Before, I was living paycheck to paycheck as a server. I always felt depressed because I knew I wasn't getting what I wanted out of life. When the pandemic hit, I had time off to reflect on my goals. Even though I was worried about my family, especially my brother who is a nurse in Detroit) this time off was essential for me. I got the best rest I'd had in years. I started taking online music classes. I saved up some unemployment money to buy a tenor saxophone, an instrument I studied for seven years but had never owned. I read and reread books. I FaceTimed my family and connected with old friends over the phone. I had long deep conversations that before the pandemic I thought I didn't have time for. I learned how to cook many meals for cheap. After all of this enrichment, I discovered an essential key to happiness. I was able to find the confidence to apply to school after years of not going, and I am so glad that I did. Over the pandemic, I grew and thrived because, alone in my apartment, it was all there was left for me to do.

Through reading and absorbing various forms of art, I've learned the tremendous impact creative works can have on a person's life. It started for me early, with picture books that were so colorful that they filled me with wonder and fueled my imagination. I would hide them under my pillow at night. By the time I was in first grade, I wanted to read everything. It was an addiction, and I don't believe I've forgotten a single book that I've read, even as a child because of the massive impact they had on my imagination and thought process. I began to write, influenced by books I'd read, and movies that I'd seen. I'd write about the characters I read and watched. Then, as I got older, I started reading works that left an impression on my views of the world, and that increased my drive and desire for global peace and social justice. I, and so many others, had an early understanding of these ideas due to watching the Twin Towers fall on live television, the memories of newspapers with "WAR!" on half the front etched in our minds. However, I think the importance of these ideas in my youth was cemented by what I read. "She Said Yes," passed hand after hand in fifth grade, and I began to learn about the effects of violence and easy access to weapons. A couple of years later, I read "Chocolate War" and learned about corrupt systems and exploitation. "Maus" made me cry and taught me that there are many creative ways to tell a story, and utilizing them can help reach a broader audience. I felt closer to my parents and their struggles when I read "Persepolis." I loved "The Book Thief" so much that I read it five times. "The Lord of the Flies" shocked me. "Alas, Babylon," read my freshman year in high school terrified me so badly I had nightmares for months, imagining the mushroom clouds in the sky, and the end of civilization. It deeply amplified the urgency in which I longed for the world to be at peace with itself. Indeed, reading is a wonderful way for young minds to connect on a deeper level to moments in history and political issues that they've learned about through school, and introduce their ideas and give them the free reigns to develop their own ideas based on what they've read. When I think of deeply influential works, I immediately think of "The Jungle," by Upton Sinclair. It sparked a whole movement! It addressed poor working conditions for immigrants in Chicago, was the sole driving force behind the 1906 Food and Drugs Act and challenged large corporations. I personally strive to write something that will have an effect on readers the way what I've read has had an effect on me, to remind people of the importance of love, and that during the most conflict-ridden times, humankind should always strive for peace. I want to make candid observations about the world that will make readers want to change it. But, I also want to make people laugh. I want people to feel empowered by what they read, to be reminded that they aren't alone in their experiences. It's not an easy goal, but after all of the joy reading other works has brought me, it's a goal worth reaching for.