It is a uniquely human experience to look up at the night sky and have the feeling of wonder encapsulate the body. Because of this, It is almost no wonder that the moon phases and the stars have been widely celebrated for thousands of years. Oftentimes, I find solace in the act of spending time alone with the moon and stars. When the world feels like too much, when I succumb to pressure and stress, I always return to the moon and the stars. We look up to the same stars and the same moon as pharaohs and kings, as slaves and servants, as Shakespeare, as Sally Ride, as children who slip away at night, as shepherds, and as heroes. Every last one of them has had dreams and hopes. In times of mental, physical, and emotional darkness, we always turn to the stars. Light has always found a way to guide us back to where we need to be. Remembering that I share the night sky with the billions of people who came before me, who are with me in the present, and who will live after me, is a comfort. I need to remind myself quite often that I'm not alone, and neither is anyone else. The light has been shared among dreamers and romanticists. The light is yours, and the light is mine.

Teachers have always been my biggest support In life. They have always been my cheerleaders and my biggest supporters. Whenever I had a problem, they would always be more than willing to assist me in whatever it may be. More often than not, that problem often was finding something in myself. The problem was usually a feeling of loss or misdirection, with nowhere to look. Teachers were always there, right by my side, willing to hold my hand and help me find my way. This particularly happened during grades 3-5. I was new to the school and struggled to make new friends and connect with others. As a way to fill the time and let my creativity flow, I found solace in writing. I realized that I loved to write and read, and I excelled over my peers in these subjects. My third-grade teacher pulled me aside one afternoon to let me know just how proud of me she was. My tiny eight-year-old heart swelled at that moment. I had never been particularly good at anything before, but Mrs. Talent saw something in me that day. She saw something that I had failed to see in myself. Education has taught me that connectivity. It has taught me that there are people who will always be looking out for me and looking for the best in everyone. Teachers are not the only ones in school that act as a support for students; I can't even begin to count the number of times another student has gone out of their way to help me understand something. Everyone in education is always willing to lend a helping hand, whether that be a teacher, a fellow student, a guidance counselor, or a coach. Because of schooling, I love to help people. I love to bring out the best in people and I believe that everyone has the potential to grow into something truly beautiful. Education, and the people who have assisted me every step of the way, have shaped the way I see the world: with a pair of rose-colored lenses. Helping others only furthers the amount of kindness and gentleness in the world, something society desperately needs. I would not be who I am today if it were not for everyone who helped me along the way, and I am more than willing to give back to the community in any way that I can.

"I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. he has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all say he says over and over, just like you: 'I am busy with matters of consequence!' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man -- he is a mushroom!" The Little Prince may be a novella intended for small children, but it also is the book from which I have learned the most. Antoine de Saint Exupery paints the most whimsical book, following the themes of curiosity, nature, death, hope, and imagination. The book follows the story of a little prince teaching the narrator about the adventure he has been on. The Prince is the sole inhabitant of his planet, where there are three volcanoes and a singular rose. One day, the Prince decides to leave his planet in search of adventure. He comes across many different people, including a king, a tippler, a geographer, and a businessman, all of whom are "concerned with matters of consequence." The people that the Prince encounters display how narrow-minded adults are. All the grown-ups think in matters of numbers and without any real imagination. And that is perhaps the greatest disappointment of all. As we grow and get older, we only think in "matters of consequence" and lose the sense of wonder we had as children. "The Little Prince" serves as a gentle reminder that imagination is still out there. Grown-ups can still look to the stars. Even a simple children's book can teach anyone the beauty in simplicity and imagination.

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstien. We have all been that fish -- the one forced to climb the tree. We've been forced to climb trees against bears, birds, and giraffes. Not everyone climbs a tree the same way. Even so, the school system educates students with a cookie-cutter frame, treating them as if every curriculum and classroom is one-size-fits-all. Students are never given the opportunity to find their gifts or their strengths, and that is the most heartbreaking piece of it all -- students have the potential to become so much more than they are led to believe. The world is progressing faster than ever, and we need changes in schools that are just as progressive. We need schools and curricula that encourage students to think innovatively and creatively, providing them with the necessary tools for success. Making the school system tailored to each student would be the first change I would implement. Schools have almost always been inflexible, yet every student excels in different areas. Imagine if we put the same prescription of glasses on everyone. Some people would see clearly, yet others would be blind to the world and its numerous opportunities. This seems tragic and ineffective, yet when it comes to school, this is the system put in place. One teacher oversees 30 or so children, each student learning uniquely, yet teaches the same way to all of them. Another change I would implement is likely the largest problem within the school system: the teachers. Teachers are grossly underpaid, yet they have some of the most important jobs on the planet. Their ability and opportunity to watch a student grow and develop. Being the *cause* of that maturity is nearly unmatched in almost any job. A good teacher can impact a student's life in immeasurable ways, guiding them through problems, either socially, mentally, or academically. We live in an era where the percentage of teachers is shrinking, and allowing for teachers to make a decent wage would allow better teaching quality. Studies show that when teachers are paid more, the quality of education rises, and when the quality rises, so do the grades of students and how well they learn. It is our duty to make sure education is the best it can be. The power is in our hands to control the future of the students. Every child deserves an equal chance to pursue what they dream. There is no single solution, but it is a start to advocate for better education quality. With this, there is no limit to what all of us can achieve. Because while students only make up a small percentage of our population, they comprise 100% of our future.

Imagine it's 1939 Poland, right amid the Holocaust. The Warsaw Ghetto is built and over 400,000 Jewish residents are forced into the area. Among those 400,000 are an alarming amount of children. Thousands die each month from starvation and sickness. However, there is a group of social aid workers that are allowed special access into the ghetto. They smuggle children and infants out through luggage bags and underground tunnels. Among these social workers is Irena Sendler. Sendler worked under the Zegota, a council aid for Jews. Her status in Zegota was head of the children's division, making it her role to save the lives of the orphaned infants and children in the Ghetto. She and her team of 24 rescued over 2,400 children from persecution, placing them in the hands of religious communities and other orphanages. Although the risk was high, this was a problem that Irena could not ignore, and she was more than willing to take whatever risk was necessary, including going to prison later on in life. For every child that Irena and her team rescued, she wrote down their name on a slip of paper and placed it in a glass bottle. Years later, in 1968, Israel's Holocaust memorial organization awarded Sendler with the title, "Righteous Among Nations." In 2003, Poland awarded her with the Order of the White Eagle. In 2008, Irena Sendler was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Irena is one of my greatest role models in life. She stands as a symbol of bravery, a powerful reminder to always stand up for what we believe. Some things -- even some people -- are worth the risk, always. Even in fear and treachery, we should never forget where our core beliefs lie.

Whether most of us realize it, creativity is used in every aspect of our lives. While most often pictured as something strictly artistic, creativity is more than just working with textiles and paintbrushes. My use of creativity is sharing it with the children I work with. Children see the world through saturated colors and rose-tinted glasses. I will color with them, make crafts with them, and dance with them rather than just watch from afar. Being actively engaged is better for everyone involved. Not only that, but I help them manage disputes for themselves. Problem-solving is one of the most important skills to have; knowing how to work through disagreements can be used in every aspect of your life. I tell them to talk out their feelings, speak one at a time, and come up with a solution together -- one that works for both. Another fun creativity exercise is simply just messing around! We lay outside on the soft earth and pick out shapes within the clouds. We will sit inside and build castles out of building blocks and play pretend. We take action figures and come up with elaborate storylines and plots to follow along with them. In the end, it always ends with us laughing and having inside jokes. Creativity in my life is sharing it with everyone around me. It's always been a large part of my life to sing, to draw, to dance, to paint, and to share my love for all of those things with the people I love. The opportunity to share it with children and foster it within them is the chance of a lifetime. It allows me to give back and impact futures, even if it is something small (like finding another dinosaur in the clouds).

I sit on the bus in the fourth grade, flipping through the first few pages of my school-issued agenda. I pass the multiplication tables, grammar rules, test-taking tips, and strategies to be an effective leader. I finally land on a page that makes more of an impact on me than any other one. There is a sentence in a tiny box off to the side, meant as an unimportant note. It includes the most famous pangram in the English language: the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. I did not notice the sentence then move on. Instead, I stared at the page in wonder. The sentence didn't make any sense. I asked myself a series of questions: What species of dog was lying on the ground? Why didn't the fox attack the dog? Why did the quick brown fox jump over the lazy dog? My entire life, I have always been told that my natural curiosity about the world was not important. My questions were all written off. Adults, teachers, and even my parents stifled any sign of curiosity, despite that being their role in life. They never fostered my desire to know, which left me confused for most of my life. They either did not know the answer, thought I was too young, or did not care enough to tell me. Sometimes, it was the fact that I was a girl. Eventually, I resorted to not questioning at all. It did take a lot more than just a simple sentence to push back against the world. It took years of low self-esteem and disappointment to realize that I deserved more. I realized that to find the answers I was seeking, I would have to find them out myself. I spent hours in both school and public libraries poring over various books. A specific example that comes to mind is in the fifth grade when I checked out an anatomy book from the school library. Although I was fascinated by smokers' lungs and different chambers of the heart, the librarian gave me a queer look when I checked it out. After getting home, my parents told me to return the book, saying that I was too young for that information. Instead of turning it in, I read the book cover to cover, over and over. Now, a similar book sits on display on my bookshelf at home. Perhaps it was spite, or maybe the alluring defiance that a nine-year-old considers extreme; I had to know, to see, and to learn everything the world had to offer, no matter how hard I had to defy. I learned that the world would almost always be set against me. I was not born into the privilege of being a male with a stellar education. Yet, despite this, I always found my footing. I always stood up for myself and what I wanted. That stubbornness has made me who I am today. I wanted to recognize every constellation in the night sky and understand how the moon affects the tides; I wanted to learn every important date in history and how we can learn from it; I wanted to know how to play piano and recite poetry and speak different languages. No matter how many times I was brought down for being curious I knew that it was a desire I could not control. I was like a child looking out of a window onto a whispering world that enticed every fiber of my being. I knew that I would touch the world, even if the flames consumed me.

Ending up in that school was a nice accident. My name had already graced too many attendance charts and too many school records; I had already made and lost too many friends in the short span of 13 years. I never planned to end up at Fairview Elementary School, but one teacher and one book set me up for the life I live today. My name is Autumn, a recent graduate of both Jackson County Early College and Southwestern Community College. I graduated both high school and community college simultaneously, and I plan on attending Appalachian State University in the fall with only two years left to go! My major is in English with a minor in Criminal Justice, and law school is my plan after I graduate. Law school was not always the plan. I moved around a lot as a child due to my father's job, and every new place had new opportunities and people that swayed what I wanted to be. First, it was an artist, then a marine biologist, then an astronaut, and everything in between. It was almost an accident landing in my fourth school. My mother put us in another school in the county, then, just before the start of the new school year, she transferred us to another one. At that school, I read the famous book: To Kill a Mockingbird. It was so clear -- from the moment I picked up its aged pages -- that this book was going to change me. I knew that it would teach me lessons I would carry with me forever, lessons written in between the lines and whispered in between the pages. Of course, everyone takes away the general theme that racism is wrong and you should not be racist or prejudiced. Yet, I feel as though I took away more than my peers. I gathered lessons on what is considered good and what is considered evil. I learned the consequences of lying. Most of all, I realized the working of a legal system and how tragically flawed it was (and in some ways, still is). The Trial of Tom Robinson only takes up a small section of the book, yet the entire book revolves around it. I was engrossed with these chapters and the way the system worked. I was obsessed with the jury and disgusted when they used their prejudices to decide the outcome of the court rather than use the evidence provided. It set up an unfair system, and I genuinely got upset. So, this day in middle school after finishing the novel, I had decided that law was at the forefront of my career choices. I wanted to be the change. I wanted to stand up for others, others who could not stand up for themselves. Others who are unfairly judged. Others who have the world against them. As the years went on, I only saw more pressure to pursue a legal career. The entire BLM movement pushed me towards advocacy and speaking out. I watched verdicts and court trials of people being charged with crimes, I watched people being arrested in the street, and I watched our legal system fail over and over again. I knew that the calling I had to defend people was meant to be. I never chose that dream; that dream chose me. I plan to use my education to help everyone I can along the way. I don't think people realize that the things they say and do now have a drastic impact on the future. A simple hello or a friendly wave could brighten someone's entire day. My goal would be to help out everyone in every way that I can -- whether that be just a smile or helping someone with homework. I would want to be the shoulder to lean on when things get tough or the support someone needs to finish the day. At the same time, it provides me with invaluable connections and friendships. It provides me with a way to interact with people of different backgrounds and personalities. Most importantly, it would teach me to have patience and a good work ethic. It can be hard navigating people with different beliefs, especially if they are close-minded. My education would teach me how to approach these people. My education would act as a major stepping stone to where I want to be. Law school would be my first choice, but advocacy and campaigning for women's rights and LGBTQIA+ rights are also movements I hold close to my heart since I am part of both. My education would allow me to form connections with people who feel just as strongly about campaigning for these as I am. And just as much as I can defend and campaign for these on the street, I can also defend them on the court floor. I have the opportunity to help those just like me. I have the opportunity to help the oppressed. I have the opportunity to use my voice for the greater good.