I am a difference-maker. With any problem that arises, I do what I must to provide my community with a better experience. For example, at GSSM, we had a large-scale recycling crisis. In a residential school with nearly 300 kids, we were throwing away at least 100 cans a day because of the lack of aluminum recycling. I couldn’t tell you a single day when I passed by a trashcan without seeing at least two monster energy drinks that were guzzled down by exhausted GSSM students. If the environment had any way to express how it felt, it would be crying tears of anguish for the continual landfills we created without any options to do otherwise. However, I am happy to say that I have eliminated the recycling crisis at GSSM and have given us an option. With the help of my advisor for Interact Club, I started a fundraiser for the Humane Society called “Cans for Critters.” Every aluminum can that people recycled went to the Humane Society, which they then sold to raise money for their animals. I never again passed by a trash can with a few aluminum cans: I passed by recycling bins with hundreds of cans all going towards a better cause and a cleaner environment. I saw the impact I made by putting out recycling bins, so I want to make that same impact for the world in the future. I never back down from a challenge and I always work to find a solution, so I hope that I can provide those skills for any future community I am a part of.

I am a difference-maker. With any problem that arises, I do what I must to provide my community with a better experience. For example, at GSSM, we had a large-scale recycling crisis. In a residential school with nearly 300 kids, we were throwing away at least 100 cans a day because of the lack of aluminum recycling. I couldn’t tell you a single day when I passed by a trashcan without seeing at least two monster energy drinks that were guzzled down by exhausted GSSM students. If the environment had any way to express how it felt, it would be crying tears of anguish for the continual landfills we created without any options to do otherwise. However, I am happy to say that I have eliminated the recycling crisis at GSSM and have given us an option. With the help of my advisor for Interact Club, I started a fundraiser for the Humane Society called “Cans for Critters.” Every aluminum can that people recycled went to the Humane Society, which they then sold to raise money for their animals. I never again passed by a trash can with a few aluminum cans: I passed by recycling bins with hundreds of cans all going towards a better cause and a cleaner environment. I saw the impact I made by putting out recycling bins, so I want to make that same impact for the world in the future. I never back down from a challenge and I always work to find a solution, so I hope that I can provide those skills for any future community I am a part of.

Being there for others and helping out my community makes me happy. Whenever I am able to bring a smile to someone's face, whether it be through consolation or from making them laugh, I feel accomplished and satisfied. I think to myself, "I just had an impact on that person's day," and genuinely brings a smile to my face. In my community, I have been able to make a similar impact that I have made for individuals throughout my life. Through Interact Club, I have been able to connect local organizations, like the humane society, for example, to my school. My connections recently garnered the attention of the local Hartsville Rotary Club. Because of this, not only have I been recognized by the entirety of the Hartsville community, but my service projects are now having an impact in all sections of Hartsville! When looking back on this, I always realize the impact I have made on my community. The impact that I have had always made me joyful, and I hope to continue that in the future. I am always happiest when I can affect people positively, and I hope to continue to create a positive impact on my community and myself in the future.

1. Well, I don't really deserve this scholarship. I am a terrible student with an awful work ethic, and I often find myself making fun of others for their hardships. I have it extremely easy in this world, so you shouldn't even consider me for this scholarship. 2. My academic and career goals are to make as little of an impact as possible on the world around me. I want to be forgotten and unseen in my career, so I will aim to be a business employee or a cashier. Over my whole life, I have been in the spotlight, so I just want a break from that. 3. In middle school, I once jumped over a hurdle and twisted my ankle. It was super hard for me, even harder than when people pushed me down to the ground, kicked me, and called me a homosexual (in a derogatory way) in third grade. But I eventually got past it, and now I can walk better than ever.

I am a difference-maker. With any problem that arises, I do what I must to provide my community with a better experience. For example, at GSSM, we had a large-scale recycling crisis. In a residential school with nearly 300 kids, we were throwing away at least 100 cans a day because of the lack of aluminum recycling. I couldn’t tell you a single day when I passed by a trashcan without seeing at least two monster energy drinks that were guzzled down by exhausted GSSM students. If the environment had any way to express how it felt, it would be crying tears of anguish for the continual landfills we created without any options to do otherwise. However, I am happy to say that I have eliminated the recycling crisis at GSSM and have given us an option. With the help of my advisor for Interact Club, I started a fundraiser for Humane Society called “Cans for Critters.” Every aluminum can that people recycled went to the Humane Society, which they then sold to raise money for their animals. I never again passed by a trash can with a few aluminum cans: I passed by recycling bins with hundreds of cans all going towards a better cause and a cleaner environment. At Duke Kunshan, I can extend my ability to make a difference for a great institution. I saw the impact I made by putting out recycling bins, so I want to make that same impact for the world in the future. I never back down from a challenge and I always work to find a solution, so I hope that I can provide those skills for any future community I am a part of.

Everyone has a different perspective to offer. Before I entered GSSM, I admittedly knew little about different perspectives. I have always been open to other people’s beliefs, viewpoints, and identities, but never have I ever been surrounded by so much diversity. It turns out that seeing all of these different identities made me rethink my own identity to a degree I never thought I would. When I entered GSSM, I thought that I was a cishet male. I have never been in an environment where I felt like I could think I was anything else. However, all of that changed when I met them. For the sake of keeping them anonymous, I will refer to them as A. A was a nonbinary, lesbian individual who dressed in grungy clothing and was incredibly accepting. They were my best friend during Junior year and they would always call me the “token straight.” I talked with A about their hardships with identifying as nonbinary, mostly out of curiosity. A wasn’t afraid to talk about any of it, and I happily listened. However, the more I talked to them and realized their perspective, the more I realized that I have things to work through as well. Am I really a cishet male? Am I really okay with who I am? Over the time that I was questioning my own identity, GSSM let us come to campus for two-week residencies. A couldn’t come to this one, so I would call them every night over discord to keep them up with things. Three days into the residency, I had a realization of sorts. I was always talking with this one guy at the residency, and it wasn’t long until I realized that I had a crush on him. “Oh crap,” I thought to myself at 1am. “I need to tell them about this.” I told A about my situation, and I figured out that I am bisexual. Without their perspective on sexuality, I wouldn’t have even considered it. After a year had passed, I thought more about who I am. I started wearing jewelry, dressing better for myself, and changing my pronouns. I felt more like me after it all, just like A had told me about their situation. To answer my own questions: Am I really a cishet male? No, I’m not. I am Dera Driscoll. I’m a bisexual, nonbinary – genderfluid individual, and I am proud of it. Am I really okay with who I am? Yes, I am. I am more okay with myself now than I have ever been. A taught me to be proud of who I am and taught me to not be afraid about considering different perspectives in sexuality and gender. In fact, me being proud of myself is the reason why I am writing about my identity this very moment. A taught me that you are who you are, not what others say you are. People will know me as Dera, and that’s all thanks to them.

What does leadership mean to me? Do I really make the calls if I am a leader? These are both questions I ask when I am in a leadership position. Neither question has an easy answer, so how do I even determine my role as a leader? I couldn’t fully answer that question until this year. In the second week of my senior year, a house meeting was called to talk about events that were going on around our campus. The junior class was the largest in GSSM history, so there were bound to be problems. However, I was not ready to hear the caliber of the issues that were going around our school. Juniors were caught hate-criming and harassing others in both their class and ours. I was wondering what had happened to our GSSM community and was appalled by the fact that people hurt others based on their color or identity. In response to this, however, my resident assistant said something that will stick with me forever. “Just be a decent human being!” It seems like a simple quote, but it had a profound impact on us. Since then, there were no sexual harassment allegations, no news of racism, and in fact, no issues. That’s when the meaning of leadership dawned on me: Being a leader is about community. In the back of my head, I knew being a leader was about community all along. I have always pursued leadership positions that could help out my community. For example, when I heard that GSSM didn’t have an Interact Club, I decided to start one. As president of Interact club, I have worked to create opportunities for people to improve the space and community we live in. With my work, we went from a membership amount of 35 to 120 within a year, which is nearly half the student population at GSSM! I got half of GSSM connected to help out our local community. To help our community further, I became a student representative for our student council. I addressed the issues of my classmates for two years and worked to provide our campus with more umbrellas, better meals, and more freedom for studying around GSSM. In addition, I am a math/physics tutor for GSSM. I help my community get through some incredibly difficult classes, such as AP Calc-based Physics and AP BC Calculus. I am also a SPARK! Physics leader and SPARK! Chinese co-leader, so I work to create lessons to teach local middle school students about high school concepts. However, the leadership position that exemplifies my definition of leadership is being a Natural Helper at GSSM. I work to make sure incoming juniors adjust to the life of GSSM and that they know how GSSM works as a community. It is my responsibility to show my mentees how they can adjust to life outside of their own houses while still being a responsible person. I got them adjusted to the GSSM  community, but I also created my own community with them. We laugh together, exchange jokes, and literally have a designated time to talk about “tea” around the school. Within my group, no one has gotten into trouble.  There has been no sexual harassment, no racism, and no other acts of hate from my group of mentees. It’s safe to say I now know what leadership means to me. Leadership is building a community and providing a safe environment for all people. All of my leadership roles accomplish this, and I hope to continue to lead by serving my future communities in college and beyond.

“Cans for Critters” is the community service project and volunteer experience that I undoubtedly am the most passionate about. My passion for it comes from the fact that I was the one who started it. With any problem that arises, I do what I must to provide my community with a better experience. For example, at GSSM, we had a large-scale recycling crisis. In a residential school with nearly 300 kids, we were throwing away at least 100 cans a day because of the lack of aluminum recycling. I couldn’t tell you a single day when I passed by a trashcan without seeing at least two cans from monster energy drinks that were guzzled down by exhausted GSSM students. If the environment had any way to express how it felt, it would be crying tears of anguish for the continual landfills we created without any options to do otherwise. However, I am happy to say that I have eliminated the recycling crisis at GSSM and have given us an option. With the help of my advisor for Interact Club, I started a fundraiser for Humane Society called “Cans for Critters.” Every aluminum can that people recycled went to the Humane Society, which they then sold to raise money for their animals. I never again passed by a trash can with a few aluminum cans: I passed by recycling bins with hundreds of cans all going towards a better cause and a cleaner environment. “I really just did that, didn’t I?” That’s what I thought to myself as I continued working on 3 hours of calculus homework. Every week, I and several volunteers from Interact and Environmental Club go around the school to recycling bins and clean out the cans within them, totaling about 60+ hours of work. The cleaner the cans are, the more money Humane Society can make off of recycling them. I created this volunteer experience for essentially the whole school: recycle a can, save an animal, and save the environment. I have always created opportunities for my Interact members, but seeing that a passion project of mine has made a serious difference for my school is honestly incredible. Faculty, staff, and students alike pass by the bins I set up around the school and toss their aluminum cans in to help benefit so many different aspects of the world we live in. I visit the humane society shelters to help animals without a home, and I know that what I did for the school will continue to have a huge impact on those animals I helped. As I went to dump my cans into the “Cans for Critters” bin that I made for my floor, I knew that I made a difference. I am passionate about “Cans for Critters” because it makes a positive impact on things that I am passionate about: animals and the environment. I want to make an impact in the future with the community service projects I make and participate in, and I am glad that I could do it so early with "Cans for Critters."