I define success as meeting the goals you set for yourself. Meeting your standards and not focusing on another's standards allows you to grow. What offsets me from my peers is my dedication to my current school work and my future. Although I do not shame my peers for not having a clear idea, that is what makes me different. I chose to take the initiative early to figure out what career path I wanted to go down. I believe this will allow me to get a jumpstart on my life after college. That way, I can get interned earlier, get a job earlier, and be successful earlier instead of later. I am afraid of waiting too late to be where I want to be in life, hence why I started taking the initiative so early. Some people think being an overachiever is a bad thing. As an overachiever, you may win a lot more challenges or competitions than others due to your ability to go beyond expectations. This causes jealousy and hatred toward the overachiever. I believe if everyone used one similar success as a motivation to be better, being an overachiever can be an example setter and not a negative trait. If you look at people's overachieving and use that as a guide to your success, you are more likely to be ahead of your game.

In my school, we have a Youth Guidance program called BAM (becoming a man) and WOW (working on womanhood). The counselors that run these programs are younger, relatable, and even look like me. This program has taught me affirmations of how to love myself, and it has connected me with new friends. I think Every school should be required to have a youth guidance program that allows students to step out of their comfort zone and be able to talk about what troubles them. Urban communities, especially those with high crime rates, need more after-school programs. This could potentially reduce crime rates in the youth because they are too involved with extracurriculars. I would start an after-school program that tends to students who need additional support, or an escape place. This program could be a space where the person could talk to professionals who look like them and can relate to them, about any at-home or personal issues. I would also provide different activities to get the kids involved in that would reduce the overwhelmness they might feel. I would also offer additional help with college and scholarship opportunities. I think the program could also give out around $500-$1000 in scholarships each to a couple of seniors each year who demonstrate leadership and determination. I say all of this because if you can get the students involved in a lot of fun activities while rewarding them for their accomplishments, you can potentially reduce their mental health issues.

The millennials and Gen-Zs have the responsibility of restoring the broken pieces that have been left behind for centuries. We are responsible for immoral behavior, impractical decisions, and an unjust society that we as well as our ancestors formed. The Greatest Generation has fought in wars with other countries and fought wars within our own country. No matter what the problem is, the Greatest Generation just wants us to resolve their errors. At some point, the blame does stop at them and falls on us. But when does that blame stop? We as the younger generation can decide when enough is enough. But, is every person a part of the Greatest Generation trying to improve today's generation for the better? Nature vs Nurture is seen as a hugely controversial topic. Is a child whose parents believe that one race is the superior race over all others going to take after the trait of their parents at birth, or is this something the parents will teach them as they grow in age? Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents have set the foundation for what our society is today. We as the new generation use their geriatric ways either to exceed or digress. The young adults or teenagers who choose to fault their ancestors for all the flaws in our society today could be considered ignorant about their actions. At some point as an adolescent, you begin to understand your thoughts and mistakes. At some point, you can decide whether or not something you are being taught is moral to your values and others or not. While everyone has the right to their own opinion, that also stands for that opinion has to be harmless to other people. Now, I say that to provide an example of racial discrimination as well as religious discrimination. Although you may not agree with a certain race or religion because of previous disagreements with select individuals, it does not make it right for you to physically harm a person, as well as cyber. We have witnessed the Black Lives Matter protest turn brutal and violent over the last few years. We have also seen yet another rise in police brutality. I don’t want it to be mistaken that these things are new subjects being brought up, but they are subjects that are now being brought to the spotlight. Social media has become the most uncensored stage for everyday reality for over a decade now. We can see everything that not only our community does, but millions of other communities. This makes it much harder to conceal certain information or beliefs because once something is put onto the internet, it is almost impossible to get it off. As soon as you post an “accidental” picture online, within seconds someone could have already viewed it, screenshotted, or screen recorded and shared it with someone else. I say that to say, that when news reporters and/or social media influencers post inaccurate information online, a lot of people will take that information and run off to the sunset with it. When I say inaccurate information, I refer to factually incorrect information. I've spoken with my grandmother and she also agrees that the amount of information that is being put onto the internet today is more than doubled the amount of information she had access to during her times. You are more likely to get millions of people to believe fish can walk on land today than you would have maybe thirty-plus years ago. If we as the millennials and gen-zs believe everything we see on social media, we have already failed ourselves as a generation. We will only just continue to build the path to destruction for generations to follow. The rendezvous with destiny needs to happen sooner than later if we want to provide a safer environment and a well-kept nation. It is not fair to continue to pile on mountains and rocks for the generations to come simply because we can not control our society today. Instead of carrying out generational curses, we have to become accustomed to breaking them for the future. Our generation has reached or currently reaching the age where change is accessible to one's ability. Major change can happen within our politics, communities, and schools. The list can go on forever, however, we have to start somewhere that will give us a boost off the ground. The next Greatest Generation can and will be us.