In my senior year of high school, I learned the fundamental derivative formula. If you know differential calculus, I'm not talking about the power rule. I'm talking about the good ol f'(x)=lim(h->0)[(f(x+h)-f(x))/h]. This was the first formula my calculus teacher taught me to take the derivative of a polynomial function. At first, I found it very tedious. But once we were taught the much easier alternative known as the power formula, it made everything feel bland. I realized that deep down, I actually enjoyed that journey of taking the derivative the traditional way. It made the process feel intentional. It made me feel one with the math. And realizing you get the right answer after using that traditional formula was far more satisfying than doing it after the power formula. This connects perfectly with my passion for cooking. In this day, many people resort to buying premade meals or takeout, simply because it's faster and easier. But for me, I enjoy the journey of cooking. I enjoy slow braising a pork shoulder in a Dutch oven for 4 hours rather than throwing it into an Instant Pot. I enjoy baking my own loaves of sourdough rather than buying it from supermarkets. I enjoy the pressure of knowing that I need to put effort and intention into making the perfect steak, and use the remains in the pan to make a delicious sauce. Because at the end of the day, there's much more accomplishment in making some homemade noodles and stock rather than buying a pack of Instant Ramen. With this passion that the fundamental derivative formula has given me, I believe it will make me succeed very well in my dream career. When customers pay for a meal at a fine-dining restaurant, they don't just want to be fed. They want to be taken care of with intention, step-by-step, throughout the night. If you work as a fine-dining chef or waiter just to make money, the customers are going to feel that in their meals and service, and won't be satisfied. If you put yourself under pressure to ensure that you carefully satisfy everything without missing a step--like in the fundamental derivative formula--your customers will feel that effort in their service, and you'll feel much more fulfilled at the end of the night.

Sourdough bread is much more sought after than typical bread due to that iconic fermented taste, along with that satisfying tender crumb being shielded by that crackly crust. It's as healthy as it is delicious, offering prebiotics for your gut, and it digests more easily than other breads. But all of these benefits come with a harsh caveat: it costs twice as much as all other bread. At first, I accepted that I should resort to that boring instant yeast bread until I discovered something I could make with just two ingredients: a sourdough starter. It's made with just a cup of flour and a half-cup of water, and you feed it a tablespoon of flour and water daily for it to activate. And to make a loaf, all you need is flour, water, sourdough starter, and a little salt. When the starters get big enough, I split them into multiple starters, allowing me to match my demand much more easily. With this discovery, I had unlimited access to sourdough bread at a much lower cost. Having my own sourdough starter let me add unique ingredients to the bread to make personalized loaves that you can't find in stores. This can range from an Italian-seasoned loaf, a savory garlic and cheese loaf, and even a Dr. Pepper-infused loaf. I could make unique loaves personalized for all of my peers that matched their needs. This sourdough starter was the key inspiration for my plan. My future business dream is to open a fine-dining restaurant, but my niche is to put that restaurant on wheels. Think of it like a food trailer, but designed for fine dining. The bus will be able to drive out to various locations and set up a gorgeous dining area on the outside, which can be covered or open-headed depending on the weather. People will be served personalized meal courses by making a reservation and answering questions to give the staff an idea of who they're working with, just like how I could add personal touches to my sourdough loaves to satisfy everyone who wanted their own loaf. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations, which makes access even easier and more efficient. Just like the sourdough starter, when you feed it more flour, it expands to the point where you can split it into multiple starters. Unfortunately, this plan calls for extensive amounts of money. And to actually ensure success in the business aspect, I must attend business school to form the dream into reality, which also calls for extensive amounts of money. If I end up burning all of my savings in college, you'll never be able to experience such a personalized fine-dining experience. Just like the sourdough starter, theoretically, if I can't afford flour, I can't create these personalized loaves for the people I care about. When I'm awarded this scholarship, I will hold my promise until my last breath to ensure that this money doesn't go to waste.

In my senior year of high school, I took a class called Senior Inquiry, a program that covered my government, economics, and language arts credits, and offered 15 transferable credits for Portland State University. This class was very different from all other high school classes I’ve taken. Rather than the usual idea of a teacher throwing loads of information at you all at once while you’re expected to memorize it and use it to pass tests, this class actually made you develop crucial skills like critical thinking and problem-solving, which were achieved through educating us about real-world problems, engaging in group discussions, simulations, hands-on experiences, and brainstorming for projects. One specific issue taught in this class that stuck out to me the most was the unfair advantages that the rich 1% of the US get over absolutely everyone else, and how their wealth is becoming corrupt. We did a demonstration where the entire class went outside onto the soccer fields, and a select few students were given a paper that was titled with different jobs and their average salaries. Then, the teacher set a starting point on the field, indicating the line where you were making a living wage, and began placing the students based on their wages. Basic jobs were slightly below the living wage line, while skilled jobs that typically required a degree were slightly over. But then there was one person who was given a paper titled “Business CEO,” who was told to jog around the entire soccer field twice to demonstrate where they were in terms of wealth compared to everyone else. It made my blood boil to think that there are people who can’t afford to live a decent quality of life and that these CEO’s who have well over what they need are just keeping that money for themselves. This demonstration had a significant impact on my plans. After being exposed to this harsh truth, I came up with the idea of opening a personal chef business. I plan to convert an RV into a functioning kitchen and extraordinary diner that can drive to people’s houses, providing easy access for them to briefly escape their home to be immersed in a deep-hospitality experience. But how does this solve the wealth gap? Personal chefs are greatly sought after by those who are rich, as these experiences are meant to be expensive due to the use of high-quality ingredients and the effort put behind the dishes. By setting a high price, I can lure the wealthy into giving me their money. But I’ve spent my whole life thriving in the middle class, so I don’t need the profits. The excess profits I gain will be put towards solving many economic crises that the majority of the population faces, such as aiding in housing and healthcare costs, providing scholarships for education, and offering reduced or even free dining experiences from time to time to ensure that everyone has access to the hospitality I have to offer.

My college plan is to dual enroll in Portland State University and Portland Community College (specifically the Sylvania Campus) in order to take culinary classes while also taking business and hospitality classes. Portland is known for having a very strong culinary scene, and due to its urban environment, there are many successful small businesses and large corporations, which will allow for many internship opportunities. With this education, I'm planning on opening a fine-dining restaurant that creates personalized meals for each customer or party based on a short series of questions they answer while making a reservation. But this isn't a new idea. So instead, I plan to put this restaurant on wheels. Think of it like a restaurant in an RV, where it can drive out to various locations, and can expand when parked to have a functioning kitchen and a beautiful dining room. This way, more people have access to this glorious type of dining. My desire to cook wasn't just something I was born with. Out of everything that could've triggered this passion in me, it was when I first learned the fundamental derivative formula. If you know differential calculus, I'm not talking about the power formula. I'm talking about the good ol f'(x)=lim(h->0)[(f(x+h)-f(x))/h]. This was the first formula my calculus teacher taught me to take the derivative of a polynomial function. It was probably the most time-consuming formula I had ever learned in my entire high school life (and yes, I've done long division and the quadratic formula). At first, I found it very tedious. But once we were taught the much easier alternative known as the power formula, it made everything feel bland. I realized that deep down, I actually enjoyed that journey of taking the derivative the traditional way. It made the process feel intentional. It made me feel one with the math. And realizing you get the right answer after using that traditional formula was far more satisfying than doing it after the power formula. This connects perfectly with my passion for cooking. In this day, many people resort to buying premade meals or takeout, simply because it's faster and easier. But for me, I enjoy the journey of cooking. I enjoy slow braising a pork shoulder in a Dutch oven for 4 hours rather than throwing it into an Instant Pot. I enjoy baking my own slices of sourdough bread rather than just buying it from the store. I enjoy the pressure of knowing that I need to put effort and intention into making the perfect medium-rare steak, and to be able to use the remains in the pan to make a unique sauce. Because at the end of the day, there's much more accomplishment in making some homemade noodles and stock rather than buying a pack of Instant Ramen. With this passion that the fundamental derivative formula has given me, I believe it will make me succeed very well in my dream career. When customers pay for a meal at a fine-dining restaurant, they don't just want to be fed. They want to be taken care of with intention, step-by-step, throughout the night. If you work as a fine-dining chef or waiter just to make money, the customers are going to feel that in their meals and service, and won't be satisfied. If you put yourself under pressure to ensure that you carefully satisfy everything without missing a step--like in the fundamental derivative formula--your customers will feel that effort in their service, and you'll feel much more fulfilled at the end of the night.

I have loved cooking since middle school. But often people don't seem to understand how much I really love it. My family always feels bad when I do all of the cooking for dinner, as she sees it as a chore. They always try to provide the most efficient and easy ingredients to use to make it easier on me. But giving me things like premade pasta, frozen meats to throw in an Insta-Pot, and packaged vegetable mixes is just boring. At that point, might as well just order take-out. I don't cook just to have food on the table. I cook to experience the journey of it. I cook to create a piece of art. I cook to make someone satisfied by a high-quality meal, and when they tell me they like it, I feel just as good as they do. This leads to my future dream: opening a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each customer or party making a reservation. However, there are very few of these out there in the world, meaning that many people don't have easy access to these amazing opportunities. That's where my niche comes in: putting the restaurant on wheels. It will be set up like an RV, where it can travel to various locations, and can expand to make plenty of room for a working kitchen and an extraordinary personal dining room. With this, people won't face the geographical barriers involved in seeking these high-end restaurants, and everyone can receive the greatest hospitality. And if it succeeds, the excess profit won't just go to my pockets. I will use that money to buy and create more of these restaurants-on-wheels to make access even easier for the people. This business isn't just about providing a meal for someone, just to make their tummy full. This type of business introduces customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, allows them to be taken great care of as if they were just born again, and creates memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. This industry brings color to all of our lives. It makes us feel seen and heard. And without this business, our lives will continue to lack color, and we'll all just feel that we're going through the motions.

For most people, therapy typically occurs in a small, office-like space with the assistance of another person. For me, therapy happens over a stovetop, with frying pans, cast-iron skillets, Dutch ovens, a set of knives, and a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one else present. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurricular activities, and has helped me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. However, as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew increasingly slim. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all just to keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from: putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations, which makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan for my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become a reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

14 years ago, my mom and dad got a divorce and moved to a condo. My dad would always pick up my brother and me on weekends and take us to his place to balance our connections with both sides of the family. On a good day, it would take only half an hour to get to his condo. But with Friday's rush-hour traffic, it often took more than an hour to make the trek. 8 years ago, my dad got in a car crash on Barnes Road. Two reckless drivers wanted to race, and Dad did what all driver educations tell you to do: avoid reckless driving. In attempts to move out of the way, one of the cars hit Dad off-road into a ditch. He faced pain all over his body and had to live immobile for nearly a year. 7 years ago, my dad moved to a triplex in a sketchy neighborhood. It was an upgrade from the condo, especially since it was only 10-15 minutes away from mom's home. I could finally see Dad more regularly. 5 years ago, my dad received compensation from the car crash and decided to move into a full-blown house. My dad put his triplex up for rent, but the new house wasn't quite ready for moving in yet. Dad had to live homeless for almost a year. Fortunately, in the same neighborhood as the new home was his old high school friend, who had an extra bed for him. When the time came, his friend helped him move into his new home on a summer day with triple-digit temperatures outside. 3 years ago, my dad had surgery on his ankle that prevented him from running for nearly a year. My dad's favorite way of staying healthy was to pack up on miles in long runs. But when his ankle faced problems and needed surgery, it seemed that it was over for him, especially since he was approaching the ripe age of 50. But with being locked into physical therapy, he was finally back to running three miles a day and would later increase that mileage. If there's one thing I have observed from my dad, it's that he's been resilient for the past 14 years. No matter what had been thrown into his way, he always managed to find a way around it. With high school coming to an end and adult life starting in only a few months, I'm feeling the nerves of the idea of turning off autopilot and taking control on my own. But whenever I feel those nerves, I think about my dad. If he's able to navigate whatever is thrown in his way, there's no reason why I couldn't as well. With that in the back of my mind, I've never felt more confident saying that I'm ready for the world to throw its wrath at me. I'm ready to fight against it. It threw all its wrath at my dad. I want revenge on it. I will prove those obstacles wrong. (In the picture below, my brother and dad were at a University of Oregon football game. I'm to the left, my brother's to the right, and my dad's in the middle.)

If there’s one person who has constantly thrown me down on the ground, that person is myself. But if there’s one person who has always helped me up, it was also myself. The throwing down really started in my freshman year of high school. I had forecasted for some solid classes, such as accelerated integrated science, and being a grade ahead in math. I also started playing organized sports and participated in other extracurricular activities for the first time. With this, I was set to build a bright future. But thanks to a lasting enemy named Arlo Hayes, my high-potential freshman year was sabotaged. That freshman thought it was okay not to turn in a few assignments. That freshman thought a C was a strong enough grade. That freshman thought that spending free time mindlessly scrolling through the successful lives of others was more productive than building a successful life. He did all of this, thinking he’s already done enough. Well, there was one person who was hurt. He was a sophomore named Arlo Hayes. That sophomore understood the importance of school. That sophomore knew what he wanted his future to be. That sophomore had applied for even more advanced classes than the freshman. All he wanted was to be the most successful he could ever be. But thanks to that bratty freshman, he was always shoved down and slammed to the floor whenever he took any step towards his dreams. He wanted to go to a prestigious college. That freshman blocked all the roads, rails, interstates, airports, and sea routes that led to that college. That freshman crippled that sophomore's ability to walk, run, or bike to that college. But even while that sophomore was weakened by that evil freshman, he still had enough strength left to lift someone else, a junior named Arlo Hayes. The sophomore had already seen his defeat early on. But he knew that he could still help someone else make their dreams come to life. He couldn’t give that junior a 4.0 GPA, but he gave him instructions, along with tools, to finally build a bright future. He blessed him with SAT strategies, a few more extracurriculars like Speech and Debate, and an amazing AVID teacher. The freshman could beat the sophomore without breaking a sweat. But the junior barely got a scratch from that freshman. When the freshman attempted to punch him in the gut, he would grab his fist like a Jiu-Jitsu master, then, countering his attack, saying, “This one’s for what you did to the sophomore!” From that moment on, the junior would later on reinforce a senior named Arlo Hayes. The junior would supply the senior with even more tools than the sophomore supplied him, such as another successful college preparatory club and a pre-made portfolio with everything that the senior needs to know about college. With everything that this senior had gained from his sophomore and junior years, knowing that the freshman was gone and had a clear path towards a bright future, he now explores all open roads, rails, interstates, airports, and sea routes towards another freshman named Arlo Hayes. The senior had seen the harsh consequences that a young freshman once faced for being uneducated, and therefore would do anything to ensure the next freshman doesn’t face it again. Even if the tools aren’t enough for this next freshman’s path, he will always remember how the ones before him got there, even with an unruly freshman biting their ankles. This upcoming freshman would know how to handle curveballs, no matter how many are thrown at him.

14 years ago, my mom and dad got a divorce and moved to a condo. My dad would always pick my brother and me up and take us to his place during the weekend to balance our connections with both sides of the family. On a good day, it would take only a half-hour to get to his condo. But with Friday's rush-hour traffic, it often took more than an hour to make the trek. 8 years ago, my dad got in a car crash on Barnes Road. Two reckless drivers wanted to race, and Dad did what all driver educations tell you to do: avoid reckless driving. In attempts to move out of the way, one of the cars hit Dad off-road into a ditch. He faced pain all over his body and had to live immobile for nearly a year. 7 years ago, my dad moved to a triplex in a sketchy neighborhood. It was an upgrade from the condo, especially since it was only 10-15 minutes away from mom's home. I could finally see Dad more regularly. 5 years ago, my dad received compensation from the car crash and decided to move into a full-blown house. My dad put his triplex up for rent, but the new house wasn't quite ready for moving in yet. Dad had to live homeless for almost a year. Fortunately, in the same neighborhood as the new home was his old high school friend, who had an extra bed for him. When the time came, his friend helped him move into his new home on a summer day with triple-digit temperatures outside. 3 years ago, my dad had surgery on his ankle that prevented him from running for nearly a year. My dad's favorite way of staying healthy was to pack up on miles in long runs. But when his ankle faced problems and needed surgery, it seemed that it was over for him, especially since he was approaching the ripe age of 50. But with being locked into physical therapy, he was finally back to running three miles a day and would later increase that mileage. If there's one thing I have observed from my dad, it's that he's been resilient for the past 14 years. No matter what had been thrown into his way, he always managed to find a way around it. With high school coming to an end and adult life starting in only a few months, I'm feeling the nerves of the idea of turning off autopilot and taking control on my own. But whenever I feel those nerves, I think about my dad. If he's able to navigate whatever is thrown in his way, there's no reason why I couldn't as well. With that in the back of my mind, I've never felt more confident saying that I'm ready for the world to throw its wrath at me. I'm ready to fight against it. It threw all its wrath at my dad. I want revenge on it. I will prove those obstacles wrong.

For most people, therapy typically occurs in a small, office-like space with the assistance of another person. For me, therapy happens over a stovetop, with frying pans, cast-iron skillets, Dutch ovens, a set of knives, and a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one else present. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurricular activities, and has helped me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. However, as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew increasingly slim. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all just to keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from: putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations, which makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan for my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become a reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

For most people, therapy typically occurs in a small, office-like space with the assistance of another person. For me, therapy happens over a stovetop, with frying pans, cast-iron skillets, Dutch ovens, a set of knives, and a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one else present. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurricular activities, and has helped me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. However, as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew increasingly slim. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all just to keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from: putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations, which makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan for my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become a reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

For most people, therapy typically occurs in a small, office-like space with the assistance of another person. For me, therapy happens over a stovetop, with frying pans, cast-iron skillets, Dutch ovens, a set of knives, and a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one else present. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurricular activities, while also helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. However, as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew increasingly slim. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from: putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations, which makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan for my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become a reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

I spent the first nine years of my educational journey attending a very small institution. In elementary school, each grade was divided between two teachers, each having an average student-to-faculty ratio as in any other school. The only special activities we did were 30 minutes of 'enrichment' along with a required music class. Middle school only brought that up to four teachers, but nothing else changed. No sports, no clubs, no. It felt like a prison, where the wardens were just trying to get the time over with so they could release their inmates without teaching them any sort of lesson. After those nine years, I spent my next four years in a public school with the fourth-largest student population in Oregon. Most would view this as a cell transfer, but for me, it felt like a job promotion. I got the opportunity to try new things, including trying out for the football team and joining the band after taking a 2-year break from playing saxophone. But the academic and extracurricular opportunity was just a taste of the upgrade I got. The biggest difference I noticed was the diverse backgrounds of all of the students. Back in middle school, the majority of my school was white. Now, I was being exposed to groups that I thought I would never find in my city. I also noticed a lot of students who were up to no good. But those were the same students who were abused at home, or who don't even have a home. I'd find students who always have poor hygiene. It's not their fault that they can't afford that kind of stuff. The biggest lesson I got from this experience was to have compassion for EVERYONE, regardless of who they were. My future dream is to open a fine-dining personal chef business that creates personalized meals for every customer. I believe growing up in this diverse community has prepared me very well for this goal, because in the hospitality industry, you must provide the deepest of care to every customer you have, even if internally they're someone that has characteristics about them that you don't like. I've learned that everyone has a story that differs from their cover, and often it isn't entirely their fault that they're the way they are. It's often an effect of how they were raised. And with that, they have every right to deserve my finest hospitality.

For most people, therapy typically occurs in a small, office-like space with the assistance of another person. For me, therapy happens over a stovetop, with frying pans, cast-iron skillets, Dutch ovens, a set of knives, and a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one other than me. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurricular activities, while also helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. But as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew slimmer and slimmer. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from: putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations, which makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan for my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become a reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

14 years ago, my mom and dad got a divorce and moved to a condo. My dad would always pick my brother and me up and take us to his place during the weekend to balance our connections with both sides of the family. On a good day, it would take only a half-hour to get to his condo. But with Friday's rush-hour traffic, it often took more than an hour to make the trek. 8 years ago, my dad got in a car crash on Barnes Road. Two reckless drivers wanted to race, and Dad did what all driver educations tell you to do: avoid reckless driving. In attempts to move out of the way, one of the cars hit Dad off-road into a ditch. He faced pain all over his body and had to live immobile for nearly a year. 7 years ago, my dad moved to a triplex in a sketchy neighborhood. It was an upgrade from the condo, especially since it was only 10-15 minutes away from mom's home. I could finally see Dad more regularly. 5 years ago, my dad received compensation from the car crash and decided to move into a full-blown house. My dad put his triplex up for rent, but the new house wasn't quite ready for moving in yet. Dad had to live homeless for almost a year. Fortunately, in the same neighborhood as the new home was his old high school friend, who had an extra bed for him. When the time came, his friend helped him move into his new home on a summer day with triple-digit temperatures outside. 3 years ago, my dad had surgery on his ankle that prevented him from running for nearly a year. My dad's favorite way of staying healthy was to pack up on miles in long runs. But when his ankle faced problems and needed surgery, it seemed that it was over for him, especially since he was approaching the ripe age of 50. But with being locked into physical therapy, he was finally back to running three miles a day and would later increase that mileage. If there's one thing I have observed from my dad, it's that he's been resilient for the past 14 years. No matter what had been thrown into his way, he always managed to find a way around it. With high school coming to an end and adult life starting in only a few months, I'm feeling the nerves of the idea of turning off autopilot and taking control on my own. But whenever I feel those nerves, I think about my dad. If he's able to navigate whatever is thrown in his way, there's no reason why I couldn't as well. With that in the back of my mind, I've never felt more confident saying that I'm ready for the world to throw its wrath at me. I'm ready to fight against it. It threw all its wrath at my dad. I want revenge on it. I will prove those obstacles wrong.

Sourdough bread is much more sought after than typical bread due to that iconic fermented taste, along with that satisfying tender crumb being shielded by that crackly crust. It's as healthy as it is delicious, offering prebiotics for your gut, and it digests more easily than other breads. But all of these benefits come with a harsh caveat: it costs twice as much as all other bread. At first, I accepted that I should resort to that boring instant yeast bread until I discovered something I could make with just two ingredients: a sourdough starter. It's made with just a cup of flour and a half-cup of water, and you feed it a tablespoon of flour and water daily for it to activate. And to make a loaf, all you need is flour, water, sourdough starter, and a little salt. When the starters get big enough, I split them into multiple starters, allowing me to match my demand much more easily. With this discovery, I had unlimited access to sourdough bread at a much lower cost. Having my own sourdough starter let me add unique ingredients to the bread to make personalized loaves that you can't find in stores. This can range from an Italian-seasoned loaf, a savory garlic and cheese loaf, and even a Dr. Pepper-infused loaf. I could make unique loaves personalized for all of my peers that matched their needs. This sourdough starter was the key inspiration for my plan. My future business dream is to open a fine-dining restaurant, but my niche is to put that restaurant on wheels. The plan is to set it up like one of London's double-decker buses, with the kitchen on the bottom and the diner on top. The bus will be able to drive out to various locations and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People will be served personalized meal courses by making a reservation and answering questions to give the staff an idea of who they're working with, just like how I could add personal touches to my sourdough loaves to satisfy everyone who wanted their own loaf. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations, which makes access even easier and more efficient. Just like the sourdough starter, when you feed it more flour, it expands to the point where you can split it into multiple starters. Unfortunately, this plan calls for extensive amounts of money. And to actually ensure success in the business aspect, I must attend business school to form the dream into reality, which also calls for extensive amounts of money. If I end up burning all of my savings in college, you'll never be able to experience such a personalized fine-dining experience. Just like the sourdough starter, theoretically, if I can't afford flour, I can't create these personalized loaves for the people I care about. When I'm awarded this scholarship, I will hold my promise until my last breath to ensure that this money doesn't go to waste.

With being in a long state of burnout, I once again found myself ending another night with a movie. My dad suggested the movie titled "Office Space." I was too uninspired to care what was put on and to pay attention to, so I just agreed to watch it. In the very first scene of the movie, I somehow already feel connected with the main character, Peter Gibbons. He was stuck in what felt like endless traffic congestion, dealing with the frustration of waiting. He wasn't stressed, but he wasn't calm. He was just...numb. Eventually, he shows up to work, and I'm feeling even more connected to him now. He sits behind his computer in his little office cubicle and is being painfully distracted from the ever-so-slightest distractions, such as a receptionist in the distance repeating the same line over and over again like a robot. His boss comes over to check in on him, and he's still just...numb. After his shift, he goes home to do exactly what I did right before this movie started: turn on the television out of burnout. He plops onto the couch as if he had just completed a triathlon, when all he's done all day was sit behind a computer in a tight cubicle. He drifts through the evening without acknowledging anything happening on the television. At this point in the movie, I was going through the same situation as him. We were both unacknowledging what was going on, and yet we were connected. Peter's girlfriend, Anne, has noticed how numb Peter has been from work and suggested hypnotherapy. He shows up to his appointment, and Doctor Swanson, the hypnotherapist, tells him to feel relaxed and to stop caring about work until he snaps his fingers. Unfortunately, Doctor Swanson died of a heart-attack shortly after, which led to Peter never being able to snap out of the state he was put in by him. However, this ends up being fortunate for Peter. He wakes up the next morning to his alarm, but just silences it. He stays in bed until noon, when he should have been at work. He begins receiving phone calls, but he just lets them go to voicemail. People would notice this behavior and assume that Peter is more depressed than ever. He shows up to work later in the afternoon with a big smile on his face, careless about showing up many hours past when he should've clocked in. His boss tries to lecture him about it, but he completely disacknowledges it. At that very moment, the numbness that brought me to this movie in the first place had disappeared. I realized how much I had been drifting through my own life and accepting that it was the only life I had. Suddenly, I was surging with the urge to revolt against my own life. From that day on, I've treated every single day as an opportunity to do something amazing. I began planning what I want to do in my future, desperate not to fall into the same trap as Peter Gibbons did. I discovered that I really like to cook and settled on the idea of opening a fine-dining restaurant as a career. I've already been making a step-by-step plan on how I'm going to turn this dream into reality. What was once a dream about what life could be became a reality of what life was going to be. From that moment on, I was no longer accepting. I was rebelling.

To be a successful business in America, you must be ambitious. That's the unfortunate truth that the American world of business lives in. The "American Way" is driven by the idea that you must work hard to earn your spot in this country. And if you don't, you aren't worth helping, and you must fall onto your knees and bow down while you watch the rich rise to the top. The biggest example of this is found in the world of large restaurant chains. Take Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen, for example. They are known for their crispy fried chicken and are loved by many. However, this isn't because Popeye's is simply superior. When selling their product, they only sell the best pieces they have in their kitchen in order to achieve customer satisfaction. But what do they do with the ingredients that aren't of good quality? They throw it out. According to the Food and Drug Administration, 30%-40% of food in the United States is wasted. The US is a first-world country and is held to the high standard that it should have everything it needs to help others who are suffering. The truth is: we have all the food we need in order to feed this country, along with many others that face starvation. But the problem is: we waste almost half of that food. And this isn't just starving people that are facing this problem. Food waste emits methane, which is 28-34 times more potent than carbon dioxide, according to a study from Bard College. This means that food waste doesn't just impact those who face starvation. It impacts the entire globe. My business plan is to open a fine-dining restaurant, but I will make it different than others by putting it on wheels. Think of it like one of London's double-decker tour buses, where the kitchen is the first floor, and the diner is the second. By putting the restaurant on wheels, it can adapt to customer reservations based on location, and won't require everyone to drive out to one specific location, causing many emissions from cars. This bus will be electric-powered, as recent tour bus and coach businesses have been incorporating this into their product. As stated before, this restaurant will have a way to make reservations on a website. This website will ask questions to get to know the customer, and then the staff will prepare a surprise gourmet three-course meal personalized just for them. With this, the staff can plan by purchasing all the ingredients they know they will need for that meal. This way, the restaurant won't end up falling short or having excess ingredients. If they can't finish, the leftover food can be put towards feeding animals of local farms, or be composted to help grow crops for local farms. This doesn't just benefit the business; it benefits smaller businesses that supply the restaurant. This business, like many other successful businesses, will provide its best service and products to customers, but will outrank all those other businesses by giving back to others through fueling local farms and fixing the bubble we live under to ensure we all live our fullest lives.

During junior year, while forecasting for senior classes, I signed up for "Senior Inquiry." This class covers your government/economy credit, language arts credit, and offers 15 Portland State transferable college credits. The class required an application. Since it was a dual-enrollment class covering two subjects and requiring an application, I expected the teacher to overload us with information, not caring about what they actually had to teach. The class was the complete opposite. Instead, the teacher was against the traditional "banking system" of depositing information into you until you overflowed. He saw his classroom through the eyes of the students. He set up his curriculum with assignments that actually taught me something I was interested in. He taught us how to be independent after high school and think for ourselves. There was one day in the class when we were given independent work time, and I overheard him asking about a table of students' future plans. One of them said that they wanted to be a pharmacist. When he asked why, the student replied that it was due to the money. This is when the teacher started illustrating the harsh world we live in. Many successful corporation owners have gained so much wealth for themselves from their products. A major example is Phil Knight with Nike. However, what we don't see is the harsh journey towards that business success. Knight stole Chinese workers from their lives to work in a factory for a very low wage. These workers began facing a crisis and attempted suicide by jumping out of the windows of the skyscraping factories. But rather than Knight offering support for these poor workers, he constructed a net to catch these workers and keep them in their miserable lives of working. And because of that, Knight became a multi-millionaire. But this isn't just Nike that used corrupt tactics to gain its wealth. Take many of the fast-food chains. They became successful because their food is designed to be addictive by packing their products with chemicals, saturated fats, trans fats, and added sugars. This makes the food too satisfying to where customers constantly want more and more of it. This leads to the corporations becoming wealthy, while customers are being hospitalized and dying from heart problems, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and much more. This teacher made me deeply think about my future career and consider one major consideration. I was planning on joining the world of business, especially in hopes of gaining lots of wealth. That part of my future hasn't changed one bit. I want to gain as much wealth as possible, but I don't need to keep it. I'm used to living in the middle class. All excess wealth I get, I plan to put towards business improvements, quality of life for the employees, and for many world problems like affordable housing, healthcare, scholarships, and so much more. I don't need the nicest car in the world. I just need a car. I don't need the biggest house possible. I just need a roof over my head. There are still far too many people in the world who can't even get these. Holding on to excess wealth to make these necessities look fancier, might as well call yourself a murderer, as you watch the poor's lives slowly fade away. No matter our wealth, we each have only one life. Competing to have more than others has no true purpose if we'll all be gone eventually.

For most people, therapy happens in a small office-like space with the help of another person. For me, therapy happens from a gasoline stovetop, frying pans, cast irons, dutch ovens, a set of knives, a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one other than me. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurriculars, along with helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. But as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew slimmer and slimmer. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each individual customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real-estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from; putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up in order to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations that makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan on my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

For most people, therapy happens in a small office-like space with the help of another person. For me, therapy happens from a gasoline stovetop, frying pans, cast irons, dutch ovens, a set of knives, a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one other than me. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurriculars, along with helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. But as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew slimmer and slimmer. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each individual customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real-estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from; putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up in order to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations that makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan on my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life by gaining the proper education to do so. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become reality. Without this idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

For most people, therapy happens in a small office-like space with the help of another person. For me, therapy happens from a gasoline stovetop, frying pans, cast irons, dutch ovens, a set of knives, a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one other than me. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurriculars, along with helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. But as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew slimmer and slimmer. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each individual customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real-estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from; putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up in order to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations that makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan on my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

It was in late November of 2020 when my mom drove 5 hours to and from Eastern Oregon to bring home a new family friend that would later on transform me into someone I thought I could never become. His name is Ziggy. He is a purebred longhair miniature dachshund. He wasn't even close to a year old when he rode in my mom's minivan across Interstate 84 westbound back home. Those two built quite a deep connection during that drive. In the early days of owning this furry friend, my mom and her boyfriend had to work all day. I was only in the 7th grade, still used to being the one taken care of rather than taking care of others. I was just as shy as Ziggy was when he first met me. It only took two weeks for little Ziggy to become BIG Ziggy, when my dad--who lived in a separate household from my mom--decided he wanted some extra companionship in his house. That's when George Michael--a miniature Australian Shepherd--set foot into his little town home. Mom and her boyfriend were invited over to meet George, and Ziggy was too young to be left unattended. While George was a mini, he was still twice the size compared to Ziggy, but as shy as Ziggy was when we first obtained him. When Ziggy stood face to face with innocent little George Michael, the idea of another furry friend in the house got to him as a threat. He barked at and taunted quiet little George, along with gaining possession of all of George's brand-new toys. Even with Ziggy's itty-bitty build, he did not let that define his personality. That ferocious furry fella is the reason I made a specific decision roughly four years after that day: joining the school's speech and debate team. Speech and debate is about persuading an audience, defending your ground, explaining why you're right, educate others about something, and even acting a dramatic scene to raise awareness on a subject. Ziggy always holds his ground against all other dogs, even when they're three times his size. Ziggy always speaks up to strangers that cross our fence in order to defend his side. Ziggy always puts on a dramatic scene whenever in social gatherings and catches the rooms attention. If Ziggy lived a past life as a human, that human must have qualified for Nationals. Those 2,000 dollars certainly paid off four years from when we first got him. I like to think that he is the reason I placed second in the Mount Hood Conference Championship in parliamentary debate, earning me a qualification to the OSAA State Competition. To shape it in a different perspective, this dachshund is the true reason why I want to pursue higher education. I want to open a restaurant but make it different than others by putting it on wheels. And I'm not just talking about a typical food truck. This contraption will come with a complete kitchen, along with a fine-dining environment for the most exquisite hospitality. Think of it like one of London's double-decker tour buses, where the kitchen is the first floor and the diner is the second. Obviously, this comes with many issues and concerns from the public. But Ziggy taught me well. No matter how small they make me feel, I'm going to fight for my life to defend my ground and make this seemingly impossible idea into reality.

As a distance runner, sourdough bread is a necessity for getting my carb-intake Sourdough bread is much more sought after than typical bread due to that iconic fermented taste, along with that satisfying tender crumb being shielded by that crackly crust. It's even as healthy as it is delicious, offering prebiotics for your gut, and digests easier than other bread. Every time I sandwich some meat and cheese between two slices of sourdough, I always feel like I can run my best race I've ever ran. With all of this benefit comes a harsh cache: it costs twice as much more than all other bread. With the demand for deliciousness, along with the time and labor behind it, bakers who sell this deserve a great reward. That high demand combined with long labor-intensive process behind these magical loaves also results in them being difficult to find. At first I accepted that I should resort to that boring instant yeast bread until I discovered something I could make with just two ingredients: a sourdough starter. It's made with just a cup of flour and a half-cup of water, and you feed it a tablespoon of flour and water daily for it to activate. And to make a loaf, all you need is flour, water, sourdough starter, and a little salt. When the starters get big enough, I split them into multiple starters, allowing to match my demand much easier. With this discovery, I had unlimited access to sourdough bread at a much lower cost. The biggest advantage about making my own sourdough was that I could add unique ingredients to the bread to make personalized loaves that you can't find in stores. This can range from an Italian-seasoned loaf, a savory garlic and cheese loaf, and even a Dr. Pepper infused loaf. I could make unique loaves personalized for all of my peers that matched with their needs. This sourdough starter was the key inspiration to my future plan. My future business dream is to open a fine-dining restaurant, but my niche is to put that restaurant on wheels. The plan is to set it up like one of London's double decker buses, with the kitchen on the bottom and the diner on top. The bus will be able to drive out to various locations and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People will be served personalized meal courses by making a reservation and answering questions to give the staff an idea of who they're working with, just like how I could add personal touches to my sourdough loaves to satisfy everyone who wanted their own loaf. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations that makes access even easier and more efficient. Just like the sourdough starter; when you feed it more flour, it expands to where you can split it into multiple starters. Unfortunately, this plan calls for extensive amounts of money. And to actually ensure success in the business aspect, I must attend business school to form the dream into reality, which also calls for extensive amounts of money. If I end up burning all of my savings in college, you'll never be able to experience such a personalized fine-dining experience. Just like the sourdough starter; theoretically if I can't afford flour, I can't create these personalized loaves for the people I care about. When I'm awarded this scholarship, I will hold my promise until my last breath to ensure that this money doesn't go to waste.

I can't stabilize my mental health if I can't pay for my therapy. For most people, therapy happens in a small office-like space with the help of another person. For me, therapy happens from a gasoline stovetop, frying pans, cast irons, dutch ovens, a set of knives, a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one other than me. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurriculars, along with helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. But as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew slimmer and slimmer. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each individual customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real-estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from; putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up in order to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations that makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan on my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

For most people, therapy happens in a small office-like space with the help of another person. For me, therapy happens from a gasoline stovetop, frying pans, cast irons, dutch ovens, a set of knives, a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one other than me. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurriculars, along with helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. But as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew slimmer and slimmer. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each individual customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real-estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from; putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up in order to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations that makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan on my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.

For most people, therapy happens in a small office-like space with the help of another person. For me, therapy happens from a gasoline stovetop, frying pans, cast irons, dutch ovens, a set of knives, a cutting board loaded with groceries, all in a room with no one other than me. Cooking has carried me through the stress of juggling school and extracurriculars, along with helping me decompress after work in the summers between those seasons. But as time passed, my opportunity to cook grew slimmer and slimmer. Whenever school came around, I had to quit my job to lock in for it. I couldn’t make any money to spend on high-quality groceries to fuel the therapy. It would become a cycle, where all money earned from the summer would be nearly all used up before next summer, all to just keep my mental health stable. My future dream is to open a fine-dining hospitality-based business that creates personalized meal courses for each individual customer or party that makes a reservation. This type of dining requires buying the finest of ingredients, along with owning the finest of equipment to turn those ingredients into the finest of dishes. Not to mention that you also need enough money to pay rent every month for the finest of real-estate, and to pay the finest of staff. But this industry is crucial for introducing customers to new flavors they’ve never heard of, being taken great care of like they were just born again, and creating memories that live rent-free in their heads until the day they die. It also does a great favor for chefs, as they’ll never grow bored of their passion if they make unique dishes every time. Without this industry, everyone's lives would feel colorless. That’s where my niche for my future business comes from; putting a fine dining restaurant on wheels. It will be laid out like one of London’s double-decker tour buses, where the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the diner. The bus will be able to drive out to various cities and temporarily park in specific locations so it can provide excellent service to everyone while taking up minimal space. People can make reservations on the restaurant's app, and then the bus can create a schedule on where it must set up in order to allow the easiest access based on everyone’s needs. And the more money made, the more buses purchased, allowing for buses to park in multiple locations that makes access easy for all neighborhoods, cities, or counties. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have illustrated a clear plan on my future, and illustrated how crucial money is to bring this business to life. I've also illustrated why we as a society need this business and the great advantages it has over traditional sit-down fine-dining restaurants. If all of my savings are burnt off through college, this idea might never become reality. Without the idea, many of our lives will continue to feel colorless.