Mental illness is devastating. It can come in different forms, be seen in different ways, and be treated with many different things. For me, it came in the form of completely shutting down. I have had symptoms of anxiety since I was young, about the age of four. I would avoid things that made me anxious, stay with people who made me less anxious, and have what I now know were panic attacks, where I just wanted to curl up into a ball and be at home with my family. When COVID hit, this became even worse. What used to be avoiding some things that made me anxious became avoiding all school work and even looking at the work I had due because it would send me into a spiral of doubt and self hatred. My parents started to notice, and they did not take it lightly. They began to scream and yell over something that my brain could not do because it became too overwhelmed. This continued for the rest of the school year, but at the end, they finally signed me up to see a doctor. The doctor soon diagnosed me with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder and put me on medicine. The very first day that I took it, I felt better. I knew that it couldn't work that fast, but it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. After being in that deep, dark pit of self doubt and pain, I now enjoy every day. I savor it, knowing that it could have been different. I know that I could have been worse off, still sitting at home, dreading that computer, constantly dinging with notifications from my teachers, asking where the work was. I enjoy little things that I used to just skim over. I love to be outside, and just sit. I don't think about every thing going on, or what I need to do. I just enjoy the nothing. It's nice to not have your head swimming with thoughts everyday, thinking that if you stop for on second, you may drown. Of course, there still are the bad days. The ones where the drop of a pin may send me into a spiral. One late assignment will have me going down the path of panic, but those days make the nice ones even sweeter. I want to say mental illness has not changed me, it shouldn't define who I am or where I'm going, but it has. I can't deny that. It has changed the way that I think, feel, act. I am a different person now, and that is for the better, and the worse. I don't like to think what I could have been without it, because I can't change it, but sometimes, I think it may have been a good thing. I now revel in a nice day. I celebrate small things, every time I turn in an assignment celebrate and tell myself how far I have gone, just in that last year, and I will most definitely do a happy dance and celebrate myself after I turn this in.

Mental illness is devastating. It can come in different forms, be seen in different ways, and be treated with many different things. For me, it came in the form of completely shutting down. I have had symptoms of anxiety since I was young, about the age of four. I would avoid things that made me anxious, stay with people who made me less anxious, and have what I now know were panic attacks, where I just wanted to curl up into a ball and be at home with my family. When COVID hit, this became even worse. What used to be avoiding some things that made me anxious became avoiding all school work and even looking at the work I had due because it would send me into a spiral of doubt and self hatred. My parents started to notice, and they did not take it lightly. They began to scream and yell over something that my brain could not do because it became too overwhelmed. This continued for the rest of the school year, but at the end, they finally signed me up to see a doctor. The doctor soon diagnosed me with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder and put me on medicine. I want to say mental illness has not changed me, it shouldn't define who I am or where I'm going, but it has. I can't deny that. It has changed the way that I think, feel, act. I am a different person now, and that is for the better, and the worse. I don't like to think what I could have been without it, because I can't change it, but sometimes, I think it may have been a good thing. I now revel in a nice day. I celebrate small things, every time I turn in an assignment celebrate and tell myself how far I have gone, just in that last year, and I will most definitely do a happy dance and celebrate myself after I turn this in.

Currently I am working on many different projects. I cannot seem to focus on one at a time. I tend to bounce around and follow what makes me happy. I have most recently been working on an upside down piece. I am trying to teach myself how to draw proportions upside down. I have a lot of trouble with proportions and how to place a body, so I thought that I would look at it from a different angle. I see shapes when I do that, not the final project, so I focus more on the lines and design, more than what it is supposed to look like. There are many things that inspire me to design and create art. The main thing that drives me is feelings. I am not very good at showing my feelings or talking about them, so I like to tell them in a way that I understand. I use many different styles, depending on the mood I am in. When I am indifferent I like to scrapbook, because I cannot choose a mood, it just seems like a mix of many different emotions swirled together. So many that I just feel grey. When happy, I use watercolors. They are my favorite to use because they are so easy to blend, and they all fit together so well. When I am angry or want change, I use printed papers, and rip, tape, and color them. I like to take something that was not very useful to me, and turn it into something that shows that change can bring about something beautiful. I will use this scholarship to get into a college that provides graphic design classes and general art classes. I want to create for my job, and graphic design seemed like the best fit for me. I want to eventually work for NASA and that will take a lot of work which I am very willing to put in, but that will most likely take more time in college. I want to use this scholarship to learn about more art and to learn how to create in different ways. I want to create art into adulthood, even if it might not be that good. I have not yet settled on one art type, and I don't think I will. I like the changes and differences within the styles and I don't want to just stay stagnant. I want to create in different ways, and this scholarship would help me to achieve that.

I am not a professional chess player or even a good one. I have played chess from about the age of eight. I enjoyed how the pieces felt in my hand and the noise that they made as the velvet bottom crossed the board. I didn't quite understand it, but I had seen so many adults play chess. I saw how they studied the pieces and carefully moved them, their brows furrowed in thought the entire time. I wanted to be like that. I wanted to be the smart adult who thought their every move out. I wanted to be someone who others could look up to. I wanted someone to aspire to be me. So I began to practice. Not many people my age wanted to play with me. What eight-year-old would choose to play chess when there was a perfectly good car set sitting on the shelf? Since there were not many people who want to play with me, I began to play against computers. I would often use my time playing against a computer that would always win. I would put it on the easiest level and still lose. I would often shut the app down, saying that I would not play again. Then of course I would always try again. I enjoyed it, but it was frustrating knowing that I would often lose. I would always go back to it knowing that I could improve and maybe this time it would be different. For every ten losses, there was one win. I have carried this with me through life. If I made a mistake or failed a test, I would always try harder. I would get frustrated, take a break, then come back refreshed, ready to ace the test. I was always an A+ student without trying, so studying was hard for me. I hadn't learned how to study at a young age, like many other kids. I thought I was lucky, but now that has set me back. I knew that because of my previous fails, and how I had always improved, that I too could improve on this. I am currently improving, and it is a hard path, but I have learned to prevail. My career goals are very far-fetched, but others have achieved them, so I thought I might as well try. I wish to be a graphic designer for NASA. This is a very exclusive position and very hard to get without very hard work. I have already begun my work to try and get in. I have started graphic design classes, many art classes, and started a line of communication with employees of the NASA graphic design department. It has been very hard, but if there is just one thing that chess taught me is that the best things come with lots of work and that you must persevere through the bad and tough to get to your goals. I am not the best at chess. I am not even good, but chess has helped me so much. It has taught me how to see myself and how to work for my goals.

Currently I am working on many different projects. I cannot seem to focus on one at a time. I tend to bounce around and follow what makes me happy. I have most recently been working on an upside down piece. I am trying to teach myself how to draw proportions upside down. I have a lot of trouble with proportions and how to place a body, so I thought that I would look at it from a different angle. I see shapes when I do that, not the final project, so I focus more on the lines and design, more than what it is supposed to look like. There are many things that inspire me to design and create art. The main thing that drives me is feelings. I am not very good at showing my feelings or talking about them, so I like to tell them in a way that I understand. I use many different styles, depending on the mood I am in. When I am indifferent I like to scrapbook, because I cannot choose a mood, it just seems like a mix of many different emotions swirled together. So many that I just feel grey. When happy, I use watercolors. They are my favorite to use because they are so easy to blend, and they all fit together so well. When I am angry or want change, I use printed papers, and rip, tape, and color them. I like to take something that was not very useful to me, and turn it into something that shows that change can bring about something beautiful. I will use this scholarship to get into a college that provides graphic design classes and general art classes. I want to create for my job, and graphic design seemed like the best fit for me. I want to eventually work for NASA and that will take a lot of work which I am very willing to put in, but that will most likely take more time in college. I want to use this scholarship to learn about more art and to learn how to create in different ways. I want to create art into adulthood, even if it might not be that good. I have not yet settled on one art type, and I don't think I will. I like the changes and differences within the styles and I don't want to just stay stagnant. I want to create in different ways, and this scholarship would help me to achieve that.

This is Apollo, my foster fail. This was the day that we got him. He was three and a half months old, and already 40 pounds. This photo was taken about a month ago and he has already gained fifteen pounds. He is going to be big, but that just means more to love!

I am not a professional chess player or even a good one. I have played chess from about the age of eight. I enjoyed how the pieces felt in my hand and the noise that they made as the velvet bottom crossed the board. I didn't quite understand it, but I had seen so many adults play chess. I saw how they studied the pieces and carefully moved them, their brows furrowed in thought the entire time. I wanted to be like that. I wanted to be the smart adult who thought their every move out. I wanted to be someone who others could look up to. I wanted someone to aspire to be me. So I began to practice. Not many people my age wanted to play with me. What eight-year-old would choose to play chess when there was a perfectly good car set sitting on the shelf? Since there were not many people who want to play with me, I began to play against computers. I would often use my time playing against a computer that would always win. I would put it on the easiest level and still lose. I would often shut the app down, saying that I would not play again. Then of course I would always try again. I enjoyed it, but it was frustrating knowing that I would often lose. I would always go back to it knowing that I could improve and maybe this time it would be different. For every ten losses, there was one win. I have carried this with me through life. If I made a mistake or failed a test, I would always try harder. I would get frustrated, take a break, then come back refreshed, ready to ace the test. I was always an A+ student without trying, so studying was hard for me. I hadn't learned how to study at a young age, like many other kids. I thought I was lucky, but now that has set me back. I knew that because of my previous fails, and how I had always improved, that I too could improve on this. I am currently improving, and it is a hard path, but I have learned to prevail. My career goals are very far-fetched, but others have achieved them, so I thought I might as well try. I wish to be a graphic designer for NASA. This is a very exclusive position and very hard to get without very hard work. I have already begun my work to try and get in. I have started graphic design classes, many art classes, and started a line of communication with employees of the NASA graphic design department. It has been very hard, but if there is just one thing that chess taught me is that the best things come with lots of work and that you must persevere through the bad and tough to get to your goals. I am not the best at chess. I am not even good, but chess has helped me so much. It has taught me how to see myself and how to work for my goals.

There are many things that inspire me to design and create art. The main thing that drives me is feelings. I am not very good at showing my feelings or talking about them, so I like to tell them in a way that I understand. I use many different styles, depending on the mood I am in. When I am indifferent I like to scrapbook, because I cannot choose a mood, it just seems like a mix of many different emotions swirled together. So many that I just feel grey. When happy, I use watercolors. They are my favorite to use because they are so easy to blend, and they all fit together so well. When I am angry or want change, I use printed papers, and rip, tape, and color them. I like to take something that was not very useful to me, and turn it into something that shows that change can bring about something beautiful. I will use this scholarship to get into a college that provides graphic design classes and general art classes. I want to create for my job, and graphic design seemed like the best fit for me. I want to eventually work for NASA and that will take a lot of work which I am very willing to put in, but that will most likely take more time in college. I want to use this scholarship to learn about more art and to learn how to create in different ways. I want to create art into adulthood, even if it might not be that good. I have not yet settled on one art type, and I don't think I will. I like the changes and differences within the styles and I don't want to just stay stagnent. I want to create in different ways, and this scholarship would help me to achieve that.

I have a lot of goals in life. Some are not as big as others, but they are all important to me. I want to improve in things that I like, such as playing viola and drawing. Job-wise, I am working hard to work for NASA. I am constantly working towards my goals and getting better at the things that I love. My main goal, as of now, is to get a job as a graphic designer at NASA. I am working very hard to achieve this by contacting graphic designers that are currently working at NASA and asking them questions on how they achieved their goals and what they did to be hired there. I have hope to achieve many things in life, but the main being happiness and comfort. I want to live comfortably in a cottage with my spouse. I would love to raise animals with them and live an eco-friendly life. There are many things that bring me comfort and joy, such as the outdoors. I love to just sit and relax and clear my mind. I love to hear birds singing and watching sunsets. I also love the simplicity of living. I love the smell of a new book, I love to see the colors I can create with my art and the emotions that come with it. I love to listen to music, classical, sea shanties, pop, I love to hear the emotions that come with the highs and lows of the music. I love how it can make you sorrowful, or feel you are on top of the world with just some notes on a paper. I love the simplicity of life. I wish to give back to my community by volunteering and showing kindness. I love to give cards to the retirement home around me, because of how happy I know the people who receive them will be. I love to be the bright light on a dark day. I want to give back to the community with kindness. I may not have any money to give, but if I can give them hope, I will be happy.

f I could make one change in the world right now, I would want to have all people be accepted. I am part of the LGBT community and live in a very conservative school district. While people don't say to my face I am a terrible human and am going to hell, many say it will social media content, and asides. I want everyone to be accepted, regardless of religion, skin color, and sexuality and gender identity. I am changing my community for the better by offering a safe space for others that may not have it. I am currently in GSA to learn more about the community and about how to be more inclusive. My mother and I also have gone to the school with signs for the teachers that show their support for the community. After about a week, I began to see the signs up. There were only a few, but it is still better than nothing. I also stand in support of the black community by wearing black live matter clothing and signing many petitions to help change the parlement. I would have also attended the protests, but I was worried about the spread of COVID and possible violence from white supremacists. I like to ask people their pronouns when I first meet them as well, to establish that I am supportive of anyone's pronouns. I am also in Youth and Government and I write many human rights bills. I have written a bill to make sure that people who are in poverty, if they were to be charged a fine, would get a payment plan to pay for the fine, instead of paying at one time. Many people living paycheck to paycheck, will end up in prison due to them being unable to pay fines, so I believed it was very important to change. I have also written a bill that would ban conversion therapy in the state of Pennsylvania. Many people are affected by conversion therapy yearly, and I wanted to change that for the better. I will continue to change my communication for the better. I wish to volunteer for an animal shelter once I am able to drive. I would love to help the shelter out in any way that I can. I also am going to foster animals, to help them get new homes and show them the love that they may not feel in the shelter. I have also made many cards for retirement homes because I know how lonely they can feel. I have also hand-made cards for all of the teachers in my high school to show them support for these tough times. I wish for the best for my community, so I start with myself. I am always working to be more kind and better every day and I hope that my kindness can rub off on others and spread around the community. I have done many things to help my community become a more kind and welcoming place so that hopefully the people that come after me will feel the kindness I left.

If I could make one change in the world right now, I would want to have all people be accepted. I am part of the LGBT community and live in a very conservative school district. While people don't say to my face I am a terrible human and am going to hell, many say it will social media content, and asides. I want everyone to be accepted, regardless of religion, skin color, and sexuality and gender identity. I am changing my community for the better by offering a safe space for others that may not have it. I am currently in GSA to learn more about the community and about how to be more inclusive. My mother and I also have gone to the school with signs for the teachers that show their support for the community. After about a week, I began to see the signs up. There were only a few, but it is still better than nothing. I also stand in support of the black community by wearing black live matter clothing, and signing many petitions to help change the parlement. I would have also attended the protests, but I was worried about the spread of COVID and possible violence from white supremacists. I like to ask people their pronouns when I first meet them as well, to establish that I am supporting of anyone's pronouns. I am also in Youth and Government and I write many human rights bills. I have written a bill to make sure that people who are in poverty, if they were to be charged a fine, would get a payment plan to pay for the fine, instead of paying at one time. Many people living paycheck to paycheck , will end up in prison due to them being unable to pay fines, so I believed it was very important to change. I have also written a bill that would ban conversion therapy in the state of Pennsylvania. Many people are affected by conversion therapy yearly, and I wanted to change that for the better. I will continue to change my communication for the better. I wish to volunteer for an animal shelter once I am able to drive. I would love to help the shelter out in any way that I can. I also am going to foster animals, to help them get new homes and show them love that they may not feel in the shelter. I have also made many cards for retirement homes, because I know how lonely they can feel. I have also hand made cards for all of the teachers in my high school to show them support for these tough times. I wish for the best for my community, so I start with myself. I am always working to be more kind and better every day and I hope that my kindness can rub off on others and spread around the community. I have done many things to help my community become a more kind and welcoming place so that hopefully the people that come after me will feel the kindness I left.

Mental illness is devastating. It can come in different forms, be seen in different ways, and be treated with many different things. For me, it came in the form of completely shutting down. I have had symptoms of anxiety since I was young, about the age of four. I would avoid things that made me anxious, stay with people who made me less anxious, and have what I now know were panic attacks, where I just wanted to curl up into a ball and be at home with my family. When COVID hit, this became even worse. What used to be avoiding some things that made me anxious became avoiding all school work and even looking at the work I had due because it would send me into a spiral of doubt and self hatred. My parents started to notice, and they did not take it lightly. They began to scream and yell over something that my brain could not do because it became too overwhelmed. This continued for the rest of the school year, but at the end, they finally signed me up to see a doctor. The doctor soon diagnosed me with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder and put me on medicine. The very first day that I took it, I felt better. I knew that it couldn't work that fast, but it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. After being in that deep, dark pit of self doubt and pain, I now enjoy every day. I savor it, knowing that it could have been different. I know that I could have been worse off, still sitting at home, dreading that computer, constantly dinging with notifications from my teachers, asking where the work was. I enjoy little things that I used to just skim over. I love to be outside, and just sit. I don't think about every thing going on, or what I need to do. I just enjoy the nothing. It's nice to not have your head swimming with thoughts everyday, thinking that if you stop for on second, you may drown. Of course, there still are the bad days. The ones where the drop of a pin may send me into a spiral. One late assignment will have me going down the path of panic, but those days make the nice ones even sweeter. I want to say mental illness has not changed me, it shouldn't define who I am or where I'm going, but it has. I can't deny that. It has changed the way that I think, feel, act. I am a different person now, and that is for the better, and the worse. I don't like to think what I could have been without it, because I can't change it, but sometimes, I think it may have been a good thing. I now revel in a nice day. I celebrate small things, every time I turn in an assignment celebrate and tell myself how far I have gone, just in that last year, and I will most definitely do a happy dance and celebrate myself after I turn this in.

Mental illness is devastating. It can come in different forms, be seen in different ways, and be treated with many different things. For me, it came in the form of completely shutting down. I have had symptoms of anxiety since I was young, about the age of four. I would avoid things that made me anxious, stay with people who made me less anxious, and have what I now know were panic attacks, where I just wanted to curl up into a ball and be at home with my family. When COVID hit, this became even worse. What used to be avoiding some things that made me anxious became avoiding all school work and even looking at the work I had due because it would send me into a spiral of doubt and self hatred. My parents started to notice, and they did not take it lightly. They began to scream and yell over something that my brain could not do because it became too overwhelmed. This continued for the rest of the school year, but at the end, they finally signed me up to see a doctor. The doctor soon diagnosed me with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder and put me on medicine. The very first day that I took it, I felt better. I knew that it couldn't work that fast, but it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. After being in that deep, dark pit of self doubt and pain, I now enjoy every day. I savor it, knowing that it could have been different. I know that I could have been worse off, still sitting at home, dreading that computer, constantly dinging with notifications from my teachers, asking where the work was. I enjoy little things that I used to just skim over. I love to be outside, and just sit. I don't think about every thing going on, or what I need to do. I just enjoy the nothing. It's nice to not have your head swimming with thoughts everyday, thinking that if you stop for on second, you may drown. Of course, there still are the bad days. The ones where the drop of a pin may send me into a spiral. One late assignment will have me going down the path of panic, but those days make the nice ones even sweeter. I want to say mental illness has not changed me, it shouldn't define who I am or where I'm going, but it has. I can't deny that. It has changed the way that I think, feel, act. I am a different person now, and that is for the better, and the worse. I don't like to think what I could have been without it, because I can't change it, but sometimes, I think it may have been a good thing. I now revel in a nice day. I celebrate small things, every time I turn in an assignment celebrate and tell myself how far I have gone, just in that last year, and I will most definitely do a happy dance and celebrate myself after I turn this in.