As a child of immigrants who moved to the U.S. to further their education, I have always been keenly aware of the importance of my own education because I know that knowledge is key to growth and opportunity. I have found that in order to learn, and in turn, to understand, one must put away any preconceived notions and be open to new ideas and varying perspectives and viewpoints. That is to say, other people are essential to one’s educational journey. I have experienced this firsthand and have also witnessed it for others throughout the last four years while working for Academic Services for Student-Athletes (ASSA) at the University of Notre Dame. As an intern assistant learning specialist, I work closely with struggling student-athletes to help them not only meet their own academic goals, but to take on and engage with material that they may not be familiar or comfortable with. Though this process can be challenging for both the students and myself, the results are rewarding when real efforts are made on both sides. I came into my role at ASSA first as a strategy tutor at the beginning of my sophomore year of college. I knew that I cared strongly about my own education, and I thought that helping others pursue learning in their lives would benefit my own academic exploration. I did not know then how true this would turn out to be or how much this role would impact my life. As the years passed, I threw myself into my role, continuing as a strategy tutor and eventually becoming an intern assistant learning specialist after I graduated. The education of the students I worked with became as important to me as my own. I shared every challenge, disappointment, and triumph they experienced in their academic journeys. Their academic explorations became my why in life. I watched students change and transform before my eyes as they realized that their efforts were worthwhile and understood the importance of our work together. After having several discussions with the Associate Director and head Academic Counselor of football at ASSA, Adam Sargent, I realized that I could turn my passion for education and making a change in students’ lives into a profession. I intend to further my own academic exploration with a master’s in Higher Education so that I am better prepared to guide and support students throughout their time at university. My professional goal is to build on my present path and ultimately attain the position of Academic Counselor in an office like Academic Services for Student-Athletes. Experiencing how impactful a well-functioning academic support system can be for student-athletes as they adjust to the rigorous demands of college life constantly reminds me how vital accessibility to good educational resources is. I plan to continue my pursuit of learning so that I am well-equipped to professionally assist students as they navigate academia, develop their education, and grow as people. Education is more than just academics, it involves concern, interest, and understanding from people who care. I envision an environment like the one at ASSA at all universities, where students are supported and cared for both academically and mentally. I believe that I will be able to help achieve and implement that vision through the pursuit of my own educational goals.

I have always had trouble planning the right kind of budget for myself and can never seem to make it stick. I have since realized that I wasn’t budgeting properly for my needs and expenses, so I decided to register for a financial workshop on budgeting in order to form a better fitting budget plan for myself. The most helpful piece of financial planning advice that I have ever received comes from the financial advisor in the workshop that I attended. The financial planner suggested dividing your budget into three main components, which are: essential spending, essential savings, and other wants and goals. Essential spending includes expenses such as rent and groceries, essential savings refers to retirement savings and emergency funds, and other wants and goals depend on what is important to you, like saving for a car, paying off debt, or going to restaurants. She then gave the most useful advice—instead of budgeting down to the last cent of your paycheck, take a more proactive approach to spending by using your paycheck to set a fixed percentage in the three categories. She indicated that budgets are like diets—if you are too restrictive with them, they often fail. The advisor explained that a sound budget should have no more than 50% of your paycheck allocated toward essential expenses, 15% of your paycheck set aside towards retirement, 5% of it tucked away in an emergency fund, and a percentage set aside that is dependent on your wants and goals. In addition to this, she highly recommended forming a plan of what you are going to be spending your set budget on so that you know where the money is going. This advice has proved to be extremely beneficial for me as I have been planning towards graduate school.

Education is something that is extremely important to me and highly prevalent in my life. I am attending graduate school for a degree in Higher Education and Counseling at the University of Washington Seattle in the fall and I currently work as an intern Assistant Learning Specialist in the department of Academic Services for Student-Athletes at the University of Notre Dame. Working in this type of academic environment constantly reinforces in me how vital good education is. However, higher education has become somewhat of an expensive commodity in the United States. Both private and public universities have increased their tuition rates to the point where many people must take on a huge amount of debt in order to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Yet at the same time, more and more jobs are requiring one to have a college degree in order to apply. This makes it extremely difficult for people who cannot afford to pay expensive college fees to get well-paying jobs. I believe that one change to education that would positively impact future generations is improving accessibility to higher education. This would entail severely reducing the costs of universities so that more people have access and the opportunity to pursue higher education. If universities reduce their fees tremendously, it would allow for people who have never even thought about college because of the costs to consider seeking a college education. This would open up the door for so many people to obtain better-paying jobs that are well-suited to their professional strengths. It would also even out the playing field and would likely result in a reduction in the growing wealth inequality gap. Increasing access to higher education by cutting the costs of universities would be good for our country as a whole and would allow for future generations to have more opportunities in life.

I was explaining my favorite book to a friend the other day and couldn’t remember it’s title. I knew the author’s name—Chanel Miller—and could recall the entirety of the book’s subject matter, but the title slipped my mind. I googled Chanel Miller’s name and giggled at the irony of the situation when it revealed the book’s title: Know My Name. I may have failed to remember the title, but I had remembered Chanel’s name. Know My Name is a moving autobiography by Chanel Miller that details the events and fallout of her sexual assault by a student at Stanford. This book is very meaningful to me because I too have been a victim of sexual assault as a freshman in college. I read it at a time when I was struggling with the aftermath of my situation and turned to literature as an escape from reality. I knew that I had to read this particular book because I hoped it would give me some perspective from someone who had survived a very similar situation. I did not know then that this book would completely change my life. Chanel’s account of the assault and how it affected her resonated deeply with me, but her determination to not let it define her inspired me to do the same for myself. Though life was not always fair to her and she dealt with many struggles, Chanel never gave up on herself and her goals. She is now a famous author and artist, and has inspired many people across the world with her powerful rhetoric and unceasing perseverance. Chanel’s story in Know My Name transformed my life by enabling me to see that I am more than my past circumstances and I am a strong young woman who can make it through anything.

Although she is part of recent history, I really admire Malala Yousafzai. Malala is an education activist who has taken a firm stand on women’s right to education. When Malala was a young girl in Pakistan, the Taliban banned women from attending school. At age fifteen, she risked speaking out publicly on behalf of women’s right to learn. Consequently, a gunman located Malala on her school bus and shot her in the head. Despite this assassination attempt, Malala survived. What is so compelling to me is that Malala is the same age as me, yet we have led such different lives. As a young, white woman, I have had the privilege of pursuing my education without having to worry about anyone stopping me from doing so. However, this is not the case for many women in other parts of the world. One of Malala’s quotes speaks on this: “I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it is the story of many girls.” While Malala could have given up on her goal to provide girls with the right to education in exchange for a safer life, she decided to continue her fight until every girl has the opportunity to attend school. Malala has transformed the world of education through the creation of the Malala Fund, a charity that she has dedicated to providing an opportunity for every girl to achieve the future that she chooses. As a woman going into the field of education, Malala’s story resonates deeply with me. I, too, am someone who believes strongly in education and women’s right to learn. I am inspired by Malala’s unyielding will to help other women, even though she has been through so much for her mission. She truly is an influential young education activist and human being.

I’ve always been a big animal lover from as far back as I can remember. Horses, especially, I have always found to be beautiful creatures and I’ve been obsessed with them for most of my life. When I was ten years old, I begged my parents to let me attend a horseback riding camp in the summer along with my best friend. After much begging, they finally agreed and I was so excited. I did not know then how impactful that decision would be for me. I remember the first day of summer camp, meeting all of the horses in the barn and getting to choose which one I would be working with. I was thrilled that I got to learn how to approach, handle, and groom a horse. It was even more thrilling when I finally got the opportunity to get on and ride one. From that day forward, I knew I was hooked. Since then, horses and horseback riding have dominated my life. After the summer camp ended, I started taking lessons and riding regularly. When my skills progressed, I began leasing horses so that I could take care of one and ride more often. When I reached my junior year of high school, I saved up enough money to buy a horse of my own. Now, more than fourteen years later, I have two horses whom I absolutely adore and ride often. My favorite thing in the world is getting to go out to the barn and be with my horses. Even my parents have gotten into the discipline. Without that summer camp experience, I don’t know that I would be where I am today. I am so grateful that I got that opportunity to pursue my love of horses.

Sometimes, times can be tough and the world isn’t always that kind to us. When that happens, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that help me stay optimistic throughout the hard times. When times are tough, my first reaction is to call my therapist and set up an appointment with her, or, if the issue is more pressing, we will have a session over the phone. Therapy is something that I can honestly say has saved my life and has helped me develop healthy coping mechanisms and life strategies. I believe that regular therapy appointments would be beneficial to most everyone, even if they are not struggling with their mental health or life issues. It is very liberating to be able to vocalize what is going on in your life or what you are struggling with to someone who is trained to understand and provide you with guidance and feedback, all without judgement. In addition to regularly attending therapy, I do my best to keep up with writing in a gratitude journal every day. There has been research that says practicing gratitude every day improves one’s overall happiness and mood. When I write in my gratitude journal, it makes me feel appreciative of all of the things that I have in my life and reminds me that I am able to love and be loved. With the help of therapy and journaling, I am able to stay optimistic through life, even when times are tough.

As an intern assistant learning specialist in the department of Academic Services for Student-Athletes at the University of Notre Dame, I work closely with academically struggling student-athletes to help them not only meet their own academic goals, but to take on and engage with material they may not be familiar or comfortable with. This includes aiding them in the development of their critical reading and thinking skills, helping them organize classes and assignments, teaching them smart study strategies, and promoting more active engagement with their education. Though this process can be challenging for both the students and myself, the results are rewarding when real efforts are made on both sides. Through my one-on-one discussions with the students I work with, I have discovered that my own vocation for education is being realized in their educational journeys. Not only am I aiding in the academic development of their minds, I am supporting and facilitating their evolution as people and as students. My involvement with Academic Services and frequent interactions with the student-athletes have reminded me how vital and effective a strong support system is, both academically and psychologically. Education is more than just academics, it involves concern, interest, and understanding from people who care. In my role, it is my priority and a privilege to give this level of care to my students so that I can impact their lives in a positive way and help them grow as people. The education of the students I work with has become as important to me as my own. I share every challenge, disappointment, and triumph they experience in their academic journeys. It truly is an honor to watch students change and transform before my eyes as they understand the importance of our work together and realize that our efforts are worthwhile.

When I was in preschool, my dream life involved me becoming either a dog or a dinosaur when I grew up. As I got older, my dreams grew and changed with me. In grade school, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Then, in high school, it was a marine biologist. During college, I thought I wanted to be a policy advocate for conservation. Now, finally, I believe that I have found my calling in life. Education is something that is extremely important to me, so I am going to graduate school for a degree in Higher Education and Counseling. Though it took some time to figure out what I truly wanted out of life, I am grateful for every dream that I have had along the way because it has led me to where I am now. Working as an Assistant Learning Specialist in the department of Academic Services for Student-Athletes has helped me to realize this dream for myself. I love working with college students on learning and seeking knowledge and it’s exciting to watch them grow and transform as students and people. My dream job now involves me moving up in this kind of department after graduate school and becoming an Academic Counselor. I want to continue my important work with students and facilitate their growth and learning in the best way that I can. Although my dream job has changed, my passion for animals—as seen in my last few dream jobs—has stayed the same. My dream life still involves me loving animals, and I plan to have a large family of animals at home. I dream of one day owning a farm and expanding my horse herd, as well as getting cows, goats, and pigs. I can’t forget the dogs and cats either!

What I love most about myself is my big heart and ability to give love to others, not just myself. However, in the past, I’ve struggled with people taking advantage of me and my kindness, which made me believe that this attribute actually put me at a disadvantage in life. I thought that the only way that I could be taken seriously was to hide this quality from others so that I could succeed. I tried not to come off as such a loving and giving person, but in doing so I was suppressing who I truly am. Over time, I have learned that people are going to try to take advantage of you no matter who you are, so that should not be the reason you hold parts of yourself back or hide them away. I made the decision to fully embrace myself and my genuine traits of generosity, kindness, and love. Now, this is the quality that I am the most proud of. Having love and caring for others is something that this world sorely needs, especially in dark times. We need to take care of ourselves and each other—because if not us, then who will? When someone shows you an act of kindness, you feel genuine kindness from that person and that makes you feel grateful and good about yourself. We all deserve to feel good about ourselves and the best way to do that is to love others as we love ourselves. That is why I love the fact that I have a kind, caring heart, and I want to share that with the world.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved horses. My parents would buy me horse stuffed animals and horse figurines, which I loved playing with, as well as horse decorations for my room. When I was ten years old, I begged my parents to let me attend a horse-riding camp that summer with my friend. They gave in, and the rest, as they say, is history. I was sucked into the world of horses and I have been involved in that world ever since then. I started riding at the summer camp and my love of horses instantly grew. Learning how to groom, take care of, and communicate with the horses—not just ride them—made me extremely happy. As my love of horses grew, so did my knowledge of them. I went from barely knowing how to ride at summer camp to taking lessons several times a week. As I became less of a beginner and more of an intermediate rider, I talked with my parents about leasing a horse. Though they were unsure about it because of the expensive costs, they knew how interested I was in the animals and the sport and decided to let me do so. Over the next several years, I leased a couple of different horses and grew as an advanced rider. I began competing in high school hunter jumper competitions as part of the Interscholastic Equestrian Association. Just before I reached my junior year of high school, I realized that I wanted to take the next step in the sport of horse riding and buy my own horse. My parents agreed that if I paid for the initial cost of the horse, they would help me pay for the costs of food and boarding. I got a part-time job at a retail store and saved up for the cost of my first horse, an American Paint Horse named Dakota. When I went to college my freshman year, my parents started riding Dakota so that I could spend more of my time adjusting to university life. However, as I approached my junior year of college, I had been actively making the time to go out and ride regularly. At this point, my parents were also very into the sport and enjoyed spending time with and riding Dakota. I figured that it was time to expand our horse family and get a more advanced horse for me to train and to improve my skills. I saved my money and ended up using an agency to adopt my horse, Irish, a Thoroughbred ex-racehorse who had raced in Hong Kong. Working with Irish over the years has strengthened my skills as a rider and has grown my love tremendously for horses. I can’t imagine where I would be without my horses, and I am so grateful to my parents for letting me attend that summer camp and follow my passion.

Education is something that is extremely important to me and highly prevalent in my life. I am attending graduate school for a degree in Higher Education and Counseling at the University of Michigan in the fall and I currently work as an intern Assistant Learning Specialist in the department of Academic Services for Student-Athletes at the University of Notre Dame. Working in this type of academic environment constantly reinforces in me how vital good education is. However, higher education has become somewhat of an expensive commodity in the United States. Both private and public universities have increased their tuition rates to the point where many people must take on a huge amount of debt in order to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Yet at the same time, more and more jobs are requiring one to have a college degree in order to apply. This makes it extremely difficult for people who cannot afford to pay expensive college fees to get well-paying jobs. I believe that one change to education that would positively impact future generations is improving accessibility to higher education. This would entail severely reducing the costs of universities so that more people have access and the opportunity to pursue higher education. If universities reduce their fees tremendously, it would allow for people who have never even thought about college because of the costs to consider seeking a college education. This would open up the door for so many people to obtain better-paying jobs that are well-suited to their professional strengths. It would also even out the playing field and would likely result in a reduction in the growing wealth inequality gap. Increasing access to higher education by cutting the costs of universities would be good for our country as a whole and would allow for future generations to have more opportunities in life.

As promising as a rise in mental health awareness has been, it has showcased how severely mental health problems have affected people on a large-scale. These problems exponentially overwhelm young adults and college students. As a former college student and soon-to-be graduate student, I have been personally affected by the damaging consequences of mental illness. When I was a freshman in college, I was sexually assaulted on campus. This event triggered in me several mental illnesses that have now plagued me for years. I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress order, an anxiety disorder, and major depression. After being treated by my psychiatrist, I was later diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder as well. When I was diagnosed with these disorders, I was put on a regimen of medications and started attending therapy regularly. Immediately, I noticed a profound change within myself and my personality. I equate the medications I have received through psychiatry, along with attending therapy, as life-saving for me, and I honestly don’t know where I would be without them. However, accessibility to psychiatrists and medication has proved to be difficult and even impossible for people seeking help for their mental illnesses. Various medications and many psychiatrists are overwhelmingly expensive and many people cannot afford the costs of such treatments. Due to this, we are failing to help many of those who need this kind of care the most. I believe that a practical solution for making mental illness medication and psychiatry more accessible to people is to strictly cut their costs. We as a society have recognized how important mental health is, and now we need to come together to pressure drug companies and providers into doing the right thing. No one should have to turn down the help that they need because they cannot afford it.

Throughout my young adulthood, I’ve made profound discoveries about myself. As I’ve matured, my goals have grown and changed too. This has been clearest in my pursuit towards a career. I’ve always been passionate about conservation issues and I initially wanted to follow that path. Since I majored in Political Science, I figured that an Environmental Policy master’s was the best track to follow. I applied to those programs and planned to work for a year to get my finances in order. I didn’t know then how life-changing this decision would be. I began working as an Assistant Learning Specialist in the Academic Services for Student-Athletes department in 2021. I’d worked there previously during college and had enjoyed my experience in a student-oriented environment. This time, however, I had a more significant role in helping struggling students reach their academic and personal goals. As I spent more time with students and saw the results of their hard work, I was filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I realized that helping others learn and grow was becoming an important part of my own journey of personal growth. I found myself questioning what I wanted out of my career and realized that attaining a master’s degree in science would be extremely difficult and unpleasant for me. After talking with my boss about pursuing a career in education, I made a huge change and decided to seek a master’s in Higher Education. Working in ASSA has been a huge catalyst in my personal growth. This change has made me more open to new ideas and experiences that challenge both myself and the world around me. Although change can be scary, I’ve come to realize that it’s an essential part of helping us learn more about ourselves and mature as people.

I have always had trouble planning the right kind of budget for myself and can never seem to make it stick. I have since realized that I wasn’t budgeting properly for my needs and expenses, so I decided to register for a financial workshop on budgeting in order to form a better fitting budget plan for myself. The most important personal finance lesson that I have learned and find to be most important comes from the financial advisor in the workshop that I attended. The financial planner suggested dividing your budget into three main components, which are: essential spending, essential savings, and other wants and goals. Essential spending includes expenses such as rent and groceries, essential savings refers to retirement savings and emergency funds, and other wants and goals depend on what is important to you, like saving for a car, paying off debt, or going to restaurants. She then gave the most useful lesson—instead of budgeting down to the last cent of your paycheck, take a more proactive approach to spending by using your paycheck to set a fixed percentage in the three categories. She indicated that budgets are like diets—if you are too restrictive with them, they often fail. The advisor explained that a sound budget should have no more than 50% of your paycheck allocated toward essential expenses, 15% of your paycheck set aside towards retirement, 5% of it tucked away in an emergency fund, and a percentage set aside that is dependent on your wants and goals. In addition to this, she highly recommended forming a plan of what you are going to be spending your set budget on so that you know where the money is going. This advice has proved to be extremely beneficial for me as I have been planning towards graduate school.

Although she is part of recent history, I really admire Malala Yousafzai. Malala is an education activist who has taken a firm stand on women’s right to education. When Malala was a young girl in Pakistan, the Taliban banned women from attending school. At age fifteen, she risked speaking out publicly on behalf of women’s right to learn. Consequently, a gunman located Malala on her school bus and shot her in the head. Despite this assassination attempt, Malala survived. What is so compelling to me is that Malala is the same age as me, yet we have led such different lives. As a young, white woman, I have had the privilege of pursuing my education without having to worry about anyone stopping me from doing so. However, this is not the case for many women in other parts of the world. One of Malala’s quotes speaks on this: “I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it is the story of many girls.” While Malala could have given up on her goal to provide girls with the right to education in exchange for a safer life, she decided to continue her fight until every girl has the opportunity to attend school. Malala has transformed the world of education through the creation of the Malala Fund, a charity that she has dedicated to providing an opportunity for every girl to achieve the future that she chooses. As a woman going into the field of education, Malala’s story resonates deeply with me. I, too, am someone who believes strongly in education and women’s right to learn. I am inspired by Malala’s unyielding will to help other women, even though she has been through so much for her mission. She truly is an influential young education activist and human being.

I work as an intern Assistant Learning Specialist at the University of Notre Dame in the department of Academic Services for Student-Athletes. This job entails working closely with struggling student-athletes as they balance academics, athletics, and their own personal and social lives. Since the nature of this job requires strong academic support and services, I have become an educational mentor for the students that I work with. I aspire to work as an Academic Counselor in this kind of department so that I can continue on the path of academic mentorship that I have started and also integrate key counseling tools to maximize the impact that I have on my students. Through this type of mentorship, I hope to help my students both academically and mentally. Mental health is such a key and often overlooked facet of university life and can have either a positive or negative effect on one’s academic success and personal life depending on one’s state of mind. As a future Academic Counselor, I plan to guide my students towards academic success while also taking their mental health into consideration and teaching them useful skills and strategies to help take care of their minds. Every decision I make will be in the best interest of each individual student. I believe that this is the best way to leave a lasting, positive impact on students and allow them to grow and develop successfully into mature leaders and mentors.

I was explaining my favorite book to a friend the other day and couldn’t remember it’s title. I knew the author’s name—Chanel Miller—and could recall the entirety of the book’s subject matter, but the title slipped my mind. I googled Chanel Miller’s name and giggled at the irony of the situation when it revealed the book’s title: Know My Name. I may have failed to remember the title, but I had remembered Chanel’s name. Know My Name is a moving autobiography by Chanel Miller that details the events and fallout of her sexual assault by a student at Stanford. This book is very meaningful to me because I too have been a victim of sexual assault as a freshman in college. I read it at a time when I was struggling with the aftermath of my situation and turned to literature as an escape from reality. I knew that I had to read this particular book because I hoped it would give me some perspective from someone who had survived a very similar situation. I did not know then that this book would completely change my life. Chanel’s account of the assault and how it affected her resonated deeply with me, but her determination to not let it define her inspired me to do the same for myself. Though life was not always fair to her and she dealt with many struggles, Chanel never gave up on herself and her goals. She is now a famous author and artist, and has inspired many people across the world with her powerful rhetoric and unceasing perseverance. Chanel’s story in Know My Name transformed my life by enabling me to see that I am more than my past circumstances and I am a strong young woman who can make it through anything.