I have always heard the saying, “It is important to be grateful”, but I never understood the importance behind it. Gratitude is one of the most crucial parts of life, yet it often goes so unnoticed. Growing up in a religious household I was always hearing about blessings and how important it is to be grateful, but as I got older I learned the meaning of true gratitude. Before coming to college my life was extremely difficult. My faith in God was constantly wavering and I felt completely alone. I had no one to celebrate my accomplishments and I was struggling with many things. My anxiety was the worst it has ever been and I just found myself feeling so lost. I had no direction in life and no goals for my future. Waking up everyday was so difficult being in such a dark place. The first week of starting college something flipped. I realized that I did not want to be like this forever. Even in my struggles I still tried to be a positive person to those around me, but it felt like a facade. I was so consumed with worry that I couldn’t help but sob. Then I sat up at the edge of my bed and I prayed to God. I said “Lord, I can’t do this again. Please don’t let this be like high school. I don’t need a million people, I would be grateful for even two friends.”. I whispered the prayer aloud as my own tears began to make me choke up. Ever since this prayer my entire life changed. The words I cried out were genuine, not a perfect persona I was trying to portray. But amidst my words there was also a small guarantee, I would be grateful for whatever God gave me. When I speak to others I do not feel like I am portraying a persona but am truly myself. My life has changed completely. I am so happy and blessed to be living the life that I do. To be able to wake up each day and be truly grateful for each breath that I am able to take. It now seems absurd to me that there was ever a time that I wished to not see tomorrow. Sometimes, I am even excited to go to sleep to see what the next day will bring. I never thought that I would find this peace, and it was only made possible through the grace and glory of God. Each day I try to exercise that guarantee that I will be grateful for even the smallest blessing. No blessing is too small to appreciate. I am so grateful for everything that God has given me. I am living a life that I never once thought was even possible for me. I used to say “I am just so unlucky” when speaking to people. One day I saw a quote that changed my perspective on the phrase, “With God, I am the luckiest girl in the world.”. I genuinely would not be where I am today without the Lord. I feel so blessed to have the relationship that I do with God, and hope to grow even closer with him each day. I hope my story serves as a testimony, not only to God's grace, but also to the importance of gratitude. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if you can’t see it yet. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” - Psalm 107:1

I have always dreamt of being able to have my own law firm. I have always been introverted and usually keep to myself, but when I am debating it is like I have all of the confidence in the world. Being able to speak with such fluidity made me fall in love with debating. It became a way for me to regain a voice I didn't feel like I could have in my day to day life. This led me to join the debate club in middle school, participate in Model UN in high school, and now pursue a degree in Business and Marketing in hopes of potentially becoming a corporate lawyer. My passion for defending the things that I care about and the feeling of having a successful debate, makes me fall in love with it every time. I believe that in order to achieve this dream it would take a lot of hard work and dedication. When I was in high school I realized how important this dream is to me, so I reached out to every single law firm in the area asking for any opportunity they may be able to provide for me. This is when I was privileged enough to be able to work at Frawley law as an unpaid intern. I recognize that it is solely through the power of hard work and dedication that my dream would be able to become a reality. When I started my law internship I saw firsthand the power it can have in changing someone's life. I will never forget the day someone called into the office concerned, their voice shaking as if they were nearly in tears, and the attorney I was shadowing was able to guarantee them that everything would be okay. That security that she provided them, the comfort her voice was instantly able to secure, she had saved them from their struggles. I have always wanted to be able to do that for others. Save them from things they do not know how to save themselves from and rest their anxious hearts with the touch of my words and the guarantee of my efforts. Through creating my own law firm, the goal would be to advocate for what is right while pursuing something that is important to me. Not only does law give me an opportunity to raise my voice, but it allows me the opportunity to speak up for those who can not.

I have always heard the saying, “It is important to be grateful”, but I never understood the importance behind it. Gratitude is one of the most crucial parts of life, yet it often goes so unnoticed. Growing up in a religious household I was always hearing about blessings and how important it is to be grateful, but as I got older I learned the meaning of true gratitude. Before coming to college my life was extremely difficult. My faith in God was constantly wavering and I felt completely alone. I had no one to celebrate my accomplishments and I was struggling with many things. My anxiety was the worst it has ever been and I just found myself feeling so lost. I had no direction in life and no goals for my future. Waking up everyday was so difficult being in such a dark place. The first week of starting college something flipped. I realized that I did not want to be like this forever. Even in my struggles I still tried to be a positive person to those around me, but it felt like a facade. I was so consumed with worry that I couldn’t help but sob. Then I sat up at the edge of my bed and I prayed to God. I said “Lord, I can’t do this again. Please don’t let this be like high school. I don’t need a million people, I would be grateful for even two friends.”. I whispered the prayer aloud as my own tears began to make me choke up. Ever since this prayer my entire life changed. The words I cried out were genuine, not a perfect persona I was trying to portray. But amidst my words there was also a small guarantee, I would be grateful for whatever God gave me. When I speak to others I do not feel like I am portraying a persona but am truly myself. My life has changed completely. I am so happy and blessed to be living the life that I do. To be able to wake up each day and be truly grateful for each breath that I am able to take. It now seems absurd to me that there was ever a time that I wished to not see tomorrow. Sometimes, I am even excited to go to sleep to see what the next day will bring. I never thought that I would find this peace, and it was only made possible through the grace and glory of God. Each day I try to exercise that guarantee that I will be grateful for even the smallest blessing. No blessing is too small to appreciate. I am so grateful for everything that God has given me. I am living a life that I never once thought was even possible for me. I used to say “I am just so unlucky” when speaking to people. One day I saw a quote that changed my perspective on the phrase, “With God, I am the luckiest girl in the world.”. I genuinely would not be where I am today without the Lord. I feel so blessed to have the relationship that I do with God, and hope to grow even closer with him each day. I hope my story serves as a testimony, not only to God's grace, but also to the importance of gratitude. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if you can’t see it yet. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” - Psalm 107:1

I have always dreamt of being able to have my own law firm. I have always been introverted and usually keep to myself, but when I am debating it is like I have all of the confidence in the world. Being able to speak with such fluidity made me fall in love with debating. It became a way for me to regain a voice I didn't feel like I could have in my day to day life. This led me to join the debate club in middle school, participate in Model UN in high school, and now pursue a degree in Business and Marketing in hopes of potentially becoming a corporate lawyer. My passion for defending the things that I care about and the feeling of having a successful debate, makes me fall in love with it every time. I believe that in order to achieve this dream it would take a lot of hard work and dedication. When I was in high school I realized how important this dream is to me, so I reached out to every single law firm in the area asking for any opportunity they may be able to provide for me. This is when I was privileged enough to be able to work at Frawley law as an unpaid intern. I recognize that it is solely through the power of hard work and dedication that my dream would be able to become a reality. When I started my law internship I saw firsthand the power it can have in changing someone's life. I will never forget the day someone called into the office concerned, their voice shaking as if they were nearly in tears, and the attorney I was shadowing was able to guarantee them that everything would be okay. That security that she provided them, the comfort her voice was instantly able to secure, she had saved them from their struggles. I have always wanted to be able to do that for others. Save them from things they do not know how to save themselves from and rest their anxious hearts with the touch of my words and the guarantee of my efforts. Through creating my own law firm, the goal would be to advocate for what is right while pursuing something that is important to me. Not only does law give me an opportunity to raise my voice, but it allows me the opportunity to speak up for those who can not. To me success would come from being able to advocate for other and create change in the world.

When confronted with adversity I have found that the biggest remedy has been perseverance. In everything I do I strive to have a resilient attitude because I have learned how important drive is. During high school my mental health was struggling. I found it difficult to balance the rigorous coursework and my struggles that I was facing with my anxiety. The stress and pressure began to feel as though it was unbearable. That is when I decided that it was time to make a change. When I transitioned into college I knew that I no longer wanted my experience with coursework to be as difficult, so I poured my effort into changing my life. I started to seek counseling regularly, got on medication, and began to participate in hobbies I enjoyed. Due to the fact that I was so depressed in high school, I stopped doing things that I loved. I no longer danced, which used to be a major passion of mine. In making a change, I started taking dance lessons again. Through these classes I have been able to meet new people and create a mini community outside of college. In order to achieve my goals of becoming a corporate lawyer, I also knew that I would have to find a way to succeed academically. I started to find a routine that would work for me and found it beneficial to be honest with myself, only creating tasks that I new I would accomplish. I put in the effort to reach out to people in my classes so that we could create study groups for upcoming exams. I dedicated hours to going to the library or studying in a quiet are on campus until I was able to understand a concept. Through these rigorous efforts I was able to get all A's during my first semester. As I work towards this second semester I continue to carry this drive with me. I know that I have the potential to achieve amazing things and through my hardships my ability to succeed has only become clearer. I know that I will be able to do anything I set my mind to, as I work towards obtaining this degree that will allow me to pursue my career I continue to keep those ideologies in mind. I will continue to strive to achieve my goal to excell in my classes and make the most of the opportunities I have been given.