In a perfect world, there would be perfect diversity with everyone being equal. There wouldn’t be such a thing as a ‘dangerous’ neighborhood. In a perfect world, all would be fair and safe. It wouldn’t matter where you’re from or what you do. My goal is to give the most to those in my community, country, and the world making a safe environment for all those in it. A place where citizens are safe and can get the best education without having to break the bank. Throughout my high school career, I have been in many programs, from Lecanto School of the Arts, the International Baccalaureate Program, National Honors Society, to Army JROTC. While these are completely opposite programs, they possess one thing in common: benefiting the community. Building up communities has become of extreme importance to me. While my future takes off and college begins, I want to make sure while paving my path I can still make a change to those around me. Due to this, I have joined Honors College at The University of Alabama which maintains a tremendous emphasis on giving back to the community to benefit from change. Alabama Honors College uses our educational privileges to go out into the community and help grow our youth into collaborative leaders. At Honors College, we strive to promote an environment full of diverse perspectives. By entering this group, I will be able to utilize my experiences to build my future, as well as the future of my community. Not only this, but I have decided on a career path that will help spread equality. In honors college, we have a summer program called Honors Action. During this week of summer, we go out into the community and partake in different activities. For example, we go to elementary schools painting murals and other paintings that help make kids feel safe and at home while also bringing new life to the building. We also do gardening, planting landscapes that not only help the environment but also bring a cleaner look to the community. Our goal is to help the community grow. While I have taken many various paths throughout my life, the constant has habitually been that of wanting to make a difference in the world. I have witnessed a great deal of injustice just in the short time I have been on this earth. This has steered me to want to utilize my academic opportunities to establish my community as an inclusive place for all to feel safe and welcome. A place where all those apart feel they belong and can be themselves. To do so, I am utilizing my education to work up to my goal of becoming a lawyer. My plan for the future is to use my educational path to have the ability to serve justice and help those in need. I will use the law in order to support the people of my community. With a law degree, I will be able to help those in need become aware of their rights, protecting small businesses to those trying to make a change. Furthermore, in college, I will be furthering my JROTC career by joining the college Air Force ROTC. College ROTC will allow me to join the Air Force and come out of college as an officer. By doing this I will have a greater power to promote a community of equality and inclusiveness. The Air Force will allow me to defend not only my community but my country, establishing a more desirable and secure place for all. All of the experiences I gain throughout the next few years of my life are vital to aiding community growth. To help younger generations learn from what my education and life experiences have taught me about making a difference. I have been fortunate, given many educational opportunities, and am extremely appreciative for it all. College is crucially important to me because it is the next step for me to go out into the world and help make a change for all no matter race, religion, gender, or sexuality. To develop a place of equality that is inclusive for all. I act locally by going out into the world bettering myself in order to help better others. To create an environment of strong leaders, critical thinkers, and bring those together who want to continue promoting a change.

For most of my life, I have been shy, nervous of speaking in front of large groups. I never imagined that I would become commander of not only one but multiple groups. Of all the opportunities and achievements I have, being the Color Guard Commander is the one I am most proud of. In high school, I joined JROTC. This program was a diverse group of high schoolers who came together doing things they were passionate about. With all of the teams I had joined, the one I grew to love was Color Guard. Color Guard is a team of 4 members who represent the national and state flag with two rifles on either side. I did Color Guards for football games, graduations, completions, and much more. Joining Color Guard was a bold move for me because I decided to be a commander (the national flag). I found three other teammates and began practicing for competitions. This meant I had to be loud enough for all to hear while also commanding three others. My team was the ‘underdogs.’ We learned by ourselves while the other team was focused on. No one expected us to place or stand a chance. They all saw it as a test run completion for us. After all the extensive work my team and I put in, we ended up beating 6 other teams and coming in third. I was incredibly gratified by the amount of work and commitment we had put in and where we got by ourselves. At the end of the reason, I was prepared for next year - my senior year. My senior year came, and I was ready to put in the work. COVID came and created challenges, but we worked through them. During my senior year, I was given overall Color Guard Commander of both female and male teams. This opportunity was all that I wanted during my JROTC career. It would allow me to completely get over being afraid to talk in front of people or be afraid of taking charge. Being the overall commander, I worked with both my team and the male team. This is my most exceptional achievement. Why? I was able to take two groups of people and turn them into confident cadets who placed at the overall area competition. The male team was commanded by a freshman cadet that I went up to one day and talked into Color Guard. The full team was made up of all new cadets. I spent every spare moment throughout practice and the school day that I had to train these boys while also working with my own team. In the end, my team took first and the males took third. After the completion, my Lieutenant Colonel came up to me and told me how proud he was of how committed I was to this team. How he was thrilled because he had never seen a commander with such a passion. I broke down crying happy tears, this was my greatest achievement. Being able to take a group of strangers and turn them into a team that succeeded together sharing a passion. This experience taught me that I don’t need to be afraid to speak up. It showed me that inside under the shy girl, I am a strong dedicated leader who is capable of anything I put my mind to. I saw how good I was at delegating and bringing people together. My experience in JROTC will help me with my future in college ROTC. In the future, I hope to become an Air Force JAG lawyer. I want to protect my country while also defending those who do. I want to be able to bring groups of people together and take part in what we are passionate about. I hope to achieve being a successful JAG lawyer and use what I learned from high school, bringing justice to those around me. I hope my skills will bring people together to make a difference in the world, whether it be in the Air Force or in my community. Service is extremely significant to me. I hope to achieve a long-lasting change that brings a safe environment for all. I am so grateful for all the experiences and opportunities I have been given in life, but being Color Guard commander will always be my greatest achievement because not only was I able to grow from it, I also got to watch my other team members grow into leaders.

My entire life has been about benefiting from the best education offered to me that I possibly can. In high school, I was fortunate to have a public school that offered the International Baccalaureate Program which pushes me academically, preparing me for the college world and life after that. Throughout all of my years of schooling, the idea of the importance of college has repeatedly been pushed. While it's habitually been a goal of mine to attend The University Of Alabama, the genuine inspiration behind this is my family. While this may seem like a straightforward answer, watching the members of my family adapt to and overcome the challenges they've experienced has pushed me to achieve my goals and never give up. Watching both of my parents go back to college to gain a higher education that would help them reach their career goals has inspired me. Watching my older brother, who is currently in the army, take college classes online while in Iraq has inspired me. Being able to have watched my mother and father working full-time jobs while also going back to college and my brother fighting for our country while taking college classes inspired me to go out and accomplish my goals. It has inspired me to never tolerate anything ceasing me from becoming who I want to be. I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to watch my family members go out and attain their academic goals. Throughout my high school career, I have been in many programs, from Lecanto School of the Arts, the International Baccalaureate Program, National Honors Society, to Army JROTC. While these are completely opposite programs, they possess one thing in common: benefiting the community. Building up communities has become an extreme passion of mine. While my future takes off and college begins, I want to make sure while paving my path I can still make a change to those around me. Due to this, I have joined Honors College at The University of Alabama which maintains a tremendous emphasis on giving back to the community to benefit from change. Alabama Honors College uses our educational privileges to go out into the community and help grow our youth into collaborative leaders. At Honors College, we strive to promote an environment full of diverse perspectives. By entering this group, I will be able to utilize my experiences to build my future, as well as the future of my community. Not only this, but I have decided on a career path that will help spread equality. Besides Honors college, I will also participate in numerous extracurricular activities. For the last 14 years of my life, I've been an equestrian. Fortunately, for me, The University of Alabama has a Hunter Jumper Equestrian team where I will be competing against other Universities. Moreover, I will be trying out for the club volleyball team to pursue my passion for the sport. Furthermore, I will be taking part in Air Force ROTC. This will help me work towards my passion of becoming a military JAG lawyer, defending those all around me while making the world a safer place. There is so much is this world that I want to see changed to make it a better place. I want to use my passions, extracurriculars, and education to help me achieve all my wildest hopes and dreams.

The world around us improves more and more day by day. Why? Smartphones. The technology evolution has been an astonishing development throughout many decades. To be straight, they’ve changed the world and how we view day-to-day life. Growing up in the smartphone era, I have lots of experience with this technology. Throughout my life, I have moved to numerous states, schools, and towns. I've met so many diverse people and established incredible friendships. Smartphones have allowed me to be able to stay in touch with all of these people I’ve met no matter what state or country they’re in. The idea of being able to grab a phone and text/call someone receiving a response in seconds is amazing. For example, when my brother was stationed in Kuwait, I was able to call, text, or FaceTime him. This had a profound impact on me just by having the opportunity to stay connected with him while he defends our country. Not only are smartphones helpful for contacting people you know, but they’re also a vital tool in an emergency. Having a smartphone has personally saved my life by being able to contact emergency services. They are quick to pull out and call for help compared to running to find someone. Smartphones can and have saved lives. While possessing these remarkable beneficial qualities, they can also be quite distracting. Instead of going outside and enjoying the day, many people can be found wasting away days looking at a screen. While smartphones allow for virtual connections, they can also take away from the ones right in front of you, distracting us from the gorgeous world all around us. Smartphones can also be detrimental while driving. When behind the wheel, it is crucially significant to stay focused on the road and of vehicles around you. Smartphones can severely hinder the focused mind of a driver. If a phone were to go off while driving, the driver could lose focus to ‘quickly’ check their phone and end up crashing killing themselves and possibly others. Many people use their phones as GPS or for music. Using a smartphone like this can be tremendously helpful if it is executed properly. When using one for this reasoning the driver should connect to Bluetooth and use sound so they do not need to look down at the device. Being behind a wheel while driving can be extremely dangerous. The most responsible solution is to make all calls or texts before starting the vehicle and then put the phone in a center council therefore it will not be a distraction. Smartphones behind the wheel can be life-threatening if not having cautions. Focusing on the road and safety should be a driver's priority, not a screen. With technology developing more and more by the day, smartphones have an enormous impact on the world. They’re a vital player in my day-to-day life whether it be for an alarm or to contact someone far away. They impact being behind the wheel. All in all, they can be life-saving or life-ending.

My academic goals are to complete my bachelor's degree in 4 years and get into law school. I plan on completing a double major in Pre-Law and psychology. I am striving to graduate with a law degree while also being at the top of my graduating class. I have chosen to study law because of my desire to help protect those who are in need and serve justice. I have a desire to help people because in school, I have personally witnessed and experienced lots of kids getting bullied and no one there to stand up for them. I cannot stand to watch injustices. This has driven me to choose law as one of my majors. This is my way of making sure there is always someone willing to serve justice and protect the rights of all people. I have chosen psychology as my second major because I want to further understand the human brain and see the process that leads to thoughts or actions. I desire to understand how the brain functions which will help me in law. To help choose this major, I took AP psychology in high school. The bit of information I learned from that class sparked an interest to learn more about development and human behavior. Understanding behavior will help me with my law career to explain why someone made a choice or action. Another academic goal of mine is to be accepted into the University of Alabamas’ Honors College. This is a goal of mine because getting in will mean I have smaller class sizes while having the opportunity to take the most rigorous classes offered. It will also allow me to have hands-on experiences. Not only that, The University of Alabama's honors college makes community service a priority which is extremely important to me. My goal is to help build my community while at college. My career goal is to study at the University of Alabama for my undergraduate degree and participate in the Air Force ROTC to become a JAG lawyer. I hope to become a successful lawyer for the Air Force to protect those in our country as well as those who defend our country. To reach my goals I have strived to take the most rigorous courses my school offers. I was a part of the International Baccalaureate program, took AP classes, honors courses, and JROTC. In the military, one of my career goals is to become the highest-ranking officer possible for my field. While working on my career as a military lawyer, I plan on continuing to participate in numerous community service activities. This is very important to me because I strongly believe in giving back to the communities. I hope that with all of my education and experience, I will be able to use my law degree in order to make those around me feel safe, respected, and protected. Being in the military will further help me to accomplish this. I am excited for my future in law and look forward to the educational path along the way.

There are so many astonishing and fascinating things and people in this world. All giving off their own takes on the world, inspiring others on their own paths. My greatest inspiration in life is not just one person or one thing; it's a group of people. It is my high school Army ROTC battalion. My battalion is full of many various people with different backgrounds from art students, AP kids, to athletes. It is a group that came together to work towards a collective goal. The battalion comes together, unified, and sets everything that should make them different aside. They remain my greatest inspiration because they remind me every day that it does not matter where you came from or where you’re going. All that matters is we work together to develop the world as a better place. Groups like this that are diverse come together to create collaborative and inclusive leaders. Out of all the people or things I could or should choose as my inspiration, this group of people has helped build me into who I am today. Not only that, they’ve helped shape who I'll be in the future. My battalion has helped me overcome my public speaking fear, helped turn me into a dedicated leader, and helped push me out of my comfort zone. We collectively go out into the community helping build up and support those who are in need. To me, inspiration is something that builds you up and gives you the courage to get out of your shell. To go out into the world, make a charge, and leave your mark. My battalion has done this for me. This group has shown me what it means to come together to help create change for the collective good. Due to this, I have chosen a college path that will help me grow and further inspire me. The inspiration from my battalion will stay with me along my path to my future. It has led me to choose Honors College at my university. Honors College will continue to inspire me. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities I was given by being in my high school Army ROTC battalion and all the inspiration I have received.