Thanks for taking the time to read my application for the Charles Cheesman's Student Debt Reduction Scholarship and for contributing to students, leaders, and graduates trying to better themselves. I am a soldier in the army and have been in the military for 15 years. I live in Hawaii, and I love to exercise. I am publishing a book, "Over 20 years of Reflection through the Eyes of a Soldier." On the weekends, I am working for vector to start learning more skills geared towards business. I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Drury University and two master's degrees from Trident University International in Organizational Leadership and Human Resource Management. I am currently in my Doctorate courses pursuing Business Administration. I have been in my doctorate program for one year and have a 4.0 GPA. My educational goals are to complete my doctorate, graduate with honors, and complete a graduate experiment that deeply gives back to an up-and-becoming firm. Upon retiring from the military in the next four years, I plan to enter the business world by working at a top 100 firm to become a more effective leader while running and exploring residual businesses. I want to successfully conquer the corporate leaders' santorum and residual firms to create a book of continuity that gives back to people like myself who endeavor to make themselves better by pursuing a dream and making it a reality. I spend time volunteering with Shriners of Hawaii, which directly supports the Shriner children's hospital in facilitating a dream made a reality by giving children life-changing surgeries and medical care at zero cost to the family. I help by providing transportation and spreading the word about the hospital to families so that if one day comes, their children can get the help they need to be contributing forces in the future of tomorrow. Some of my significant accomplishments are being selected as a 1SG in the military to lead soldiers, safely deploying and coming home to my family, spending three years as a drill instructor in the army, completing airborne and air assault school, being the first person out of my siblings to go to college and obtain two master degrees, becoming a master mason learning ways to better myself, pursuing a dream to publish a book of poetry, and finally giving back to the community which has always been the biggest supporter. I hope that the thousands of people I have mentored, from playing high school and college sports to 15 years in the military and every volunteer job I have partaken in, have seen something in me that made them want to follow their goals. When you never really have had anything growing up, you learn to appreciate everything you are given. I was once told that the best ideas in the world go with people to the grave. I want all my thoughts to be given to others to help them be the best person they can be. Again, thanks for your time. Respectfully, Corri

Aloha from Hawaii, There have been two gentlemen in my life that I have lost who impacted my life for the better. The essay is supposed to be about a close family member, but I have two. They are both great uncles to me, and they are brothers. This essay will first introduce the relationship and bond built, then talk about the achievements I have made in life and how they have impacted me. The first uncle discussed is named Uncle Houston. Uncle Houston was very respected and well-known in the community. He was educated and successful. When I met Uncle Houston, I was a kid with no direction who needed an influential male person in my life. Uncle Houston got me involved in the church and taught me life morale lessons. He would give me money to help with chores and sit to talk to me about the things going on in my life. We usually sat in the garage, and he gave me advice, guidance, and mentorship. Having Uncle Houston in my life at the time was the best thing that ever happened to me. All I wanted to do every day was spend time with him. There is a saying I have heard in life as I got older that says all good things must come to an end. Uncle Houston was in a bad car accident one day, and I would wait outside his bedroom to see him, but by the time everyone left, he was already asleep, or his medication had kicked in. I remember the day my other uncle called me out of class and told me he had bad news for me. I had no idea what he would say, but he told me that Uncle Houston had passed away a couple of hours ago. I think this is the saddest moment I have ever had. I cried for days, and I just wanted to tell him that I love him and thank him for always being there for me and pushing me to pursue goals and make something out of myself. He got me into sports, forced me to educational success, and taught me to believe in myself even if no one else did. I would go on throughout my young adulthood to achieve many accomplishments with the support of Uncle Houston's brother, Uncle Jack. Uncle Jack always told me I could do more and that I was limiting myself. When stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, I told him I wanted to be a doctor and have my business one day. Every day I say to him, he asks me where I am at on my goals. Uncle Jack taught me hard work, saying there is always something to do on the farm. So every weekend, I would donate hours helping on the farm while being mentored by an elder. Our bond grew over time, and he told me I was more like a son than a great-nephew. I never met my grandparents, but I was honored to meet my great-uncles or my grandmother's brothers. These two gentlemen described above taught me everything I know and pushed me to do something incredible. That is why I am the only person in my family to attend college or join the military. However, Uncle Jack secretly wanted me to be a military officer, while Uncle Houston wanted me to be successful and follow my goals. In contrast, they were different but had so much in common. Uncle Jack inspired me to pursue masonry to be a better man and volunteer time to help others. Uncle Jack passed away a couple of years ago. He lived to be 87 years old. He was a good mentor in my life. I got to tell Uncle Jack daily that I loved him and how thankful I was to have him in my life. Somedays, we would drink coffee and talk and walk the farm. He would be so happy to be here to watch me pursue my doctorate in business. Whenever I get low or discouraged, it is almost like I know they are watching me and believe in me. This way, I always believed in myself and was inspired. They are father figures I wished I had my whole life. Thanks for your time. V/R Corri Irving

Recovery to me means, continuous progress, accepting the problem, implementing new measures, and continuing on with life. Recovery- implemented a plan to keep a person on track and going in the right direction. Recovery from heartbreak is something that many people go through in their life. Recovery would be the process of moving on without that influential person in your life. Sometimes when people leave us they are either in a better place or we are better off without them. Having a busy life helps to aid in recovery from times like this. Recovery is the process of building back up your strength to feel better physically or mentally. Whether it is a broken bone or a serious surgery the implementation of physical therapy is the key ingredient to recovery. Recovery is something that we can do on our own or with the aid of another person. Recovery is the lesson learned when doing it again for the second time. For some people having a second chance to go back to school and achieve has more value-added than enduring the struggles encountered during life as they age. Recovery can sometimes be a mental veil that looms over you like a shadow constantly telling you that you can not do something until you finally overcome that veil and dictate your own history. All of these things are recovery for me and I hope to share my success story about how I recovered with people as a testimony of my achievement.

In the past year, one way in which I have grown is through time management. The event that led to this was looking at the calendar and realizing I had nothing on my calendar, but I always have meetings, events, and special occasions I have to attend. It started with all the birthdays I could think of, then all the critical meetings I had, and then I began adding appointments, holidays, and homework due dates. At the end of all of the inputs, I realized that there were a lot of things that were not accounted for. Having a calendar synchronized with everything I do helps me keep up with copious events in my life. This event inspired personal growth because this is something that I can share with my soldiers so that they can have a calendar that is in sync with their daily activities. This is also something that they can go home and share with their spouse and family. Before significant events, I set reminders to let me know 15 before the event so that I am there early. Although this is something I know how to do, and I am always on time. This is just another tool to keep track of events when there are many events and meetings throughout the day. What has changed about me is that I can take this calendar with me everywhere I go. I use the calendar through Microsoft Outlook, and I print the calendar out when changes are implemented. I can also use the calendar to annotate notes when I usually add them to my notebook. I also have time dedicated to homework and gym daily to keep a good balance. It lets me see the big picture of my life from a calendar approach. What remains the same is that I continue to carry a notebook and am always super early to events if time permits. What I have learned through this journey is that change sometimes takes time. This is something I have always told myself that I wanted to do to become better organized. I kept putting it off until one day I just did it and after sticking with it now calendar synchronization is part of my daily routine. If necessary, I will come in early to sync my calendar or stay later after work.

I do currently own a dog. Her name is Josie. She is three years old. She is a red poodle. This was my first time owning a dog, so it took a little time to get used to it. She likes when I rub her head, and she loves chicken and rice. She joins me on runs even though she ends up pooping along the way. She is very obedient and learned how to potty outside and not jump on people fast. I am still trying to get her to stop licking people, but I do not know if that is just a happy dog thing. Josie has an essential role in my life. She is so happy to see me every day when I come home from work. We play this cat and mouse game after I love her, and we chase one another around the backyard. She enjoys playing and has a tremendous amount of energy. She follows me wherever I go and sits outside the door when I am using the restroom. I think she knows I am her person. When I wake up, she will sit in her cage, waiting for me to let her out. Josie love to go on walks and have treats. She is like a kid to me. I give her baths, cut her hair, take her to the veterinarian for checkups, and I work to take care of her and give her nice things. We have grown to comfort one another over the last year as she has been sick, and for me, it gives me someone to love on. When she was ill, I made her chicken and rice daily and gave her Pedialyte to keep her from dehydrating. I took three weeks off from work to care for her. We had to go to the doggy doctor multiple times until she got better. I am not exactly sure what was wrong with her, but I am glad she is back to her usual self. I love my little girl Josie Rowan

Aloha, I maintain my mental, physical, and nutritional health while in school by maintaining a healthy diet, physical exercise, and mental breaks. I keep a healthy diet by planning out my meals. This allows me to maximize my spending habits while focusing on food that gives me nutritive nutritional values. I researched online healthy food to eat and collaborated them into my diet. My menu consists of three meals a day, and on busy weeks, I meal prep over the weekend. While working throughout the day, I drink up to a half gallon of water daily. I also take a vitamin every day to help keep my immune system boosted. The water and nutrients from my meals give me the added value to complete my physical exercise. I spend up to two hours in the gym four times a week, and three times a week, I exercise in the morning for two hours. Exercising helps to create endorphins that fuel my energy. On weekends I compete in races, go hiking, volunteer, or do water activities in the ocean. My volunteer activities consist of making bags of food for families in need through a local organization here in Hawaii and walking along the shoreline to pick up trash. Just as important as staying active, I have to balance my busy lifestyle with a peaceful one. Some of my calming activities consist of hanging out at the beach, listening to the waves crash upon the shore, finding calmness and stillness during yoga and meditation exercises at the local studio, and at the highest point of the hike taking 30 minutes to observe the stiffness of the breeze and stillness of the earth upon the busy island of Honolulu. My hour drive to and from work allows me to think about my life, goals, what's working for me, and what I can do better. I find it relaxing to let the windows down and enjoy my drive as the sun sets while traveling from one side of the island to the other. There are many ways to maintain a mental, physical, and nutritional lifestyle while in school. Although the mentioned aspects are important, it is equally essential to ensure that homework is executed in a feasible environment conducive to studying. Sometimes we can do all the right things to prepare us for doing homework or focusing on a project, but if we are not in the right environment, we may not get the results we would like to achieve. Everyone works differently, so you must figure out what works best for you. Mahalo, Corri

My dream in life is to be an exceptional person, inspire others with ambition, set an excellent example for others, help others, and make my path. My long-term goals in life are to own businesses, become a doctor, retire from the military, give back to the community, and publish books of poetry. Ultimately, I want to impact the community, be a motivation to others, and be the change in the world I want to see.

Higher education is important because when there is a wealth of knowledge derived, it comes with beneficial factors. Higher pay compared to peers without the educational background could be a compliment to the experienced experts. Higher education teaches and prepares the student for the future technology and programs used by organizations and then finds means to link and liaison students with excellent opportunities from supporting organizations. Higher education broadens students' ability to communicate and synchronize information. Higher education makes students more marketable when searching for jobs. Projects, dissertations, or even group work help students think more professionally with innovative methods while mastering the task of working well with others. It becomes an opportunity of a lifetime because it not only helps to learn new or different people, but there is a capability to learn new cultures, ethics, customs, and understanding than when placed in a similar situation again. Higher education teaches the proper instructions for research, methods, and structure. This will help presentations flow with minimum grammatical errors. When completed with higher education, there is always an opportunity to become an alumnus or even a faculty. This allows the student to pursue a doctorate at minimum cost or even free. Overall, it is a great opportunity because universities have a grand impact on the communities in which they reside. Higher education has many extracurricular activities like sports, clubs, and elective officers for grades. Higher education is an opportunity of a lifetime to get things you never had, get a better understanding of the world, and inspire with grit and determination.

Some changes I have made to my lifestyle that make me more healthy are hot yoga, eating a balanced meal, and doing things I have not done before. I am a runner, so I am constantly beating up my body but hot yoga is the balance that helps with the soreness and pain of running. Hot yoga is intense, but it allows me to stretch and meditate. I get to clear my mind, and it takes me from my hectic life. I never really thought about how important to watch what I eat until I got older. When I was in high school, I ate whatever I wanted. Playing sports always made me hungry no. Matter what I was doing. I never really thought about my health in comparison to my food. I attended a class where the nutritionist told me about healthy food that I should be eating and why they were important. That is probably one of the best things that could have happened to me. Since I never cared about what I ate, this gave me a chance to dab into cooking. It is something special about cooking your food that makes it much better than just getting any kind of food from anywhere. Doing things I have not done before helps with my lifestyle because I do the same daily. Whether going on a hike, going on a bike ride to a new area, or going to some sort of festive or historical site, I try to find ways to do things and try things that I have not done or been to before. This just takes me out of my routine, allows me to meet new people, and it gives me a chance to cultivate my environment. This can be done by volunteering and finding a way to make positive impacts on the community that I am living in.

What excites me the most about college is knowing I am doing something that many people do not take advantage of, and thousands of others wish they could attend college. In different countries, people are not as fortunate as I am to go to college. To me, going to college is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is why I intend to make the most out of my pursuit of happiness. College instills discipline and independence as we go forth and get to know ourselves. We also get to know things we can improve on and find ways to cope with the stress and anxiety of taking tests and overcoming the fear of public speaking. We get to make new friends with people around the globe and learn about new cultures. The beautiful thing about college is that it can only be what we make it to be. Networking with outsourced organizations is a way to open doors for opportunities after college. For many people, it can be a way to finally be away from home and have a little fun with parents looking over your shoulder to remind you to do things. College develops us as unique critical thinking to have a grasping concept of what the world has to offer. Maintaining healthy principles is the key to success with the good, bad, beautiful, and horror of college. For some people, it might be a stroll through the campus in the evening just to take a break from studies, while for others, it is a profound meditation or physical engagement. Sometimes when we are overwhelmed, we have to use our support system. Life is not meant to be done alone; friends or family members are sometimes the best and worst things we can have. The most crucial piece of advice is to find a hobby, something that is a distraction and use that to take your mind off of studies when you need a break, whether it is a spiritual or physical thing just make sure time management and organization are key fundamentals. The worst thing that most college students do is procrastinate, and the challenge is trying to cram everything in at the last minute. Being proactive affords the opportunity to increase good health while in school. Maintain a healthy mind by resting, eating good food, and staying hydrated. Maintain a healthy body by doing physical activity, which could be a walk, run, hot yoga, or whatever it is you feel the need for. Maintain a healthy soul by doing something that gives you peace and fulfillment, whether meditation, practicing a religion, or maybe just going to a movie with a significant other.

When I think about clean living, I think about health and safety concerns. Clean living shows that you care about yourself and the environment. Clean living could mean clean eating. This will ensure that a person gets the needed vitamins and minerals for their body, improving the brain, heart, and overall wellness. It will give a person a robust immune system to fight viruses and other sicknesses. Healthy living could also be beneficial to the environment. This means that a person can recycle, saving millions of sealife animals and improving the domain's overall cleanliness. Recycling allows the reuse of items instead of items being incinerated into landfills emitting polluted air. Although we do not know our future, some truths exist to living a healthy life. Some beneficial factors could consist of longevity. Living a long life allows for meeting grandkids and great-grandkids. Healthy life could lead to a healthy mind with less stress. Overall, healthy life could equivalate a happy life. Through observation living healthy can also inspire others around you. If you are a parent or in some sort of leadership position where others look up to you, this could be a way to inspire and motivate others. I incorporate clean living practices into my daily life through what I eat and recycling. On Saturday mornings, I volunteer at the beachfront to pick up trash. The majority of the garbage collector can be recycled. I also recycle items at the home like paper, glass, plastic, and aluminum. I have learned from many years of exercising and meal prepping that we are what we eat. This does not mean that I am a chicken if I eat chicken, but the things we put into our bodies impact who we are, how long we live, how quick we recover, which cover our mental and physical health, but most of all healthy eating allows us to get good muscle gains. A large intake of water keeps us hydrated, and electrolytes help to keep the blood flowing when mixed with water inside the body.

It is important to understand the nature of the universe because it demonstrates graphics that enhance our lives through vamping on the aspect of creation and understanding. The first aspect that I think about when understanding the nature of the university is evolvement. Many scientists spend decades and lifetimes looking for the answer to the why and how. Some sources on social media vow to believe that UFOs frequently visit earth. For thousands of years, while gazing at stars and the moon, we have advanced technology that actually allows us to send machines and people from one planet to the next. The beauty of our Universe is that it is composed of so much diversity that when understanding the context of life and relations overall it shows the beauty of diverse objects working together and making a reality out of what was once just a dream or thought. These concepts can change our whole way of thinking. When observing the harmony and dissension of how everything works or the lack of consensus amongst matter seen or known we can correlate the study of nature to the universe of our life. Lessons in nature can make a person better if the equities of the interventions are calculated into moral lessons and acted upon.

I work full-time as a soldier and take classes towards my DBA concurrently. Time management is the biggest obstacle that I have to surpass when working and planning. Structure and discipline are two important key ingredients to success for me. I noticed that obtaining student loans from from FAFSA and other generated organizations are afforded at a high interest rate on loans. If credit is established and a student has the opportunity a better interest rate could come from the bank in which they regularly partake in. The way I plan to analyze and surpass my student loans is to first look at the bigger picture. Money management is the key because I have to monitor money going in and going out, ensure all bills are paid, and save a little for contingencies. I have to determine what things I can take away from monthly bills by deciphering wants from necessities to start compensating the loan payments. Some ideas have arose of looking at doing some side jobs in which I can create my own hours, and looking at ways to make extra cash through internet-driven jobs during the less busy season at work as practicable options. I have registered for many scholarships which leads me here today but there are not a lot of scholarship opportunities for doctoral and Ph.D. level students. The military does not offer tuition assistance for this level of study either. Having a fixed schedule allows me to plan my day so I know how many open hours I have to dedicate to the important aspects of life. Discipline is staying consistent with studies, time management, and allocation of funds. Structure is the balance of maintaining the consistency which makes accomplishing goals or in my case paying student loans feasible.

Corri Corri to me represents who I am and what I have been through to make me who I am today. It means an assortment of feelings, forever impacting memories, and being a role model for my family members who will recollect my achievements in the future. My name is important because it is what my parents named me. There are no deep ancestral ties to my name but the ancestral ties can begin with me. Although I am not a junior nor do I have any children that are carrying my name it is still important because it is my identity. When I was growing up my name was always spelled differently from the other people who pronounced their names like me so I always thought my name was special or unique. My name carries the power of recognition, achievements, high school, college, masonry, and military career. In certain habitats of natural dwellings, my name can mean many different things. In some places, my name will denote power, strength, and leadership while in others my name denotes peace, happiness, a helper, and a friend. From my interpretations, my name can surface a very different opinion or maybe the same as others. My mother named me Corri because we grew up on a large hill that went around a neighborhood. The neighborhood was very small and people who come from the neighborhood I grew up in are considered to be from the Hope Street round hill. When I took Spanish in High School and my undergrad my name was associated with correr which is the verb form of to run. I love my name and I think it is cool. Everything that has meaning stands for something. This is what my name means to me.

I think the military is a volunteer opportunity of a lifetime. You learn how to be a soldier, but in the context of being a soldier, you learn many life lessons like discipline, loyalty, duty, responsibility, respect, selfless service, humility, honor, integrity, and personal courage just to name a few. Although you learn these essential acts of character, you meet people who, no matter what situation you are in, will have you and your family back through thick and thin. In 15 years of service, the military has impacted my life mentally, physically, professionally, and personally. Mentally the military has given me the strength to believe in myself and in accomplishing goals. The military has taught me how to face tough situations and make calculated decisions. Physically the military has made me age but I'm fortunate to be an airborne air assault trooper with no injuries. A little tendonitis here and there, but it comes with the overuse of the body. Professionally I have obtained my bachelor's in science and two master's degrees at the top of my class. The unfortunate thing about the military is that the military does not give any tuition assistance for doctorate or Ph.D. students. Personally, the military has taught me how to value family spending so much time away from family makes me miss them more. Personally, I have learned to understand what sacrifice means. The military has impacted my life in many ways but the military has also impacted my family. My family has always been here to support me and through my dedication and hard work my family can pick up on the morals and lessons that I learned. By being transparent with my family they are growing and thriving as citizens of society. When they see me work all day and study until I fall asleep, crash from exhausting workouts, or spend countless months away so that others can be free, it builds pride and dignity and makes everything that I do worth it. After my 20 years of service, I am hoping to transition out of the military in hopes of doing something that would be productive to society but also try to be an intricate part of my family life after so many years of being constantly on the go and leaving at the sound of a whistle. This is why education is so important to me and my family. I would never tell my kids to do something that I would not do. That is why the last five years I have been in pursuit of a dream to obtain my doctorate degree which will become a reality in December '23. The biggest obstacle in life is ourselves. The mind is the most powerful tool in the body.

I love superfoods because of the health impacts they have on your body. I am sure that dieticians and research scientists have phenomenal reasons why we should eat these superfoods. Still, this short essay will explain my favorite superfoods and how I incorporate them into my diet. There are many superfoods that I enjoy eating, but my favorite is berries. Berries are what have kept my immune system operating at a phenomenal rate. When most people were sick at work, I was one of the few that did not get sick. I have also encouraged my coworkers to eat berries while at work and reminded them that the berries would give essential vitamins C, and they are delicious. I eat blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, and strawberries. The berries also help with inflammation 15 years in the military have caused spurts of inflammation. Hence, I truly believe that the berries are helping with the tendonitis in my knees and ankles from jumping out of airplanes, running, rucking, crawling, and falling these last 15 years. When I wake up in the morning, I eat berries with my coffee, and when I go to lunch or while I am working before I eat my berries in my lunchbox. Since I have been buying so many berries, I have had an issue with them not lasting for a long time. I saw a TikTok hack that if you wash the berries with vinegar, they will last twice as long and it works like magic for my berries as I am now able to store them and buy a larger quantity at one time. After the military, I was thinking about having a berry farm of blueberries and blackberries.

With 1,000$ right now I would pay towards my tuition. It is almost my birthday so that would be a wicked birthday gift. Other than that all my extra money goes towards my college education right now.

I have overcame adversity by being the only person in my family to go to college. I come from a place where a lot of people just live there their whole life and work factory or coal mining. When I go home people tell me that I made it out. The making it was hard I have been in the military for 15 years and I am still finding the motivational effort to work forward to achieving my doctoral degree in business. I am known as a life time learner in my organization. Many people joke about me spending so much of my time, energy, and life in going to school but I was taught that knowledge is power. I want to use my education to open businesses to give back to my community at home to help educate and mentor people on the importance of going to school. I also want to open a coffee shop that has great internet and open space for people to come in and study. I want to be able to donate to students and promote scholarships sometimes people just need a little nudge or coaching to get them going in the right direction. Being able to go back to my home town and share my experience with students will potentially motivate them to do things they like to do and give them hope beyond the realm of our home town.

I have lived in several different communities and in every community, I have done acts of service to help others. To me, I feel that it is my duty to give back to the communities because either directly or indirectly I feel like the communities give back to the organization that I represent. It is important because being involved influences others to play a part. Whether it is helping people in need, doing charity, cleaning up trash, or helping kids and senior adults every aspect of investing in the community makes a difference. It helps to connect with the local people that are represented and it shows that people care. In the communities I have been in I have helped in many different ways. In Washington state, I was a big brother big sister and I would speak to the kids at the elementary school on Fridays in my uniform as a soldier and read books. In Kentucky, I volunteered at loaves and fishes, manna cafe, and salvation army to help people in need. I also made sandwiches and water to deliver to homeless people over the weekend. In Missouri, I volunteered to help give food to families in need from the food back and on holidays I would volunteer to help serve people with the local churches. In Hawaii, I help clean the beach on Saturdays and still hand out food on weekends. In the future, I plan to continue being a servant leader in the community by working with churches and non-profit organizations to help people in need. I also want to be able to have a positive influence on children so I hope to have a role in helping kids and aging adults. I hope one day to be a business owner. I intend to influence others to give back through my organization. Maybe one day I can start my own charitable organization that gives back to the community.

A time when I showed perseverance is when I tore my ACL in my undergraduate degree. It was the third game of the season in the second quarter of my junior year of college. I was backpedaling playing football and I felt a pop in my knee. I completely tore my ACL and partially tore my meniscus. It took a long time to get an appointment and arthritis started to set in from bone on bone. The doctor told me that I would probably never be 100% and will have to get another in the future. After my surgery and being on crutches for weeks. I took little heed to what the doctor said and I focused on my rehabilitation and physical therapy doing everything that the therapists told me to do. I recovered from 100% and a year later I was able to play football, I made it through 15 years in the military, I have run marathons, and over 30 jumps out of airplanes on the same knees. This is something that I had to persevere and overcome. I could have just quit when the doctor told me that I would never fully recover but defied the comment and went on my own journey to rehabilitate.

I want my legacy to remember not by my achievements but by my character and influence. That is why it is critical that I be transparent with everyone that I meet to fully understand me. Not only do I want to leave my character traits but I hope that other people use what I leave them as influence and character in their own life to be a continuous process that transcends to generations to come.

Work hard with integrity and never give up on your goals, ambitions, or dreams and be the change that you want to see in the world because if no one believes in you I do. I shared this with my soldiers because sometimes people need a phrase, a goal, or idea in life to motivate them to keep pushing, driving, and striving for success. The phrase actually outlines W.I.N. and having someone to believe in them actually gives them someone to strive to be like and consult with as they go through trials and burdens. Basic training for many soldiers is the first real significant event they will have to go through in life. Sharing a traumatic experience and overcoming it builds resilience so it is a perfect opportunity to embed a phrase, quote, or motivation in their mind to empower the soldiers to be what they want to be. It allows the soldiers to see if they set goals and apply them to the things they want in life they can achieve them just like they have surpassed basic training. I like to inspire other people and I think it is awesome to leave such a profound impact on hundreds of soldiers who are making big changes in the world today while potentially using a quote I gave them.

I do not really think it is a song but more like a music gender. I have recently gotten into this music gender as I have grown over the years. The gender I love listening to is soft classical jazz instrumentals. My friends call it boring elevator music. :-) My daughter calls it old people music. I enjoy the soft touch of the music although it is just being instruments. While studying the music plays in the background making it more like white noise which can be toned out. I remember when I first started going to college and I used to study at Starbucks and the only music played was instrumental music so ever since I have adopted this music because it inspires me and helps me to concentrate. It started off as just something I listen to while I study but now I incorporate it into multiple domains of my life. I figured if it inspires me to reach my educational goals maybe it can inspire me to reach other goals in life.

I am happy and grateful to live in Hawaii close to the beach where 90% of the time great weather is imminent. There are a lot of things in life that make me happy. When I am constantly busy sometimes having a break to just relax, explore, go on hikes, or sleep in makes me happy. It makes me happy to reach fitness goals. Whether it is running lifting weights or exercising with friends releasing those endorphins makes me happy. I also like classical music. My neighbors usually see me washing my car on the weekend enjoying some classical music or barbecuing always offer a taste sample. I like to listen to music but I really enjoy cooking for others. My specialty is ribeye steaks and grilled chicken. Some people refer to me as the grill master. I like to see a smile put on other people's faces. Whether it is exercising, volunteering, handing out food, or just the greeting of the day it makes me happy to interact with other people who are happy even if it is for a moment. I guess some of the little things that others may take for granted for me derive happiness. I am considered a happy person at least by the people who know me. Doing things that make me happy is nice to be facilitated by others doing the same thing and having similar results.

I plan to make my mark in the world by continuously challenging myself to accomplish things I have set forth to conquer. I want to do historical things like make poetry books, compete in competitions, facilitate charity, and volunteer events. This will leave my mark in all of the places I have been, all the people I have met, and all of the events, and functions that I have been a part of. I will be remembered for my love for others by the people I volunteer with, all the soldiers that I served with, all of the churches I have been a part of, all of my masonic brothers, and all of the people that in one or another I've been in contact with. One day when I am complete with school and I am more established in my career I hope to be remembered by giving back to others and giving them hope by sharing my story to hopefully influence others to conquer their goals.

I guess art to everyone can be different. Some art that inspires me is an art that my daughter sent me when I was on my first deployment. I still keep it and post it with other pictures that capture my favorite memories. To me, it is more than the item. It is the meaning behind the art. I keep my academic and military achievements in front of my work desk to remind me of the things I have achieved and to motivate me to keep striving. Pictures can remind me of who I am doing everything for and the great memories can give me motivation if am having a bad day. It also lets me know I can always have someone to depend on. I used to go to the pottery store a lot when my kid was little and we always make cool little pottery that we keep outside in the yard. To some people when they see it is a glass piece of art but to me, it is memories of the time we spent together.

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James He is a Harvard University Psychologist. I like this book because it talked about how important the mind is. He said something in the book that really resonated with me. He said if you can change your mindset you can change your life. If you change the way you think about something and how much energy you put into something it will help you achieve leaps and bounds. I guess I have always heard people talk about how important our ability to think and create meaning is propounded. This book kind of leveled me to think about what I really wanted in life. I was in my undergrad studying Psychology at Drury University in Missouri. Ever since then I have been on an educational journey to achieving something that no one else in my life has done. I have realized that if you are in the right mindset nothing can stop you from achieving anything that you put your mind to. It is a good book that challenges the mind.

To support equality and diversity I ensure that I follow the golden rule of treating others the way I want to be treated. I always respect someone's thoughts and ideas even if they are different than mine. I try to listen and reflect or let what someone says by allowing the words to marinate before saying something out of impulse. I engulf myself in different cultures to help me better understand other cultures. Volunteering has placed me in situations where I am in a diverse environment. Being in the military grants me the opportunity of going places I have never been before so it affords me the privilege that a lot of my family does not get to have. I get to participate in quarterly events hosted by equal opportunity advisors in the military. I attend gender, heritage, and other inclusive training that teaches leaders ways to support equality and diversity in the workplace and in life in general. I think the educational part of learning about equalities and diversity is a phenomenal key to understanding and supporting. In my household, I hold everyone equally to their chores and divide them up equally so that everyone has the same amount of things to do. I have zero tolerance for chauvinism, racism, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. I will stand up for people that are being disrespected or talked over if I have a chance to make a difference.

An important life lesson learned for me is to treat others the way that I want to be treated. I do not think I really understood this until I was older though watching other people with their family members. Mostly their parents and how people treated them. I really noticed the guilt and pain people felt when they lost someone they loved but did not do everything to appreciate them while they were alive. I will utilize this method because I have goals but I also have a family. To me, it is all about time management and making sacrifices to be with individuals you love and making time with them and involving them in the important things in your life that mean a lot to you. In the military being away from my family, I always check on them and plan accordingly to go visit but I also invite my family in Kentucky to visit me and fly my mom yearly. I have one sister and before our dad passed away she never checked on him or spent time with him for a long time I think she faced a lot of guilt for not including him in her life. We can not change the past but we can learn from it to make a better future.

I actively listen to others around me through verbal and nonverbal communication. This can be executed in the form of taking notes, nodding my head, asking questions, or even showing sympathy or empathy for a person. To me, listening is a physical or non-physical act that retrieves the delivery of a message from a person or group of people.

An act of service that I performed last night on my way home from work was helping out a motorcyclist who wreck her bike. When I arrived at the scene I saw the lady who had sped past me on the highway laid down on the ground. Cars were just going around her and her bike was in the middle of the intersection. I immediately called 911 and I went over to the lady and asked her if she was ok and if she had pain anywhere in her body. She was responsible but maybe slightly in shock. I had parked my car in the middle of the road with my hazards on to ensure no one ran over her. After several minutes of talking she was able to regain a slight consciousness so I asked her if she was able to get up and walk or did she just want to lay there until medical personnel arrived. I helped her get up and we walked to the side of the road to avoid approaching traffic. She was asking about her motorcycle so being a motorcyclist myself I went to retrieve her motorcycle out of the middle of the road and brought it to the side of the road. I sat with the lady until medical personnel arrived. This was an act of kindness I did last night when all the other drivers on the road just drove around the lady who needed help from her motorcycle incident.

I think the simple pleasure in the life of relaxation after completing a paper or a long day of work makes me happy. After doing something that is mentally and physically exhausting a moment of rest and quietness is relaxing to me. I also enjoy going to the beach and listening to the waves crash against the shore while reading a book under a palm tree. Sometimes in life, we take the little things for granted but when we do not get the opportunity to do them we miss them so much.

Giving is important to me because I have been given so much by so many other people. I have always been given good advice by elders, seniors, and professional leaders. I give back by volunteering and helping the less fortunate. I also believe that the future of tomorrow needs influence so I volunteer to menotor at elementary, middle, and high school through the masonic venue. I volunteer to ensure that struggling families have food through loaves of fishes and defend Hawaii. I write poetry and when I am able to go back into nursing homes that are restricted due to covid I plan to go and share my poetry with the elderly. I also help out marine life by picking up trash along the beach. I hope that through my acts of kindness and volunteering of time I am to influence other people.

My educational goals are to obtain my DBA. Obtaining my doctorate degree is my dream. No one in my family has even gone to college so achieving this milestone will be powerful to my family as well as myself. My second goal is to retire from the military in five years and start to transition into a civilian career. As I am getting closer to retirement I am really happy that I am not broken or unhealthy. When I transition to a civilian sector job I am hoping to be a gym owner and run my own business on the side. My personal goal is to stay healthy and fit. I also want to influence and promote health in other people's lives which I am hoping to achieve by being a gym owner.

I am passionate about writing exercising. I do it every opportunity I get. When I finish my doctorate with my DBA I am hoping to be a gym owner and run boot camp classes to help other people achieve their fitness goals and offer the ability for people to get fit utilizing the gym. I have made a multitude of gym workout plans. I have tried boot camp, CrossFit, and even group exercise classes. I think if you are going to do something in this industry you have to be very versed with the options that are out there. The most challenging exercise I have done is hot yoga. I am not sure if my being passionate about exercising stems from playing sports. When I was a little kid I would always play outside with my friends. Exercising is a way that I get a break from my routine life. Being in the gym revives me and gives me energy. I think if I ever stopped exercising my body with break down.

A turnaround story in my life that I am proud of is how I learned how to manage my finances. When I was I was a young soldier in the army I took a finance class that taught me how to manage my finances. I thought my finances were perfect until we did a credit check and I had a multitude of erroneous charges that had to be disputed. I worked with the financial advisor in the military a lot with the military attorneys and we were able to give me resources that helped me out. Some charges were on my credit before I was even old enough to purchase anything. This is a great turnaround story because ever since that moment I have done everything in my will to keep good credit. I know the army one source and army community service center is always willing to help me if needed. Knowing the avenues of approach for help forfeited me and the opportunity to get back on track. I took advantage of the opportunity seized the moment and did everything within my will to turn my credit around. I am proud of this success and always try to share it with younger soldiers. The most common thing that happens from people who think they lack an opportunity to be somewhere or achieve an achievable goal is that people have to understand the resources that they have. If you put time, energy, and effort into something you are bound to get results.

One investment tip that I have taken to heart as a soldier is the thrift savings plan (TSP) along with the investment of at least 10% of my earnings yearly into one stock that I am thoroughly informed about. The great thing about the TSP is that the army will match the amount that is invested into the TSP when I retire giving me a bigger payoff for retirement as I transition into my next stage of life. I take this investment tip to heart because it is something that I can share with other soldiers. The more informed I am about TSP, which is equivalent to Roth IRA or 401K big businesses have for their organization, the more capable I am to know my boundaries, how the volume of my investments will compound over time, and awareness by investing early which can potentially lighten the worries in a later point in life if I am in a deep desire to pull from my retirement fund. Educating others and having to ability to tell why this tip is important is something that I have taken to heart.

A new technology that I am excited about is the updates to the cloud that will allow remote computing with the access of a strong internet connection. The great thing about the cloud is that all the applications will be embedded within the cloud so all you will need is a strong internet connection. For personnel with older computers, this will allow them to not only save all the files but for many people, it can save hundreds of dollars that is normally spent on buying new computers. I believe that the cloud is the future of tomorrow. I am excited to see the new technological advancements with the possibilities embedded programs and software within the cloud along with remote computing.

Community is very important to me. I made it a goal to be an intricate part of every community that I go to as an active-duty soldier. To me, the community is like a family when you do not have one. I give back to the community by volunteering, being active in the church, helping with the children's Shriner hospital, and participating in public events. I am an active duty soldier that has been in the army for 14.5 years. I am an enlisted soldier going to college for my D.B.A. I have five kids and a wife. I love to help out in every community that I have lived in. My first duty station in Washington state I was a big brother to little kids, in Kentucky I volunteered to give haircuts to homeless people and kids, I volunteered at loaves of fishes and manna cafe, on holidays I volunteered at salvation army and local church events to feed people. While living in Missouri I worked every Saturday at the food truck to hand out bags of food to families in need, I facilitated coat drives for little kids at the convention center and volunteered holidays to feed people in need. In Hawaii, I help with the Shriner Hospital, volunteer for Defend Hawaii to make bags of food for kids, and pick up trash on the weekend at local beaches while offering food to homeless. I have always felt a need to be a part of the community and help out in any way possible. I like to stay active and optimistic trying my best to make the best out of every situation. My vision for the future is to be able to give back to the community where ever I am living. I want to be an author of books one day and share my books with the elderly and children. I want to own several businesses including a gym and promote healthy lives. I would like to work for a top-tier business like amazon, google, apple, or Microsoft in the Human Resource or leadership department after the army. Ultimately, I just want to maintain a good character and give back to the community as an inspiration to others by motivating them to be their best person. I want to be the change in the world that I want to see and inspire others to follow my lead.

Friendship means trust, honesty, and empathy. A friend is someone that you can trust with your deepest darkest secrets. They will support you no matter the situation and give you genuine, honest feedback on anything you ask them. A friend will accept you for all your differences even when you are wrong. Friendship means supporting your decisions and believing in you when no one else does. Friendship is always an ear to actively listen with a soft tongue to provide feedback. A friend is like the perfect brother or sister. A friend will not abandon you when times get tough. They will never lead or leave you astray, even if it means that they will have to endure hardship. This is what friendship means to me.

I practice self-care by going for a run and going to the gym. I also like to watch a movie and dunk cookies into milk. The gym and going for runs is my escape from ordinary life. It is something about going to the gym and working out that changes my entire mood. I feel relieved after doing something active. I recently bought a treadmill for my garage to still run due to the weather. I enjoy going on hikes beautiful because of the relaxing, beautiful views. I also like to watch the sunset on the beach. I think self-care is anything active because these are some of my favorite things to do. I am a sucker for cakes, cookies, and snacks. I dunk my Cookies into milk, and when they get soft, I eat them. Eating cookies is probably not the healthiest idea, but it makes me happy. I keep cookies just for the occasion. Eating cookies with milk works well on a bad day or feeling sad or lonely. These are the ways I practice self-care, and the results are better health when I do something active and happiness when I eat my cookies. :-)

I keep a growth mindset by always challenging myself and never accepting defeat. I challenge myself by facing my fears and the unknowns. I never try to settle, and I am always looking for another way to better myself and others. Learning from failures takes time and planning. If I fail at something, I have to determine what went wrong and do better next time. I look at failure as a way to improve or make myself better. When I was younger, I viewed a growth mindset as what I could do to impress and prove to others. As an adult, I realized that a growth mindset is different for different people, and everyone has to find out what motivates them. Another thing that motivates me to continue to chase the growth mindset is the success and tokens achieved when engulfing my goals. Purpose, motivation, and direction have to come from within. In order for me to achieve my growth mindset, I have to stay mentally focused.

Being patient is essential to me because I always remember that there is always a good lesson to learn if you are patient. My mom used to say, "Good things come to those who wait, after the storm, there is always a rainbow, time heals pain, patience is a virtue," but I never really understood what she meant by it. As a kid and aging adult, I developed my idea that it meant if I were patient, the answers would come, or enjoy the moments and soak all the knowledge to be in a great position to make better decisions. It is almost like believing in a higher power and having faith. The patient is essential because we reach better results when embracing the moment, information. Being patient is one of the best things I can do in life when things are not going my way, but it also allows me to develop a plan to make a situation I am in better.

Aloha, My favorite hobbies are exercising and writing poetry. Ever since I was a little kid I loved to play sports. I think that really got me into exercising. I kept some of the same routines that I learned when I was in high school to exercise. After I finished playing sports in my undergrad there was a period of time where I did not exercise and I could tell that my body missed it. Since I have been in the army I sort of incorporated some of the army tactics into some of my exercises to make them a little more intense. I have also attended hot yoga and fitness classes at every duty station along with dabbling into Crossfit just to see what it was all about. I enjoyed all of the exercise knowledge that I have learned over the years and I think that as long as I am healthy and able I will exercise. My second hobby is writing poetry. I guess people dream to doctors, lawyers, athletes, but my ultimate dream after I finish my doctorate is to be an author when I publish my books of poems. I have been writing poetry since I was a freshman in college. I have collaborated my poems by sections and even recited some of them for major events and received standing ovations. Poetry will always be near and dear to my heart. When I was stationed in Fort Bragg NC I would I would go to Raleigh NC on the weekends over an hour away just to do open mic poetry night. To me it was a chance to do something I never done before and see what people really think about my poetry. I grow in knowledge and experiences over time there is more things to creatively make poems about. I hope you enjoyed my favorite hobbies. Mahalo from Hawaii.

I graduated high school in 2003. I went to four years of college at Campbellsville University and graduated in 2007. In 2007 I joined the army when I realized that I had $73,000 in student loans. The military paid off all of my student loans for an obligation of eight years. In 2011 I attended several classes from Bethel University, but the college stopped being a school that the military allows to use the tuition assistance program, so I ended up paying over $5,000 out of pocket. At this point, I was flummoxed and started to doubt why I was even trying to attend college. When I became a drill instructor of Army Basic Combat Training in 2015, I made a goal to complete my schooling. I worked from 4 AM to 8 PM and had online school from 8:30 PM until 11 PM, which I studied at Starbucks because it was a good place for me to read and focus on my work with no distractions, and it had the best internet. In 2017 I received a bachelor's in Psychology with honors from Drury University. I was motivated to get my master's because when I graduated with a high bachelor's GPA, it showed me that if I could believe, then I could achieve. As I transitioned to my next assignment, another very demanding leadership position, I finished my first master's degree with honors in organizational leadership while spending six months on a deployment in 2019. I asked the school if I could graduate when I returned from my deployment to see what it was like to walk across the stage again, and the school allowed me to walk across the graduation stage. After obtaining my master's degree, I learned that the military does not pay for a Doctoral study with tuition assistance, and I would have to pay for my doctoral degree out of pocket. I realized that I could still obtain a master's degree certificate with the army tuition funding, so I took advantage of that program. I received a master's diploma in Human Resource Management with honors in 2021. Simultaneously, I was transitioning into another leadership job in Hawaii. Trident University International received my master's degree and master's certificate. I applied for a doctoral program in business administration in the spring of 2021, but due to a deployment and learning about the amount I would have to pay, I took a year off from school. I was obtaining a better understanding of my job and focusing on paying off a couple of bills to make payments if I did not get a scholarship. In the winter of 2021, I applied for my doctoral studies again, and I got accepted into the program last week. I start classes on Monday, and my motivational reason to continue schooling is to prove to everyone that knows me that you can never give up on your goals. I have been called a lifelong student and many other names. I told myself one day I would be doctor Irving and all the people who doubted me and tried to convince me that I could not do something they had never tried. I now have a chance to prove them wrong. Achieving small victories along the way of striving for my doctoral degree has greatly motivated me. Some external objectives inspired me, but honestly, most of my motivation comes from within because I have to first believe in myself to achieve something.

My life goals are to become an inspiration for others in my personal and professional life by my lifestyle. I want to set a good example for my younger family members by achieving my Doctoral degree to show them that it is possible. I intend to work for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, or Walmart and open small businesses after retiring from the military with this degree. I have mentored over 18,000 soldiers in the army, and this also proves to them that no matter who you are, you can still dream big. I plan to master the military and retire in an excellent position to still have significant contributions to the environment. I will continue to volunteer my time to the community and make significant contributions to helping others. Ultimately, I would like to make a difference in the world and inspire others to do the same. By achieving the highest level of education, I can use my education to inspire, lead, and help others one day. I am most passionate about personal growth and using it to help others grow, creativity, especially when doing exercises and learning new things. I love to interact with others which is why I am challenging myself with pursuing my doctoral degree in business administration. I generally care for and love mentoring and inspiring others. Along with that, I love creatively teaching exercises. If people are healthy, happiness can follow. Interacting with people teaches me new things every day, and as leaders, we have to have passion. My educational vision will impact the world positively because it allows me to inspire, advocate, and mentor the younger generation of tomorrow.

When I was a young soldier, I took a finance class. I had no clue what credit was or how it worked, considering I never took finance classes. I had four years of college but could not manage a checkbook, and I did not know my credit score. The biggest takeaway from the finance class was to take financial action to get the best results by never living beyond my means. The class taught me how to manage my expenses, invest, and monitor my credit. Applications send alerts whenever there is potential credit fraud, along with the capability to be set up to call to confirm or deny the legitimacy of new warnings that require attention. When I knew what I was spending my money on, I was able to identify what was necessary and unnecessary, and while identifying the gaps, I managed my money better. In conclusion, the best financial advice would be to create a calendar or an excel document that shows input and output of money, track, plan, and budget spending while annotating critical notes of changes, and always get second, third, and fourth opinions when making large purchases. Financial management allows a person to allocate any access money to the penny wherever they decide to spend it and make the best decision that will have the most significant impact on their future.

I have demonstrated leadership in school by being captain of the football team in sports, being a resident assistant in the dorms, and doing the graduation speech for my undergrad at Campbellsville University. In my family, I am a leader by supporting my family and ensuring that my family has everything they need. I am also a leader in the military. I have been in for almost 15 years and have been serving in leadership positions over the last ten years. I actively participate in volunteer opportunities in the community, and I get my family members to join. I am also a member of the masonic lodge and volunteer at the Shriners hospital to help with children. Outstanding leadership means improving an area by providing clear guidance while being willing to do whatever you are preaching to others to do. Leadership is a divine presence that inspires others to do things because they want to. My goal is to present a character that others who meet me inspire to emulate. Being a leader is crucial to me because I want to help others. Being in leadership roles allows me to help other people. I have one kid about to go to college and two who will be going to college in three years, so I want to expose them to the leadership qualities and character traits I have learned over the years to have a lasting impact on their lives. My dream is to share knowledge with other people I meet or know from the past in school, community, and family that was never given to me as I aged over time.

The one thing that gives me aspiration that the future will exceed the present is the advancement of modernization. Modernization includes the internet and new technology displayed through the media. The great thing about the progress is distributing access to every square of land worldwide widely. When I was a kid, we had floppy disks, pagers, and massive computers when flip and Nokia cell phones could only text and make calls. The advancement of technology and the internet creates opportunities within the palm of our hands. The advancement of technology, the internet, information, and sciences will open doors for improved vaccines, enhance vehicles, and boost the quality of life. With the advancement of vaccinations and cars, there is less pollution, and people can live with higher possibilities of not dying from diseases like smallpox. The improvements discussed give me the confidence to believe that the future will be brighter, and the people in the future will have more potential to be witness continual upgrades in innovation science and technology.

I was born and raised in Hopkinsville, Ky. It is a place that people call the black hole because many people do not make it out of there. Most people in my life that I grew up with would always tell me to be better than them because I had so much more potential and opportunity. I never really had nice things growing up, nor did I live in a nice neighborhood. I continuously saw history repeat itself over and over again. Some told me I would make it, while others said that I would never amount to anything. The thing that saved me was playing sports. Playing sports was my outlet, and just like every other person playing sports, I had big hopes to one day make it big. When it came to my senior year of sports, I had a scholarship to a private school in Kentucky. It killed my motivation, but I figured it was better than nothing a way to escape my hometown where people stay for their entire life. I played four years of football for Campbellsville University and realized that I have a whopping $72,000 in student loans debts. So I joined the army, and for my first ten years, it was hard-charging being the best I could be, although most people in my family would tell me that I should be doing something else. The army ultimately paid off my student loans, which left me with no debt. I would complete my bachelor's and two master's degrees graduating at the top of my class. I recently got accepted into a doctoral program, and I will start lessons on Monday. I have volunteered at five different duty stations. Everything that I have learned, I try to share with others to advocate and push them to be the best person they can be. I know there are some things that I could have done differently, but the best observation of life is advancing. I am the first person in my family to go to college, and this is why obtaining my doctoral degree means so much to me. I want my nieces, nephews, kids, and cousins to know that history does not have to repeat itself and that we can create our legacy, whatever that may be. We have the opportunity of the lifetime and the ability to make a change by conquering fears and taking chances that others would not accept. My story is that obtaining a doctoral degree is my goal. I am paying for everything out of pocket because the army does not help me past a masters degree, but if I get this scholarship or not, I will not let anything stop me just like you did from obtaining the goal of being where I want to be and achieving what I set out to do. Eric Thomas said, "Every day is a grind, and like a lion, you have to be hungry for your goals and do whatever it takes to survive." Thank you for listening to my story.

I love giving back to the community. Some organizations I have supported are Food Pantries, Loaves of Fishes, Manna, Defend Hawaii, and I do this thing sometimes on the weekend where I get breakfast sandwiches and give them to homeless people with a bottle of water. The last organization I served with was Defend Hawaii, a local organization that builds boxes of food to give to families in need. We made 14,000 boxes of food in one day. It was like factory workers on an assembly line work where we all worked together to build the boxes. We sat the boxes on a pallet, put Saran Wrap around the boxes and pallet, then loaded them into a trailer. Pallets were relocated to trailers, transferred to a facility, and handed out to needy families. With this service in a single day, we worked four-eight hours. I utilized this opportunity to invite coworkers, family members, and some masons from the lodge. My most significant takeaway from the volunteering is that the people there were generally happy to be there, and no one complained about anything. Everyone was delighted to work to bring a smile to people in need. We all stood around afterward and talked with one another, and now I have some new friends for future volunteering.

I used to think that I was at a disadvantage because I had a lack of opportunity. Things I have overcome to get to where I am now is growing up in an area where I did not have anything and had to work for everything I earned. The best advice from people I grew up around was to never be like them. I remember everything I wanted when I was a kid, but I could never have because my family could never afford it. Looking back on things made me appreciate the things I did have. Negativity and a lack of support were the first obstacles I struggled with in life. I went my whole life trying to make everyone else happy, but I was the one who suffered in the end. Understanding myself and where I wanted to be was the first obstacle I overcame to excel. My field of study is obtaining a doctoral degree in Business administration while working active duty military. I am excited to start class on Monday, and I hope to one day work for a top-performing organization in a leadership role and have an active role in the community, speaking and advocating for the future of tomorrow after I retire from the army. I once heard that with every challenge, there is growth. I plan to lean into my future full throttle using my education to mentor other future leaders and share my story with others. If I can work in a leadership position of a top-performing organization, I can use that role to influence personnel working underneath me. I plan on opening and managing a smaller business but mainly for the interaction and use some of the funds to give back to the community. In industry, I am hoping to spark a new revolution that entices other small businesses to give back if they can. My goal is to influence thousands and hundreds of people, but if I can make a difference in the life of one person or influence one business, it will be a success. My drive will have to come from within to obtain a goal because this is my feat to conquer. I am willing to do what I have to do to complete my doctorate, successfully retire from the army, advocate myself to big businesses by building a resume in which an employer will cheerfully hire me, and finally start my own business planting seeds in the minds and hearts of young people to inspire them to be great.

Generosity means being kind and helpful to others, not because it is the right thing to do but because you want to. Volunteering allows making a difference in someone's life. It inspires, shows character, and speaks volumes of love by devoting time. Sometimes believing in someone or helping someone in a time of need can come back 100 fold when a day comes and I need help. It can be the one time they talk to someone who inspires them to make a difference in their lives. Generosity can be to a coworker, a friend, or just a stranger having a bad day. Generosity could encourage a student when everyone told them that they would never achieve their dreams. Generosity is heartfelt and compassion that enumerate feelings. The character of generosity comes when no one is looking. People do not have to know that you helped someone, and you do not need an award for it. The character of generosity is an action without physical pay because a thank you, fist bump, hug, or just someone to share empathy with another person can go a long way. Sometimes generosity can happen in one sitting, or it can occur over time. Generosity is persistent and unchanging. Martin Luther King said violence with non-violence creates change, but generosity with non-generosity over time makes a difference, and actions speak louder than words. In conclusion, I met a furious gentleman when volunteering, and the first time I met him, he wouldn't look at me or talk to me. Every time I saw him, I greeted him with kindness. He asked me why I was so nice to him. I told him it was because I cared. Over time he changed and was excited to see me because of my generosity.

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards." I think this is the wisest thing I have heard because it makes you feel about your life backward as you move forward to make the rest of your life the best of your life. We can not change our past, but we can make our future brighter. I am 37 years old, and I have been in the military for 14 years. I have always thought about going to college and pursuing my goals, but I never took a chance until I was a drill instructor in the year 2016. The thing that changed me was explaining to young soldiers my goals as a Military Resiliency Teacher. I will do something that no one else in my family has done by staying focused and committed to my goals. I can not change the procrastination and fear of the past, but I can change the results and dedication of tomorrow. We will face the most significant growth of our lives by taking on terrifying fears.

My life goals are to become an inspiration for others in my personal and professional life by my lifestyle. I want to set a good example for my younger family members by achieving my Doctoral degree to show them that it is possible. I intend to work for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, or Walmart and open small businesses after retiring from the military with this degree. I have mentored over 18,000 soldiers in the army, and this also proves to them that no matter who you are, you can still dream big. I plan to master the military and retire in an excellent position to still have significant contributions to the environment. I will continue to volunteer my time to the community and make significant contributions to helping others. Ultimately, I would like to make a difference in the world and inspire others to do the same. By achieving the highest level of education, I can use my education to inspire, lead, and help others one day. I am most passionate about personal growth and using it to help others grow, creativity, especially when doing exercises and learning new things. I love to interact with others which is why I am challenging myself with pursuing my doctoral degree in business administration. I generally care for and love mentoring and inspiring others. Along with that, I love creatively teaching exercises. If people are healthy, happiness can follow. Interacting with people teaches me new things every day, and as leaders, we have to have passion. My vision will impact the world positively because it allows me to inspire, advocate, and mentor the younger generation of tomorrow.