Original: "Lorsque je danse, je danse; quand je dors, je dors, et quand je me promène solitairement en un beau verger, si mes pensées se sont entretenues des occurrences étrangères un part de temps, une autre part je les ramène à la promenade, au verger, à la douceur de cette solitude et à moi." Translation: "When I dance, I dance; when I sleep, I sleep. And when I take a solitary walk in a beautiful orchard, if my thoughts have been occupied with external matters for part of the time, for the other part, I bring them back to the walk, the orchard, the sweetness of this solitude, and to myself." This is an excerpt from “Les Essais”, written by Michel de Montaigne in one of the 3 books he produced. Montaigne’s work heavily analyzes self-reflection. He felt that was a limit of knowledge analogous to what the Egyptian God Thoth’s views that humans simply couldn’t know everything, else their heads would explode. Montaigne was introspective and understanding, in ways that few others could understand the way that I do. When we engage in mundane activities, we permit our minds to wander. This can be a great thing, the boredom might force your brain to work in more legitimate or promising ways. However it may defeat the purpose of the task. For someone like him to believe his task is rendered useless by his all-consuming thoughts, means he must have been having some important thoughts. When we sleep, the cerebrospinal fluid in our backs will clean our brain and renew us for the next day. When we exercise, it should be purely to engage the body and allow the production of endorphins to develop. And sometimes it is best to leave it at that. More importantly, he chose simple and pure acts of man. This characterizes someone who is carefree and in tune with their body but based off of his philosophical nature, this poses a juxtaposition. Montaigne was never a simple man. (He kept a human skeleton and would even speak to it in his office!) As opposed to ruminating in our thoughts and torturing every potential scenario where things could have been better. Montaigne was surprisingly advanced for having written this in the sixteenth century. These are my immediate observations, but just as he delved deeper with his introspection, I would like to expound on some of the symbolism in this excerpt. Why an orchard? In sixteenth century France, roses were a popular flower. The fleur-de-lis was a prominent symbol in France. Orchards meant tranquility, prosperity, abundance, and fertility. All themes that can be easily tied to this passage. In his essay “De L’institution des enfants”, he once again taps into the symbolism of the orchard but instead metaphorically analyzes growing minds and how they must be cultivated carefully. Montaigne constructs his work with a rhythmic and repetitive structure "je danse, je danse; quand je dors, je dors" to emphasize the act of being fully present. It’s incredibly clever and is almost akin to figurative speech without outright being one. The repetition highlights the simplicity and purity of engaging fully in each activity without distraction. This rhythmic quality creates a meditative tone, mirroring the mindfulness he advocates. I also would like to point out that he starts off saying the same task twice, and the second task he mentions, he says ‘quand’. ‘Quand’ is a more versatile French word mostly used for time. ‘Lorsque’ is a formal or precise word to indicate this exact moment. So why the variation? Well, to start off the excerpt (this is someone who would write for Royals) he must start off formally. He must encapsulate the framework of his writing and embody his character. But once you have engaged and encouraged his writing, he lessens his tone and starts from scratch. I could analyze Montaigne’s work all day long and always get something new from it. That is how much adoration I have for his mind. Furthermore, to dance is to move. To move is to have bones, blood, and kinetic energy. I believe that the dancing aspect is that of life. I find the two highly comparable, and we start off with life. There is no predecessor to life for it is all that we can know. Sleep can intricately represent either the final act of letting go, or resting in permanent solitude. Sleep can be death. Followed by the metaphorical garden of Heaven, or whichever afterlife that you choose to evoke in your mind. I don’t believe this incidental, but he chose to depict a circle of life and express it in a liberating way. Then after all this, after this illustration where each word represents a life cycle stage, we are reintroduced to the walk. After one has walked through the beautiful orchard, he or she is met again with the beginning. Perhaps he was imagining resurrection, or maybe this was a way of recentering his work and demonstrating the irony of wanting to compose your thoughts, only to be met with the distractions of outside life. We will never know what Montaigne was thinking when he wrote this. Albeit, there are some clues to clarify this. Allow me to explain. I would also beg to question the excerpts that came directly before and afterward to this one. Just before this passage, Montaigne poses the question on ‘where to draw the line’ of human knowledge and where wisdom comes from. What is wisdom made out of? Where do you get it? In a direct manner, we have neurons, synapses, and experience. But Montaigne, perhaps in his discussions with his beloved skeleton, believes that you cannot read wisdom. There is no written text that would curate and embellish your neurons to suddenly have ancient knowledge. You must live, you must dance, and you must sleep to attain it. After this passage, the following excerpt narrows in on solitude. He advises to live right now, to dismiss the distractions of others, and to embrace your inner thoughts. There is a beauty in living simply and meaningfully. Through this lens, he was able to write about some of the most intense and even taboo topics known to man. Montaigne had a pet monkey who he kept in his study and would often keep as some sort of ‘muse’. I bring this up to show you the form of vast self-exploration his works contained. Perhaps his exotic pet was the way his mind could grapple and come to terms of the existence of humans and how we have evolved. The ubiquitous nature of his work is expounded by themes of morality, questions on knowledge and curiosity of death. Simple tasks can provide such great pleasure and maybe that is what life is really about. I hope that this excerpt will resonate with you, and that if you find something uniquely beautiful that you'll share your annotations. Thank you for reading my essay.

"Know that it's for the better." I like to remember this. I stick by it because no matter what happens to you, there is always a lesson to be learned. You will never be weak so long as you are breathing. There is a piece of information scrambled in this event that you were destined to find. Things will not always proceed as you'd like, but always as they must. My path from the beginning to becoming a commercial pilot has not been a clear-cut road. I graduated high school early, homeschooled, and then I studied. I never stopped studying. To do this day, I do everything I can to get a scholarship so that I can become a commercial pilot. I passed my private check-ride on January 2, 2023, then my instrument check-ride on June 4, 2023. My commercial check-ride is in less than two months and I plan on passing with flying colors. The challenges I've had to overcome are a lack of funding. I have not received any scholarships for financial aid. I have applied to over 100 scholarships on Bold.org. Sometimes I am a finalist, but I have never won. Unfortunately, flight training is not the most affordable profession. I've had to overcome studying until midnight reading about all the types of hypoxia, and asking for my brother to please turn down the television for hours so I could finally study for my written exam (I got a 90%). I've had to drive in the pouring rain for two hours to get to my lesson, read a textbook that they only had as a nine-hundred-page PDF until I could understand every nook and cranny, and make so many flashcards that I ran out of them. I will do whatever it takes to be educated. This means too much to me. I want to make a positive impact by encouraging others to study the way that I do. I intentionally study with the women pilots at my school to help them. I promised one girl who was a bit older than me and struggling with GPS systems that I would help her, and two weeks ago, she became an instrument-rated private pilot! I will always help women become educated, it is their right to have another girl supporting them. I plan on impacting STEM by helping women and minorities in their education. After getting my Certified Flight Instructor certification, my goal is to facilitate education for people like me struggling to find the funding and supportive instructors that would have made a difference. My current instructor comforts me after my flights and tells me that I am consistently more confident and learning quickly. More than anything, I want to fund the training for at least one student like myself early on in their training. I want, whoever she is, to have the privilege of education. I want to be a part of that. Thank you for taking the time to read my essay. I appreciate your consideration.

In my sophomore English class, my literature teacher posed a hypothetical asking if we could communicate with minimal language. We were reading ‘1984’ by George Orwell at the time and he was asking why the protagonist could not effectively explain words like ‘corruption’ and ‘overthrow’ when realizing his entire life was a dystopia. One girl raised her hand to explain that if she started crying or having a manic episode we could understand sans her narration. Though I never raised my hand throughout high school, this argument resonated with me. I believe that in simple terms, yes, we could communicate simple emotions. We have foreshadowing and body language and emotional intelligence. However, the government stole the most important right of the public in 1984. They stole the right to produce ideas. One of the most disturbing scenes, in my opinion, is one where an older character that is described to be ‘wise’ claims that the destroying of words is beautiful. It eerily reminded me of burned books in World War Two. There is nothing beautiful about destroying words. Knowledge is the one thing that can never be taken from you, as my mother used to say, which is a double-edged sword. The privilege of knowledge can be taken from you, and so can the privilege of not being manipulated or misled. But the knowledge itself is the sincerest gift. Though admittedly I did not enjoy high school in the slightest, I liked this moment because it drove me to think. It made me realize how much I must appreciate the ability and privilege to have complex thoughts. More importantly, it was one of the few discussions that I thought were even slightly engaging. As a female interested in science, I think it is incredibly important to have the ability to produce ideas. It is what the government cannot deprive you of. I love reading. I love studying. I love understanding science. Just this morning I memorized a diagram of how the retina in the eye uses light-sensitive cells which are then sent through the optic nerve to the brain and produce an image. I have the gift of the pursuit of knowledge. And I am grateful to be a curious-minded person who wants to grasp more. 'Engineering' is a broad term. It means to create, to understand, to enable. I want my future to be filled with science and various technologies and that is what makes me feel in power.

Gamers typically use short language. They typically use more vulgar speech. They usually are more liberal thinkers. And yet there is this barrier in communication that is guarded by a pixelated screen. It can be addicting, the same way the majority of the internet can be. What would you say if no one was watching? Would anything change? This ambiguous quote can mean anything. But to me, I sense that you are realizing a difference in how people communicate depending on how they are communicating, and more importantly what they can be associated with. I must confess I don't participate in many online gaming forums. But I will say that my personality does slightly change. There is a certain liberation with not having to reveal your identity. I realize my conversations are described as more talkative than the way I am in real life. I believe there is a bit of psychological effect here. I can hide. I have a bit of a mask even though these are letters are mind and indicate my education. I feel more comfortable and can establish a lot kore of a relationship online than in person. Social norms have not dissipated per se, but they have notably changed. There are ways that it has worsened. Human beings interpret tone and body language which is discarded when speaking online. What will this do to a developing brain? Can you hear frustration ina person's voice? Can you hear them mumble to themselves or notice their lack of trust in you? I think it would be fascinating to track the minds of young people growing through social forums as opposed to those who have no access to it. Who is capable of socializing better? Or, alternatively, does the person who communicates virtually much more often end up developing a super human ability to understand tone and body language through text? Can they read sarcasm where others would only hear or see it? How about if they can sense a certain indescribable 'vibe' over the internet that their friend is upset? What if their malleable brains end up creating a more efficient way to communicate? I find this an interesting quote to think about. I beg the question, why specifically online gaming forums? It is undoubtedly a very modern way of socializing and is worthy of investigating the long-term effects of. I appreciate the time you took to read this essay.

Bessie Coleman. Though she died in 1926, she is influential in my life. I remember learning about Amelia Earhart in first grade and being impressed. Coleman lies closer to my heart. She was denied the possibility of educating herself in the United States, which led her to get her education in France. She took French classes at night to prepare herself for the exams. Her work paid off, and she graduated from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. But the accomplishment does not end there, she specifically advocated against racism and refused to participate in any aerobatics shows with segregated seating arrangements. She was much more impressive to me than Amelia Earhart, due to also being black and Native American. I made my historical project about her in sixth grade, shortly before the time when I was becoming fascinated with flight. My father works at an airline and I had the privilege to travel a lot in my youth, engendering my obsession with visiting obscure places in the United States. I thought about going a similar route as her because the earliest aviators were French. Parts of the aircraft like ‘fuselage’ or ‘aileron’ are French words that would only further my education if I could fully understand the language. Not to mention, it’s one that I adore. I’m enamored by how liberal her life was. She met an unfortunate end due to aircraft safety, and that is why it is such a regulated part of flight today. Aircraft documents, inspections, takeoff briefs, radio clearance. I want to leave an impact like her. I want to be a successful, well-versed, knowledgeable airline pilot like Bessie Coleman. I want to be a young pilot with illuminating vacations to talk about. The temporary goal at the moment is to introduce my little brother to the field and take him on a flight with me after receiving my license in a few months. Coleman taught me to be incredibly perseverant. There were days when I had to do six hours worth of online courses after a day of training. I had to get more comfortable with driving by driving eighty miles each day to reach the training center after having just learned to drive. I had to memorize specific speeds and procedures to have my recent favorite memory, flying the aircraft by myself. Coleman stopped at nothing and moved to an entire continent to have her dream. She is well-respected in the aviation community by pilots placing wreaths on her grave on the anniversary of her death.