Growing up, I always thought my family was wealthy. It wasn't until my parents split up and I began looking at colleges that I realized how much my mother struggled to make ends meed for my brother and I. As much as my family and I don't want to, it is inevitable that I will be loaded with student loan debt upon my graduation. I want to avoid that burden on my parents shoulders as much as possible, and scholarships are the only way that an eighteen year old can. As a woman, I need to further my education to earn my place in the male dominated world we live in, and in order to make that happen, I need to be financially able to go to college and succeed.

I struggled with my sexuality and gender identity all throughout middle and high school. It's a hard battle for any teenager, but especially those growing up in the conservative south. My parents were always supportive, but we never spoke much about the LGBTQ+ community. It seemed taboo as a child, but as I grew older and began to explore the world outside of my four walls, I realized there was more to myself, as well as the people I surrounded myself with. The first time I felt like I truly loved myself was actually quite recent, after my eighteenth birthday. I had my own job, I had just gotten my first tattoo, and I was surrounded by the friends who had stuck by me through all of my setbacks on my journey to self love. The most recent setback had been an incident of sexual assault with the boyfriend I had prior to my high school graduation. Queer women are victims of sex related crimes 26% more frequently than straight women. I struggled with my self image greatly due to this event, and it made me question my own intelligence and worth because I felt like I should've known what was happening in the moment. My friends helped me greatly during my struggles, and, although I still struggle, they continue to be my greatest support system to this day. Looking in the mirror and seeing someone who was strong and brave enough to share her story made me love the woman who was staring back at me. Sunburnt, smiling, and sure of her mission in life: this girl is who I think of when I feel like the world is caving in. I intend to spread awareness and positivity around the LGBTQ+ community by sharing my story and amplifying the stories of others. The world needs to know that queer people are more likely to experience these types of crimes and more, but that this does not make us weak. People hate because they are afraid, and the only way to end the fear and stigma is to educate people. The LGBTQ+ community is just that: a community of people, and our differences deserve to be celebrated, not shunned.

The invention of the internet changed the world in many ways, both good and bad. I have met many people from differing cultures and lives across the world through my smartphone, and these people have become some of my closest friends, no matter the distance. Information about anything and everything I could ever want to know if at my fingertips 24/7. Although I have benefitted greatly from my direct access to knowledge and people outside of my small part of the globe, there are severe detriments to the internet as well. Being a young girl on the internet made me a target for older men, or boys who perceived me as naive. This exposed me to a lot of content that wasn't exactly appropriate for my gaze as a preteen, and it definitely tainted the innocent mindset I had at that time. In addition that, I also joined the internet during the peak ages of fad diets and skinny culture. This had a extremely negative affect on my body image growing up due to the fact that the acceptance of flaws was hardly ever present on social media or the internet as a whole. The question of "why am I not enough as I am?" that many young adults ask themselves through the berating of bikini body work outs and lose-weight-fast schemes are destructive and often are the root behind eating disorders in young adults. Although the media has become more accepting of many different body types, the effects of "perfection" online are still present in my day-to-day life. Ads for intermediate fasting and models in bikinis are programmed into social media algorithms, and many businesses in the beauty industry profit off of the insecurities of young girls and boys alike. Alongside the downfalls of social media, I believe having a smartphone has allowed me to capture and remember the moments I cherish with clarity. From videos of my friends, to clips of my graduating class tossing our caps, to pictures of family members and pets who are gone now, these memories are at my fingertips whenever I need a moment of nostalgia or a pick-me-up. While many adults think it is terrible that young people document everything, I believe it is incredibly beneficial because while I will eventually move away from these people and places, I will always have documentation of the time I spent here and the person I was at this moment in my life. When I am behind the wheel, I do my best to block out any distractions around me and focus on the road. I will admit, having a smartphone is an easy distraction because communication has become so instant, and late responses aren't appreciated among my generation. To combat this, Apple has a "Do Not Disturb While Driving" feature that many people such as myself take advantage of. The impulse to answer a message while driving is no longer present because this feature silences all notifications while the user is behind the wheel. Smartphones, the internet, and social media alike have both their pros and cons, much like the sides of a coin. Improvement is possible among the cons of the online world, and even if negativity is still present, the wonders of communication and information at our fingertips far outweigh those detriments.

Growing up, I was always very aware of the world around me. My parents were never shy about their opinions on world news, and it drove me to be more educated on the issues around me. As I got into my middle and high school years, the realization dawned on me that these issues did not only exist outside of my life, but they affected me as well. Moving to the conservative south was a culture shock for the independent, driven mentality I had grown into, and being a queer woman only added on to the mountains I would have to climb to make anything of myself in a male dominated world. My greatest inspiration in life is an equal an inclusive future. My drive stems from the inequality I have witnessed and undergone throughout my life, and this pushes my dreams of changing the world, even on days when it feels impossible. I desire to use my abilities as a leader and an empath to help women from all walks of life by educating on topics such as mental health, birth control, and sexual education while simultaneously making moves to erase the global stigma around those topics and many more. The world needs to be a more inclusive, accessible, and safe place for not only my generation, but the generations to come as well. This idea of inclusivity in the world we live in is what motivates me not only in my education and career field, but in my life as a whole. Even if I only help one person, the world around me will be impacted for the better.

Living in small town Georgia is a difficult experience for almost anyone who isn't a heterosexual, cisgender, caucasian male. I grew up knowing I was queer, but I didn't understand the depth of the inequality I would face due to my sexuality and gender expression throughout school and into my later walks of life. School dress codes were always at the center of my anger during school, but it wasn't until high school that the realization of the deeper patriarchal roots beneath rules like the dress code hit. I always knew deep down that I wanted to change the world, and feminism became the fire in me to push for that change. I desire to put my skills as a leader and an empath to good work by becoming a counselor for women from all walks of life. The stigma around mental health, birth control, and sexual education needs to be addressed and erased, as these things affect not only the world around us, but the world for generations to come. My first hand experience being a queer woman in a majority conservative Christian region brought about the awakening in my soul that the world needed to be a more inclusive and accessible place, not only for people like me, but for people living in any way outside of what society has deemed "normal". Although the world has come a long way, the upcoming generation of students and leaders still have an abundance of work to do. Every person has an impact, no matter how small, and these movements are mighty towards a safer, more accepting future for all.