As I have gone through high school there has been one aspect of life that has been a continuous line of my experience, the importance of a shared community. A community that is not only built on the ties within it but as well as shared experiences that a common group of people can bound over. As I have realized the importance of this value it has also made me realize that in order to foster an environment that promotes shared experiences then we must take care of the aspects of our community that require service. The primary way I have acted upon this realization is by joining clubs at my school that have a focus on community service as well as looking for opportunities outside the school. Starting my sophomore year I became members of clubs like ASB, National Honors Society, and Future Business Leaders of America in order to further my goal of servicing my community. Through ASB I have helped create shared experiences in my community, particularly my school community, by assisting in coming up and seeing through ideas for various assemblies, spirit weeks, dances, and other social events that have allowed people in my community to connect with each other. I have also had the opportunity in ASB to have a broader impact in my community through working at events such as elementary school's field days and carnivals as well as helping host events at the school that are meant for the broader community such as trick or treat nights. NHS has also allowed me the privilege of community outreach and support through my assisting of food drives, planting trees, and promoting a litter free school environment through community works and ad campaigns. In my school's chapter of NHS I was able to advance all the way to the position of vice president which allowed me to be more directly involved with our community service projects such as planning how we are going to advertise things such as our food drives. I have also had the opportunity though FBLA to be the one responsible for our chapter having a park we officially adopted and our committed to take care of monthly. Outside of school I volunteer with the Southwest Humane society where I help take care of and walk the dogs there and make sure they receive the support necessary. It has been truly incredible to see how these efforts when big enough can truly be a connective force in our community that makes life generally better for everyone involved and impacted. Seeing the effect of what we do truly motivates me more and more every day to continue to serve my community and strengthen the bonds within it. As I move into the next stage in my life, I will be sure to keep what I have learned about the value of working towards a stronger community built up on shared experiences. I will use this knowledge to do what I can to make the new community of the college campus I am entering a better place and to ensure that I am a valuable member of it. The best thing about community service is that it acts as a strong vibration when done right. A vibration that can be felt by many and encourages them to find their own ways to help the people around them, thus further strengthening our community. It will be one of my main goals in college to help continue to create these vibrations so that my college community can be better for it.

One of the earliest memories I have is my family being torn apart by my mother's drug addiction. It was a random day when I was 5 and before I knew what was happening I was at my uncle's and told we can't go back to the house. But then it was what happened after that has helped me achieve my dreams. My father did not give up, he knew he had to be there for me and my sister. He knew that he had to do the best he could with his job at Trader Joe's to support us. I can proudly say that is exactly what he did. The time after the divorce and not being able to see my mom for awhile was a deeply confusing and hard time for my entire family. But there was never a period during it where I felt I couldn't rely on my dad. I truly do not know how he was able to stay so strong for us. There were times of great struggle, bouncing between our relative's houses and trying to find an apartment for all of us. We never went hungry though and we never went unloved. Everyday the sacrifices my dad made and the courage he displayed inspires me. He will forever be my reminder to never give up on my goals and that I have a duty to the things that I commit myself to. But most importantly of all is he showed me that no matter what you must try your best to support those you care most about. To be kind and caring in the face of great hardship, not bitter and cold. As I now begin to move into the next monumental stage in my life it is more important than ever to remember these values. College will be an entirely new can of worms with it's own unique hardships and challenges. But no matter what I face when I get up there I will never forget my dad and I will do it all with a smile on my face. I will do it all while I try my hardest to uplift those around me. I will do it all while I make sure those closest to me know I love them and will always be there to support them. My dad is by far the greatest man I know and if I do what I believe will honor his legacy, than I know what I am doing is right. I would not be half the person I am today if not for my dad and how he made sure we were okay when times got rough.

There was a day in my childhood that presented me with the challenge that would one way or another influence the rest of my life. A day of sudden upheaval, a day I had no warning or expectation was coming. Why would an individual with children, a husband, and a good household let a drug addiction be the reason she squanders it all away. What in the first place could've driven the reasoning of taking actions of obtaining and abusing the substances that led to addiction in the first place? How can the brain ever reach such a state where it can in any way see these actions as rational? As I pondered these questions growing up it made me come to an incredibly important realization, this is what happens when you lose agency over your life. My mother let self-destructive hedonistic desire dictate her life when I was a child because giving up control was easier than taking responsibility. So I vowed to myself not to fall into the same mistakes. To not let this serve as a setback but instead as a driving reminder. A reminder to do better because I have seen what can happen if you do not. When you chose the let go you may unwillingly hurt those you care about and not only fail them but fail yourself. You chose to rob yourself of untapped potential and leave yourself further back than where you started. I know I can't allow this to happen so everyday I challenge myself. I chose to take the hardest courses available at my school. I chose to go on challenging outdoor adventures and hikes. Because I know that is how the greatest version of myself is formed and not one who opts for the destructive carefree path of no accountability. The questions I pondered growing up also influenced greatly my interest in the field of study I am hoping to go into. I hope to study neuroscience in part to learn more about the brain works and try to understand more about why my mother did what she did as well as those like her. I hope to use this knowledge I gain to find ways to keep others from falling down that path at all. But also find ways to show those who have gone down that path that there are pathways of recovery and rehabilitation. The greatest disservice possible to yourself is forgetting that you must bear the full culpability of your actions.

The first step in dealing in bridging the massive gap of mistrust that has been created through over a hundred years of oppression and marginalization is acknowledging the issue for what it is, deeply systemic. A popular acronym has been coined in the Contemporary wave of black lives matter activism, ACAB. Well the phrase "All Cops Are Bastards" may initially seem like a harsh generalization, it is important to not take the literal meaning but what the spirit of the message is trying to say. The system that develops the police force is ontologically flawed and therefore all those produced by that system are inherently flawed as well. Historically black communities are majorly overpoliced and they are disproportionately targeted by malicious practices such as stop and frisk. So the first change to the system is seemingly simple, train cops out of this bias, or better vet those who are selected into the program to catch this malicious biases early on. Another systemic changed that must be made to rectify mistakes made in the past is to free those who were incarnated for charges under laws that no longer exists anymore. This is particularly relevant to drug possession laws, more specifically marijuana, that have been used to disproportionately target African American communities. There is as well a glaring issue of accountability that exists within the police system. Often as a consequence of an abuse of their power cops are only punished by a proverbial slap on the wrist. The powers of qualified immunity and police union contracts have to be weakened. Fear in the consequences of misusing the great power entrusted into these individuals who are meant to protect our community must be reinstated. As protectors of the community it is also greatly important that personal relationships are developed by these officers and the people they are meant to look over. The problem stems from how many officers now define their roles in society, they seem themselves as enforcers of peace rather than protectors of it. A change in definition that leads to much more reactive action rather than proactive action. As a result police have become much more aggressive and proactive, once again disproportionately in African American communities. So that is why it is important for these police officers to establish these real connections, to consistently stay within the same areas or neighborhoods. It is because the only cure to bias is empathy and empathy is able to be established when officers and members of the black community can mutualistic understand that they need not be afraid or think less of each other because they know each other to be human. I believe that through proper radical change in how we train police and who we chose to be police, and fundamental changes to how police work is carried out, there is hope to mend relations and create a more empathetic society.