Each and everyday I work to serve and not to be served. I do a majority of this through my school. I am blessed enough to attend a school where there are so many possibilities and opportunities for me to serve others. One of the ways that I am able to do this is through the clubs and extracurriculars I am involved in. Starting off, I have been a member of Student Council here for three years. I have led committees as apart of Student Council that are deeply involved with service and the serving of others. I have led committees of school improvement, teacher appreciate week, homecoming, prom, and so much more. One of the big things that I led was Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. Within one week of receiving my committee, I worked and ensured that each teacher and staff member at our school felt appreciated. I made door decorations, bought candies and flowers, wrote notes, provided breakfast throughout the week, and did all that I could to make sure these teachers and staff know how important they are. I am grateful for the many opportunities to serve that I have had through Student Council and hope I can do much more before I graduate. Another way I serve my school is through my time as apart of National Honors Society. I was inducted into NHS during my junior year, and went to work as soon as I could. Not only did I work every event that I could as a part of NHS, I also served during event that we held. One thing our National Honors Society prides ourselves on is our Veterans Day assembly. Every year, we invite hundreds of veterans to come to our school, enjoy community time together, eat breakfast, they get escorted into our gymnasium while their names, branch, and times served gets announced, and essentially, we spend the entirety of the day honoring the veterans. I had the honor of being apart of the helping with this. I was able to escort veterans, make a video of our students PreK-12th grade honoring the veterans, and really showing them the gratitude they deserve. I am grateful for this opportunity I was able to be apart of. For my Junior and Senior year, I also had the opportunity to serve as a volleyball manager. Doing this was not my favorite but I did enjoy being able to alleviate some of the stress that the coaches hold. It took me signing up to be a manger that shows how much effort my coach puts into the program, and so I hope that I was able to provide her with a smoother season by taking some things off of her plate. I understand how nice it was for her to ask me once to possibly do something, and to have it done without a second thought. I hope I was able to provide with easier season. Through my time in High School, I have really felt convicted to give back to my school because I have loved my time here. I work so other students can appreciate the school as much as I have had and not see it as a place they are being forced to go to everyday. I have been a volunteer at every event, I have been a tour guide, an usher, and so much more. I am thankful for the opportunities set before me and could not have asked for a better high school. I just hope students that come after me can love it the same way I did.

Empowerment is something that is important to me because I believe in helping others achieve whatever it is they want to achieve. I learned about empowerment through my sister. My sister, Elise, is the woman that has empowered me the most. She is older than me by 13 years, and I have grown so much because she has taught me so much. My sister is currently running a business in a male-dominated industry and has helped me as I walk into a male-dominated industry. She has overcome so much in her career and has had to show herself and what she can do to so many people. Through her, I learned about women empowerment. She taught me everything that I know and I am so grateful for her. As I walk into a male-dominated industry I have already been warned about what it is I am to face. Every time someone decides to say anything about who I am, or who they think I am, I remind them that this is my calling in my life and I have already decided. Empowerment to me, has been something that has sort of kept me going throughout this career decision. I was discussing my career choices with one of my teachers, who went into the same thing and experienced similar things, and she empowered me. She talked me through this career choice and reminded me I was called to it for a reason. She encouraged me to continue to be strong as I go into this and she has encouraged me to help others through it. Through this career of mine, I believe I am going to be empowered to empower others. For as long as I can remember my sister has taught me how important it is to empower other women because we are all strong and we all need to support one another. To this day, I hold that to be true and try to live that out in my everyday life, living in support and love for others. Through various leadership opportunities at my high school, I have felt empowerment and what it means. I have been the leader of various student groups, student government, and sports teams. Through this I have used the opportunity to build others up and empower others. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had and intend to continue to grow in my leadership abilities throughout college and as I pursue higher education. In my career, I want to make a change, and I know living college, most likely as one of the only females, is going to encourage me, and empower me to make a change, and to be the change in the world. After receiving my college degree, I intend to go into education and to teach youth/ high school students. Through this I can outpour into the next generation and show them love. I want to empower them so that way when they grow up, they can empower the generation after them. These are my hopes, and I pray that I can show others love and encouragement through it, and truly be the change.

I want to pursue a career in teaching because I have personally been impacted by caring and loving teachers, who have taken their time to help me grow, now I want to do the same for all of the students I encounter. Throughout my years in High School, I have been impacted by teachers who are intentional and seek to help me grow. Some teachers I have asked me what I wanted to do after High School, and I explained to them that I want to helo students. They took what I said and are giving me so many opportunities to grow in my skill set. One teacher in particular that has helped me is Dr. Miller. Since I met him, he took me under his wing and is teaching me to be a teacher. He has pushed me, helped me, and has always supported me. Currently, Dr. Miller has joined in with a couple other teachers who have also impacted me and they are building a program called Teacher Training Academy, where essentially, as apart of TTA what I am doing is weekly work that show what being a teacher is all about, and I even get to teach some of the classes. I was doing TTA before Dr. Miller stepped in and learned about it. Two other of my teachers, Mr. Geisen and Mrs. Mindlin, were building this program and asked me if I wanted to try it out. I gave it a chance, and I am so happy I did. This semester, Dr. Miller learned all about TTA and has pouring in the time and energy to be my teacher mentor. I knew that this would be a big ask of him since he already is a busy person, but he did it without a second thought, even though he knew it would mean more meetings, more grading, and more time overall. I didn’t think he would do it, but I was wrong and looking back I shouldn’t have doubted. Outside of TTA, Dr. Miller has always been there for me. He is the type of teacher where I can talk to him about anything and he would listen and give me his best advice. There are days when I would walk into his office and talk about topics that I’d never thought I would be talking to a teacher about, but he listens, and he is always there for me. He exceeds his job title and he is the type of teacher I want to be like one day. He has truly impacted me and I am very blessed to call him my teacher. Having such intentional teachers as really put things in perspective for me. Leaving middle school and going to a new high school I never thought graduating would be so hard, but these teachers have actually made school super enjoyable for me. They make the environment a place where I want to be, and I want every student I teach to feel the same way. Not only do I want to be a teacher to teach students about a certain topic, but I want to make school a safe space where they can come and enjoy the space they are in. High school can be a very stressful time for some students, so my hope is to alleviate some of that and help in every way I can. I am so grateful for the teachers I have had that make me want to come to school everyday, and these are the teachers that are going to make it so incredibly hard to graduate.

My name is Audrey Mills, and I intend to pursue a Masters of Divinity after receiving a Bachelors in Biblical Studies. Throughout my time at a christian high school, I have had the opportunity to grow in this field and have come to understand that this is the work my hands have found to do. I have found that it is my calling to teach high school students about Biblical Studies, and my pursuit of higher education is going to better equip me to fulfill the duties needed for high school students. I lead my life as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and implementing this into high schools is something I see is important because these have been formative years for me, and I believe these years can be highly formative for multitudes of other teenagers. God has put it on my heart to answer this call and be the change for future generations of teenagers just as my teachers have been such an impact for me. Throughout my time in high school, so many of my teachers have been inspirations in my life and have helped me grow not only in the classroom, but outside of it as well. Through being as intentional as they are, I want to do what they do and help students who need help and show them the love of Jesus Christ. Pursuing a Masters of Divinity was an easy decision when I learned it who help me disciple students and give them the best education I can offer. I know my Masters of Divinity would go to immediate effect in the classroom and can help so many students. I want nothing more but to help these students out and to be to them as my teachers were to me. I have met people including some of my teachers, who have earned a Masters of Divinity, and they expressed how useful it is, not only in the classroom but in practical ministry as well. I intend to use this to help students and disciple to them so they can disciple to others, my ultimate goal being to expand the Kingdom of Heaven. I believe helping young students is my true passion. Not only do I see it everyday when I interact with my peers, I see it when I student-teach, and I see the passion my teachers have. I want to make an impact on students lives and truly teach them about the Gospel, which is the most importan truth there is. My prayer is that I can go into college and learn to help people in every way that I can.

I want to pursue a career in teaching because I have personally been impacted by caring and loving teachers, who have taken their time to help me grow, now I want to do the same for all of the students I encounter. Throughout my years in High School, I have been impacted by teachers who are intentional and seek to help me grow. Some teachers I have asked me what I wanted to do after High School, and I explained to them that I want to helo students. They took what I said and are giving me so many opportunities to grow in my skill set. One teacher in particular that has helped me is Dr. Miller. Since I met him, he took me under his wing and is teaching me to be a teacher. He has pushed me, helped me, and has always supported me. Currently, Dr. Miller has joined in with a couple other teachers who have also impacted me and they are building a program called Teacher Training Academy, where essentially, as apart of TTA what I am doing is weekly work that show what being a teacher is all about, and I even get to teach some of the classes. I was doing TTA before Dr. Miller stepped in and learned about it. Two other of my teachers, Mr. Geisen and Mrs. Mindlin, were building this program and asked me if I wanted to try it out. I gave it a chance, and I am so happy I did. This semester, Dr. Miller learned all about TTA and has pouring in the time and energy to be my teacher mentor. I knew that this would be a big ask of him since he already is a busy person, but he did it without a second thought, even though he knew it would mean more meetings, more grading, and more time overall. I didn’t think he would do it, but I was wrong and looking back I shouldn’t have doubted. Outside of TTA, Dr. Miller has always been there for me. He is the type of teacher where I can talk to him about anything and he would listen and give me his best advice. There are days when I would walk into his office and talk about topics that I’d never thought I would be talking to a teacher about, but he listens, and he is always there for me. He exceeds his job title and he is the type of teacher I want to be like one day. He has truly impacted me and I am very blessed to call him my teacher. Having such intentional teachers as really put things in perspective for me. Leaving middle school and going to a new high school I never thought graduating would be so hard, but these teachers have actually made school super enjoyable for me. They make the environment a place where I want to be, and I want every student I teach to feel the same way. Not only do I want to be a teacher to teach students about a certain topic, but I want to make school a safe space where they can come and enjoy the space they are in. High school can be a very stressful time for some students, so my hope is to alleviate some of that and help in every way I can. I am so grateful for the teachers I have had that make me want to come to school everyday, and these are the teachers that are going to make it so incredibly hard to graduate.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, my goal is always to expand the kingdom of Heaven. I have strengths in leadership, and have had many leadership experiences throughout high school. I am currently apart of Student Council, I am a varsity cheer captain, I help lead my schools chapel services, and serve my school when any opportunities present themselves. I intend to go to college to study Biblical Studies, and eventually have hopes to earn my Masters of Divinity. With these degrees I want to teach students, preferably high school students, about scripture and help interpret it to them at a younger age so they can go out into the world and advance the kingdom. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to go into Biblical Studies because of my high school Bible teachers. My teacher have been and still are there for me every single day. They have inspired me to advance the kingdom and build students who have a passion for scripture. They have done so much for me and I could not have been more blessed with teachers. They have all impacted my life in so many different ways and it is my goal to impact some of my students the way they have impacted me. I want to show the love of Christ to my students and show them that someone loves them and make them feel loved. Throughout my time in high school, I have grown so much and I want nothing more then for future students to feel the same way I do. I used to not like school, but now, I like it so much I want to come back and teach it. These have certainly been formative years but, I am ultimately a better person because of it. I want to advanced the kingdom and help students interpret scripture in a way that gives them a passion and makes them excited to open a Bible because that is what my teachers have given me, and I want to pass this knowledge on to future generations. I do my best to incorporate scripture anywhere I go. This cheer season, I have led more team devotional, have been making prayer a priority, and encourage my girls to build each other up and to open their Bible’s to find answers and true peace. Working with a team of all girls 6 days a week can be difficult, but once I started to implement more of the Gospel, more of my girls are driven to step up and lead, and I couldn’t be more proud. I have seen them grow so much and have seen the power of the Gospel move. Since seeing the power that the Gospel has to change hearts, I now want to bring that to more places and see more hearts change. I am so grateful for everything Jesus has done for me and how he has moved in my life.

I recently had to opportunity to student teach in some of my classes. I expressed my interest in being a teacher to a couple of my teachers and they worked and helped me so I could learn what they do. I had to opportunity to stand up in front of my peers and teach them a lesson. I enjoyed it so much, I continued to teach any chance I was given. I was able to help teach one of our courses here called Spiritual Disciplines. As a senior, I taught other seniors. It was intimidating but with the help of my wonderful teachers I taught a lesson. I continued to work with my teachers and now I’m teaching a class of all Freshman, being the Senior I wish I had when I was a Freshman. I am now working on lesson plans and teaching students through the Old Testament. Truly, I could not do this without my teachers who have been there for me every step of the way. Through their love and support, they are shaping me to be the teacher I want to be one day, and they are the inspiration for me when I have my very own classroom one day. As I go into Biblical Studies, I had thoughts about pastorship, however, when looking at my Biblical Studies teachers, I saw how they got to teach us all about the Bible on a daily basis. My Bible teachers have pushed me and been such an inspiration to me. Seeing how much they influence our students here made me want to do what they do. I cannot wait to help students and be as influential to them as my teachers have been to me. I see teaching as a gift, and gives me the possibility to advance the kingdom and better the world that we live in by shaping young minds. Teaching is more than just a lesson plan. I believe teaching is the opportunity to form minds into critical thinkers who want the best for the world that we live in. I truly believe teachers make such a difference and I would love to be one of those influential teachers to help my students. I believe education is where I am called to be. I chose this path so I can teach students on a daily basis and help them live their best lives and honoring them in every way. I believe there is so much potential in a high school classroom and I want to expand on that as much as I can.