Growing up, I was always active and playing different sports. I participated in a variety of sports from karate to football; and as I got older, the higher competition required lifting and training on the side. Even though I no longer play a sport in college, exercising still remains a huge hobby and prominent part of my schedule everyday. For me, exercising acts as a de-stressor from the aggravating things in my life like piled up work or difficult projects. My hobby also acts as a challenge in my life, and allows me to always strive to improve and lift more, run faster, or to eat healthier. There are really no negatives as it always keeps me healthy and active, both physically and mentally; and gives me a chance to be alone and reflect on the things in my life.

I usually get stressed out with a large work load and the intimidation it brings from knowing how long I’m going to be working on it. But I have found many things that help me deal with this stress, the most helpful being hanging out with friends and even a quick nap. Going out to grab a quick bite to eat, or even watching an action packed movie with my friends allows me to completely clear my mind and put aside the workload for a couple hours. This helps me relax when the stress builds up to much and begins to be all I can think about. Similarly, I find taking a quick nap to also allow me to forget about the stress for a while as I allow my mind and body to relax. I tell myself to start working on the assignments after the quick nap, which also helps with the difficult task of attacking the workload and not simply putting it to the side.

Treat others the way you want to be treated. This is the Golden Rule they my town schools would teach me since kindergarten. It’s a simple rule, yet a rule not everyone is able to follow. I even find myself unconsciously wavering from it at times. But still, I always attempt to treat others with empathy by taking a second to think about something I’m about to say to someone and asking myself, “is this offensive and can this be hurtful to them?” There is a general way to follow this rule without thinking too much about it. It is to simply be kind to everyone no matter their race, culture, or status. This way a cycle of positivity will continue on after your kind words, and might even circle back to you in the future. Being rude to others only makes people angry and miserable, and if you wouldn’t want to feel that way then what would make you want to cause others feel this way.

I find that there are two things that currently fuel my life and they are my goals, and my friends. I have an over arching goal of becoming a film director when I’m older; but as I see it, it’s the little goals that keep me going. Becoming a professional director is to large of a goal to grasp right now and with this goal alone, I would probably lose hope easily. But with my little goals to get me there, I make small progress with achievements I can grasp every now and then, whether that be working on a project on the side, or turning in the week’s homework assignment. I’m a big believer in setting goals and eventually before I know it, I will be at my end goal by meeting these small goals along the way. Secondly, my friends fuel my life by bringing me happiness and a chance to relax and escape from a life if only work. My friends keep me sane by just knowing there are people around me who care for me and my career. They help me get through the tougher times in film, always giving me feedback and critiquing my work when we collaborate together. But most importantly, they make me laugh which always makes my day and allows me to attack my work load on a more positive note.

Growing up, I have always wanted to become a professional athlete. I was always set on taking STEM classes and then heading to practice after school, knowing that it would be one of the other in the end. But one year in high school, I required one more elective to complete my schedule, and all the science courses were already completed. So, I decided to branch out into a creative course with film production. This is where I found I enjoyed working creatively much more than I did scientifically. On top of beginning to take film production, my friends were also a huge influence on my goal of becoming a film director. At my town, we have an annual film festival where all my friends would make films over the year to showcase to the entire town. I never entered before because I had always been so busy with my sports after school. But after taking my first film class and seeing my friends films for the first time, I knew I wanted to be a part of this field and do the same thing. So I continued to take film classes throughout the time I had left in high school, as well as join my friends in making a short film for the film festival the following year. I found myself to be having more fun than seeing it as work to be done.

My goal for the future is to become a film director and screenwriter for a famous production company like Paramount or Disney. I have already started my journey by applying to film school and being accepted as a film major at Syracuse University, one of the top film schools in the country. On top of my film classes, I am getting on set experience by reaching out to the upperclassmen and working on their sets over the weekends. Additionally, I plan on becoming an intern over the summer break to gain even more experience on a more professional level, as well as build my resume for when I am ready to apply for jobs after I receive my Bachelors Degree. While at the University, I am currently working on building my own brand as well as collaborate with different artists to see who I could possible work best with in the future. Once I graduate, I will consider applying for a graduate degree in film; or head right into the workforce as a member on set, while working on my own ideas and scripts on the side.

In order to support equality and diversity, I educated myself through classes about the things society does to hinder it, as well as things we can do as a community to heighten it. In my class, I learned about the attitudes that don’t allow the growth of equality and diversity, so that I can become more aware of it in my own actions as well others’ actions. We learned about topics such as microaggresion and in implicit bias, which thought me that sometimes things like racism and prejudice can be unconscious behavior due to the way society has raised us. On top of correcting my own biases, I also learned how to promote equality and diversity by accepting and encouraging the input of people from different cultures and backgrounds in order to create a wide variety of ideas and beliefs in my own community. The class also taught how a judgement free zone can create a safe and comfortable environment both in and outside of the classroom for people of different races and cultures to express their own backgrounds without feeling oppressed by mainstream society.

I have always been a big dreamer, and usually, my goals are far out there and difficult to achieve. Nonetheless, once I have my mind set in a goal, it is very difficult for me to waver off of it and not see it through. I am a film major a Syracuse University, and ever since high school, my dream has been to be a professional screenwriter and director for large production companies like Paramount or Disney. I was inspired by the movies I saw growing up, especially the fantasy ones like Harry Potter and Marvel movies. These movies made the impossible possible, with dragons and superheros brought to life in front of my very own eyes. This made me want to bring my own dreams and visions alive for everyone else to see and experience, just as my favorite directors did with their movies. I hope I can also inspire the next generation of filmmakers one day to bring their own visions to life as well.

As a person on the more anti social side, transitioning to college meant leaving old friends behind and entering into a new and different environment all alone. I made it one of my top priorities the first semester to really try and put myself out there by introducing myself to new and different people, as well as join various clubs and organizations in order to build my own brand. This proved to be very frightening and very challenging to head into since throughout high school I lived comfortably with the same friend group and routines. But as I forced myself to speak up to others, I noticed myself striking fun and interesting conversations, as well as finding many similarities with people I normally would never have talked to. Before I knew it, I had a whole new friend group that supports me with everything I do, as well as a bunch of new clubs I joined like a student run film production club on campus. If I hadn’t been bold, and continued to live in my anti social shell, I would’ve missed the opportunity to make new friends and actually have more fun in college.

I feel one of the most important morals is to be grateful for what you have instead of being greedy and never satisfied, always asking for more. Back when I was little, I would always be wanting more toys, more clothes, or more expensive gifts in order to bring me happiness. This habit was heightened during celebrations like Christmas or birthdays where I would only look forward to getting new things to entertain me. But as I began college and started living of my own funds, I began to realize the value of a dollar, and how I couldn’t afford to waste any on the wants in life. I became more and more satisfied with the things I already had, until I barely thought about wanting anything new to add to my collection. This satisfaction brought a strong awareness of my privilege, and made me realize how lucky I was to have necessities like clothes, food, and a roof over my head: somethings that aren’t necessarily guaranteed for many people in the world. This gratitude for the simplicity in my life brought even more gratitude towards other aspects of my life, like my family, my friends, and a good education. I now no longer see the holidays as a chance to get new gifts, but instead as a chance to spend time with the ones I love and don’t get to see as often anymore. I believe it is very important to strive for more success in life, but I also believe it to be important to be grateful for where you are with what you have in your life now.

I believe in a world with so many problems and so much suffering, it is our obligation to look out for one another, even if it be a total stranger. I find myself committed, or at least attempting to be selfless because I know if I were suffering the same problem that I would want the help and generosity of others. The key to being selfless is to simply be kind and have empathy. I’m a university student at Syracuse University, and in the city there are usually homeless people begging for money from people who just ignore and walk by. I try to show kindness by striking a conversation with these homeless people and buy them a cup of coffee or something to eat since it gets so cold in the winter, and they’re outside for long periods of time. I feel just the simple acknowledgement as a human being can bring happiness sometimes when people find themselves alone in this world.

I believe the meaning of life is to enjoy everyday and to love and be loved. I try to achieve this by surrounding myself with people who lift me up as well as always keep me busy.