Music has always been a part of my life, from when my parents would play music to me, to when I could make music myself. I started my music journey when I was just in kindergarden. We had to go to a music class twice a week, and we would just sing. We did this every year at my grade school. This already wasn't a great start for me, because I don't like singing. This all changed in fourth grade, where we could start taking band class, and started my love for low brass. Through middle school I started to learn how to really play my instrument, well as much as any middle schooler. I started to learn what instrument could do what and how my baritone fits with everyone else. Unfortuantly middle school low brass is really really boring with playing half notes and quarter notes until the song ended. This did teach me patience, teamwork, and how everyone works towards a bigger goal. I got to sit back in class, play my easy notes, and just look an listen to everyone else with interesting parts, and how my whole and half notes fit with them to create music. The patience I learned by having to sit in the back of the class and not get in trouble for messing around, looking at you prcussion. As I got into high school, I learned that my instrument can do so much more than just long tones and looking pretty. My freshman year for Salina South's marching band, we had a Halloween theme for our half time show. This made our songs very low brass heavy, to get the grudgeness and spookiness of the theme. This means I had to put in a lot of work. I didn't just have to be able to play the music, but I also had to memorize it, and the hardest I had to learn to march. That first year taught me persistants. the next year was kind of a wash for me. It was the COVID year and music was about the only thing that kept me sane. I think spotify told me I listened to at least seventeen generes of music that year. In my junior year, we were visited by the professor of music at Bethany college, Dr. Dodson. Dr. Dodson allowed us to play with his college band, as long as we put in the work, and he worked closly with my band directors at South High to overhaul the band program for the better. through Dr. Dodson and a few new friends I made my junior and senior year, I learned not only how much I can do with a baritone, but how to be a much better person. After COVID I started to be sour towards most people. I started to hide in my shell more and became less active with every event. Music and the friends I made through music pulled me out of that funk, and broke my shell. I started to become friendlier and more goofy. I finally felt like I had a home with music and all the people there. On top of this Dr. Dodson pushed me to hone my skills and become a wonderful baritone player, and even pick up trombone. Music has been with me from the begining, and has made me the best possible person I could be.

When I was young I used to be a fan of Kansas University just so my cousins and I could annoy the rest of my family. As I have gotten older, I have switched allegiances to Kansas State University as my college of choice, especially sense I would be the only grandson who plans to go to college. Going to Kansas State University has become a dream of mine in itself. Going there makes me the third generation to go to K-State. The most exciting part for me is to be apart of K-State's bands. I started playing musical instruments in the fourth grade and fell in love with low brass. My instrument of choice has been the baritone all the way through high school. I now have the opportunity to be apart of the K-State pride of wildcat land marching band. This is the most exciting part to me. Living away from home is nice, becoming an adult is great, and just flat out being able to make my own decisions is wonderful, but the most exciting part about college to me is being apart of a band again. To achieve my goals, I need to keep myself healthy. I already have a work out routine to keep my body in shape, and being apart of the marching band will also contribute to my physical health. I am nervous about my work load ahead of me, and how that may affect my mental health. I have been able to overcome some mental challenges before. I plan to try to keep my mental health in check by taking neccecary breaks when I need them, and one of my friends, who is also attending K-State, and I plan to keep tabs on each other, so we can lift each other up. On top of all of that, K-State has mental health counsolurs that are avaliable twenty-four seven. The most important part to keeping myself healty though is keeping a good nutritional diet and more importantly a good sleep schedule. If there is one thing that high school has taught me, is that eating right and getting plenty of sleep make a huge difference in how I act, think, and how much energy I can put towards work. I have learned that I need to get about eight hours of sleep a night. For me this means no late night parties, staying up until classes start, or putting things in my body that work against it. If it means I will be alert and active the next day, then I am fine with losing out on the night life.

When I was a young boy, I was always the skinniest and skrawniest. I was taller than most other kids in my class, but I wasn't very active. As I got older, that sedentary lifestyle started to get to me around middle school. During this time, the most activity I would get would be either during gym class, or during Jiu-Jitsu, which I did after school. My Jiu-Jitsu class would do conditioning, but it was never enough to combat my terrible diet. For always being the lankey kid, I could out eat most people. I think my record for the most I could eat in one sitting, was at a buffet in Manhattan Kansas, where I ate five plates of food stacked about a good six inches high, and dessert consiting of two bowls of ice cream. I still don't know how I ate all of that food. During middle school, I really started to put on some weight, and by the end of my freshman year I was over two hundred pounds. I finally realized that I needed some change, and that the amount I eat and drink on top of what I was eating and drinking was not good for me. I started my health journey by following an exercise app. I would try to stick to it twice a week, but I just didn't follow it properly. I then started just doing exercises I liked and ones I thought would be good for me like push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. I would do twenty five of each a night. I would slowly increase the amount and types of exercises I did with how well I felt with them. I would add a twenty five pound kettle bell with some exercises like squats. I would weve in crunches, leg lifts, and planks among other exercises I could do with little equipment. I also finally quit soda for good and switched to strictly water and sometimes lemonade on occasion. This was probably the best change I made for myself. I then also watched how much I ate and what I ate. I esspecially tried to eat more vegetables. I got to the point with my workouts that I could do forty push-ups in one sitting. Starting from only being able to do one push-up to forty was a huge accomplishment for me. at the end of sophmore year I dropped in weight from about two hundred and ten to about one hundred and fifty. This was the proudest I have ever been in myself, and I now work to maintain this weight and muscle that I have built, along with the discipline I have gain from holding myself accountable.

Like most kids, when I was younger, I had a strong distaste for math. I thought it was hard, it was tedious, and it was useless. That was until I reached the fifth grade and had my favorite teacher, Mr. Beason. Mr. Beason did the impossible with math for fifth graders, he somehow made it fun for us. Of course, there were days when we all groaned and didn't want to do our work, but Mr. Beason would get creative to keep us engaged. He would have us play games online to learn math, he would play the guitar for us, especially during tests, but most importantly he would work with us on an individual level. He made his classes challenging, but if we had a hard time, he would be there to help us. Through Mr. Beason, I found a love for math. throughout middle school and high school, I made sure to pay attention in my math classes and tried to be like Mr. Beason, and help my struggling classmates. During my time in high school, I thought I wanted to be a nurse, but I realized that I don't think I would be able to handle the stress. I did however find enjoyment in accounting after taking an accounting 1 class. Through this class, I learned how much math is used in any sort of business. From hiring more employees to paying dividends to shareholders, to expenses that a business may accrue, math plays a part in all of it. Almost all business decisions are made to make money and are based on how much money a business has. After learning some of these concepts from my accounting class, I found a passion for learning how money works, and how the flow of money works. I now keep a journal of my expenses and assets to prepare myself for being on my own. This not only keeps my budget in check, but it keeps some of my math skills sharp. My new found love for accounting keeps growing, and my boss has allowed me to shadow her and learn how she does personal taxes for her clients and does her taxes for her business with Pretzelmaker. I now have been accepted to Kansas State University for a major in accounting, and can't wait to learn more about the world of business. Especially how it pertains to money and the math behind it all. Looking back a bit on my life, math has played a very important part.

When I was younger, I despised math and math class. I didn't like how it challenged me and I thought it was too complicated. That was until I had my favorite math teacher named Mr. Beason. Mr. Beason was a smart man and knew that most fifth graders like me didn't like math, so he tried to make it as fun as possible. He would have us play games to help us with long division, and some light algebra. He would bring out his guitar and play for us during tests. Most importantly Mr. Beason cared a lot for us and would help us in any way possible to teach us. From Mr. Beason, I fell in love with math. He made me find ways that I can turn math from a pain in my side to a challenge for my brain to solve. As I got older, I kept that passion for math. For a while, during high school, I thought I was going to be a nurse and help people with medical problems, but as time went on I started to realize that I didn't think I was cut out to handle the stress of the job. I did however decide to take a few business classes, and even a college accounting class, and started finding an interest in how money moves and works. Now I have put both of those passions together, my love for math and my interest in money flow, and have started my path toward a major in accounting from Kansas State University. During the whole process of applying to K-State, filling out my FASFA, and applying for loans, I realized just how important accountants are. My boss has helped my family quite a bit with this, because unbeknownst to me, my parent's accountant works at her firm. She and her employee have helped us a lot with moving around our finances to help me with the burden of paying for college. I have also talked to my aunt more about her job at Caterpillar Inc. as a business accountant, and how her job can affect the business as a whole. My boss has also allowed me to help her at her tax office and shadow her for both her franchised business with Pretzelmaker and with other clients. As I get more experience in the adult world, I find that accountants are very important to both businesses and the average person.

My personal wellness has changed a lot since I started my high school career. About halfway through high school, I didn't take very good care of myself. I would eat whatever I wanted when I wanted, I did not work out at all, and COVID-19 messed with my mental state a lot. through these challenges, I realized what I was doing to myself. I started working out and lost fifty pounds in a matter of seven months. I completely ended up cutting out a lot of junk food and candy from my diet. I was even able to work on myself mentally and feel a lot better about myself. I plan to carry these into college along with some more ideas. I have started making a daily checklist for myself and it seems to have worked a lot for me so far. I have also gotten myself a checkbook, and learned how to balance it. There's not much in it now, because I don't have many expenses, but I think this will help me a lot in college and throughout life in general. Recently I have heard of the idea of treating school as a job, as in putting in all my effort at school, and keeping a certain amount of dedicated to school, almost like a nine to five job. This supringly works very well for me. It makes me do my work faster, instead of procrastinating it until I get home, and it gives me a sense of accomplishment if I get my work done before I go home. Doing all of these actions have helped me succeed even more as a student. I feel less stressed, happier, and even feel like I have more time for myself. Being a student is stressful not just from trying to get a high grade, but also from trying to find opprotunities when we graduate, trying to figure out what kind of person I want to be, and probably biggest of all, the fear of failing. Mainting my own wellness keeps me from worrying about all this to the point that I shut down and can't do anything. My personal wellness keeps me active, it keeps me from giving up, it keeps me from wanting to just give up and not doing anything. The most important part is my personal wellness keeps me from thinking that I will fail, and that I'm not good enough. My only wish is that I worked on myself years ago.

Most of the time when I have had to create something it is mostly for small niche problems like I took apart a plastic hanger and taped it in a way to look like a shepherds hook to reach objects behind a fridge or dryer, or I would use household objects to make a glove to grab something hot. I did come up with an idea for something kind of unique a funny though. My uncle, in the past couple of years, has gotten really into 3D printing. He likes to make different small items like moveable slugs, tissue boxes with noses on it, and even little toys for his daughter. My uncle taught me a bit about using it, which came in very handy when my mouthpiece for my euphonium got a deep crack in it. I have always used a school instrument because my parents and I couldn't afford a new instrument. The mouthpiece I was given, already had a crack in it when I got it, but one day I accidentally dropped it and the crack grew. I designed a new mouthpiece for me to use, while I hunted down a metal one to buy. It took me a couple of days to get a design that would fit it, and once my uncle and I finally got one to print that didn't fall apart. It worked decently well until I got a metal one. Now music has been a big part of my life, and in the past couple of years, I learned a lot about instruments. One of which I have a lot of problems with is the French horn. I love brass instruments, I have two at home right now, but I can't wrap my head around why no one has tried to make a better horn. I love the sound of a French horn, but it has many problems, such as the bell facing backward causing the sound to go backward, using paddles instead of valves which are slower and easy to break, and the fact that your hand placement in the instrument is the most important factor. If I had enough time and money I would make a version of the French horn that gets the same sound but is easier to use. Now there is an easier version that solves this problem, and that is the mellophone. The problem I have with the mellophone is that it's built for marching band and the bell faces forward. The version I would make would be built more like a euphonium or tuba, but with smaller tubing to reach those higher octaves, three to four valves for better range, and most importantly, an upward-facing bell or even a tall curved bell, like older baritones, would spread the sound over the band, and not get caught in a music stand, or face the ground like a trumpet. These changes would bring more people to try a French horn-sounding instrument, without the headache of learning every small hand position inside the bell or having to blow all of your air to be heard.

Throughout middle school and high school, I have explored many careers. My school took an initiative to get kids to explore careers, and maybe even choose one before they end high school. I first started with nursing, or becoming a doctor of some sort because I wanted a direct way of helping people. after a few years of exploring these careers, and taking a few medical classes, I realized that it was not for me. I still wanted to help people, so I thought becoming a counselor or therapist would be great for me. I took some psychology classes and fell in love with the idea of being a therapist, but I started to think to myself, that I do not think I would be able to handle some of the stressful situations that they experience. Under pressure, I do not preform the best, and I am terrified that I would make the wrong decision for another human being. During this, I also fell in love with math. I took an accounting class and enjoyed my time in there. I started to realize that I do not have to be in the medical field to help my fellow man. I can do other things to help like manage finances. I now think I should become an accountant. I have taken steps to learn more about this career. My aunt is an accountant for the company CAT, and has told me about what her daily assignments are like. My boss is also a tax accountant, for her company and has offered me to help at her office after tax season to learn about what she does. I would like to become a forensic accountant, to find people breaking the law and stealing money. I also want to choose this career because my parents are both in law enforcement and have been a large influence on my life. I believe this would bring fulfillment to my life because I would be able to help find criminals that are stealing money from the average person, stealing money from taxpayers, and the government, and making new money to supply their interests. Plus I would be able to do my taxes by myself and offer my services to friends and family. This career would also help me achieve financial freedom and let me use extra spending money to donate to charities and organizations that help people make a better life.

Finance has always been a very important thing to me when discussing college. I have always been nervous about how I would pay for college. I know I am not the only one with this sentiment. Many other teenagers that I have to about college are afraid about how much the cost is. Many do not think they could afford to go to college, and the ones that do think they can, do not want to be at college long, so they don't accumulate a lot of debt. College is a very expensive prospect, and managing our finances to the best of our abilities is the only way to get through it. Through managing our finances, we can find ways to reduce debt, that can accumulate quickly from student loans. As a student, we can also start building credit, which will prepare us for the future. Having a high credit score gives us an easier time in renting an apartment, lower rates when buying a house, lower interest rates when purchasing a car, and even reduced rates on loans. Being able to build credit as a student, without being put in massive functional debt is a mark of someone who can manage their finances, and a fantastic way to prepare for the future. The number one reason, why managing your finances is important, is to obtain financial stability when you're older. Being able to own your stuff, brings a sense of accomplishment, and is very rewarding with being able to act independently of others. I have had some experiences with this. Getting a job in high school has allowed me to purchase most of the things I want. Even being able to fill my car with gas without getting money from my parents feels great. Having a job for a few years in high school has also allowed me to prepare for college, and accumulate a little bit of money for it. I have put most of it into my savings account, so it can accrue some interest. It hasn't been a lot, but I also haven't had to touch any of that money. Recently after turning eighteen, My parents and I have set up an appointment to talk to a financial advisor, to help me teach me how to make my money make me more money, and what investments would be safe for me to make. My bank has an app, that I use to keep track of my spending habits, and how much I earn, so I don't spend too much, and so I can budget my earning. Doing this has afforded me the ability to prepare for my future, and help me get ready for college.

There are a lot of things that make me unique compared to many other people. Some physical things are both of my arms are double-jointed and bend farther in the opposite direction than most other people. My feet turn inwards instead of turning outwards, and I have very curly and thick hair, that most men don't have. These for the most part are not too big of things that make me stand out, except for the double-jointed arms. Those help me a lot in my favorite sport that I participate in, Jiu-Jitsu. Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, that focuses on ground fighting much like wrestling, and it is very commonly used in MMA fights. I have been doing this sport for ten years now and have no plans of leaving it. It's not the most common, with no other teenagers in my town participating in it. I hope to use this sport in the future to start my gym and give to others what this sport gave me. Some things that this sport has given me are a major confidence boost helping me learn how to effectively communicate to others that I do and don't know. I have had a lot of opportunities in this journey to meet many amazing new people and become proud of the culture that many, including myself, have been able to create. I have been able to learn and grow as a person, friend, teacher, student, and in many more areas through this sport, and the people I practice with. Along with meeting new people and making new friends, I have been able to find self-confidence in myself, especially in the way of self-defense. Plus, much like working out at the gym, this sport is a great way to release stress from the week. I look forward to our classes because it allows me to work on getting my body in shape, and I can release some stress. It is very satisfying coming home at night and just feeling relaxed and wanting to go to bed, instead of worrying about something. I fell in love with this sport when I was eight, and I hope to be the coach that my coach was for me. On top of going to college to further my education, I want to start a gym and teach more people about this sport. It's been a very unique and important part of my life, and I hope to give to others what I have been given.

I have learned a lot from my ten years of doing Jiu-Jitsu. I started in third grade, just as a way for my parents to get me out of the house. I fell in love with the sport. I have stuck with the sport since then. My coach has taught me a lot in the way of growing my confidence, and intelligence, he's given me a lot of life advice, and of course, he helped me learn self-defense. For years I've struggled with having self-confidence and being able to stand up for myself. My coach would make me teach new people that came in, which made it easier for me to talk to new people, and learn how to effectively communicate with others. My group, along with my coach, whom I have trained with for years have helped me grow my intelligence by giving me advice from their past mistakes, and have even helped me with my homework when I need it. I love this sport and my people, and I have continued with it even after injuring my arm in a tournament. I hope to participate in it for many years to come, and I hope that while in college I will either find another group like mine or make one myself.

In my life, I've listened to many songs from many genres. I added all of my playlists together on Spotify, and in total, that playlist is about ninety-nine hours spanning genres from jazz, rock, upbeat pop, rap, classical, heavy metal, marches, and many more. Out of all of those, one song stands out to me the most. A march made by a man named Josef Wagner called Under the Double Eagle. Under the Double Eagle has had a different meaning to different people. When it was created, it was a march for the Austrian military. It was then taken and used in the Nazi military. None of this matters too much to me. The song itself is a very good march, and I was fortunate to play it with the Bethany college band in Lindsborg Kansas. Before this, I thought I was a good player in band class. I didn't try the hardest outside of class, but my friends convinced me to join last year and try it out. I fell in love immediately, but I quickly learned I was nowhere near as good as I thought I was. This one song became the bane of my exestince. In total, I learned four new notes that I couldn't play, because they were too high for me to play, and I didn't know how to hit them. Instead of quitting, I took the song as a challenge. I spent an hour or two every couple of days learning this one song, on top of having two rehearsals every week for three and half months. After a lot of figuring out how my instrument works, how to be a better player and even more trial and error I got it. we had our concert, and I played it perfectly. It was Beautiful.