I have thoroughly enjoyed the books The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonido (formerly Sonora) Reyes and This Night is Ours by Ronni Davis, having read each of them three times, as well as flipping through to be briefly reminded of each story's world. The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School stars sixteen-year-old Yamilet "Yami" Flores, a closeted Mexican-American gay transplant at the overwhelmingly white and straight Slayton Catholic High School. Throughout the book, Yami experiences and witnesses both racism and homophobia, sealing her lips tighter on being gay. It's implied throughout that many students (and staff) have these attitudes because being non-white and/or non-straight are both treated as anomalies at Slayton, with the latter even being considered sinful. I inferred from this that if Yami were at a non-Catholic school that was more diverse in both categories, she'd likely have had a much better experience, and her problems would look different. In This Night is Ours, the main problem the protagonist, recent high school graduate Brandy Bailey, faces is that she has been accepted into the nursing school her mother (who works as a nurse) has been dreaming of her going to. But Brandy has discovered since applying that she can't do nursing; dissection in biology class made her queasy, as did being there when her best friend gave birth. Brandy would much rather be an artist instead, which she is incredibly skilled at and already makes money from via Etsy. Her die-hard nurse of a mother, however, is unwilling to even talk about this, leaving Brandy to escape the tension for a while by sneaking off to the town carnival with her friends. What this book revealed to me is that the pressure to become what your family wants you to, when your actual dream is quite different, is very real. My own dream is to become a Dean of Students. I expect to have plenty of students who are of color and/or LGBT, like Yami, with others being torn between what their family wants them to be and what they want to be, like Brandy. Working at a non-religious, diverse-in both-categories institution may mean not as many students live with the constant fear of being targeted (or worse) the way that Yami does, though individual, interpersonal acts of bigotry are still possible. While I cannot force every person to be open-minded, I can go beyond simply accepting the presence of these students by highlighting the successes of alumni/professionals living in the city with whom they can connect, who belong to these communities. I can also ask the students if they have needs related to either that the institution can better meet, and work to do so accordingly. For my students in Brandy's situation, that one may be harder to tackle, as plenty of students want to make their families proud. At this moment in time, I anticipate it involving sitting down with them to discuss how working in Profession A (what their family wants) would make them feel, versus how Profession B (what they want) would. I hope to help them reach a decision of reconciliation, where they can do what they want, and hopefully their family will come around someday. While the choice is ultimately the student's, I wish to motivate them to find a career that will be rewarding for them. I learned that a book need not be set in a higher education institution to have applicable observations and/or inferences to my career, and I hope to read more that do exactly that.

After earning my bachelor's degree, I plan to begin a Master's in Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (PGSE), an opportunity that will allow me to continue making an impact throughout my studies, outside of the classroom. PGSE offers Graduate Assistantships (GA-ships) for students, which are part-time, paid work opportunities in the field, with various positions available. GA-ships are especially encouraged for Higher Education students. I fully plan on taking one, since in addition to providing me with income, experience, and networking contacts, I will have the exciting privilege of shaping student-facing activities of the department I work in. Though any position inherently comes with specific tasks that will be given to the GA to fulfill the mission of the department, I am hoping for one where I get to incorporate my own ideas as well, keeping students and their needs at the heart of my initiatives. This may be by having representatives from different campus and city resources (a health center, career advancement, etc.) coming to speak, as their resources may be exactly what the students need. I may also have workshops on different topics that can affect students (finances, managing stress, etc.) to prepare them to handle these issues well. I truly believe equipping my students with knowledge gives them power, which I view as a form of service to them. Students have complex lives beyond the classroom, and especially as many are independent for the first time and new to all the responsibilities that college and adulthood bring, keeping them as the center of my work can set them up to be successful both now and later, and may even be significant enough to decrease the number of students (at least at Penn) who feel overwhelmed by their finances, find stress irremediable while the stimulus is active, and are unsure of how to make that dream job or career become theirs. While being determined to enable and empower students to be successful in different areas is my overarching goal, I do have some specific initiatives in mind. I have a strong record of engagement with the podcast Student Affairs: Voices from the Field, run through the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), one of the industry's premier organizations with 15,000 members in the U.S. and globally. Guests on this podcast speak about their experiences working in student affairs and different issues they have faced, as employees and as members of their campuses. I take notes on each episode and translate them into a plan of action for my own work in student affairs. One episode that particularly stood out to me featured Dr. Kimberly Steed-Page, who works with pregnant and parenting students (PPS), a largely neglected community, and one I want to serve. My vision is to contribute to a campus where PPS are able to access the resources they and their children need, whether that be early registration to avoid having classes at the same time as school pick-up, or an on-campus daycare program at least partially funded through student fees. As a Dean of Students, I will have both far more access to different students and more power than as a GA, so I wish to take my own PPS initiatives to NASPA to advocate for them to be implemented not just on my campus, but far and wide, transforming PPS into a recognized and well-served population.

I am currently studying communications and psychology for my bachelor's degree. I picked this major and minor due to my linguistic intelligence and interest in human behavior. I was initially unsure of what to do with it, but I began classes with a strong feeling I would discover my calling. I have been going to many events on my campus starting in August 2023, such as Field Day, the Anti-Fashion Show, and Board Game Night. I had started using campus resources even before that, which offered me the great services of counseling, tutoring, and professional development. I came to realize I was enjoying college more than I had enjoyed any other time of my life. With that came my desire to go to graduate school to later work on a college campus as a dean of students,  with the goal of making college such a transformative and enriching experience for all.  My vision for being a dean of students includes getting to know my students so I can best figure out how to support them, directing them to resources both within and beyond campus that will greatly benefit them, communicating with such resources to ensure they are meeting students' needs, and planning fun events for them to enjoy themselves and meet other people at. I want everything that I do all day to help students grow into who they so deeply desire to become and to enrich their experience in college. I also want to write a book titled How to Slay College (and Beyond!) once I have completed at least a master's degree and have gained some experience working in higher education. With every event that I go to and every fulfilling experience that I have in the present, I remind myself that some future college student out there is going to greatly appreciate me sharing those in my book about how to make the most of this new stage of life. I will have it packed with my stories from being in college that have taught me lessons and shaped me into who I am. If someone needs the motivation to go to college, I want to be it. If they need help with just about anything once they get there, I also want to be that resource. I look forward to the fulfillment that will come with my book and career as I help and watch students grow to love their college years.

I am Cleo Hahn, a sophomore majoring in Communications at the University of New Mexico. I dream of becoming a Dean of Students. Thanks to the many positive experiences I have had visiting campus resources for purposes such as academic support, professional development, and counseling, as well as going to many campus events to relax, participate in activities, and meet new people, I have been influenced to pursue this career path. I want to enrich the college experience of future students in these ways, bringing them closer to reaching their goals. Additionally, I have been a hardworking student for my entire college career thus far. I start on my homework right away every day, writing all of it on a to-do list. I reread what is being asked of me multiple times, make sure my answers are thorough, and get the outside help I need. Thanks to making these efforts consistently, I have earned the honor of being on the Dean's List, which I want to continue to be. Making the Dean's List garnered me an invitation to the national honor society Phi Eta Sigma (PES), which is for high-achieving students to celebrate their success, do community service both inside and outside the campus community, and form healthy social relationships. I have greatly enjoyed my time in PES so far, having participated in a bake sale to raise money for children's books for a local hospital and also going to an elementary school to read to the kids, many of whom are low-income and Hispanic. It is quite a fulfilling society to belong to, due to both the good it does for us members and those whom we serve philanthropically. I hope that being in PES gives me stories that I can share to be accepted into a prestigious graduate school where I can earn my master's degree in higher education. After obtaining that degree, I want to begin working in a higher education setting for some time and then earn a third degree. A Doctor of Education can earn me the honor of being promoted to Dean of Students. I know that going on to pursue higher education is an expensive investment, so winning this scholarship would remove some of the financial burden, making it easier for me to help others have the best college experience possible. As I progress in my academic and professional journey, I want to become even more of a scholar and young professional who has been continually shaped by the meaningful things I do and the environment I am surrounded with during undergrad, making me exactly the right person to make this true for my students.

I had to take on the role of a leader at the end of my second semester in college in my Nonverbal Communication class. The final was an original research group project on a chosen component of nonverbal communication. My group and I picked the topic of clothing choices as a means of communication. Each of our members had their own category of wear, such as work and special occasions, which they surveyed people about to find out what they wore for that occasion and what they wanted to communicate with it. In addition to presenting a slideshow in class on our findings, the project also included writing a research paper. Although they had initially been non-communicative about picking their survey categories, the research paper is where some of my group members greatly slacked off. Everyone had to import their data and analyze it, in addition to including elements such as an introduction, literature review, and conclusion. Noticing that some members had not done the data analysis, I sent reminders to the group chat, and they said they would. However, the day it was due came, and we still had parts missing, including their data analyses. I became doubtful they were going to do what was needed. As much as I did not want to do this and as busy as I was with moving out of my dormitory, journaling, and attending this year’s commencement ceremony, I volunteered to do the rest of the work for the paper. This entailed adding the missing data analyses, writing the conclusion, adjusting the formatting, and revising some of the wording. It was very time-consuming. Since I had other tasks to attend to in the meantime before I had done all that was needed, I let my group members know that if anyone wanted to take over with finishing up the paper, I would greatly appreciate that, but unsurprisingly, no one did, meaning I had to be the one to complete it. Although doing someone’s work because they failed to do it is unfair to the person doing it, I saw it as my duty in this case. If the paper was missing any necessary components, points would be deducted. I have made it my goal to make the Dean’s List every semester, and I was not about to sacrifice my chance to this semester, so I fulfilled the responsibilities that were not supposed to be mine. I turned in the paper without letting my group mates know how much I did not appreciate this, but I did contact my professor to tell her. She said she greatly appreciates me informing her, as well as all my hard work throughout the semester, mentioning she would be happy to write me a recommendation letter in the future. The professor is also going to let her future classes know about what happened, so this can be avoided from here on out. What I have learned from this is to not be afraid to say something if something is unfair, even after the fact. I do not want credit to be given where it is not deserved. Going forward, I want to become a Dean of Students and not be afraid to tell the staff of the departments I work with if they are not doing what they need to be, so that all departments can improve their practices to be as effective and enriching as possible for our students.

I am a member of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society at my university. Our motto is "Knowledge is Power." We are service-oriented and dedicated to bettering the world through generous philanthropic projects, especially those that promote literacy and intellect. Recently, we had a bake sale to raise money for children's books at the local Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation. Being read to can bring comfort to the kids as they battle illness and injuries at a young age. We also went to Helen Cordero Primary School to read to first-graders. The school is largely low-income and Hispanic and utilizes a bilingual teaching method so the kids learn in both Spanish and English. With us college students reading to the kids in English, they received both a further developed understanding of the English language and some excitement from people other than their teachers that they see every day reading to them. Being in Phi Eta Sigma benefits both those whom we serve and the members. By taking on philanthropic and leadership roles as such, I gain experience being involved in my community, which is evidence of my interest in bettering the world around me. The more involved I am in these roles and projects, the more accomplished I become. My hope is that such involvement will be a factor in gaining admission to a prestigious graduate school that will set me up for continued academic and professional success. My dream is to become a dean of students. I have been involved in school beyond the classroom, even before being invited to join Phi Eta Sigma. Thanks to the many campus resources available that have helped me with professional growth, physical wellness, and mental health challenges, I have been able to strengthen every part of myself. With there also being many campus events with lots of food, games, and people, I have developed socially and had much fun as well. I am still going to campus resources and events. With my continued participation in both, I have realized that I want to elevate the college experience in many different ways for future generations. As a dean, I will be committed to ensuring that my students' needs are being met beyond the classroom. I want to be communicating with the various resources across the campus so that they can improve their services and are all able to help as many students as possible, and my students are improving all aspects of their lives, such as their professional presence, experience living on campus, and dealing with their own personal challenges. Overall, I want to make every student on my campus feel that they belong and that every part of them is supported, so they can become exactly who they want to be.

I am currently a freshman at the University of New Mexico, studying Communications and minoring in Psychology. I have great dreams for my future, and although attainment may be years away, I am already thinking about and working towards making those dreams come true. As a highly conscientious student and person, my priority in college is academics. I always start on my homework as soon as classes are done for the day, rereading the instructions to make sure that I am doing it correctly, consulting rubrics, asking questions for clarification, and checking my answers. Since I began, I have made it my present goal to make the Dean's List repeatedly, starting with the Fall 2023 semester. All the hours I spend in the library working on my assignments and receiving high grades on them will bring me proud departmental recognition. Thanks to my consistent hard work, dedication, and thoroughness, I reached the goal of making the Dean's List for my first semester, which I consider my most outstanding achievement so far. Reading the email notifying me that I had earned this honor filled me with a great sense of accomplishment, and I hope it will happen many more times.  Beyond being happy with myself, I had a feeling that making the Dean's List would come with benefits that transcended my current knowledge at the time. A few weeks later, I received another email inviting me to join the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society (PES). I had been right. This honor society is for the celebration of academic excellence, community service, and holistic development of college students who earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher during their first semester, transforming them into well-rounded leaders. I accepted my PES invitation, participating in my first project of a bake sale to raise money for children's books right away. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I was not on the Dean's List, so this taught me that it is important to give forth my best effort in all prospects, because that could very well grant me opportunities that transcend my current knowledge, such as PES as a starting point. PES could, in turn, be my gateway to more exciting future possibilities. After graduating with my bachelor's, I want to proceed on to graduate school to earn a Master's in Higher Education and Student Affairs and then a Doctor of Education as well, eventually getting to work as a Dean of Students. It has been my own time in college that sparked my interest in this field. I feel much more supported and motivated in everything I do here than I did back in high school, thanks to all of the campus resources and the community. I have also been having a lot of fun at campus events, getting to do different fun activities and meeting new people. I want to make college life accessible and enjoyable for future students as their Dean. It was only after joining PES that I began to consider a prestigious option for my future: getting my Master's from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). I want to be part of their community of outstanding future educators that enjoys professional development workshops, practicum in their educational field of choice, collaborative research projects, and a customized path to fit each student's own goals.  It's no secret that Harvard is highly selective in the admissions process. I want to maximize my chances of getting in, so I have already been researching what the admissions officers look for in their applicants on the HGSE webpage, so I can get started on it now. Strong candidates demonstrate qualities such as a passion for education, a multitude of different experiences, and a strong commitment to changing the world with service and integrity. This aligns quite well with the mission of PES, meaning it could be an excellent gateway to HGSE. I am looking forward to everything that my involvement will bring me; that is all possible in the first place thanks to having the conscientiousness to make the Dean's List as a freshman.

I am majoring in Communications and minoring in Psychology. I made this choice initially unsure of my professional goals, but with faith I would discover an exciting career that would allow me to exercise my linguistic intelligence and interest in human behavior. I want to continue my education after getting this degree and earn a Master's in Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) and then a Doctor of Education. I want to combine my newly acquired HESA knowledge and practicum in a university setting during graduate school with my undergraduate studies in a way that weaves together the complexities of human communication and behavior with the HESA context to form new practical connections between the two. After having completed my own education, I want to walk into a university workplace with my three degrees. My dream is to become a Dean of Students. This is where I want to practice all my knowledge, communicating with various HESA departments to help improve their systems so students can reach their goals. I also envision communicating with organizations beyond campus and connecting students with them. I want to make as many students as possible feel safe, motivated, excited, and prepared on campus. I want to be the reason they go on to pursue and achieve their dreams that ripple out into the world around them, touching the lives of many. My own experience in college beyond the classroom has also been an influence on my desired career. I thoroughly enjoy visiting different campus resources to nurture and develop my career, mental, and physical wellness. I also take great pleasure in attending different campus events to have fun, relax, get my money's worth, and meet new people. I hope to pick up some knowledge and stories from campus events and resources that will also prove useful in my dream career. I would love to write and publish a book titled How to Slay College (and Beyond!) that will be filled with stories about my own time in college and how I made my way to success. By releasing this book, I want my impact as someone who works in HESA to go beyond the students at my future campus, facilitating and enriching the lives of college students around the country, making them ready to go out in the workforce and world well-equipped to better themselves and our society.

When my friends have mental health struggles, they often come to me. Sometimes it's pain from the past that still lingers; sometimes it's a current painful experience; and sometimes it's worry about the future that dampens their typically energetic and outgoing selves. I appreciate that my friends trust me enough to come talk to me about whatever hardship they are experiencing. As a Communications major and Psychology minor, I have been learning a lot about how to best interact with them when they need to tell me something. I put away distractions, I make eye contact, I actively listen, I may take notes, and I repeat what I am understanding to make sure it is what it sounds like. I also ask questions and offer words of comfort. Although I don't often have a magical answer for deleting my friends' mental health struggles, I know that being able to speak to someone who cares and wants the best for them can alleviate some of the pain. There is much to learn about human communication and behavior. I want to be a Dean of Students, so I expect I will observe and employ the phenomena I have learned about daily, both with the other departments I communicate with and the students that come into my office. I want them to know it's a safe space, they are cared about, and I want the best for them.  I expect to also use more advanced knowledge that transcends what I currently know so that I can make the students I work with feel more motivated in college. Although I can neither guarantee nor provide a solution to all of their problems, I want to be able to get them in the right mindset to handle said problems well so the students can flourish, thanks to the extensive knowledge in both communications and psychology I will gain as an undergraduate.

I experienced an obstacle in January 2023. I was a high school senior at this time and was doing my senior year at a new school. I was the only new student in my grade that year; in fact, most of my classmates had been attending since sixth grade. There was this particular group of them that I thought was very cool. The winter dance rolled around, and I wanted to go with the cool kids. However, they said that they didn't plan on going, so I decided not to either. Then came the day before the dance, when tickets were no longer being sold, and I painfully learned that they had bought them at the last minute and didn't tell me. The pain only seared deeper as the kids spoke about their plans for the dance in front of me. Although this was over a year ago and I am out of high school, I still cannot escape the winter ball kids entirely. They are going to the University of New Mexico too, sharing a suite together, and I often see them around campus, laughing with linked arms. The pain of them being so tight-knit that there was no room for me in their friend group persisted. However, I have been turning my pain into determination. I know that these four have a lot that is likely to distract them but not me, including their cars, each other, and social media. Whatever the root cause may be, I know that they cut class, so they probably will not be on the Dean's List. I minimize distractions, I show up to class, and I produce high-quality work on time, so I am on the Dean's List. This is already one achievement I have attained that they are unlikely to, and I want it to be the first of many. My determination is to do more than them, both for myself and the world around me. I want to continue to earn higher grades than they will. I want to graduate early. I want to get a Master's degree and then a Doctor of Education. I want to become a Dean of Students. I want to write and publish a book titled How to Slay College (and Beyond!) that many future college students can use to facilitate and enrich their college experiences. I learned that not everyone will be able to see my worth and appreciate me, no matter how much I am around them. I subsequently also learned that there is much more to life than just pain and rejection. Coming to college, a campus full of people who want to meet me and will accept me, countless interesting classes to take, campus resources to help with all aspects of life, and exciting events to attend and organizations to get involved in, made me realize that. Though they are still around, the winter ball kids are definitely not in my most vivid mental picture of what college is to me. Sometimes you just need to have faith in the passage of time and the change that comes with it to be able to learn such lessons. I am very happy that I did and still do. Throughout all of this, I have had the unwavering support of several of my wonderful friends. Back when this all started, they reminded me that they could see my worth, they cared about me, and they knew I would go on to achieve great things. Whenever I talk to them about my accomplishments, I think back to these previous conversations and gleefully think of how I am living up to who they knew I could become before I even realized it myself.

I want to begin my postgraduate life by working in a higher education setting and earning the eventual promotion to the Dean of Students. I need to earn two more degrees after my bachelor's, first a Master's and then working before going back to school again to get a Doctor of Education, both of which I expect to be in Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA). I need to complete practicum in graduate school, so I will be entering and re-entering my career field with thorough experience that will serve as a strong foundation for excelling at the work I will do. In the meantime, I am exploring opportunities to gain experience and accomplishments that will prove useful in my dream career. As a hardworking student, I have made the Dean's List for the fall semester of my freshman year. My GPA of 4.19 landed me an invitation to the prestigious Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society (PES). At my school, the University of New Mexico (UNM), being in PES means working with other student organizations. I expect this to be my first experience working with students, a valuable one that will also provide me with firsthand knowledge that will serve me well when I become part of HESA. PES may also be a way that I can secure my place in graduate school, as the Honor Society Foundation cites it as an attractive element on graduate school applications. I also plan to speak with UNM's Dean of Students to ask what inspired her to pursue this field, how she got there, what her standard job duties are, and what else I should know about working in the position.  I first became interested in working in HESA after visiting campus resources such as career development, tutoring, and counseling and recognizing and appreciating what they are able to do for students, as well as attending many campus events that make college more fun, such as painting day, constructing blankets for animal shelters, and a delicious picnic with my fellow schoolmates. Immersing myself in all that my campus has to offer ignited a desire in me to make college equally enriching and beneficial for future students.  I came to college as a Communications major, unsure of what exactly I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted a career that involved much communication and working with people. Combining that with having taken advantage of what is available to me made me realize that career should be a Dean of Students. I am good at both spoken and written communication, as I like to explain everything clearly to avoid any misunderstandings or confusions. I will greatly need this as a Dean, since I will be communicating with many students and departments across campus. I need to be able to relay my messages clearly. As a Dean, I want to be someone who is skilled at listening to people and connecting them to opportunities to achieve their goals. I want my employees to be fulfilled with their jobs, and I want my students to be thriving holistically. I want to be the author of a book about how to succeed in college that will inspire both prospective and current college students to allow themselves to discover their calling in life and to grow and develop into who they dream of becoming.

As a human being, my mental health tends to come first and foremost, no matter what I'm doing. It needs to be managed in such a way that I am not impeded by mental distractions during the completion of every task at hand. Doing poorly with my mental health, such as being preoccupied by thoughts of a matter that may be stressing me out or causing me sadness, proves to be quite a distraction when I need to be productive. Poor mental health hinders my productivity. Even if I am not left completely unable to concentrate on what is right in front of me, every now and then I will remember why I am not feeling so well. When I am not in the classroom, poor mental health will likewise take away from the degree of immersion in activities I could have if I were doing better. Even when I am doing something meant to be fun, such as writing a story, I may not be able to completely forget about a current challenge in my life. The mental noise may come on stronger since I am more likely to be alone with less physical noise around me, leaving me with little else to redirect my attention to. I believe that my brain wouldn't be circling back to such thoughts if they carried no significance. If my source of momentary distraction is being unsure whether I have studied enough for an upcoming test, I take that as a sign to stop what I am doing and review the material. Familiarizing myself with it both means that my performance on the test will likely be higher and that my nerves have been calmed, so that I can get back to what I was doing.  Simply addressing mental noise when it becomes too loud means I am making my mental health a priority. But it can be prevented. To be able to minimize the noise in the first place, I like to deal with things as soon as they come up, such as getting to studying right away so I don't end up being stuck worrying about it.  Maintaining my mental health also means engaging in activities that make me feel good and that bring their own reminders of goodness into my life. When I take walks in the neighborhood just southeast of my campus, I love seeing happy messages written on the sidewalk in chalk. The messages are often reminders that I am enough, that this life is full of possibilities, and that there are many people who care about me. It's all very true. Mental health also becomes more easily remedied when there is much to laugh about. I like to eat a delicious dinner while watching my favorite YouTube channel, where the YouTuber reads his fans' hilarious stories on different topics. This is nearly part of my daily routine, and if I don't get the chance to do it, I still want to do something that leaves me feeling well when I crawl into bed. It could simply involve a reflection of my day and thinking of what I have to look forward to. Thanks to these little habits, I generally feel more energized, motivated, and excited about life.

A book that I have thoroughly enjoyed is Clare Pooley's "Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting". This 2022 work of psychological fiction features six different commuters who all take the same train five days a week yet never speak to each other. That all changes when one of them, Piers, chokes on a grape one morning and is saved by Sanjay, the nurse. The six of them start talking to each other, and friendships begin to build. Iona Iverson is a 57-year-old magazine therapist and columnist dealing with struggles of her own, such as being ridiculed by her boss as being too old to write the kind of content that appeals to the magazine's target audience of young people. Having worked at this job for thirty years, Iona has greatly sharpened her knowledge base of psychology, which is now proving useful for her new crew of train friends. All of them feel comfortable speaking to her about their problems, since she is so kind, right-minded, and witty. One of the train crew members is Martha, a young teenager dealing first with an uninvolved mother and now harassment at school after sending a nude picture of herself that is now circulating around the phones of her schoolmates. Iona does not judge Martha; rather, she encourages her to redeem herself. Having been a dancer when she was younger, Iona suggests performance art as a viable avenue of redemption.  Per Iona's recommendation, Martha does audition for the school play and lands the female lead as Juliet, greatly enjoying herself in the process and capturing the attention of casting directors. Her stellar portrayal of Juliet becomes the talk of the school, and talk of the nude picture diminishes. This would not have been possible were it not for Iona. After reading this, the character of Iona Iverson has inspired me, as someone who wants to be a Dean of Students, to give the young people around me opportunities to bounce back. No matter what they have experienced in the past or may be experiencing when they come to my campus, no matter how worthless they may have felt, I want them to feel safe, excited, and empowered. I want to remind them that they are amazing human beings. I want to create and enrich programs that will make them love life again. I want to be the Iona of their worlds. Another book I love is Jessica Cunsolo's "Best Vacation Ever". This is the tale of the teenage best friends Lori and Faye's summer trip to Cuba, accompanied by five alluring young men. It's told from Lori and Faye's alternating perspectives. Lori, who has a crush on Dean, is known for her brains, brawn, and beauty, yet she is unable to stand up for herself in uncomfortable situations. Faye is more reckless and brash and is crushing on Kellan. She longs to know if he reciprocates her interest but can't bring herself to ask directly, so she lightly flirts with the other guys on the trip to see Kellan's reaction.  The difference in perspectives was quite evident when Faye practiced this tactic on Dean, only to be perceived by Lori as being a crush-stealer. Faye and Lori eventually talk and discover what a number of misunderstandings they've had, and then they reconcile after all the drama.  Having read this book makes me determined to know what exactly is going on in any situation that may not be what it looks like it is. When students come into my office to report incidents, I want to know the full story to prevent misunderstandings and minimize drama.

I experienced adversity in January 2023. I was a high school senior at this time and was doing my senior year at a new school. I was the only new student in my grade that year; in fact, most of my classmates had been attending since sixth grade. There was this particular group of them that I thought was very cool. The winter dance rolled around, and I wanted to go with the cool kids. However, they said that they didn't plan on going, so I decided not to either. Then came the day before the dance, when tickets were no longer being sold, and I painfully learned that they had bought them at the last minute and didn't tell me. The pain only seared deeper as the kids spoke about their plans for the dance in front of me, including pre-dance Taco Bell for dinner. Although this was over a year ago and I am out of high school, I still cannot escape the winter ball kids entirely. They are going to the University of New Mexico too, sharing a suite together, and I often see them around campus, laughing with linked arms. The pain persisted. However, I have been turning my pain into determination. I know that these four have a lot that is likely to distract them but not me, including their cars, each other, and social media. Whatever the root cause may be, I know that they cut class, so they probably will not be on the Dean's List. I minimize distractions, I show up to class, and I produce high-quality work on time, so I am on the Dean's List. This is already one achievement I have attained that they are unlikely to, and I want it to be the first of many. My determination is to do more than them, both for myself and the world around me. I want to continue to earn higher grades than they will. I want to graduate early. I want to get a Master's degree and then a Doctor of Education. I want to become a Dean of Students. I want to write and publish a book titled How to Slay College (and Beyond!) that many future college students can use to facilitate and enrich their college experiences. Being such an ambitious person in a way that will touch countless lives takes away the pain of being left out of the winter ball by people who have known each other since sixth grade. So does reminding myself of all the people who do care deeply about me, being around them, and thinking of many amazing great things I will get to do, whether currently known or unknown. By continuing to progress as a scholar, a professional, and a person, I am feeling much better about myself.

I experienced a hardship in January 2023. I was a high school senior at this time and was doing my senior year at a new school. I was the only new student in my grade that year; in fact, most of my classmates had been attending since sixth grade. There was this particular group of them that I thought was very cool. The winter dance rolled around, and I wanted to go with the cool kids. However, they said that they didn't plan on going, so I decided not to either. Then came the day before the dance, when tickets were no longer being sold, and I painfully learned that they had bought them at the last minute and didn't tell me. The pain only seared deeper as the kids spoke about their plans for the dance in front of me, including pre-dance Taco Bell. Although this was over a year ago and I am out of high school, I still cannot escape the winter ball kids entirely. They are going to the University of New Mexico too, sharing a suite together, and I often see them around campus, laughing with linked arms. The pain persisted. However, I have been turning my pain into determination. I know that these four have a lot they can get distracted by that I don't, including their cars, each other, and social media. Whatever the root cause may be, I know that they cut class, so they probably will not be on the Dean's List. I minimize distractions, I show up to class, and I produce high-quality work on time, so I am on the Dean's List. This is already one achievement I have attained that they are unlikely to, and I want it to be the first of many. My determination is to do more than them, both for myself and the world around me. I want to continue to earn higher grades than they will. I want to graduate early. I want to get a Master's degree and then a Doctor of Education. I want to become a Dean of Students. I want to write and publish a book titled How to Slay College (and Beyond!) that many future college students can use to facilitate and enrich their college experiences. Being such an ambitious person in a way that will touch countless lives takes away the pain of being left out of the winter ball by people who have known each other since sixth grade. So does reminding myself of all the people who do care deeply about me, being around them, and thinking of many amazing great things I will get to do, whether currently known or unknown.  As a Dean's Lister, I have been invited to join the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society. This is a prestigious society that provides leadership and networking opportunities for academically successful college freshmen. Membership also entails both campus and community service projects, as the mission of Phi Eta Sigma is to elevate with honor.  By becoming a member, I will be embodying Agape love by doing what it takes to give others what they need. This may not be something I will be able to understand firsthand just how beneficial and selfless it is. If I volunteer at a food bank, the gratitude people will feel once they have the food I will have so selflessly packaged transcends my own understanding. Even before receiving the invitation to Phi Eta Sigma, I have looked for opportunities to give what is needed, such as having recently donated both blood and platelets, which will save people's lives.

The Met Gala theme that most appeals to me is "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" from 2021. As I scrolled through the pictures of the contestants dressed in their striking costumes, I was filled with a sense of amazement. With so many eye-catching and jaw-dropping cuts, colors, textures, patterns, and embellishments, 2021 proved to be an absolutely gorgeous year for Met Gala. Full of glitz and creativity, it makes me wonder how exactly these amazing designs were brainstormed and developed. I particularly love Amanda Gorman's lovely ultramarine blue dress, designed with the help of Vera Wang. It's studded with many pale silver rhinestones. The fabric being densely pinched in the bust adds a layer of texture to make the dress even more beautiful. Upon looking a little closer, we see that the pinched fabric is mesh attached to thicker fabric that clings tightly to Gorman's body and reaches her thighs. As one looks further down her legs, that is where the mesh both slits just under the bottom of the underlayer and begins to flare out, forming a graceful train. Gorman completed the look with matching ultramarine blue strappy heels, a ribbon bracelet, a book in her hand of that same shade whose cover looks to be marbled, long silver nails, an ovular ring with a jewel in the middle and matching earrings, lots of little dots on her face to match the rhinestones on her dress, and twin silver laurels in her hair, which was put up in a top knot and braided down to her waist, secured by a sparkly band. Although the way she was dressed reminds me of the magnificent ocean and the midnight blue sky, the costume is in fact a representation of the Statue of Liberty, which makes perfect sense given the work that Gorman does. It definitely fits the theme of American fashion and looks to be a statement of freedom. As for the worst, Heron Preston's outfit, designed by Tom Ford, is nowhere near as impressive as Gorman's. It features the standard look for a groom or other young man going to a formal occasion, with a black tuxedo, a matching bow tie, a white collared button-down shirt, black pants, and sleek black shoes. While definitely a dignified outfit, it lacks creativity and doesn't make me think of America the same way Amanda Gorman's Statue of Liberty outfit does; it just makes me think of a wedding, so what the statement was supposed to be is unclear. In fact, Preston wasn't even the only one dressed like a groom; Alexandre Birman, Channing Tatum, and Brooklyn Beckham all were as well. With the outfit not being unique, creative, or elaborate, it seems unlikely that it will be a great influence on the fashion choices of adoring fans.

As a current undergraduate Communications major with a minor in Psychology, I want to transform the knowledge and skills I will acquire upon completing a Bachelor's degree into the foundation that will carry me through the rest of my higher education experience and beyond. I did not begin college with a clear vision of what I wanted to do in life; I picked a major and a minor that aligned with my linguistic intelligence and interest in human behavior, hoping to find some sort of career that would allow me to exercise these facets. Throughout my time here not spent in class, I have been visiting campus resources to aid me in coping with mental health challenges, developing a professional presence for myself, getting my questions about residence life answered, and more. I also enjoy going to campus events to get my money's worth, relax, have fun, and meet other people. My experience with campus life leaves me in so much amazement that I want to be the reason that so many other future college students can say the same. It blended with my desire to work with people professionally, making me interested in entering the career field of higher education and student affairs (HESA). Had I not immersed myself into the campus community, I would not have such a vision. I will proceed on making it a reality with the utmost gratitude towards everyone who came before me. I want to earn a graduate degree, likely a Doctor of Education, that will enable me to take a seat in HESA as the Dean of Students. I want to give the college students of the future everything that I received and more. As a Dean, I will be communicating with all the student affairs departments across campus to ensure they are meeting the students' needs, as well as the students themselves. This could include finding out how much more confident students feel about their academics after visiting tutoring, how trusting they are of campus health and counseling employees to give them proper care, and how they have been able to advance professionally thanks to the help of the staff at the career development center. As a result of my hard work leading to my HESA coworkers accommodating their practices in turn leading to more student success in these different areas and more, I will consider myself successful in doing my part to create a campus community that embraces the many facets of its students and their lives. I can't wait to see how these students take their new and improved selves out into the world to create the ripple effect and nurture their communities with all that their campus community enriched and created in them.

I am aromantic and asexual. I discovered that I am back when I was in eighth grade, when all of my friends and classmates were talking about their crushes and I found myself both unable to relate and free of the desire to relate. I turned to the internet and came across two new words (aromantic and asexual), which both accurately described me. My lack of being familiar with either of these words was accurately reflected by people speaking to me, both my age and older, with the expectation that I had crushes and/or a sexual desire that I had never spoken about. It pained me that although they did not use gendered language when saying, "When you fall in love..", "If you ever get married..", and "The first time you have sex...", that their minds still weren’t as open as they could be. Despite that I found being aromantic and asexual to be so normal, I doubted it would be accepted as such by a majority of people. Since I never brought up my innate lack of interest in both romance and sex with anyone, especially those who spoke with such assumptions, I do wonder what it may have lead them to conclude. Perhaps that since I never showed any interest in boys, I indicatively liked girls. I remember feeling especially uncomfortable when doctors would ask me who I was attracted to. I couldn’t bring myself to say no one, since I feared they would suspect something must be wrong with me hormonally. So I just pretended not to know yet, which was better than what I shudder to imagine I would have been put through, had I told the truth. Namely, invasive procedures to test my hormones/make sure I had a reproductive system. I still don’t tell people that I have no sexual or romantic interest in anyone. I have looked up online what people might say if you tell them that, and it’s not good. “Oh, so you’re GAY?” “You must have a hormone deficiency!” “Don’t be ashamed to admit you want love and sex! It’s so human!” If I weren’t aromantic and asexual, I may find it harder to grow into who I want to be. I am sure it’s not easy to keep up a romantic and/or sexual relationship AND your grades in college, along with all of your other responsibilities (friends, a job, a club). All of the above require a significant investment of time, energy, effort, and commitment. With more attention to give to what I do deem important, I would love to become a Dean of Students someday. Thanks to all of the campus resources I have visited and events I have attended, I am learning what it means to live the campus life. I want to create the same exciting college experience for the students that I will work with in the future. Admittedly, I had not given much thought to what there is at college beyond the classroom before arriving here and experiencing it for myself. But I quickly realized that it as multi-faceted as its students. In fact, that’s why it’s so multi-faceted. The staff recognizes the students as humans with so many components of their lives and caters to their needs. I also want to write and publish a book about making the most of your college experience once I am fully qualified to do so. Maybe in that book I’ll admit to my asexuality and aromanticism and how it in fact contributed to, rather than hindered, my diverse successes in college and beyond.

I find mental health to be so important because it's inescapable, fundamental, and ever-changing. If I am struggling with it, I will not be able to perform as well at everyday tasks and homework assignments because I have this burden inhibiting me from giving my full attention to what I need to do. I need to be doing well, or at least determined to find out what I can do that will make me be well, to stay on track with the various activities of my life. Even if I am doing well, I can still have mental noise as a distraction. In fact, my wellness can be the reason I have mental noise. I could be so excited about something that I find it hard to concentrate on anything else. If this happens, be it good or bad mental noise, it's a good idea for me to take a break from the task at hand so that I can calm down enough to function normally. The easiest (and best) way for me to maintain my mental wellness is to discover what things I like and to do them whenever I get the chance. I find that not all activities are good for all purposes, so I have to keep experimenting to find out what else I like that offers different benefits. I have discovered my favorite wellness activity to be taking walks in the neighborhood just southeast of my campus. I find it to be relaxing, especially if I am alone. Just me, alone with my thoughts, my favorite music that I am playing, and countless pretty houses with interesting yard decorations to gaze at. It's good for thinking, calming down, and even just enjoying myself. I often see things that bring a smile to my face that may inspire me, things that I wouldn't have seen if I was just walking around campus. I recently came across this one house with an array of colorful painted rocks lined up in the front yard, each with a different design. That inspires me to keep practicing my creative side. While neighborhood walks prove to be an excellent way to admire the world around me and to discover new things, I also like to work with what I already have. I keep a journal, in which I write about the highs and lows of my life. Putting my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to paper allows me to reflect on how things are going, what I should continue doing, and what I should do differently. Especially if I notice something that I want to change, keeping track of what does and doesn't work for me to be happy with my life serves as a great asset. Reading what I have written can also remind me of what I have to be thankful for, remember fondly, or look forward to with great anticipation. We humans are social animals. I enjoy conversation. I talk to my friends about the different happenings of my life. They often have a new perspective that never occurred to me, allowing me to do some more reflection that may give me the tools to handle a difficult situation, or something I can do to make a good thing even better. Connection is fun, and I find simply talking to people about my life to provide a little boost of joy, fueling my desire to continuously work towards being my best self, a master of creating and seeking out goodness in life.

I am Cleo Hahn, a first-year Communications major at the University of New Mexico. To me, communication goes far beyond simply talking to people. I see it as a means of making sense of ourselves and the world. Communication isn't strictly a human-to-human thing. It can take the form of the feelings we get when we are deeply engaged in an activity or attuned to our surroundings. By keeping ourselves preoccupied with a task or carefully observing our current environment, we discover how we feel about it, which is the world communicating to us whether we like our present situation or not. This is precisely how I decided what I should do next with my life. In the short time that I've been here, I have already utilized quite a few campus resources to help me succeed academically, professionally, and beyond. The helpfulness of these resources communicates to me that this university is so multi-faceted and its entire faculty is committed to ensuring the best for the students in all of said facets. Pleased with the resources, I also started going to many campus events. Most of them were recreational, communicating to me that the faculty cares about us having fun while in college also. Going to these events fills me with a newfound excitement for the recreational side of college, something that I had not given much thought to before starting here. My deep appreciation for both campus resources and events communicated to me that it could be something to consider doing professionally. I cannot recall a previous time in my life when I loved my institution and all that it offers so greatly. Why not dedicate my life to student affairs, communicating to future college students that they belong here, that they're in a place where all aspects of their lives are cared about? My goal is to a graduate degree in higher education and student affairs, setting me up to set up future college students for success in college and beyond. I also want to write and publish a book about my tips for succeeding in college, allowing me to reach the hands of young people beyond those at my future campus, perhaps even some who simply need motivation to pursue higher education. My book will be how I communicate to them that they should, stirring up their excitement. Unfortunately, not all the messages that are communicated to me are super positive. Sometimes they tell me that the past isn't completely in the past. During grade twelve last year, I switched to another school. Most students there had known each other since their first year there way back in sixth grade. There was this group of them that I found to be very cool. When the winter dance rolled around, I asked them if they would be going (since I wanted to go with them), and they said no. The day before the dance, however, I was shocked to learn they had all bought tickets the day before and hadn't told me! It hurt badly to be left out like this, especially since they were talking about the dance and their pre-dance dinner right in front of me. Months later, I still can't escape them. They're here too, sharing a suite. Every time I see them is a bitter reminder of the past, especially when they're laughing together with linked arms. Although I don't like that I still can't get away from them, it does simultaneously make me determined to outperform them and to enrich this world better than they will.

I am aromantic and asexual. Since my life plans don't include a significant other, I have been able to devote more time to what I do want. Ever since attending the first-year orientation, I have been greatly looking forward to the many great experiences that I will have during my time here at the University of New Mexico. I've already visited some of the campus resources I was introduced to, such as tutoring, the gymnasium, and Career Services, making me ready to fly academically, personally, and professionally. However, it wasn't until I started going to campus events that I felt truly alive and immersed in what I am a part of. Adding that to the confidence and comfort I quickly gained from utilizing campus resources in just my first few months here made me realize something. Since college is where I feel I am truly growing into my best self, why not dedicate my life to being one reason that many other young people can say the same thing in the future? It was then that I became determined to later earn a graduate degree and enter the world of higher education and student affairs, at the time not even thinking about where my future students may end up thanks to my philanthropic profession, the same way I have anticipated myself working in a university setting, thanks to the influential efforts of those who have come before me. While I still expect that the students who are not aromantic and asexual are taking advantage of the many campus resources available here as well, maybe not so much when it comes to campus events, which may not be deemed as important if unrelated to academics and careers. The time they probably spend with their significant other is time that I spend at campus events, where I gain ideas of future events I might want to plan if that's what I choose to do professionally. Being peacefully free of the desire to be committed to another person leaves me with more freedom to go to more campus events and visit more resources. Although I did know that being aromantic and asexual leaves me with more attention to give to relevant things in my life, I never imagined that it would result in the realization of my dream. Not that I wouldn't have realized it if I weren't, but after seeing this essay prompt, it makes sense to me that it has helped me become more connected to the happenings of my university. I also want to eventually write and publish a book titled something such as: How to Slay College. I may make it chronologically autobiographical, or I may organize it into sections about different facets of campus life, filled with my tips and stories for each one. With college notoriously being a place with practically unlimited access to potential significant others, I would have to mention in my book that I went all the way through it and beyond without having any because I simply didn't have an interest. I'll also mention that that could very well be what allowed me to explore college life some more and realize the dream that allowed me to do more school, start my career, and create the book in their hands.

As a low-income student with minimal monetary support from my family, I am constantly asking myself the question of how I will be able to afford a college degree and ensure my success afterward when money is such an obstacle, even when going to college in my hometown that offers reduced tuition to academically successful in-state residents. Even so, I am faced with some decisions that aren't easy to make, such as minimizing discretionary spending. Because of this, I live by the virtue of delayed gratification and planning: making good decisions and knowing what I ultimately want keeps me in check to be more successful both now and later on. With every scholarship that I earn, that's money that I don't have to borrow either federally or privately and repay with interest. That's money I don't have to use from work earnings to pay for tuition, housing, books, and a meal plan. That's a degree made more easily accessible to me; that's a huge step forward in life; that's a key to unlocking more educational, internship, and career opportunities without the financial barriers standing in my way. That's money I can match from work earnings to use for discretionary spending or to save for a long-term expense, such as graduate school. If I win this scholarship, I will be able to continue on my academic journey and eventually reach my dream of attending graduate school, where I want to earn a college student affairs degree and become an integral part of a campus community for a living. Campus communities and atmospheres together compose the driving force in determining what a student thinks of their time at college and where they end up afterward. A supportive and inclusive community is essential to student success. I know that I have felt uplifted and encouraged since I've utilized different campus resources here at the University of New Mexico and I've also been to many campus events that make me feel more connected to what I am a part of. What precisely defines a college campus community will vary from person to person, but all communities are built on a philosophy. My philosophy is to exercise diligence and planning in the work I do and the decisions that I make to open up the doors to magnificent future outcomes that may be greater than I ever dreamed of. Once this philosophy brings me the success of having achieved my post-graduate school dreams, I can approach my career the same way by teaching the philosophy to the students I work with so they, too, can be on the road to achieving their greatest dreams and be able to use said dreams to enrich the world around them, whether it be by founding a much-needed new activist organization or by designing and creating a life-saving invention. I want my practice of assisting someone in being able to actively work towards what they want to go beyond the students at my future campus. I want to become a Bold Donor myself, so I can lend a hand to students across the country in being one step closer to expanding and reaching their full potential in all future endeavors they set foot in.

I am a freshman Communications major at the University of New Mexico. I dream of entering the professional world of higher education and student affairs (HESA). To do this, I want to earn a Master's Degree in said field, and perhaps an eventual Doctor of Education. I have been highly influenced by my own time in college so far. I deeply appreciate all the campus resources ready to assist students with whatever they may need (tutoring, emotional support, professional development, and more). I've visited quite a few of them and the more I do so, the more I realize just how much this university is dedicated to supporting the success of its students in all areas. Everything it has to offer combined with my determined, dedicated, and hardworking attitude leaves me with no doubt that I am going to go far, both during my time here and beyond. In addition to eventually becoming a student affairs professional who will be working to take a certain (currently undecided) facet of my students' lives to the next level to see where that takes them in life, I also hope to write a book about the college experience and how to navigate it in the best possible way. I may make this a chronological memoir about my own time in college, packed with didactic and hilarious stories I have been part of, or I could make it be organized by sections that each pertain to a different part of college life, filled with my tips for getting the most out of it, what I did and how I made it work for me, plus why I recommend it. Whichever format my book does end up being in, my mission with it will be the same: to make students more excited about college and more confident that they can handle all that comes with it, gearing themselves up to have the best possible present and future. My book will also serve as a guide to students around the country that I may never meet. It would be an incredibly rewarding feeling to learn of what opportunities they have had thanks to my words of wisdom; knowing I am such an inspiration will fuel me to advance in my field and practice even more outreach. To get to where I want to be, I must continue to apply my effective academic strategies and visit campus resources that will take me to my next professional steps. I have also been to many campus events, from which I have collected a lot of happy memories and stories. Some of them are for fun and some of them are instructional. My most recent one was a workshop about breaking into your dream field. I took quite a few notes during it, some of which were about networking, which I plan on doing a lot of, especially once I begin practicum. Anything I can do while in college that moves me forward is something I can use to enter the world of HESA and put into my book to create the ripple effect. Despite all my successes so far, I do have the obstacle of money standing in my way. While I have received some scholarships from my school and I do have money in the bank, it may not be enough. I have been looking for a job for five months now, but I still haven't been able to get hired anywhere. But I will not give up. Not when I have such expensive ambitions and I want to inspire others to also persevere.

I am a college freshman who has been highly influenced by the happenings of my school, the University of New Mexico, since starting here six months ago. Before then, I had not given much thought to all the campus resources I would soon have access to or all the fun events I would get to go to. In the short time that I've been here, I've realized just how beneficial these campus resources and events are academically, professionally, personally, and socially. Combining these with academic growth and development makes for a very exciting college experience and a promising future. By receiving this scholarship, I will be able to continue to progress in the four aforementioned areas and work my way towards amazing future possibilities. Winning it makes everything on campus more affordable. In addition to my classes, my dormitory, my books, and my meal plan, my fees also cover the campus resource centers and the food, drinks, games, prizes, and more at the events. Utilizing these resources and attending the events means I am maximizing my money's worth. Winning this scholarship means that I am receiving support to continue to immerse myself in campus life simply by expressing my gratitude for all that I have gained from it so far, which I want to turn into a book in the future about making the most of the college experience. Since I want to be a student affairs professional, having my education paid for means I can go on to enrich that of many more college students in the future. In ten years or so, someone else could be sitting here, writing another essay just like this one about how they have been shaped by their university experience that I contributed to, whether by working at the Career Development Office and making their resume that will eventually land them their dream job, or by planning a festival for students with games in which they can win prizes that are mementos of their fun college years. A scholarship like this one is money I neither have to work for nor take out in the form of a student loan and repay with interest. Having any portion of my college fees paid for will save me money, which I can in turn turn into a scholarship for motivated students like myself in the future, knowing that the funds will be going to someone who completely deserves them and is ready to become a leader in the field of their choice, enriching this world with all of their accomplishments and abilities. Unfortunately, my time in college is not without its share of difficulties as well. Back in high school, I switched to another school for my senior year, and most people there had known each other since beginning there in sixth grade. There was this group of kids that I thought were super cool. When the school dance came around, I asked them if they would be going and they said no. Then they ended up changing their minds at the last minute and were talking about it in front of me like I wasn't even there. It hurt since I thought they were my friends. And I still can't get away from them. They're here too and they're sharing a suite together. Every time I see them is a reminder of the pain I felt that can't be completely left in the past. But campus events and resources do serve as a nice distraction from them. I want to put that it my book as another reason to go to/use them.

Success for me is not a singular event independent of other events, but a series of events that gradually lead to a long-term goal. To be successful, one must live in the present but also make wise choices to pave the way for a successful future. To be successful and to think long-term, I write a To-Do List every week. It mostly consists of homework and other school-related things I have to do. I see each task on my list as one small step towards long-term goals. As a college student, I prioritize my homework. I have been successful in all my classes so far. I do it by paying attention in class, taking notes, asking questions, and wasting no time as soon as my classes are done for the day, heading straight to the computer to write that next essay or do that next worksheet. I also look over what I have written before submitting it, making sure what I have on the screen is precisely what I want to say, and I check the instructions or rubric again as well, also consulting outside help as needed. Once all of that is done, I submit my homework and frequently get A+ grades, meaning my method for being successful in the classroom is indeed working. Each homework assignment that I have is relatively minor on its own, and each grade on each assignment could eventually be deemed trivial. However, I don't look at each assignment as being something obsolete as soon as it's been graded. By being such a dedicated student who consistently achieves high grades, I see each assignment that I succeed at as a stepping stone towards being on the Dean's List. Making the Dean's List is something I can add to my resume and use to stand out to employers and graduate schools since it demonstrates my seriousness and commitment to school. Being on the Dean's List may also offer me certain scholarships that allow me to proceed on my academic journey with minimal or no worries about paying for it all. Being on the Dean's List is especially relevant to me since I want to go into student affairs. Having the documentation of having made it multiple times means that I have effective strategies for consistently being such a high achiever. Additionally, I will be attending many more campus events over the years, visiting resources to assist me in academic, career, personal, and leadership development as needed, and being in clubs to contribute to enriching my development as a scholar and young professional. Immersing myself in the many different facets of campus life and beyond and navigating my way through the challenges they all present will give me valuable knowledge and experience that I can turn into advice for the future students that I work with. Advice that I will be giving is for my future students to apply for many scholarships to ease the financial stress of higher education. If I win this one, I'll be doing that for myself and can more easily afford college and eventually graduate school, where I will be specifically pursuing my dream field of student affairs. In the future, after earning said graduate degree in student affairs, I envision myself being knowledgeable firsthand about the many happenings of college life and how we make decisions regarding them based on our own needs, values, and goals. Upon seeing the students at my campus be successful in various aspects of their lives and going on to achieve amazing feats, I will consider myself a successful student affairs professional.

I am Cleo Hahn, an asexual college freshman. Mental and physical wellness matter to me because if I am struggling in either of those areas, the other is likely to be negatively affected as well, and will quickly spread to other parts of my life. So I need to manage both in healthy ways. If I feel very sad, I may eat too much, hoping that my favorite food will cheer me up, but having had too much to eat leaves me physically uncomfortable and possibly with excess fat cells or other harmful quantities of certain cells or fluids in my body. It's also possible I could eat too little or nothing at all, and then I'd have no energy and my body would weaken, leaving me unable to be very productive. Instead of going down what could be a very dangerous road that starts with poor choices due to poor health, I choose to address my immediate concerns in ways that are healthy and that will allow me to stay on track with my life. If I experience sadness or any other negative emotion that is pulling me away from being in my normally happy and motivated mode, I will practice appropriate ways to minimize it until I've cooled down. This may include sleeping, going for a walk, or even considering the source of my negative emotions and their significance relative to the rest of my life. Being an asexual person, my priorities don't contain another person's needs at the same level of importance I treat mine with. Since being intimately involved with someone isn't something I want to do, I can do things for myself that don't heavily rely on the presence or performance of someone else. I like this since it means I can make choices without having to garner someone else's approval. I have made a lot of these choices to keep myself in shape. I like to take walks around my campus and also in the nearby neighborhood. I also dance at parties if there is music. I take the stairs in my dormitory much more frequently than the elevator. I make sure my plate contains all of the food groups on every trip to the dining hall. I have made a weekly swim part of my routine. Getting all this exercise means I am less prone to injury that would surely inhibit me from living a normal life without frequent doctor visits that eat up precious time. These things are little, but they do add up to make me more energized and motivated every day. With that, I can often get things done quicker. Since I am a student, I have a busy life, most of it being academic. Due to that, finding time to do things specifically for my mental health can prove to be a challenge, but I know that if I neglect it too much, I won't be enjoying life. Enjoying life is necessary for me to be able to put my best foot forward so I can achieve my goals. So I aim to do some form of self-care at least every other day. That could include listening to good music, writing about my day, or getting into bed early. These all tend to be things I do at the end of the day, so I go to bed content and wake up feeling refreshed, ready to make the most of another day.

I am Cleo Hahn, a first-year Communications major at the University of New Mexico. For me, communication doesn't just happen via spoken and written words, or even by using your facial expressions and gestures to share a message. Communication is also about what you think and feel internally during your own life experiences and what that teaches you. For years, I have been looking forward to going to college. Now that I'm here, I'm getting to live the first stage of the life I've been dreaming of that's so unlike anything I've ever experienced before. There was a lot that I didn't know about before actually setting foot on campus, particularly campus events. I got to learn about them at New-Student Orientation, and that truly got me pumped to begin college life. Although I knew since New-Student Orientation that there were so many great things coming for me in college, I did not expect the dawning of what I wanted to do with my life to be one of them. Yet I have already been so shaped by this campus and what it has to offer to every one of its students. Getting to see and chat with other folks my own age when I eat dinner at the dining hall, do laundry, or head to the library to do homework has become one of those daily moments I look forward to, however brief our exchanges may be. Run-ins with my schoolmates are a reminder that we're all in this together, experiencing college for ourselves and we likely will have many memories later down the road that make our college time such a fond period of life. I've also had the opportunity to explore different campus resources and facilities available to students and faculty. Unlike I did for much of high school, here I feel truly supported in everything I do and want to do, and I am highly motivated to both live my life in the present and prepare for my next steps. With tutoring, career services, an advocacy center for victims of violence, and more, this university is committed to supporting its students throughout all their endeavors, whether those be academic, professional, personal, social, or recreational. With college being so much better than I ever could have imagined, it's what I want to dedicate my life to. I see how much every staff member wants the best for every student, pointing us in the direction of other beneficial resources both within and beyond our campus. I want to eventually earn a graduate degree in Student Affairs so I can become one of those staff members that I have endless gratitude towards. College allows students to accomplish so much in all aspects of life, both during their time here and beyond. It's already changed my life and I'm only a freshman. Whether I provide tutoring so students can make the Dean's List, organize activities so they can take a fun break from the hectic life of classes, design the dining hall menu so students are fueled up and ready to put their best foot forward, or run the career services office to connect them to professional opportunities, I am ready to make the world a better place by creating the ripple effect with my work, and see the future of all professions bloom from there.

I am Cleo Hahn, a first-year Communications major at the University of New Mexico. For me, communication doesn't just happen via spoken and written words, or even by using your facial expressions and gestures to share a message. Communication is also about what you think and feel internally during your own life experiences and what that teaches you. For years, I have been looking forward to going to college. Now that I'm here, I'm getting to live the first stage of the life I've been dreaming of that's so unlike anything I've ever experienced before. There was a lot that I didn't know about before actually setting foot on campus, particularly campus events. I got to learn about them at New-Student Orientation, and that truly got me pumped to begin college life. Although I knew since New-Student Orientation that there were so many great things coming for me in college, I did not expect the dawning of what I wanted to do with my life to be one of them. Yet I have already been so shaped by this campus and what it has to offer to every one of its students. Getting to see and chat with other folks my own age when I eat dinner at the dining hall, do laundry, or head to the library to do homework has become one of those daily moments I look forward to, however brief our exchanges may be. Run-ins with my schoolmates are a reminder that we're all in this together, experiencing college for ourselves and we likely will have many memories later down the road that make our college time such a fond period of life. I've also had the opportunity to explore different campus resources and facilities available to students and faculty. Unlike I did for much of high school, here I feel truly supported in everything I do and want to do, and I am highly motivated to both live my life in the present and prepare for my next steps. With tutoring, career services, an advocacy center for victims of violence, and more, this university is committed to supporting its students throughout all their endeavors, whether those be academic, professional, personal, social, or recreational. There's even a Women's Resource Center that serves to specifically support our female-identified population throughout their time in college and the issues they may face because of being female. With college being so much better than I ever could have imagined, it's what I want to dedicate my life to. I see how much every staff member wants the best for every student, pointing us in the direction of other beneficial resources both within and beyond our campus. I want to eventually earn a graduate degree in Student Affairs so I can become one of those staff members that I have endless gratitude towards. College allows students to accomplish so much in all aspects of life, both during their time here and beyond. It's already changed my life and I'm only a freshman. Whether I provide tutoring so students can make the Dean's List, organize activities so they can take a fun break from the hectic life of classes, design the dining hall menu so students are fueled up and ready to put their best foot forward, or run the career services office to connect them to professional opportunities, I am ready to make the world a better place by creating the ripple effect with my work, and I want to see no woman feel discouraged in her academic and work pursuits because of her gender.

As a low-income student with minimal monetary support from my family, I am consistently asking myself the question of how I will be able to afford a college degree and ensure my success afterward when money is such an obstacle, even when going to college in my hometown that offers free tuition to academically successful in-state residents. Even so, I am faced with some decisions that aren't easy to make, such as minimizing discretionary spending. Because of this, I live by the virtue of delayed gratification and planning: making good decisions and knowing what I ultimately want keeps me in check to be more successful both now and later on. With every scholarship that I earn, that's money that I don't have to borrow either federally or privately and repay with interest. That's money I don't have to use from work earnings to pay for tuition, housing, books, and a meal plan. That's a degree made more easily accessible to me; that's a huge step forward in life; that's a key to unlocking more educational, internship, and career opportunities without the financial barriers standing in my way. That's money I can match from work earnings to use for discretionary spending or to save for a long-term expense, such as graduate school. The dream this scholarship would assist me in reaching is furthering my academic journey with graduate school so I can earn a college student affairs degree and become an integral part of a campus community for a living. Campus communities and atmospheres may be the single strongest driving force in determining what a student thinks of their time at college and where they end up afterward. A supportive and inclusive community is essential to student success. I know that I have felt uplifted and encouraged since I've utilized different campus resources here at the University of New Mexico and I've also been to many campus events that make me feel more connected to the community. What precisely defines a college campus community will vary from person to person, but all communities are built on a philosophy. My personal philosophy is to exercise diligence and planning in the work I do and the decisions that I make in order to open up the doors to magnificent future outcomes that may be greater than I ever dreamed of. Once this philosophy brings me the success of having achieved my post-graduate school dreams, I can approach my career the same way by teaching it to the students I work with so they, too, can be on the road to achieving their greatest dreams and use said dreams to enrich the world around them, whether it be by founding a much-needed new activist organization or by designing and creating a life-saving invention. I want my practice of assisting someone in being able to actively work towards what they want to go beyond the students at my future campus. I want to become a Bold Donor myself, so I can lend a hand to students across the country in being one step closer to expanding and reaching their full potential in all future endeavors they set foot in.

As a low-income student with minimal monetary support from my family, I am consistently asking myself the question of how I will be able to afford a college degree and ensure my success afterward when money is such an obstacle, even when going to college in my hometown that offers free tuition to academically successful in-state residents. Even so, I am faced with some decisions that aren't easy to make, such as minimizing discretionary spending. Because of this, I live by the virtue of delayed gratification and planning: making good decisions and knowing what I ultimately want keeps me in check to be more successful both now and later on. With every scholarship that I earn, that's money that I don't have to borrow either federally or privately and repay with interest. That's money I don't have to use from work earnings to pay for tuition, housing, books, and a meal plan. That's a degree made more easily accessible to me; that's a huge step forward in life; that's a key to unlocking more educational, internship, and career opportunities without the financial barriers standing in my way. That's money I can match from work earnings to use for discretionary spending or to save for a long-term expense, such as graduate school. The dream this scholarship would assist me in reaching is furthering my academic journey with graduate school so I can earn a college student affairs degree and become an integral part of a campus community for a living. Campus communities and atmospheres may be the single strongest driving force in determining what a student thinks of their time at college and where they end up afterward. A supportive and inclusive community is essential to student success. I know that I have felt uplifted and encouraged since I've utilized different campus resources here at the University of New Mexico and I've also been to many campus events that make me feel more connected to the community. What precisely defines a college campus community will vary from person to person, but all communities are built on a philosophy. My personal philosophy is to exercise diligence and planning in the work I do and the decisions that I make in order to open up the doors to magnificent future outcomes that may be greater than I ever dreamed of. Once this philosophy brings me the success of having achieved my post-graduate school dreams, I can approach my career the same way by teaching it to the students I work with so they, too, can be on the road to achieving their greatest dreams and use said dreams to enrich the world around them, whether it be by founding a much-needed new activist organization or by designing and creating a life-saving invention. I want my practice of assisting someone in being able to actively work towards what they want to go beyond the students at my future campus. I want to become a Bold Donor myself, so I can lend a hand to students across the country in being one step closer to expanding and reaching their full potential in all future endeavors they set foot in.

I have received the gift of continuous kindness from a wonderful lady named Helen Dundas. She is the mother of two friends of mine and their older brother and having such a kind heart makes her an unforgettably lovely person to me. Before Helen even met me, she had heard about me from her kids that I was delightful but quite hyper. With her heart and mind free of prejudice, Helen thought more about the many good things she'd heard about me and welcomed me with open arms to her family's house, filled with a joyous and non-judgmental atmosphere. Helen has done so many good deeds for me. Buying all the tickets when I went with her family to the zoo, picking me up when I was going to hang out with her kids, listening to what I had to say, remembering the little things, always seeing the good in people, speaking words of comfort, encouragement, and kindness, and making sure special occasions are extra special by bringing surprises, there is no doubt I am important in her and her family's lives as well. She accomplishes all of her goodness with a smile on her face and much love in her heart, and I consider her a gift from the universe that would change how I live forever. Which she has. Helen's gift for planting seeds of happiness allowed me to develop some habits so I could stay happy. Until I got to know her, I wasn't aware of just how much receiving kindness can light someone up. I go out of my way to do the same things and more for others that she does for me, knowing that what may seem so small to me could be all they need to stay motivated. Helen also encourages me to love myself, reminding me that I am a good person and I do so much, that I deserve to be able to put negative energy and people behind me and to do things that make me happy. I do, knowing that being happy with myself will allow me to spread more joy and love to other people. What stands above everything else is having Helen in my life has replaced my want for material presents. I am a better person because of her and I enjoy just being around her, which is far more valuable than anything that can be put in a box. Thank you, Helen Dundas, for everything you've done and continue to do. I have no doubt you will be a blessing in many more people's lives.

Prior to the last school year, I knew next to nothing about how a person should manage their money. Last school year was my senior year, in which I took three classes to sharpen my knowledge of what it means to be financially literate. One was Personal Finance. It focuses on how the decisions you make would impact you financially (such as having to pay for repairs and a hospital bill if you drive recklessly) and also the behind-the-scenes of credit cards, insurance companies, banking, and more. By taking this class, I learned about things I never thought to think about. I didn't know that some banks and credit cards charge their users an annual fee, which is something I will definitely bear in mind when searching for a future bank or credit card for myself. There was also Consumer Math, which was largely saving-and-spending-oriented. Perhaps the most important lesson from that class was the 50-30-20 budgeting rule, for needs, wants, and savings/debt repayment. This is something I plan to apply once I have an income that is big enough to offer some spending flexibility beyond basic needs. The third class was the Senior Seminar, dedicated to preparing students for college and the rest of life. It was there that I learned about the hidden costs of college, the fees that go beyond tuition, meal plans, housing, and books. Transportation is a big one, especially at the college I'm at. The price of parking permits being $534 for one year at my school layered on top of the other costs one must pay to have a functional car dissuaded me from getting one anytime soon. Thankfully, that is not a problem for me, as I live somewhere with cheaper alternatives. Although financial literacy was something I thought about and learned about nearly every day last year, I wasn't making a lot of financial decisions since I had minimal money and expenses of my own. Now that I've made it to college and I am the one covering my expenses, I use my financial literacy almost daily. Knowing that these are likely to be the lowest-income years of my life, the greatest lesson I have learned is that self-deprivation can equal delayed gratification. By saying no to things I want that I don't need, working during my time in college, and applying for scholarships like this one, I can both save and earn significantly more money. That will especially pay off years from now when the money I saved and earned rather than spending unnecessarily allows me to make a larger down payment on a car and therefore I will need a smaller loan. I would not be taking these things into account if it weren't for those classes I took back in high school, so I recommend them to anyone unfamiliar with how to manage their money.

Being a working writer wasn't something I decided on until the middle of June this year, but it has been an activity that I've enjoyed for as long as I can remember. Having decided to turn my passion into a career, I am currently going for my BA in Communications at the University of New Mexico, focusing on Interpersonal Communications and minoring in Professional Writing. At the moment, I don't have a specific plan in mind for how exactly I will be claiming my spot in the writing industry. However, I want to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design to earn my MFA in Writing. I expect that during my time there, I will be participating in numerous workshops, internships, and career fairs to push myself to the max so I can land a fulfilling and hopefully lucrative writing career with that MFA in hand. Being a freshman in college, I won't be walking into the doors of grad school for about four more years. Since it's a ways off, that gives me time to advance in my field as an undergrad. My school has a newspaper called The Daily Lobo, and I'm looking at getting hired there as a culture writer. Culture writers are exactly what they sound like: they write about events happening that are tailored toward the interest of the public. This can include new restaurants opening up in the area, concerts happening locally, and campus-sponsored festivals. As someone who enjoys learning about what makes people happy and playing a part in them receiving it if I can, this position interests me. If I do get this culture writer job, there will be both instant and delayed effects. On the instant side of things, I will have my first official writing job and I will be learning what it's like to have my work publicly featured in my community. As far as the future is concerned, what may seem like something small (given that I don't become instantly famous from The Daily Lobo) could easily be the first major step towards my eventual MFA and career as a published and regular columnist. Having The Daily Lobo on my resume could give me an edge when it comes to grad school since perhaps I could access internships earlier that way. It's also possible that having that experience could mean I will be winning a scholarship for it. A book I recommend everyone should read is Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli. This tells the story of a straight teenage girl surrounded by LGBT people who learns all she can about what it's like to be LGBT, though she feels she'll never understand what it is that makes LGBT people click with and recognize each other. While visiting her pansexual friend at college, Imogen meets her friend's new LGBT college friends and discovers that maybe the reason LGBT people gravitate toward her so much and she finds herself fascinated by their culture is that she is one herself. This is a good book to read to see how one fictional person deals with feeling like she doesn't fit in, considering the influence of other people's expectations on her thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and discovering who she is. These experiences are universal, so almost anyone who reads this will connect with Imogen in some way. That's one of the many amazing powers of stories: discovering we are not alone.

I had never considered the similarities between any two generations, and especially with the Greatest Generation and Millennials-Gen Z being born so many decades apart, they might as well have been from two different planets in addition to periods. Yet after having read this passage, the similarities become apparent. Of course, the standard lifestyles of the times differ, but certain circumstances remain the same. I was surprised to learn how poorly we young people are doing as far as jobs and money go. I thought we'd have an edge since we are highly innovative and tech-savvy. Yet it's not a shock that we're still struggling as a generation, seeing the challenges that we're facing. As the text pointed out, we're living in the age of healthcare expenses, climate change, and student loan rates being the worst they've ever been. The Greatest Generation fought through the hell of the world that they lived in, and we Milennials-Gen Z-ers can too. Given how active our generation is in the way of securing a fair and equal world, our resilience, innovation, tech-savviness, creativity, and determination can be key to unlocking solutions to combat the global issues faced by many people on a daily basis. Eighty or so years from now, as we Millennials-Gen Z-born folks hit triple digits, how do we want the history books of 2103 to depict us? We shall be reflected the same way our Greatest Generation counterparts are: as courageous warriors who fight against the many obstacles surrounding us in order to build up both a better life for ourselves and the world around us. As the generation who made the American Dream possible for the young people of the future.

My name is Cleo Hahn. I am in my first year of college at the University of New Mexico, working towards my Bachelor's in Communications. Being a local does mean school costs are reduced for me; however, the aid I have been given is not a full package, so I naturally worry about how to pay for it, as I want to avoid getting an undergraduate loan if possible and I know my family does not have the funds to pay for my education. I picked Communications as a major due to absolutely adoring stories. Reading them, hearing them, telling them, collecting them, and writing them is by far one of my greatest enjoyments in life. It was in 2020-2021 when I started to become such a fan, due to coming up with stories to entertain myself and my friends during quarantine, in addition to enjoying YouTube videos where the creators shared their own and their fans' stories. That became my primary source of entertainment. Being equally eager to find out some stories from people I know in real life, I did that as well. That combined with hearing stories on YouTube made me realize how amazing stories actually are. They can bring people together, teach important lessons, give you a good laugh, and so much more. I believe being given a chance to share your lens of the world without judgment is good for everyone, as that can make an impact that can ripple throughout the audience, which could end up positively affecting someone's life decisions. By being preserved and passed on for generations to come, the story could eventually wind up in a history textbook someday. I don't plan on stopping my education after getting this degree. As I long to become a columnist, my next step is to get a Master's in Writing in order to gain the necessary skills to have my own column covering various topics that I share with the world. This column will definitely be flooded with stories. I want to travel to different places and write about it, which may eventually end up resulting in someone's family tradition of an annual vacation to a certain city. I want to investigate some kind of behavior or thought process I wonder about, such as why someone made a certain decision to do or not to do something, and publish a story covering the different voices of the people I talk to. I want to write reflections on my own life over the years, considering how my choices got me to where I am at that point. I want everything I write to have the same impact on my readers that exposure to other people's stories has on me: lesson teaching, solidarity, comedy, and more. I want to be a source of entertainment, connection, comfort, empowerment, and inspiration for people; to create a rippling chain reaction of all of these things that will ultimately lead to people being happier with their lives.

The most influential person in my life is, without a doubt, Helen Dundas. The mother of two friends of mine and their older brother, Helen consistently maintains her kind heart and charming demeanor that make her an unforgettably lovely person to me. I know that although Helen's children and I became good friends, they were a bit wary of me at first because of my hyperactivity. Helen was well aware of this, but she didn't let it dissuade her from meeting me. I came over to their house, which was filled with a joyous and non-judgmental atmosphere since Helen thought more about the many good things she'd heard about me and welcomed me with open arms. Such a positive reception did not go unnoticed. Every time I saw this family after that, I looked forward to seeing Helen as well as her children. Having a sense of humor, she took well to me putting a rubber rat on her shoulder to be silly, exclaiming "Hello!" as she petted it. It's not so much what she says, but how she says it, including her tone, facial expressions, and body language that make interactions with her fun. Helen has done so many good deeds for me. Buying all the tickets when I went with her family to the zoo, picking me up when I was going to hang out with her kids, listening to what I had to say, remembering the little things, always seeing the good in people, speaking words of comfort, encouragement, and kindness, and making sure special occasions are extra special by bringing surprises, there is no doubt I am important in her and her family's lives as well. She accomplishes all of her goodness with a smile on her face and much love in her heart. Whenever I see Helen's children repeating her good traits, I think to myself: they are definitely their mother's children. I have no doubt they, too, will be dispensing the same love and care as adults that their mother does. Helen's gift for planting seeds of happiness allowed me to develop some habits so I can stay happy. Until I got to know her, I wasn't aware of just how much receiving kindness can light someone up. I go out of my way to do the same things and more for others that she does for me, knowing that what may seem so small to me could be all they need to stay motivated. Helen also encourages me to love myself, reminding me that I am a good person and I do so much, that I deserve to be able to put negative energy and people behind me, and to do things that make me happy. When I found out that it doesn't take much to make Helen cry or blush, I decided to also reveal my potential shortcomings. If I'm concerned about something in my life, I'm not going to pretend I'm not. I'll let other people know unashamedly. Lastly, and perhaps the most valuable lesson of all: having Helen in my life has replaced my want for material presents. I am a better person because of her and I enjoy just being around her, which is far more valuable than anything that can be put in a box. Thank you, Helen Dundas, for everything you've done and continue to do. I have no doubt you will be a blessing in many more people's lives.

When it comes to Disney, I find myself strongly identifying with The Little Mermaid. Watching and rewatching this movie and equating it with other parts of my life has got me thinking about life in a new way. Not just mine, but the lives of others as well. "Part of Your World" may be the single most relatable Disney song out there. It gives us insight into just how much Ariel longs to escape her undersea environment and venture out onto land, getting to see the human world for herself and becoming truly immersed in it. Unfortunately, her disapproving father does everything within his control to make her stay permanently seabound. As the movie progresses, we see Ariel sacrifice her powerful voice in order to gain a pair of legs to be where she wants to be. Although her dream of being a human doesn't start out exactly the way she wants it to, she still gets a taste of being one and living in that world and using fascinating human objects. After a long and hard battle of a failed attempt to kiss her prince before sundown and then fighting off Ursula the Sea Witch, Ariel is transformed back into a human by her father, who now sees how happy she is as one, especially since Ariel being a human means she gets to be with her prince. The movie ends with Ariel and Prince Eric happily marrying, accompanied by a much more joyful reprise of "Part of Your World", reflecting that Ariel finally is where she truly wants to be. Back when she still lived underwater, Ariel had no clue that she would ever get to be a human. In fact, she sings "Part of Your World" before even finding and saving Prince Eric. To see first a reprise of the song reflecting how much she wants to be part of his world specifically, and then a second one when she finally can ended up triggering this concept inside my brain that I like to call mystique. Being unaware of what is waiting for you in the future and how wonderful it may turn out to be, then reflecting back on it later on. Mystique is something I think about on an almost daily basis. My life isn't unhappy right now, but like Ariel, there is more that I want that I don't expect to come super easily. Yet by making sacrifices and planning long-term, I know that I can end up with magnificent and unforeseen things in the future. I wonder the same thing about my friends. Who are they now, and where will they be in the future? What kind of journey will they go on to end up living their most fulfilling life? Only time will tell, and that is mystique at work.

I'm happily writing for a living, traveling whenever I can, and am surrounded by amazing people.

My favorite Disney character is the lovable and curious Princess Ariel from The Little Mermaid. There are many things that I love about her. Being in a movie that was the first in a revolution, this first Disney princess in 30 years was a lot different from our previous princesses, she teaches important lessons, and she's easy to relate to. Ariel's also revolutionary as a character herself. When you look at the three princesses that came out before her (Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty), they weren't very interesting characters. They simply let life happen and were saved by a prince in the end. Ariel, on the other hand, actually has interests of her own. Since she's famous for her lovely voice in her undersea kingdom, she LIVES to sing. She is also very fascinated by the human world, given how much she collects human items and dreams of what it would be like to have legs and do all the things that humans do up on the land. Being a dreamer who desires to escape the life that she lives in, Ariel stands up for what she believes in. She isn't afraid to take risks and make sacrifices to be where she wants to be. That's how much being part of the human world meant to her that she was willing to give up her voice. Moreover, she is able to make her father and the entire kingdom realize that humans are not the evil beings they're viewed as. Her famous and beloved song "Part of Your World" is relatable for many of us, since we tend to not be happy with our lives. Who doesn't desire something more? I know I do. I desire to move on from where I am now and be part of something greater.