only one. That is not true. I will leave behind the legacy of the first Eagle in my troop, a founding member of BVP's GSA, the first female captain of BVP's Robotics team, the first manager of BVP's baseball team that stayed for more than one season, and more that I don't even know of yet. Yes, I will leave a legacy. Maybe it won't be the legacy I had envisioned but maybe it will be the legacy that people need me to leave behind.

"While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community." This is one of the last requirements that a scout will complete before achieving the rank of Eagle. This is the requirement that I will be finishing on Friday, the 26th of March 2021. On Friday, I will deliver boxes upon boxes of personal hygiene products, kitchenware, gift cards, and cleaning supplies to Child and Family RI, an organization that helps families get back on their feet and keep their children in the healthiest setting possible. You can't have a community if no one is involved. Community, by the very definition, is a group of people who live together. I have my high school community, my neighborhood community, my scout community, my choir community, my state community, my work community, and my theatre community. In all of my communities, people come together to help one another. If people were not involved in their community, the community would fall apart. To be a community, you must have some form of interaction with other members. If people are not involved in any community, they will have many different mental and physical symptoms of loneliness. Humans are not designed to be isolated. Much like wolves or whales, we need a community to grow and thrive. People need to be involved in their community to keep themselves healthy. And who knows? Maybe being involved in the community will help someone else. I am a 17-year-old high school senior who is an Eagle Scout Candidate from Troop 438 North Smithfield. During my time in Scouts, both Girls and Boys, I have participated in many different community service projects, one that I have even designed and led myself. I have participated in more than 20 different Eagle projects, 13 food drives called Scouting for Food, and many smaller service projects that have focused on everything from nature conservation to gathering supplies that families need in order to survive. My Eagle project is the latter. I have spent over 40 hours over the past 7 months designing and leading a drive to collect personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies, kitchenware, diapers, and gift cards for families who are living below the poverty line. I have over 25 large boxes of different donations sitting in my garage, ready to be delivered to my benefactor on Friday. These donations will help families stay together and survive during a very difficult time for everyone. I hope that my project will help people survive one of the scariest times of their lives. How can I help my community in the future? I'm very glad you asked. I would like to major in biochemistry and neuroscience so I can be a professor and do research into different mental health illnesses and how to best treat them. I hope to find the best treatment plan for people who suffer from PTSD and depression because the treatment plan for depression often includes increasing serotonin which makes PTSD worse due to the increased connection between neurons. Once I am financially stable enough, I hope to adopt the children that the system has given up on. I want to adopt older kids who have been deemed unadoptable and show them that they can be loved, they just need the right person to love them. I would like every child I raise to be a part of Scouts BSA, so they can give back to their community the way I learned how to. I hope to foster the next generation of people who want to give back to their community. I hope to foster a sense of community in my classroom and encourage my students to give back to others. Community service has always been a very large part of my life. I have always lived by the saying "pay it forward". When someone is kind to me, I try my best to pass that kindness on. I live by the Scout slogan "do a good turn daily". I try to do something that will make someone's day a little better every day. All my life, I have heard the saying "it takes a village to raise a child". My community helped raise me. I will help raise my community up with me.

"God has a plan for you. Everything you have gone through has been a part of his plan. He will show you where you are supposed to be. Trust him, and you shall be free. Trust him, and you will know happiness." I wish I could tell you I believed that the second I heard it, but that would be a lie. I didn't understand how an all-powerful, all-loving God could allow me to be raped four times. Looking back now, I probably would be a better place if I had just put all of my trust in him at the very beginning of my journey to find myself again. I was 14 when I was raped for the first time. I had met him at a Catholic retreat, surprisingly enough. I thought God had just given me the jackpot. A boy who loves God as much as I do. Unfortunately, he did not love God the way I did and he most certainly did not love me. After my rape, 1,038 days ago, I struggled to put my faith in God. I struggled to understand how anyone could wish this much pain on someone, especially not a God who was supposed to love me as his own. I spent over a year trying to push God away because it was His fault this happened. It wasn't until I woke up crying and opened up my bible for the first time in 17 months that I realized that God gave humans free will. It may have been part of His plan for me to be raped, but most likely it was not. God just wanted me to be His daughter again. To let Him heal me. And so I did. I started going back to church and praying every night like I had before I was raped. I started to feel better. Every time I had a nightmare, I prayed the Roseries. Every time I felt a panic attack rising up, I asked him to lend me His strength. Slowly but surely, I started to grow stronger. I have not fully recovered from being raped because it has happened three times since the first one, making a total of four. That being said, I have gotten much stronger. I have started to grow out my hair again, something I swore I would never do because it was triggering. I started to wear dresses and makeup again. I am not the girl I was before I was raped and I never will be her again. God has helped me become someone better, stronger, wiser, and kinder. God has helped me become more like His son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

"Did you know that with biochemistry and neuroscience degrees, you could find new treatment plans and medications to help people with PTSD and depression? It doesn't have to be a service dog and sitting still to tell your story. It can be so much more." One conversation changed my life forever; just like one minute changed my life forever. I had been sitting with my college and career counselor talking about how the treatment plan for PTSD was stupid and counterintuitive to how humans process trauma. I had started therapy for my rape-related PTSD three weeks prior to the conversation. I didn't and still don't, understand how science could say that the best way to get over trauma was by talking about it calmly. I had done some research and found out that sitting down to calmly talk about your trauma was the exact opposite of how humans processed trauma. The best way for humans to process trauma has not been discovered yet. I hope that, through double majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience, I can figure out a better treatment plan. I hope to find a treatment for PTSD that isn't reliving your trauma daily and needing an animal to snap you out of flashbacks, anxiety attacks, nightmares, and more. My degrees would prepare me to study the brain and its changes while also doing something I love, teaching. I hope to be a professor at whatever college I graduated from. By teaching other people something I am very passionate about, I will be able to help more people. Not only the people who are suffering from what I want to focus on but also the people who are suffering from whatever my students choose to focus on. I can foster the next generation of scientists who will continue to change the world years after I am gone. STEM is a chance for me to change the world for the better. To change the worlds of so many young people who struggle to get out of bed and face invalidating comments daily. How can you not be passionate about helping other people?

What changes to the brain are caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD? What about depression? What can we do to help people who suffer from PTSD and depression? The answer is we don't really know right now. Oftentimes, people with mental health disorders are told that it's all in their head and happiness is a choice. These statements are incredibly detrimental because it ignores the physical changes that occur when someone develops a mental illness. There are many different physical changes to the brain when someone develops PTSD; they just aren't talked about. I would like to change that. I would like to major in biochemistry and neuroscience when I attend college. As an undergraduate student, I hope to start doing research into the physical changes that occur in the brain when PTSD is developed and why they occur. I want to understand why the brain changes the way it does. From there, I hope to apply to grad school and get my master's and Ph.D. in both biochemistry and neuroscience. I would like to teach the next generation of biochemists and neuroscientists while finding different ways to treat PTSD. I want my students to be my lab assistants and co-authors. My career is going to be focused on helping other people grow stronger from one of the worst moments in their lives, the moment that caused their brain to change. I would like to focus on Rape Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is something I suffer from. By focusing on something that I personally suffer from and already know a lot about, I have more drive than someone else to find the changes and figure out what professionals can do to help the survivor. A degree in Biochemistry and Neuroscience doesn't just mean a job for me. It means a chance at freedom. It means a chance to go back to the life I had before I was raped. It means a chance to help not only myself but others too. My career is based on helping others overcome something that has affected me every day since it occurred. My career is based on what happened to me 1,038 days ago. My career is based on finding ways to protect people from the detrimental effects of Rape Related PTSD. My degrees aren't just a chance to change my life. They're a chance to change the lives of people who haven't gone through their traumatic experiences yet. My degrees are a chance to change the medical world not only while I'm alive, but when I'm gone as well.

"It is in my horror that I have to tell all of you that camp will not be opening this year. I'm sure many of you will find this information as gut-wrenching for you" Everyone screamed. Most of us were in tears as Mr. Friel continued "as it is for me. I'm so sorry everyone" STEM occupations have provided me the chance to spend the summer of 2021 at my favorite place in the world, camp. STEM occupations created vaccines and treatment plans in a matter of months. It is debatable if people would still be alive today if we listened to scientists and experts. That being said, without the scientists, technicians, engineers, and many more, we would still be searching for a vaccine. STEM occupations are going to be more important now than ever due to the adaptations that will have to occur to help people thrive in our post-pandemic world. STEM occupations are going to be important in finding different treatment plans for COVID-19 and all of the mental health issues that have come from isolation. Humans are not designed to be isolated. The isolation order that many countries put in place caused a noticeable uptick in mental health illnesses. It will require scientists to find different treatment plans, engineers to help put them in place, and more people to make sure that it all runs smoothly. Mathematicians and technology majors are going to be instrumental in finding different ways to calculate the impact that the pandemic had on people and make sure that we can rectify the wrongs that have occurred during this time. STEM occupations are important every single day. They are more important in the wake of a viral and mental health pandemic. There is going to need to be an increase in the number of STEM majors due to the fact that there will need to be an excess of research, data calculations, presentations, and designs structures and plans in order for people to not only adapt and survive but thrive in our new world. People always say "I can't wait to get back to normal". STEM occupations are going to be instrumental in helping people adjust to our new normal, a post-pandemic normal.

"No! Get off me. I want to go home. Please! I just want to go home. Stop! Please!" I was 14 when I got my first boyfriend. I was also 14 when he almost killed me in a violent rape. I was 14 when my sanity finished breaking because of what my ex did to me. 1,025 days after my rape and people still tell me it was my fault. I was 15 when I was raped and sexually abused by the boy I was dating at the time. I was 15 when I changed my hair and the way I dressed in order to protect myself from my rapists. I was 16 when I was raped and physically abused again. I was 16 when I told my friend that I was raped and abused three times and she told me it was my fault because I didn't come forward sooner. At 17, I was placed in a partial program to help me process everything that had happened to me. It has been 1,025 days since my first rape and I still struggle with my PTSD. I am the 17 year old who sleeps with a night light, a sound machine, and a teddy bear. I still wake up in cold sweat, crying or screaming. I wouldn't say that I have overcame my PTSD and my rapes because rape is not something you every truly get over. Over half of women who develop PTSD from being rape, have it for their entire lives. I will never be the girl I was before I was raped. My life was uprooted and changed permently. After my diagnosis, I decided that I wanted to change my life's route. I would like to be a biochemistry professor because professors get the best research opportunities. I would like to find different medicines and treatment plans for people with rape related PTSD. I also want to educate people on the statistics about rape and how to end rape culture. There are a lot of things that allow rapists to get away with raping someone. One of these things is the idea that girls are asking for rape or that rape is about sex, when it is truly about violence and power. Furthermore, no one asks to be raped, just like no one asks to be robbed, murdered, or shot. Yes, I am a rape survivor and I will always carry that with me. I am also the founder of an organization called People Against Rape that is starting to take hold at my high school. I hope to bring it to my college and start groups all across the United States to educate people about rape and its statistics. I faced adversity when people I was supposed to trust decided that it was okay to violate me. I faced peers who wanted me hung for coming out about it. I faced friends who shunned me for being rape. I faced my family demanding why I didn't tell them sooner and begging me to take them to court. I faced people who called me a liar, slut, whore and bitch for refusing to back down. I faced adversity and I came out on top, my heart still intact, with a lot to give to the world and a drive to make sure that no one else would go through what I did.

Rape. There. I used the word. I hate that word, even though it happened to me. I was raped for the first time at 14, again at 15, and then again at 16. How the hell am I still standing? Because I swore that I wouldn't let it happen to anyone else. I want to write about my rapes and how they affected me. I believe that rape needs to be talked about more so when it does occur, people don't feel like they are alone. I want to save someone from an abusive relationship. I want to protect everyone from everyone else. I know of a few books about rape so far and I have taken some senses from them. My book is going to be a poetry book that covers everything from self-harm to eating disorders to rape. My book is designed to show the hard truths of what happens a few days, weeks, months, and years after someone's rape. My book shows the dark side of depression and eating disorders. My book is designed to be a slap in the face for those who have never struggled with mental illnesses and a hug for those who have. My book is designed to help people who are struggling feel less alone. It is also supposed to disturb those who haven't consistently struggled with mental illnesses. It is supposed to be eye-opening and full of hard truths. The point of the book is to show that mental illnesses are not pretty and they are incredibly detrimental and difficult to deal with. It also shows that there is a light, no matter how faint. And if you can't see the light, that means that you are the light. My book is designed to both comfort and disturb readers. If you aren't uncomfortable when reading my book, then you have most likely gone through a lot of the things I describe, and in that case, I hope it brings you comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Rape. Self-harm. Suicide. Depression. Anorexia. Any one of these topics is hard and heavy. Put them together and you have a recipe for heartache, pain, and understanding the heartache and pain of others. I have often been told that you can't make someone understand if they don't want to. I disagree. I can make you listen, even if you won't listen to the girl who appears to have everything, maybe you'll listen to the girl who lost everything.

"Today we are going to sort, count, and package all of the materials we've gathered for people who need it. Today, we are going to help people. Today, we will make a difference in someone's life." I rallied a group of people around me and we split up, breaking the huge piles of donations into smaller chunks, counting and sorting everything, to box it up and bring it to families in need. I smile behind my mask, tears welling up in my eyes. My Eagle project came together. I was going to help people survive. I love my community and I love helping people around me. I always have. I was around four when I went to my first community service project. It was Scouting for Food and my parents had finally let me help. I watched all of the food come in and asked my mother why we needed to gather all of this food. Didn't people all have food and didn't have to worry? I was very wrong. From that moment on, my world changed. I focused on bettering myself so I could better my community. I focused on making sure that everyone would have what they needed to survive. My school pulls from four different communities; mine is the richest. It bothers me when I see my classmates take extra food because they don't get food at home. I used to bring extra snacks to give classmates in case they didn't have anything for dinner. I was 11 when I started that practice. I was 14 when my older brother did his Eagle project for our local YMCA. He built a bridge so young kids wouldn't have to cross thin wobbly logs in order to finish their hike. I was so proud of my older brother when I watched his scoutmaster place the blue neckerchief with an eagle on it around his neck. When he went to the Naval Academy, I promised him that I would continue his legacy. I would continue to give back to my community. And so I did. At 15, I joined BSA, the second I was allowed to. By 16, I had my second class rank and was over halfway to first class. At 17, I almost had my life rank, the last rank before Eagle. On my 17th birthday, a month before I could go for my Life rank, I sat down with my scoutmaster and discussed what I wanted to do for my Eagle project. I wanted to organize a drive between two school districts, Lincoln and Blackstone Valley Prep, and get donations for people in need. My drive is currently in its final days. I am planning to finish boxing everything up and deliver it to the benefactor in the next two weeks. As of right now, I have over 100 bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and bars of soap. I have six packages of diapers. I have over 150 toothbrushes for families, some who have never had their own toothbrush before. I had a vision, July 7th, 2020. That vision was a huge drive that would bring needed items to anyone and everyone struggling. This is just the start. I am currently designing an organization with one of my friends called People Against Rape, which is designed to teach people about the statistics about rape and how best to prevent it, starting with educating people. I am planning on starting a chapter of PAR at my high school and college when I get that far. I plan on doing so much more for everyone in this world. "Be the change you want to see in the world" is a phrase everyone hears at least once a year. At a young age, I took that to heart. I wanted to change the poverty I was seeing in the world. I wanted to change the culture that blames girls for getting raped rather than blaming the people who raped them. I wanted to change the idea that some were better than others because their skin was lighter. At 17, I can successively say that I am helping my community survive a pandemic, fighting rape culture, and calling people out on their racism. This doesn't feel like enough for me. I need to do more. I want to see a world where people can be who they want without being scared of persecution. I want to see a world where no one is struggling for basic necessities. I want to see a fair, just, beautiful world that takes care of each other. And I believe we can get there someday. Even if I am no longer here, I know that day will come. I want to help the world get there. "Be the change you want to see in the world." In that case, look out world. I'm coming to change you.

Sorry, that's canceled, canceled, canceled. That's pretty much all I heard in 2020. Everything shut down; school, camp, scouts, choir. I couldn't leave my house. I couldn't even go to therapy to keep my meds straight. Everything became online and the world I knew crumbled around me. I was stuck at home. Home, where my abusive rapists could come find me. Home, with an older brother I hadn't been with longer than a week for over 2 years. Home, where I didn't want to be and was scared no matter where I was. I spent the first 3 weeks of quarantine in my room, in bed, trying my best not to cry. About two months into the pandemic, it was the anniversary of my first rape. I couldn't stop crying and shaking. My mother let me bake cupcakes to help me feel better. After making the cupcakes, I came to the conclusion that I was not going to let him have that much control over me anymore. I decided to rearrange my room, change the way I dress, and switch up my entire Eagle project so it would focus on community. The pandemic forced me to reevaluate my life and what I was doing with it. Because of the pandemic, I want to work in PTSD research. Because of the increase in the mental health crisis during the pandemic, I decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to finding better treatment options for people who are struggling; people like me. I learned that I could keep fighting. Even when my world falls apart, I am strong enough to keep going. The pandemic also taught me that you need to help other people in this world. It isn't enough to be safe and happy by yourself. You need to bring other people up with you. I reached out to people I hadn't talked to in years and made sure they were okay. I checked in on friends and family daily, reminding them that they were not alone. By making sure that my family and friends were safe, I made their days better and brought them up with me. I still have my tough days, especially as we near the 1-year mark of this pandemic, but because I was there for others, they are there for me. My friend used to say that every light in the world matters. I hope to be the light for people who need it. I learned to light my own path. Now, it's time for me to light the paths of those around me.

What is your everything? Well, my everything is rather painful. How can someone's everything be the same thing that killed them? It's pretty easy, actually. My everything is making sure that no one goes through what I did. When I was 14, I was raped by my boyfriend. It killed the girl I was, so much so that I chopped off all of my hair, changed the color, how I dress, and quit many things that were important to me. It has been 1,014 days since my rape. Every day, I struggle to get out of bed. I get out of bed because I made a promise to myself that day. I promised that I would do everything in my power to make sure that no other human gets violated the way I did. I promised to help each and every survivor get back on their feet and thrive in life. So many survivors just survive, and some don't. I want to change that. My everything is my fight against sexual violence. My everything is the fight against rape. My everything is making sure that rapists get harsh punishments and that they are seen for what they are; violent people who hurt someone. This fight is what keeps me going through my worst days. This fight starts and ends with educating people about statistics and facts. That is my life purpose; making sure no one else suffers the way I did. Everyone has a moment in their life that defines who they are. Mine caused me to become a survivor, fighter, and sister to everyone who needs me

Heart pounding, lungs burning; I couldn't see. Suddenly, rather than fighting to die, I was fighting to stay alive. I realized that I didn't want to die. I wanted to stop living the way I was. It's amazing how fast your perspective on life can change. One moment, you want it all to end; the next, you're fighting to survive. And that's what happened to me when I was 14. I had been trying to drown myself when I realized that I didn't actually want to die. What I really wanted was to stop hating myself and to live the way I wanted to. I wanted to be happy and thrive. I had good grades in school, but they weren't good enough for me. I had straight A's, most of them A+. But it wasn't good enough for me. I was fairly athletic and I could swim well but I hated my body. I had stopped eating and was pushing myself to the point where I could have a heart attack, at 14. After my swim practice that night, I decided that I wasn't able to do this any longer. I had been in therapy but I knew I needed more and asking for help was a daunting task. And I did it. The next day, I made my largest cry for help, taking a knife from the robotics closet and keeping it with me. My friends told our guidance counselor who told my mother. Two days later, I was in the hospital as a psychiatric patient. Normally, people don't want to be inpatient, especially not in the psych ward but I was so excited. I was going to be able to focus on myself as much as possible and be able to regain control of my life. From my time in the hospital, I learned that I have more control over how I feel and what I do about it than I had originally thought. I learned how to regulate my emotions and put them aside in order to keep an impartial point of view in certain moments. By spending a week solely focusing on myself and my health, I was able to change my life. I am still in therapy because I find it helpful to process everything but it's not required to keep me alive anymore. I have control over how I feel about certain things. I have control over how I react and whether or not I see the glass half full or half empty. My newfound perception has increased my ability to focus in class and complete my assignments on time. I know that my perception of life will help me succeed in my desired field of Biochemistry. I hope to be a professor and research new medicines to help children and teenagers who struggle with mental health disorders, specifically, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Knowing that a small slip up is not going to be the end of the world is huge in these fields. Having a student fail is not going to end my career but it will teach me how I need to teach each class so the students can succeed to the best of their abilities. My perception of life will help me show students that one bad grade is not going to be the end of the world and that they can always come back from a bad grade, day, week, month, year, or longer. I want to teach students to have a similar view of their mistakes as I do now. I want my students to not only survive but thrive in their desired fields. I had to fight for my life in order to learn that I have more control than I thought. I want to keep people from going down the same road I did. That is my why for everything I do. My why will be the reason I get where I want to be.

5 years. I suffered for 5 years before getting diagnosed. Since 4th grade, I have struggled with my mental health. 5 years later, I got diagnosed with depression, anxiety, OCD, anorexia, PTSD, and body dysmorphia. I have recently been diagnosed with DID as well. I know what it's like to struggle, to feel like you can't tell anyone what's going on. I also know that sometimes the medicines and treatments that are used don't work or have painful side effects. I learned that the hard way when trying to find a medicine to help me with the insomnia I developed from my depression and PTSD. I had many side effects, including severe heart palpitations that caused my chest to hurt and distract me from school. Because I have struggled for so long, I have decided to take preventative measures to help other people. There is a little girl in my neighborhood, an only child who lives 2 houses down from mine. I asked her father if it was okay for me to write to her as a princess and encourage her to be herself and love others. I am writing to invite her to be a princess as long as she continues to be kind, to herself and others. Even when I go to college, and eventually graduate, she will be able to write to me. I want to be there for her because going through life as an only child is hard. Thinking that you're alone is the hardest thing. I want her to feel like she's never alone. I want her to have the world that I didn't get to have. The world where it's okay to ask for help, to say "I'm struggling and I don't know what to do anymore", to be able to look at someone who has hurt you and say "you hurt me and I forgive you". I want the generations after me to live in a kinder world, and I want to use my experiences to help us get to that point. I suffered, no one else should have to.

Sing, dance, practice, school, sleep, repeat. Music has always been in my life and always will be. I have been performing for about as long as I can remember. I am in an elite high school choir in my state and perform at my local theatre. I play piano and guitar whenever I can. Music is part of who I am. It's in my blood. My grandmother performed at her church all of the time and my mother sings as well. Whenever I do work for school, scouts, or my job, I am listening to music. Music has allowed me to express myself and be who I am. My music taste varies and covers most of the spectrum. I listen to country, rock and roll, showtunes, r&b, rap, dance, electronica and so much more. Each genre relates to a certain mood of mine and activity. Music helped save my life by allowing me to express myself when I was going through one of the hardest times of my life. I was able to use music to ask for help, which allowed me to get the help I needed. I am now a senior who performs in her school choir and sings the National Anthem at different sporting events at her school. Music shaped me and will continue to be an important part of who I am.

Sanity? What's that? I ask that question a lot. As someone who suffers from depression, anxiety, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), OCD (Obsessive Compulsion Disorder), Anorexia Nervosa, body dysmorphia, and DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), I have none so that is a question I ask a lot. I'm also a business owner at the age of 17. I own a bakery, called Seraphina's Sweet Shop, sell make up from Motives for Shop.com and am a nanny for a 6 month old baby girl. My experience with my own mental health issues has caused me to love the idea of being an entrepreneur and owning my own business while being a professor of Biochemistry at a college. I love the idea of being bale to make my own hours and interact with people my way. I am not a big fan of being told what to do in my "down time". My "down time" usually consists of reading anything I can get my hands on, which has helped me in making my baking business and selling my make up. I love planning how I'm going to create publicity and hype about my products, especially during the holiday season. Every time I bake cookies, I post pictures of them on my Instagram to show off what I can do. My friends often share the posts with people they know, which has helped create some hype. I also post pictures of my make up and me using it to create hype about those products as well. My friends will share those posts too, creating a larger following. Being on Instagram and posting my products is a lot easier than having to talk to people face to face, especially for someone with severe anxiety. That being said, I do interact with people face to face on the street and through direct messages, phone calls and texts. Having the anxiety has forced me to think outside the box on interacting with people. I make a lot of fliers that have all of the information someone could need to order my make ups. Ordering my baked goods is a little more difficult because of the cottage food laws in my state but I make do. Most of the bake goods I sell are to friends and family. Selling to people I already know and have a good relationship with makes it a lot easier because I'm not scared that saying something will make them leave or that I would lose their business. As I have gotten older, my anxiety and other mental heal issues have gotten worse, not better; to the point where medicines and therapy aren't working anymore. My family has seriously considered getting me a service dog to help with all of my mental health problems but has decided to wait until I have a semesters worth of college under my belt so I can have that experience. I hope to open a store front for my bakery one day and hire people with mental health issues as much as possible. Down syndrome, autism, Asperger's, depression, PTSD, you name it. I don't care because I know that mental health problems don't define you and your ability to do your job

One woman in STEM that I admire is Jane Goodall. My 5th grade science teacher played a documentary about Jane Goodall and her work with chimpanzees and I was hooked. The chips treated her as if she was one of their own and I loved it. I have read articles on her work and how it has helped chimpanzees and humans understand each other. In my life, I want to teach other girls to love STEM. I want to be a biochemistry professor and teach my students in fun and innovative ways. My favorite chemistry teacher taught us about how baking is chemistry by making us two different cakes and letting us eat them in class. I want to use the research opportunities that I would get as a professor to research different ways to help people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. I suffer from PTSD and the medicines that you get put in have horrible side effects and sometimes don't work at all. I want to find better ways to treat PTSD and allow people to thrive, not just survive their mental illnesses

Role models. Who are they and how do you find them? Well, role models are people who encourage you to be a better person by being the best they can be. Role models can be anyone, a friend, sibling, parent, or even someone you have never met. Most people never get to meet their role models or heroes. I am not one of those people. I grew up with my role model. He took care of me, drove me crazy, called me a brat, and taught me everything I needed to know in order to be the strong willed, determined young woman I am now. My role model is my older brother, a 20 year old Midshipman at the United States Naval Academy. My brother helped me overcome so much. I was bullied every day as a kid and it caused me to develop depression, anxiety, Obsessive compulsive disorder, anorexia and more illnesses that I still battle today. He taught me to block out what other people were saying about me. He never let what people said about him bother him. However, he was, and still is, very protective of his family. People could say whatever they wanted about him but if they insulted someone he loved, he would shower the person insulted in compliments until they felt better. He taught me to be compassionate and caring. When he accidently hit me in the face with a hockey stick while we were playing one day, he came home from school a few weeks later with a teddy bear for me. He found my favorite care bear to give me to make up for breaking my tooth. My older brother taught me to be giving, of my time, resources and love. He taught me that it was okay to make mistakes because making mistakes meant that you were trying. He showed me that the best leader was someone who was unafraid to get his hands dirty and do the roles that no one wanted to. Now, I am a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster in my Scouts BSA troop and am well on my way to earning my Eagle badge. I am currently working on my Eagle project, which is one of the last things I need to do before my Board of Review. I am a senior in high school at BVP and am taking all of my classes at my local community college. He taught me that working hard will always pay off. I have been accepted into all of the schools that I have applied to and heard from. I have an almost perfect GPA because of his help. In the future, I want to be a biochemistry professor at a college. I want to teach kids the same way my older brother taught me, with compassion and enthusiasm. I want to pursue a doctorate in biochemistry and a master's degree in education. I want to find ways to imbed the love of learning into students. The best thing about being a life long learner is that you never have to grow up. My role model taught me that.

Create something, anything. That's what I want to do. I want to create a world that is supportive of everyone. I have started creating a group of "princesses" that encourage other girls to be kind. I am writing letters to little girls in my community to tell them that they have been recognized as smart, talented and kind young girls. In these letters, I encourage the young girls to be kind to everyone, siblings, peers, friends and more. I want to these young girls to grow up into strong, empowered young women who know that their worth is not connected to how beautiful they are or how other people see them. I want them to learn that they are strong, independent, smart and talented people because they are kind. I want them to realize that being kind is the most beautiful thing they can be. I want to create a large group of women who encourage others and know that they don't have to undermine another girl to be beautiful, strong, talented and to shine like the stars they are. I want to create the fellowship among girls that I never got to have as a young girl. I want to see the world become a kinder place through these young girls

Making stuff blow up everyday? Um, yes please! I would like to study Biochemistry, Psychology and Education in college because I would like to be a biology, chemistry and biochemistry professor. I want to be the college professor that understands their students and is there for them. In high school, I had teachers that basically saved my life. I want to be the professor that students can go to without any fear of retribution. I want my students to trust me and come to me with their problems, personal or educational. I want to help shape the minds of students and teach them to love learning. I don't want to force knowledge on someone, I want them to want to learn.