In my last year of middle school, the thought of being in high school, and eventually college would stress me out to extreme measures, and the fear of the unknown became a huge issue for me. Walking into my first English class of the school year only brought these fears back for me - and then my teacher walked in and introduced herself. From that point on, I had what I consider one of the best school years of my entire education. She inspired me to be a teacher because of her kindness and perseverance when teaching us. She would always approach us with compassion, always listened to our issues, and gave extra help whenever needed, a rarity with other teachers at the time. She was always willing to talk about anything. Still, she knew how to keep us engaged with the assignments, and fostered many of my present-day interests with how excited and animated she was. I talked to her a lot about my uncertainties regarding the future and she gave me some advice that I still remember to this day - to “take each day as it came and to always ask for help if I needed it”. Best of all, she genuinely believed in and encouraged us to strive towards our dreams. When we graduated, she wrote us each a goodbye card, and I read mine at least once a week. Seeing that a teacher had such a belief in my success had such a positive effect on my development and I want to make sure that future students feel the same way about their education. During my senior year of high school, I had an art teacher who made me feel the same way. I've always loved making art, which made me consider art education as a future career, but this teacher cemented the belief for me. I loved this class, for many of the same reasons as my eighth-grade English class - she was compassionate and treated us like people, instead of just another group of students to be tolerated. She would often let us eat lunch in her classroom and talk about college and life, lending her own perspectives and experience to the conversation. Her curriculum was so engaging because she was interested in it as well, and it actively showed how much she loved her job, despite the drawbacks. To me, being a teacher means making a positive difference for kids who are struggling with navigating the world and its troubles, and it means so much to me to achieve this dream. It would add so much fulfillment to not only my life but students who need a teacher like the ones I had - ones who listen, understand, and encourage you to do your very best in everything. The summer before I turned fifteen, I participated in a summer employment program offered by the city and run by the mayor, to teach us the ins and outs of the working world. The other participants and I all had to choose job sites around the city to work at, and looking through the options, I chose a summer camp based at a community center I attended when I was younger. From that summer on, I've been working at that same camp during the summer and the school year, and it helped me to put the things I was taught by these teachers to use both in and out of the classroom, and I love that working with kids in the afterschool program made it possible for me to help them succeed.

Throughout my life, my mother has always been in my corner. Helping me with homework, watching our favorite movies, taking me out to buy my prom dress, the list of experiences is nearly endless. Despite any of the disagreements we’ve had, she has always wanted the very best for me and my siblings, even if it means she has to give something up for it to happen. I do my best to make sure that the things I do make her proud. As the years go on, I begin to understand more and more about her, and it makes me both more grateful and much smarter about the decisions I make. This is mostly because she has always made a very big point out of making sure I learn from her mistakes. On her way to being the person that she is today, she's made a lot of choices, some that she regrets, and some that she views positively. What I love most about my mother is that she's always been very open with me about the things she's experienced in her life. Due to this, I often feel that I have a bit of a leg up on certain situations, and it makes me feel much more secure in my decision-making in nearly every aspect of my life. It's also helped me to understand where my mother comes from whenever we have disagreements, knowing that she just doesn't want me to make the same mistakes that she has. She's sacrificed so much to make sure that I'm happy and healthy, and it's something I've come to appreciate more and more. Another thing that I love about my mother is the talks that we have. While these often include the talks about avoiding her mistakes or being responsible, I love the times when we just talk about what's on our minds. It can be so helpful to just talk with someone about what you're feeling, or the things you're interested in, or your ideas and dreams with someone who will always do their best to understand. It's helped me more than I think my mother could even know, and it makes me so happy to know I have such a great relationship with her. I feel like I can tell her anything. It's a feeling that I only ever can replicate with my closest friends, and my mom is truly my best friend.

To me, my mental and health is the foundation for both my everyday life and my aspirations. With my health out of balance means that everything is out of balance: I might not be able to do coursework to the best of my ability, negatively interact with people, or take a hit to my self-esteem while feeling this way. Due to this, I value the upkeep of my mental health highly and make it a priority in all aspects of my life.  For example, during COVID, I had my own experience with what it feels like to have your mental health be challenged. I was in my junior year, and doing nothing but sleeping, snacking, scrolling, and attending classes/doing schoolwork. I would go for days without even stepping outside, let alone taking walks or getting exercise.  I felt so tired and hopeless all the time, and it took so much effort to do everything, even the things that I loved and genuinely wanted to do.  Needless to say, my parents became very concerned with my state and encouraged me to try and take care of myself better. Luckily for me, their support was enough for me to make some serious changes to how I was operating. While there is always room for improvement, I've started to value my health a lot more because I understand on a deeper level just how important it is for everything that I do.  I find that the biggest challenge I face while trying to maintain my health is my tendency to get lost in my work. I often work harder than I should, which often leads to me burning out and being in a similar place as my junior year. To avoid this, I have to make myself take breaks and prioritize eating proper meals, drinking water, and getting proper sleep. while it was difficult when I started it's become increasingly easy, and even something that I look forward to, because it makes me feel healthy and satisfied with how much I've improved. Due to my implemented methods of self-care, its also become very clear to me own interconnected our mental and physical health, and how they go hand in hand. When your mental health is bad, your physical health can often take a dip, and vice versa. In my own experience, not having the mental energy to do work also spread to not having the energy to take walks, eat, drink, and sleep properly, and my physical health was greatly impacted. It's become more important to me than ever to make sure that I keep myself in good shape mentally, because of how good it makes me feel, inside my head and the rest of my body.

To me, my mental and physical health is the foundation for both my everyday life and my aspirations. With my health out of balance means that everything is out of balance: I might not be able to do coursework to the best of my ability, negatively interact with people, or take a hit to my self-esteem while feeling this way. Due to this, I value the upkeep of both forms of health highly and make them a priority in all aspects of my life. After all, I've experienced degradation in both during different times in my life, and these experiences made me feel like I couldn't control anything, not even myself, and it was terrifying to me. I also find that they can easily affect one another. Having something as simple as a cold can put you in a terrible headspace, so it's understandable why having bigger health problems has such a detrimental effect on mental health.  For example, during COVID, I had my own experience with this symbiotic relationship between the two. I was in my junior year, and doing nothing but sleeping, snacking, scrolling, and attending classes/doing schoolwork. I would go for days without even stepping outside, let alone taking walks or getting exercise.  I felt so tired and hopeless all the time, and it took so much effort to do everything, even the things that I loved and genuinely wanted to do.  Needless to say, my parents and my doctor became very concerned with my state and encouraged me to try and take care of myself better. Luckily for me, their support and my test results were enough for me to make some serious changes to how I was operating. While there is always room for improvement, I've started to value my health a lot more because I understand on a deeper level just how important it is for everything that I do.  I find that the biggest challenge I face while trying to maintain my health is my tendency to get lost in my work. I often work harder than I should, which often leads to me burning out and being in a similar place as my junior year. To avoid this, I have to make myself take breaks and prioritize eating proper meals, drinking water, and getting proper sleep. while it was difficult when I started it's become increasingly easy, and even something that I look forward to, because it makes me feel healthy and satisfied with how much I've improved.

The summer before my last year of middle school, I was completely lost on the idea of the future. Thinking of being in high school, and eventually college would stress me out to extreme measures and the fear of the unknown became a huge issue for me. Sitting down in my English class on my first day only brought these fears back for me - and then my teacher walked in and introduced herself. From that point on, I had what I would consider the best school year of my entire education. She inspired me to be a teacher because of her kindness and perseverance when teaching us. She would always approach us with compassion, always listened to our issues, and gave extra help whenever it was needed, which became a rarity with other teachers at the time. She was always willing to talk about anything but knew how to keep us engaged with the assignments, and ended up fostering a lot of my present-day interests with how excited and animated she was about them herself. I talked to her a lot about my uncertainties regarding the future and she gave advice that I still remember to this day - to take each day as it came, and to always ask for help if I needed it. Most of all, she genuinely believed in us and encouraged us to strive and work towards our dreams. When we graduated, she wrote us each a goodbye card, and I read mine at least once a week. Just seeing that a teacher had such a belief in my success had such a positive effect on my development and I want to make sure that future students feel the same way about their education. During my senior year of high school, I had an art teacher who made me feel the same way. I've always loved doing art, which made me think of art education as a future career, but this teacher really cemented the belief for me. I had the time of my life in this class, for many of the same reasons as my eighth grade English class - she was compassionate and treated us like people, instead of just another batch of students to deal with. She often let us eat lunch in her room and talked with us about college, life, and our own issues, and her curiculuum was so engaging because she was interested in it as well, and it actively showed how much she loved her job, despite any of the drawbacks. To me, being a teacher means making a difference for the better for kids who are struggling with how to navigate the world and its troubles, and it means so much to me to achieve this dream. For me, this job is a dream come true, because it would add so much fufillment to not only my life, but students that need a teacher like the ones I had - ones that listen and understand and encourage you to do and be your very best in everything.

If I could only watch one movie for the rest of my life, I would choose Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service. From the first time I watched it, I knew that it would be a favorite of mine for years to come. On the surface, it appealed to a lot of my longstanding interests: fantasy and magic themes, amazing animation, and a comforting, feel-good ending. It (and many other movies from this studio) have been a childhood comfort movie for so many people across the world for these reasons, but the story goes even deeper. The movie follows the titular character, a witch named Kiki, as she goes through a tradition that requires her to leave home and find her own place in the world and her own “special skill." As she must face the difficulties of being on her own, she starts to struggle with her identity and the loneliness of her situation, despite the efforts of those who have tried to connect with her. As time goes on, the effects begin to spread to even her physical abilities, and she realizes that the problems will only get worse the longer she goes without addressing the root of her problems. After she stays with a friend of hers, they inspire her to push past this mental block to find a new purpose and regain the abilities that she lost, eventually leading to her saving someone that she cares about and, by extension, accepting the connections she’s been pushing away and truly feeling at home for the first time since she left. Watching this movie as often as I have has helped me realize the connections that I have to the struggles that Kiki herself goes through in my own endeavors, creative or otherwise. It can feel so hard to reach out and ask for help when you feel so alone, but it is so important to make connections with people, even if it feels hopeless. It especially resonates with me as someone who is worried about having to learn to navigate the world on my own. I think it’s also a testament to the impact that complete burnout can have on an individual. After having gone through a similar period myself, Kiki’s struggle became my go-to for describing how I felt during that time. It became hard to do things that weren’t previously so taxing for me to do, and even the things that I enjoyed doing, like art, became nearly impossible. Rewatching this movie often helps to motivate me to pull myself out of my slump and work on the things that bring me joy and help me achieve my goals. This movie is also about helping others by offering the advice and experience you’ve gained. While Kiki is trying to recover from her burnout and loneliness, she stays with a friend of hers, a painter named Ursula, who tells her she needs to find a new purpose and live her life right. It felt like reliving my eighth grade English class, listening to my teacher encourage us to keep working at achieving our goals and dreams as we went into high school. To this day, she’s had such a profound effect on me, and it made me want to be just like her and the other amazing teachers I’ve had, giving help and guidance to students who need it. Overall, I feel like it’s a testament to putting in the work for yourself and learning how to balance both the responsibilities and positive experiences involved with growing and learning as a person.