As a little girl I used to sit on my grandfather's lap and listen, wide-eyed, as he told stories of his time in the Navy on the aircraft carrier in Lake Champlain and as a police officer in inner-city Detroit. I dreamed of being just like him someday. Though the legends of his exploits were enough to make any young child develop the wildest sense of adventure, it was mainly his strength and leadership that made me admire him as one of the bravest and most admirable people I ever knew. To this day, my grandfather, the retired officer and Navyman (with the scars to show for it), remains a source of inspiration for me. Well into his eighties, he daily fights the toughest battle of his life as he tirelessly loves and cares for my grandmother who suffers from the hellish disease of dementia from which she has entirely lost touch with the deep love and trust that their marriage sustained for over sixty years. Every day he lives for her. I dream of being just like him someday. Though my strength has not been tested in the same ways as my grandfather, I have worked on being a leader like him since childhood. Here's some examples of how I display these traits in my everyday routine: Strong leadership and communication skills: My position as a leader in my university's Campus Ministry requires a lot of delegating tasks, communicating event plans, and making sure that all the sixty-some team members are on the same page for each event. Resilient: On a daily basis, resilience means working through the challenges of team members being sick or missing (you'd be surprised how often this happens on a college campus), events raining out (I live in Florida- there's lots of rain), and even just my own abilities failing me and having to admit when I need help. Unselfish: I want to totally give my life for others so that when I go to bed each night, the world is a better place than when I got up that morning. I do lots of volunteer work with pregnancy clinics, soup kitchens and food pantries and am part of a mentorship program. Focused/determined: It's easy to get distracted in the age of iphones and social media. I've learned to cut out things that don't matter (such as instagram and iced coffees) to save my time and my money and invest both towards what is truly important. I am determined to graduate with good grades and serve people both in college and afterwards, and I've made the decision to eliminate all the things from my life that make this goal less achievable. Strong work ethic: Sometimes I am surprised by how much my boss appreciates my work. I was raised to do every task to the best of my ability, and I always look for more to do in my job to help my boss out. To me that's just common sense, to my boss, it's hard-to-find strong work ethic. I am pursuing a degree in philosophy so as to understand what the greatest minds throughout history have taught about what it means to really live. My goal after graduation is to teach the next generation how to really live by instilling in them the value of hard work and sacrifice, the blessing that it is to be American, and the privilege it is to serve others. My grandfather taught me what it means to lead. Leadership means service and sacrifice. Leadership means laying one's life down. I dream of being just like him.

Going into the seventh grade, I had a picture in my mind of exactly who I wanted to be. I wanted to be popular, funny, smart (but not a know-it-all), and most importantly: I wanted to be a leader that everyone looked up to. I joined my school's theater program (like all the cool kids did), and tried my best to subtly make others want to follow me. This was my vision of leadership. Someone who has lots of followers and can get other people to do what she wants them to do. This didn't work out for me; my personality wasn't fun or boisterous enough to keep everyone's attention constantly transfixed on me. I quickly began to believe that because I was not the loudest, most noticeable in a room, I would never be a leader. Despite my desire to be in the spotlight, I realized in the eight grade that my skillset would best serve working as backstage manager. Next thing I knew, I was tagging along with the director at every rehearsal and being the one with the painful job of telling my fellow classmates to close their mouths and listen to the adults. I no longer had the luxury of goofing off with my friends and memorizing my lines last minute. Suddenly, I was responsible for knowing entire productions cover-to-cover and remembering exactly who goes where, when and with what. It wasn't flashy, and I didn't get to bow at the end, but in my own quiet way, I was a big reason that the show could go on every day. This is what I believe true leadership is. It is sacrificing your personal desires and taking up the role that is most needed in an organization. Without even trying to, my silent leadership made a lasting impact on my theater group. I left my troupe several years ago, but people still speak of "pulling a Bogan" whenever someone quietly takes command of a situation and leads by example instead of words. Through my experience in my theater group, I learned that leadership is not necessarily about making speeches or having followers. It is about recognizing an issue, and doing your best to take care of it. It is leaders like this who will always be remembered. My goal for my future is to pursue a career in foster care and adoption law; I want to make an impact on the world one child at a time. I intend to be a leader by finding where there are problems in our country's foster care and adoption system, and doing my best to fix them. For a long time, politicians, the "leaders" of our communities, have stood under the spotlight, making grand speeches about how they are going to make policies helping the children in our foster care system. Yet, despite all the promises, our system remains painfully broken, hurting children of all ages. I do not care about the gaining the limelight or tons of followers. I believe that my skillset will best serve by quietly finding the issues and fixing them.

I stare blankly at the unfinished practice test in front of me. Picking up my pencil, I force my mind to recall the long list of derivatives I have been attempting to memorize for my upcoming exam. Throwing my pencil down in frustration, I slump back into my chair. It's hopeless. I massage my pulsing temples with my fingertips to ward off an impending headache and glance around the room. My calculus notes are scattered all over the place. I watch in dismay as the various Greek symbols I can't seem to memorize begin floating off the page and circling around my head like so many annoying mosquitos, taunting me for not knowing what they all mean. "I need to get out of here." Grabbing my sandals, I race out the door and begin walking to goodness knows where. The dorms grow smaller and smaller behind me until they finally disappear from sight. With their disappearance, the overwhelming stress of my upcoming calculus exam begins to fade as well. Walking always helps clear my mind. When I walk, my brain can see that I am making progress, that I am actually getting somewhere physically even if my exhausted mind is unable to keep moving forward on the mathematical front. With the sun warming my face and the birdsong delighting my ears, my tired brain, now beginning to relax, is finally able to remember that the derivative of tangent is secant squared. Following my feet, I wander down to the grocery store, meander down aisle three, and somehow end up outside the store with enough flour, eggs, and sugar to make over 100 cookies. Oops... Lugging my goodies back to the common kitchen area, I begin studying for my Western Civilization final while cracking eggs and melting butter. As I beat egg yolks and measure out brown sugar, the anxiety of not knowing every single historical fact from Ancient Greece to the Cold War lessens. Baking always helps clear my mind. When I bake, my senses are filled with exciting stimuli. If I study while I'm baking, the memories of the historical facts get locked into my brain along with the concept that "chocolate is tasty." Somehow, it's easier to remember that Louis XIV was 'the Great' but Louis XVI was guillotined when I am stirring chocolate chips into dough. As I pop my first batch of cookies into the oven, I look out the window and see many fellow students with the same stressed out, 'if-one-thing-goes-wrong-I-will-snap' look that I'm sure my face was wearing only an hour before. When the first tray rolls out of the oven, I get a brilliant idea. As each subsequent pan of chocolatey goodness cools, I throw them into little bags and begin walking around campus, handing them out to my suffering companions. Making people smile always helps clear my mind. When smiles spread across people's faces and their eyes light up, I am reminded that a simple smile releases dopamine and serotonin; that there are 43 muscles in the face and at least 20 of them are used when a person smiles. It's much easier to study anatomy and physiology when I make people smile.

On the very first day of my calculus class my teacher asked us one simple question: "What does Calculus mean?" Naturally, we all started pointing out the cognates and guessing that it had something to do with calculating numbers. To add? To subtract? To multiply? To divide? We stretched all of our math knowledge to its limit simply attempting to discern the etymology of a word. It wasn't until the end of class after all of our guessing had been exhausted that our professor finally let us in on what it meant. "The word Calculus, means 'Little Pebble'." Little Pebble? At first it just confused me slightly, but as the year wore on and the concepts became more difficult, I began to be more and more shocked that whoever invented calculus saw it as just a little pebble. To me, calculus appeared as an unsurmountable mountain that I could never reach the top of. Every day, I would walk out of class with my brain aching and various Greek symbols dancing around in front of my eyes. And yet, despite its difficulties, despite the tears and the frustration, there is a certain beauty contained within all of mathematics. Like translating an ancient language, the depth of reality things opens up to you as you slowly toil your way through mathematical concepts. When one studies mathematics, one studies the metaphysical realities of the universe. The further one goes into the field of mathematics, the more pieces of the universe you begin to understand. If the Universe were to have a language, it would be mathematics. And those who take the time to study this language will always understand best what the universe is saying. Perhaps that is why Calculus, traditionally considered one of the most difficult and dreaded classes, is really just a Little Pebble. Because Newton understood that each area of math represents just the tiniest sliver of all there is to know about the universe. Why do I love learning math? Because math is the means by which the universe speaks to us. And even if I will never be able to learn all that is contained within the universe, at least I can study little pebbles of it.

"Never invest in something you don't understand." These words, taught by my loving father, have guarded me from many mistakes throughout my life. When I put money into the stock market, I only buy shares in companies that I understand their mission. When I opened my first IRA account, I ensured that I knew exactly what I was putting my money into. But this little tidbit of wisdom has not just impacted my financial stability, it has caused me to evaluate all areas of my life with this concept in mind. I never give my email to a website if I don't first understand its privacy policy. I try not to put food in my body if I don't understand the ingredients. And on an even deeper level, the idea of never investing in what I don't understand makes me thoroughly contemplate all of my important life decisions before I jump in. Do I fully understand the purpose of the college education that I am devoting four years of my life to? Should I invest my time and heart into this relationship if I don't even truly know the other person? I believe the most helpful advice we receive is often the advice that can be applied beyond just the category it was given in, to life as a whole. Because of my dad's powerful financial guidance, I will never make the mistake of wasting my money on things I don't understand, I will never fall prey to the fine print, and, perhaps most importantly, I will never commit my life, my faith, or my love to anything that falls short or fails to satisfy every single question that my inquisitive mind can conjure up.

My studying is messy and unfashionable... but it sure is effective! Instead of following the cute, organized study strategies that every YouTube video and its sister suggest, I have managed to find some of the weirdest, most chaotic ways to study. It's a well-known fact that music helps people study better. However, being the crazy person that I am, I take that a step farther by not merely listening to the music as I study, but instead making up my own music as I go! Many times, my roommates have had to suffer through my tone-deaf self, jamming out to some made-up song on my ukulele in order to memorize the dates of the Napoleonic Wars or which face muscles contract when you frown. (It helps if you frown as you sing the song.) Another rather brilliant strategy of mine (if I do say so myself) is to trick my brain into thinking that the topic I'm studying is actually relevant to everyday life. I often do this by going on long walks with classmates and discussing the things we're studying as if they're some hot topic of the day: "Ok, you have to keep this on the down-low, but Franklin D. is going to send a TON of troops to Normandy soon..." "Bro, literally what? That's crazy! Also, did you hear that Henry VIII and Catherine broke up?" Yep, my study strategies are not aesthetic or blog-worthy. But they seem to work just fine for me. I'm happy, my grades are happy, and my roommates... well, my roommates would probably be a little happier if I stopped plucking my ukulele and gossiping about some lady named Catherine the Great shagging a horse in the 1790s...

Bucket List: 1. Get Ready... 2. Get Set... 3. Go! When you get down to brass tacks, these three things really summarize all of my bucket list. I used to have a list of all the things I thought I "have to do" in order to live a fulfilled life. But as I grew, my list shrank. As my life became more complex, my goals became simpler. And finally, I realized that the person I want to be is someone who has been made ready, who is all set, and who will just GO when adventure knocks at the door! Get Ready: Little did I know it at the time, but this was the main task I achieved in high school. Whether it was learning communication skills through mending a broken relationship, improving kitchen abilities by cooking dinner, or learning the value of hard work by seeing that A+ on an exam, every painful, mundane, or challenging duty that I fulfilled helped pave the way for my future. I am ready. Get Set: As I continue my journey through college, I have realized that every day I can make choices that will set me up for success. I find myself utilizing my high school "readiness" to make connections with a professor, power through boring assignments, or take time from my crazy schedule to participate in activities that I love. The path that I am currently on is setting me up to live a life full of achievement and adventure. I am getting set. Go: Wherever life spits me out at the end of my college career, I know that I will have been made Ready by all that I have experienced, I will be all Set to succeed, and when adventure comes knocking... I will GO!

Although it caused me much pain in General Chemistry, my favorite scientific discovery has to be the Redox reaction. The applications of these reactions are incredibly varied, but there is one recent incident that is close to my heart in which the knowledge of redox reactions may have saved thousands of lives. This was the resolution of the devastating Flint Water Crisis. Ever since I was little, I have had a special place in my heart for the community of Flint, Michigan. When I was a child, my grandparents used to bring my cousins and I to volunteer in local soup kitchens. I remember driving through downtown, seeing signs for "Water Distribution Sites," and thinking that it all looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. At the food pantries and soup kitchens, people had to stock up on enough water bottles to get their families through the week- for drinking, for cooking, and sometimes even for bathing. This was the reality that the people of Flint had to live with- the reality I saw a city struggling under- until some brilliant minds realized that the good old Redox reaction could help to remove the lead and organic pathogens from the water system. Through the knowledge of the pH scale, precipitate formations, and Redox reactions, scientists were able to solve the lead crisis and the beautiful city of Flint could begin healing, one clean drop of water at a time!

As the fifth child in a family that is considered "huge" by most of the world, I have experienced a wide variety of encounters with strangers who have lots to say about the number of children my parents are "punishing the planet" with. Of course, there's always the typical eyes widening and heads popping over shelves to stare as a line of us walk politely behind my mom like little ducks in the grocery store. On special mall trips we'll often encounter some angry woman cussing my parents out in the food court, telling them that they're "ruining the planet" and "unable to control themselves." (Ma'am, I just want to get a soft pretzel...) But those experiences my family always laughs off as people just being people. The times that have actually gotten to me, the experiences that truly hurt, have all come from my peers. A teacher responding to me saying "I have 10 siblings" with "oh, you poor dear!" A friend from a theater company earnestly inquiring if I am "forced to spend time with my siblings." And then, perhaps worst of all: A well-meaning classmate genuinely asking me, "do you wish you had fewer siblings?" When this question was posed to me, I had no quick-witted or snappy response. I felt as though I had been hit between the eyes. All I could say was, “I don’t know, which one of my siblings do you think should never have existed?” Because that is essentially what is being asked in this question. And that is essentially what is being asked all around the world. “Which one of my brothers and sisters around the world do you think should never have existed?” This is why I am pro-life. Because when I look around this world- this beautiful, chaotic world- I see only brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters who were always supposed to exist. Not one of them is an accident. Not one of them is a mistake. Not one of them is a burden. And so, I have decided to dedicate my life to showing the world that every life is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). What started in middle school as just smiling at strangers in the supermarket and standing up to bullies on the playground has grown into a leadership position at for a campus-wide pro-life club that prays outside of Planned Parenthood every Saturday morning, volunteers with local community pregnancy centers, and brings hundreds of students to the National March for Life every year. However, these acts are not what I view as the most important thing I have added to the pro-life movement. Rather, it is the daily acts of love towards those around me that I consider to be my greatest achievements within the pro-life movement. Because when I look around this world- this beautiful, chaotic world- I see one “huge” family; I see brothers and sisters. And I want to make sure each of them knows that they always should have existed.

I don't know why I begged my parents to let me keep her. I'd never been an animal person till that point, and haven't been one since. When my brother brought her home from Taiwan where he'd found her abandon, something about her pulled my heartstrings. Keeping her was never on the table, but it was the boldest thing I've ever done. I wasn't prepared for all the hardships, but every second was an incredible adventure. Even as I walked her through the veterinary doors and held her for the last time my heart kept saying, "It was worth it."

Taiwanda was rescued after being abandoned as a puppy in Taiwan. These pictures capture her delight and joy as she experienced the first snow of Michigan's winter!