Excellence is often defined as the quality of being outstanding, and a spirit of excellence is the drive to embody this quality in every aspect of life. I strive to live by this principle every day, not only through my actions but also through the way I interact with others. Excellence is more than a characteristic; it is a mindset that influences how we approach both big challenges and small moments. I believe one of the most powerful ways to exemplify a spirit of excellence is by using kindness to uplift others. In my everyday life, I aim to make a positive impact through simple, yet meaningful acts, such as holding the door open for someone, picking up an item that has been dropped, or offering a compliment to brighten a stranger's day. These actions may seem insignificant, but they have the potential to make someone’s day a little better, reminding them that kindness still exists in the world. Beyond everyday gestures, I also devote my time to actively giving back to my community. I volunteer regularly at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank, helping provide food to needy families. Additionally, I dedicate a significant amount of time to local youth sports organizations, including the Grove City Kids Association and my church. For the past three soccer seasons, I have served as an assistant coach for a youth soccer team, where I not only teach the girls skills necessary for the game but also impart important life lessons. I make it a priority to be someone they can turn to when they need advice about school, personal challenges, or anything else they may be facing. In addition to coaching, I encourage the young athletes I work with to cultivate their spirit of excellence. I teach them that excellence isn't just about being the best on the field but about giving their best in all areas of life. I emphasize the importance of sharing their talents and being kind to others, showing them how their actions can inspire and help those around them. Finally, I am currently training for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Champions Marathon Benefit Race. I am running the full marathon in October of this year (2025) and will be raising money throughout the training process to support the children who rely on the hospital's services. I have donated to the cause already and throughout my training I will be finding creative ways to fundraise for the children and families that are being helped by the hospital. This is an opportunity for me to merge my passion for fitness with my commitment to give back, all while raising awareness and funds for a cause that truly makes a difference in the lives of children and their families. In all these ways - through small acts of kindness, community service, coaching, and fundraising - I strive to live out a spirit of excellence. I believe that true excellence is not just about personal achievement but about using one’s abilities to uplift others and make the world a better place.

Educators are superheroes, and I have always aspired to be one. After graduating in May 2024, I began working full-time with autistic children at Nationwide Children's Hospital. In this role, I’ve developed a deep love for working with children with special needs and advocating for them. One experience, in particular, profoundly influenced my decision to pursue a career in education. One of the children I work with is about to age out of the program, and her family is uncertain about her educational future. They fear that their daughter won't receive the same level of care and love that she has in our program. These family concerns deeply resonated with me, and it was their situation that inspired me to pursue a career in teaching. I want to ensure that children like her receive the attention and advocacy they need, even as they transition into a different educational environment. In 2025, I will begin my Masters program in Special Education, where I plan to earn my teaching license. My goal as an educator is to not only touch the hearts of the children I teach but also offer their parents peace of mind. I want them to know that, while the system may not always be perfect, there are teachers who genuinely care and will go to great lengths to advocate for their children. I am particularly passionate about improving the special education system in my community, where resources and support can sometimes be scarce. I want to be a bright spot for parents, reassuring them that their child will be cared for, supported, and encouraged every day in school. By becoming a teacher, I hope to be a constant source of stability and advocacy for my students, helping them navigate the academic, social, and emotional challenges they face. Ultimately, my goal is to be a superhero for my students, not just in their eyes, but in the eyes of their families as well. I want to provide a safe and nurturing space where children can grow and thrive in whatever way is best for them. By offering emotional support, promoting personal growth, and advocating for their needs, I hope to make a lasting impact on their lives. As I embark on this journey, I am committed to becoming the kind of teacher who makes a real difference not, only in the classroom but also in the lives of the families I serve.

Being an athlete no matter the age is hard and undergoing surgery for any reason is harder but add them to each other and it is a double whammy. I want to focus on my values of ambition, goodness, and health as all are values in my own life, and my passion to combine my psychology and business degree to help others overcome the mental struggles that come with injury among athletes. The statistics show that 35% of athletes struggle with mental health and 40% of individuals who undergo surgery struggle with anxiety or depression. I am one of the 40% of individuals who had an athletic-related surgery and then struggled with both depression and an eating disorder. In my freshman year of college, I played varsity soccer and tore my ACL during a soccer game, and that changed me in many ways. This surgery and the challenges that arose from having physical therapy so rigorously multiple times a week opened my eyes to what I want my legacy to be and how to use my light to achieve those goals. If I could have had somebody there to help me work out the mental health aspects of surgery I would have had better mental health throughout recovery. I potentially could not have developed an eating disorder or depression. I want to start a business where mental health professionals specialize in counseling to give individuals who undergo surgery the therapy that they need after they have surgery. If we treat individuals physical injuries we should treat the mental injuries that follow. I believe this could work due to my degree and own research in the psychological field and this is what I want my legacy to be. I understand that implementing a whole new addition to post-surgery patience can be difficult so another business idea I would love to turn into a reality would be to open a cafe that targets to help this individual. I aspire to open a cafe that can be a safe space for athletes to come and get help/support for their mental health. I want to empower young athletes and encourage older ones to stay strong both physically and mentally because both are assets to playing the game. Currently, I am a U9 soccer coach and shine my light down on the little girls I get to coach every second I can. I try to implement the business concept of empowering and boosting my girl's self-esteem and improving their mental health. I want those girls one day to have a safe place that they can go when they are struggling due to a sport or anything. I try every day to be kind and make someone smile. If I never open my cafe that gives athletes a place to go when in need then I want my legacy to be that I was a kind and giving person who tried to make individuals I encounter have a better day than when I found them.

Psychology and business do not go hand in hand in most people's eyes, but in mine they do. I am graduating this upcoming May with an undergrad degree in business management and psychology. When I tell most people my majors they almost always comment how business and psychology do not necessarily go hand in hand but they are wrong. Ambition, goodness, and health are three values that are strongly engrained in me due to my family and personal experiences. These three specific values will help me to combine both my business mindset with the use of my psychology degree to increase positive mental health in people, specifically athletes of all ages who undergo injury. I want to help this particular group of individuals because I was in this group recently. In my freshman year of college, I played varsity soccer, and growing up I trained vigorously spending hours in the backyard practicing my footwork and working on improving my first touch. All I knew growing up was soccer and being an athlete was my only personality trait for too long. So, I thought I had to play college soccer due to all the hard work and time I devoted to it but also because of how much time and money my parents spent enabling me to play travel soccer growing up. So, I committed to playing collegiate soccer my senior year of high school, and a month into the season my freshman year I got into a game, and two minutes into playing I cut the wrong way and fell to the ground in pain. I came off the field not being able to move my right leg like normal without it being in agonizing pain. I remember the two-hour-long bus ride back to my university was miserable and when the trainer looked at my leg he immediately told me that I tore my ACL. That news ruined me, I was heartbroken and did not know what to do with myself, all I knew was that I was a soccer player. Hearing I had to get surgery and not play soccer for 9+ months recked me. Once I had surgery my mental health plummeted and I developed an eating disorder where I thought I could only eat if I worked out and burned so many calories. I struggled and should have gotten help throughout the recovery process. I still to this day two years later struggle with the eating concept and find myself not eating or being eating depending on the level of physical activity I do on a certain day. It makes me sad and affects my relationships. Being an athlete no matter the age is hard and undergoing surgery for any reason is harder. I want to focus on my values of ambition, goodness, and health as both a value in my own life and a passion of mine to combine my psychology and business degree to help others overcome the mental struggles that come with injury. The statistics show that 35% of athletes struggle with mental health and 40% of individuals who undergo surgery struggle with anxiety or depression. If I could have had somebody there to help me work out the mental health aspects of surgery I would have had better mental health throughout recovery. I want to start a business where mental health professionals specialize in counseling to give individuals who undergo surgery the therapy that they need after they have surgery. If we treat individuals physical injuries we should treat the mental injuries that follow. My degrees are complementary and can create goodness together.

The community is such a fragile, beautiful, intricate thing that should not be taken for granted and should be cared for by everyone. Everyone plays an important role within this ecosystem we live in and I know that I want to make a positive impact on my community the best I can. Within my community, I volunteer at my church's Sunday school and coach a youth soccer team. Coaching is one of my favorite things to do! At a soccer tournament this past fall of 2023 my team had an 8 am game and all I wanted was coffee because 8-year-olds no matter the time of day have the most energy and to be around them I need coffee. So, I searched the soccer complex and could not find a single coffee vendor. Looking back that was such a blessing because it sparked an idea for a business. I got the greatest advice from an entrepreneur who talked to my class and she told us to just do and that is what I did I got an LLC and started a mobile cafe called Chara. Chara is the Greek word for joy and at Chara, we serve joy one cup at a time. Joy is a key factor in the wellness of a community and with Chara, I will be implementing joy into the community not only by being there when they want a hot or cold cup of coffee but also by being there for local athletes I want to generate enough profit to buy a brick-and-mortar cafe where I will open the doors to all athletes and give them the resources and tools they need to overcome the hardships of being an athlete. I know that there are many hardships from personal experience. I played competitive soccer until I was a junior in college and throughout the years it has brought many challenges into my life, especially in my college years due to injury and the extreme competitiveness of the athlete lifestyle. With Chara, I want to create a safe atmosphere for athletes to learn how to overcome tough situations that are presented when playing sports and ways to cope with all the emotions that come from playing. I want to validate young athletes and let them know that their feelings are good and that there are positive and effective ways to go about handling them. I want to not only teach these athletes how to cope and manage their emotions but also how to go about having grown-up conversations with coaches and how to properly fuel their bodies by teaching them about nutrition and how to cook basic healthy meals using Charas kitchen to teach them. These dreams for Chara can be developed slowly with hard work, grit, and ambition. My plan to create Chara into a cafe to help athletes is by first starting with a pushcart and upgrading as quickly as I can with the profits I make. I have high hopes for my little business and hope one day I will be able to even create a scholarship to help kids either pay for their travel sport or schooling. I want to give back as much as I can and through coaching, I have learned that the rewards of doing so are beyond comparison. I would truly do anything for the girls that I coach and for their parents. So, with my mobile cafe, I hope that when I serve parents and other spectators at soccer tournaments and other sporting events they feel the joy from the coffee and the person pouring it (me).

Proverbs 17:17 says, “Friends love all the time, and kinsfolk are born for times of trouble.” This bible passage describes my family dynamic. I am one of 5 children and if I did not have my siblings I would not be the person I am today. They have been my best friends. My family has been through tough times but with the support of each others we managed to overcome the struggles, hardships, and challenges. I love each one of my siblings more than life itself. I have 1 brother who is 27 and three younger sisters who are 19, 17, and 8 years old. I have always shared a room with one of my sisters and even when I was younger I shared a room with my brother at one point. I love him and my little sisters, I now share a room with my 8-year-old sister and it is the best thing! I love getting to watch her and my other sisters grow up. I love reading and playing sports outside with my youngest sister specifically soccer. I love playing soccer with her because I play in college and get to coach her travel soccer team with my dad who coached me until I got into high school. My sisters are my best friends and I would do anything for them. I am also very close with my parents and they instilled in me the importance of education. My dad is a high school teacher and my mom is a school nurse. My parents have pushed academics on me and my siblings giving us all the support and encouragement we’ve needed throughout the years. Two of my sisters have been diagnosed with dyslexia and my parents have done nothing but push for them to get the help and accommodations so they could do the best they could. My parents are extremely supportive of all of their children. When I decided to play college soccer they got t-shirts and came to my games even though I did not play very much, then when I tore my ACL my freshman year they supported me. They were there for every step of my recovery supporting me playing club soccer this past summer to try and earn more playing time for this past season. Not only have they supported me as an athlete and in my education but they also support my mental health. My parents helped me get to college by giving me all the skills needed to thrive when I got there. I am a student at Ohio Wesleyan University. My education is extremely important to me and I pride myself on my 3.5 GPA and the fact I am double majoring in Psychology and Business Management. School has always been challenging for me so I have gone to the tutoring center and went to my professor's office hours. These skills I have learned from school, my family, and life challenges have prepared me for whatever will arise in the future. The future is an uncertain thing this I know but with my five siblings and my parents holding my hand throughout the hardships I know I will be able to overcome anything. I am unsure what I want to do once I graduate but I know that I want to make an impact on children's lives. So if I had to go get a job tomorrow I would apply to Children's Hospital behavioral health sector as some sort of psychologist. I am excited for the uncertainty of the future and for the new adventures to come.

When I was little I used to call medicine ‘medisick’ because my mom only gave it to me when I was sick. I lived in a house with a nurse for a mother so I understand more than some of my peers about anatomy and medicine. My mom was finishing her degree when I was old enough to start remembering things and I will never forget she taught my sister, who is 4 years younger than me, all the bones in her body while she was learning the material. Being exposed to medical talk and hearing my mother's stories always enticed me growing up. My mom has been inspired to enter the medical field after graduation, specifically working with children like she does. Like my mother, I want to make an impact on a child's life that is sick either mentally or physically. My parents have instilled kindness, selflessness, and generosity in all their children, whom they have 5, throughout their actions and professions. My mom likes to say that she and my dad are public servants because she is a nurse and he is a high school teacher. Although they might be public servants they both come home happy and love what they do. I have heard stories from both of them about supporting children's growth and development when no one else will. Both of my parents have spent paychecks giving to their patients/students because someone at those kids' homes cannot provide for them. I admire my parents and have begun to strive to create change and happiness in other's lives the best I can. Throughout growing up I have volunteered at many youth events like a sports coach, my church bible studies, and babysitting since I was 15 years old. All of these experiences have shown me that children are the happiest and most genuine human beings alive and that they are just people who want someone's attention and love. The little children I have been around and my parent's influence, they've helped me to find my passion and know what I want to do with my life. In October of 2023, I shadowed in the Behavioral Health Pavilion at Children's Hospital in Columbus Ohio, and fell in love with everything about it! I have always been passionate about working with children but I was not sure what route that would look like until I shadowed in the mobile crisis department and got to go on a school visit, take a mock emergency phone call, and talk to a psychologist about the forms of therapy treatments give to in house patients. This truly was one of my favorite days of this year and I am hoping to get a position with this department at Children's Hospital upon graduation. I am graduating with a bachelor's in business administration and psychology but want to get my doctorate in Psychology or go back to school and get my nursing degree so I will be able to make an impact on little kids' lives. I believe that I would excel in the psychological aspect of helping children due to being gentle and embodying kindness. I also am up for going to school again to do what I am called to do which could be nursing. After graduation, I hope to explore the field of medicine more by working in the psychology department of a children's hospital and then furthering my education either in nursing or getting my doctorate in child psychology.

S3:E8 Three Blondes Miley Cyrus is on a tour for her undercover self, Hannah Montant. She is on her tour bus with her best friend Lilly (undercover she is Lola) and her father heading to Wisconsin for her next show. Her bus breaks down in the town of Steven Points Wisconsin where actor and singer Liv Rooney and her family live. When the bus broke down Liv's father, Mr. Rooney was behind them, and being a nice helpful guy he immediately jumped out of his car to help to the best of his abilities. The bus cannot be fixed and Mr. Rooney invites the family to come to his house and have dinner. Hannah, Lola, and her father take up Mr. Rooney and join his family for dinner. When arriving at the Rooney's home, the rest of the family loses their minds and fangirls over the celebrity. Immediately Joey Rooney faints and falls in love with Lola. After hearing about the broken down bus, genius Parker Rooney volunteers to fix it for Hannah Montana, and when he does fix the bus he adds his own unique twist and inventions within the bus. Hannah recognizes Liv for being a celebrity and asks if she would like to be a special guest on her tour in Wisconsin and sing a song with her. Immediately Maddie, Liv's twin sister, jumps on the opportunity and asks if Hannah could sing the National Anthem for her high school basketball game that night. Hannah agrees happily and her and Liv begging to work on a song for her tour. The show shows Parker and Miley's dad working on the bus. As well Joey still fangirling over Lola. Then the game time comes and the stands are packed not to watch the girls play basketball but to listen to Hannah Montana sing. The girls end up winning the game and throughout that time we can see interactions between the two groups and then clips of the game. After the game Miley and her crew go to the hotel they are staying at and Parker continues to work on the bus to have it ready for the next day, the day of her show. The day of the show comes and Liv and Hannah perform the song they wrote together we see them at the concert and the rest of Liv's family has backstage passes and we witness all of that. After the concert, they say their goodbyes and Joey hides in the bus in a spot that Parker created when fixing it because he does not want Lola to leave. Hannah, Lola (Lilly), and her father do not know that Joey Rooney is on the bus and he almost sees their true identity!

My family struggled financially when I was little and I never knew because I was overcompensated with love from my parents. I remember being on a special lunch plan in school and never understood why I would get different meals than the other students at certain points until I got older. I specifically remember the frozen crackers with peanut butter and grape jelly inside them that I would occasionally get during the school year when the lunch plan failed. I never thought anything of it and didn't care what I ate, I just wanted to eat my lunch and get to recess to play on the playground with my friends. When I was a senior in high school I started to talk to my parents about finances and what college would look like. It was not a fun conversation, I am blessed but not enough for my college to be paid for. I have my own FAFSA loans out as well as semesters' worth of parent-plus loans. When my parents were talking to me about our finances they told me that we used to be on food stamps when I was younger. I was shocked because I never knew our family had ever struggled that badly. I was always happy and never saw the struggle my parents went through. Looking back I can now see the long hours my mom put in at the hospital and the 7 day work weeks my dad spent at the box plant, working overtime just to struggle still. I am truly blessed that my parents sacrificed so much for me and my 4 siblings throughout the years, and I thank them. This struggle we went through and that I became aware of as I got older pushed me into volunteering at the local Mid-Ohio Foodbank. I have been a volunteer there since my junior year of high school and now have been volunteering there for almost 4+ years. I have recently been volunteering with my little sister Keena and it is so special to make a difference with someone that you love. Volunteering at the food bank has shown me that all walks of life struggle and that everyone is just trying to make it to the next day. I have worked in both the kitchen and sorting and packaging office at my local food bank and I enjoy both. Volunteering there gives me a sense of purpose and I know if/when my parents were struggling and people did not volunteer we would not have gotten food. So, I enjoy giving back to what helped my family. Another place I volunteer at is my church which also helped my family when we were in need. I have volunteered at the VBS since I was a freshman in high school and this upcoming school year I will be a voluntary Sunday school teacher. Volunteering with children is one of my favorite things to do! There is so much beauty within little ones alone that getting to spend time with them and help them understand that they'll always be loved is extremely rewarding to me. I am hoping that next May I can afford to volunteer abroad somewhere across seas and help children with their schooling or health. It is a dream of mine to volunteer abroad! Volunteering has always been an important part of my life and it has shaped me into the individual I am today. I see the world as a gift and volunteering has taught me to be grateful for every day and everything I am blessed to have.

America as well as every other nation will always have successes and flaws no matter what, for our world is ever-changing and we must adapt to the chaos of life. This past spring semester I studied abroad in Athens Greece and living in another country for four months showed me how lucky I am to be an America. It also opened my eyes to how America needs to adapt and grow in comparison to the countries I visited in Europe. I am proud of the people who came before me, who fought for the freedom and rights I have today. I appreciate that my government is set up to protect the people. Spending time in Europe and making native friends I learned that Americans are lucky to be able to just walk up to law enforcement and ask for help because in other countries that is not always the case. This creates a sense of security in my country that others are not always blessed to have outside America. After living the European lifestyle of walking, public transportation, and healthy/clean eating coming home to the States was shocking! If I could make one change within our country it would be to fight harder against obesity and to create stronger FDA regulations. When coming back to the States this May, I went out to the grocery store the next day and was amazed by the number of unhealthy individuals I saw and how I never was shocked before I left to see that many, but now upon my return, I was. That is because the obesity rate in Europe is less than half of that in America. Studies have shown that it is because of our food system. We need to create stricter regulations within the FDA and other food administrations within America. I also believe that we need to start limiting the number of fast food restaurants we have because I do believe the availability of unhealthy food like Mcdonald's is also an issue in the States. If we just got rid of some of the issues I believe we would see a decrease in obesity relatively quickly. I think America is one of the best athletic/fitness countries, so I do believe the biggest thing we can do to change the obesity numbers is to limit junk food within the states and create stronger regulations to protect the people and enable them to live longer/healthier lives. Like, I mentioned above how I believe that America is on top when it comes to athletics/fitness/sports I saw that when I tried out for the college soccer team in Greece. I am proud to be a female collegiate athlete and I can truly only do that in the States. Most European colleges are academic only and even in their high schools so if children want to play sports it is all within a club while in America we have the opportunity to play in all grades for our schools and club teams. This makes me grateful to be an American because soccer has helped me become the person I am today, and I am not sure I would have the grit, perseverance, or strength I have now being 20 without all the hardships and obstacles I have had to overcome that came with playing sports. I love being from America, it is where my family is and where my ancestors are from. I will always want America to grow and be the best it can be for its people, and I am striving to be a part of the positive growth.

I am one of a kind. I am unique. I am unlike any other. I am unique in many different ways from my biological genetics to my personality. Some specific attributes that make me unique include the outlook I have on life, the experiences I have, and my passions. To dive deeper into these attributes I have I want to tell you my outlook on life which is that life is full of positives, and I choose to have an optimistic viewpoint when seeing the world. I like to look at the world as a good place that we get the opportunity to make better. This outlook has helped me get involved in giving back to my community. For example, in my church community, I have been a coach for the middle school basketball teams as well as volunteering to keep the time/run the scoreboard at the Kindergarten-4th grader's games in the winter. I also am actively a volunteer at my local Mid-Ohio Foodbank where I either help in the warehouse or in the physical store aiding shoppers. This giving nature I have is becasue of my outlook on life and the idea that I believe we need to make the world better one day at a time. These couple volunteer experiences I mentioned above including my Spring Break 2022 Service Trip with my university to Huston Texas to rebuild houses that were affected by the hurricane and other random volunteer activities I have been a part of have shaped me into the person I am and want to continue to as I am growing up. Specifically the Spring Break Service Trip I went on during my freshman year of university has sparked a light in me to create my own Service Project. I am a part of my universities varsity women's soccer team and am in discussion with my coach about creating a service project for my team to do this upcoming fall 2024 soccer season. I feel very passionate about this project and am extremely excited that I get to give back to the local Delaware, Ohio community my university is in. I want to be a part of the change in the world that makes it a happier more positive and more peaceful place like the way I view it. I am unsure what specific service my team will be participating in but I am in contact with my school's service department and have some local volunteer organizations I can contact for extra support. Service is a passion of mine if you cannot already tell. Among service, I am also passionate about soccer/physical health, family, and music! When I graduate school I want to complete a volunteer abroad program with my now boyfriend and one day husband because family is so important to me I want him to be a part of the change also. If that does not happen I will be an Americorp volunteer working within the deprived school districts of America. I specifically want to work within the school districts because my dad is a teacher and has inspired me. He believes that even if he gets to make an impact in one child's life it will all be worth it and that is my outlook on the situation also. I am positive that this is a calling of mine and I am more excited for one of these two opportunities than anything else that comes with graduating college. I am unique and will continue to use my special attributes to help others day by day making the world a better place.

Dear Mom and Dad, I am a college athlete because of the lessons you taught me, the support you’ve given, and your unwavering love. When I first started soccer playing for Our Lady’s Kindergarten-4 league you both were always there. The year I played on the same team as Lyla (my little sister) you both coached us. I love looking at that year’s team picture because I can see the immense support you have for me and my siblings. Thank you for letting me play travel soccer for Our Lady when I got into 4th grade, after being asked to play up with the 5th graders. I know growing up we financially struggled but you never let us kids know the battle you two were fighting. I appreciate all you must have sacrificed to let me play travel soccer. You both worked while going back to school juggling three little girls and a teenager; I don’t know how you guys did it all. Dad, you continued to coach me when I started travel soccer and you gave all your energy to my team. You would send out BeastMode YouTube videos on foot skills to the team; I would go to the basement on days we didn’t have practice and work through the list of foot skills over and over. I still to this day, a sophomore in college, will revert to those basic fundamental foot skill drills to do on my own. Thank you for instilling in me the knowledge that your dreams take hard work and that every day is a day to get better whether you spend 15 minutes doing toe touches in the basement or go to a field and spend hours working on your long balls. Mama, I didn't realize the hardships that dad being my coach could have put on you until I got into college. You are so strong, and an amazing mom. I understand more every day how much you truly love and wanted your babies to have the best at any cost. So, thank you mom for letting dad be my coach, and thanks dad for being my coach. You both have helped me grow as a soccer player throughout the years by spending hours in the backyard with me and a ball or measuring out sprints in the front of the house. Thank you for coming to all my games. My favorite memory I have of us 3 and soccer is my senior year of high school when I would start, and they’d announce my name we would find each other and hold up the “I love you” sign. Thank you both for being so supportive when I got into college. When I tore my ACL a month into freshman year during a game. You both did nothing but help me. You guys would stand behind me and help move my leg when I wasn’t strong enough. I was so scared during this time that I was never going to be the athlete that I was before but you both pushed me to be greater than I was before and cheered me on throughout the whole process. Thank you for having faith in and supporting me this past season. I appreciate you guys coming to games knowing I might not get in. I love all the support and strength you guys give me to not quit on my dreams and to just work as hard as I can to get those minutes, I want next season. Thank you for being my biggest supporters and my heros. I love you, Ava Quinn

Mental Health is an up-and-coming blooming category in health care currently. This is the field I want to jump into once I graduate from University. Why you might ask? I will tell you but first a little bit about myself. I am a Sophomore attending Ohio Wesleyan University. I am a collegiate athlete playing soccer and training year-round. I volunteer at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, participate in volunteer excursions within my university, work a part-time job at a cafe, have a boyfriend, and find time to have family dinners regularly at my parent's house. Mental Health has been a big thing for my family ever since my sister tore her ACL in 2018 and one reason I want to get involved… Not only has my sister torn her ACL I also tore my ACL on September 18th, 2021, my freshman year of college, the first month into the soccer season, the day after my 19th birthday. I was devastated and tremendously scared about my surgery because I have seen my best friend undergo four hip surgeries and have drastic prolonged issues because of them as well as watching my little sister go through the worst year of her life after her surgery. My friend and sister suffered not only physically from their surgeries but mentally also which was the scariest aspect of the surgery for me. I watched my friend start hating herself for eating and not being able to play sports again because she was also a soccer player but her athletic career ended in her sophomore year of high school. I saw her develop an eating disorder that she is still fighting against to this day. I saw my little sister fall into a depression that made her not get out of bed for hours on end. When I had my surgery I tried my hardest to not develop an ED or get depressed as hard as it was I do believe that for a period of time, my relationship with food became distorted and I can find myself falling back into the patterns of binge eating that I developed during my recovery period. This is the issue of healthcare that I want to get into, the psychological aspect of individuals after surgery. If I could just better educate people on how to not only physically get better after surgery but mentally become stronger involving aspects of eating, getting through the bad days, pushing to a new and greater potential of strength that surgeries can unlock in people and more aspects of mental health that gets compromised because of surgeries. I believe that I would have gotten along with Christina because occupational therapy is all about helping people who've undergone tragedy to get back to the most normal life that they can. I think a big aspect of these occupational and physical therapy fields that is missing is this psychological aspect of them all. I saw this not only by watching my friend and sister but from myself when I was going through physical therapy. I have been post-opt for a year and a half and still have an unhealthy relationship with food. I am currently finding myself binge eating or not eating at all due to the fact that my surgery made me loos too much weight too fast and created distorted body images for myself. When I graduate I am going into the healthcare industry. I want to help athletes after undergoing serious surgeries mentally. This scholarship will help me pay off my student loans and go to graduate school to achieve these goals.

If able, stay with someone who can financially be responsible for themselves and you. If you can stay with the person you lived with growing up, no matter who, if they can financially support you in some aspect you should stay with them. Meaning that if you can live with your parents while you are in college and potentially after to save money. Saving money and coming out of college with the least amount of debt is the most ideal situation for everyone, but especially those individuals that have to pay for their schooling. I have student loans out to pay for my college education. After talking to my parents and looking back over the finances of my college education we concluded that I will be moving back home to save money and just commute. My room and board for my university cost more than my tuition after all the scholarships and grants I received from my school due to my grades. I know college is a time for kids to get out of their house and learn to be on their own, but I am extremely excited to be living back home not only because of the free housing and better food but also because I am a family girl and struggled my first year of college and it will be nice to be around people that I know love me no matter what. When living from home I will also be working an additional job to what I already am to help pay for my college degree.

Identifying how you feel right then and right there. When you identify how you feel you put a name of that feeling so it's not too overwhelming. Your brain works like a bank vault but with emotions; when you need to feel something this little person, in your brain, goes to that emotion vault and takes it to the front. But when you are struggling with identifying what emotion you need to get from the vault/ what emotion you feel at that exact moment it can be difficult. Ex. when you see a puppy, the little person in your brain goes to the happy emotion vault. But when you struggle with mental health it is like there's a blocker to certain vaults. Ex. when you see that puppy again but this time the blocker is in the way of the happy vault so you have to either fight around it or just not feel. That little person goes back to the front empty-handed. At that point, you feel numb. But identifying that there is a blocker in the way of you feeling happy to see that puppy can help those blockers go away. Identifying your feelings means that in that exact moment you say out loud how you feel; it can help by realizing what blocker is in front of you- what's in front of your happy vault.

Claim to Fame by Margret Petterson Haddix is my favorite book of all time. Margret Petterson Haddix is my favorite author ever since middle school. In my sophomore yeast of high school in honors English, I did a project about her and had an email conversation with her. I am a freshman in college at Ohio Wesleyan Univesity and am either majoring or minoring in creative writing because of this book and the way she writes. Haddix and this book specifically really sparked my interest and gave me an outlet to be creative and expressive in writing/storytelling. The book Claim to Fame is about a famous girl who one day starts hearing everything everyone says about her and her only safe haven is a small house in Illinois that when inside all the voices stop. This creative idea of giving a character a struggle that is in some ways a superpower to others; is so fascinating to me. This is my favorite book because it inspired me to be creative and to start writing. Writing and reading are two of my favorite outlets and I give credit the credit to my favorite book. I am in a creative writing class currently and love it so much. I am always constantly thinking about Claim to Fame and all the aspects of it. I love her writing and if one day I could be an author I would love my life, but if that isn't in my plan I want to work at a publishing company and be around creative people all day.

Know where your money goes. That is the most helpful piece of financial advice I have received. In college, the temptation to spend money is high due to all the fun activities there are to do. With the advice that I received in a high school personal financing class, I have been able to create a budget for myself. For each month I have a different budget due to what I am doing that month and I track where every dollar I spend goes. I find this to help me see where I am spending my money every month. Looking at my spending behaviors I can then adjust my budget each month based on what I spent and what I need for the next month. The personal finance class I took in high school taught me how to save, invest, and manage my money. I am know like said before implementing all these things I learned into my daily life; thriving to be more financially responsible each day. I have a log that I record all my credit card, debit card, and cash transactions on, this helps me analyze my spending at the end of every month and see where I spent most of my money (which is usually gas and food). Knowing where your money goes is extremely important and is a necessary aspect of life because if you do not know where your money goes then you could end up in a financial crisis that could cause an individual to have debt and no one want to have debt.

Peace is the freedom of disturbance; it is tranquility among people. The world is struggling with peace. There is a war among us beteween Russia and Ukraine. This is heartbreaking breaking, devastating, and tragic because helpless civilian lives are being threatened. People in Ukraine are waking up to the sound of bombs going off. There have been 200 deaths and over 1,000 injuries reported in this war already. This is in my opinion the biggest problem facing the world right now. I recognize that there are no true ways that we can solve this problem without making the situation worse which honestly brings tears to my eyes, but I pray that we can put an end to this war before more tragedy strikes. A way we can work on improving peace worldwide is a hard task, but as individuals, we can thrive for peace in our own lives. The dream would be that then the peace we create daily could lead to world peace. Social media is a powerful platform for spreading both positive and negative content. On TikTok I saw something beautiful, I saw Ukraine, Russia, and American students lifting their voices in prayer worshiping God together praying for peace among their countries. The bible says, “In peace, I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8). These students worshiping together as one not worried that they are different is how we can work on the problem of peace that we do not have right now.

Lyla, underwent ACL surgery her freshman year of high school, not only that she got an infection and had to have emergency surgery only a couple months after her initial surgery. Lyla is now playing varsity basketball as a junior in high school and she has inspired me my whole life but especially during this time in her life and now two years later, when I myself have underwent an ACL and Meniscus surgery and have had to have the strength and determination she once had to return back to basketball, and now I am trying to be like her in my own recovery. Lyla is my little sister, best friend, partner in crime, and my other half. Growing up, Lyla and I did everything together, from playing sports to playing barbies together. I am a freshman in college and being away from home and her has been extremely hard this year. I play on my college soccer team and 6 games into the season I went down in a game and tore my ACL and Meniscus then a month later I had surgery on my injury and ever since I have been going through recovery and seeing a physical therapits/athletic trainer twice a week as well as working out on my own still to try and get back into soccer shape so I can be ready for my sophomore season. The days that I struggle, I remember having to help Lyla and watch her grow on her own throughout her recovery journey and how I am just blest that she bounced back stronger than she once was and that she is simply alive because her infection could have potentially killed her f it would have gotten to her heart, but luckily it didn't, and I still have my best friend. Lyla is one of the strongest willed, spunkiest, determined person I know. I am so proud of her and the person she is becoming. Not only was her recovery inspiring to me then, and to me now that I am going through the same recovery, she also inspired me to be the best leader I can be. This basketball season she was voted captain and has demoted herself to playing in some of the junior varsity games to help the team that is made up of freshman get adjusted to high school athletics. I believe that this should inspire everyone because she did not have to volunteer herself to play down when she already had a varsity starting spot. This inspires me to try and help those girls on my own team to continue to grow and get better every time we either step in the weight room, on the field, or in the classroom. I want to always continue to build my teammates and others up just like my sister does and be the best teammate that I can be. Lyla will continue to inspire me everyday and I cannot wait to implement all the things she has taught me into my next season of soccer!