"You are the sun" by Ellerie Heinzmann if we were a universe You would be the sun because my world revolves around You You stay in Your place You stay the center while every other planet is in Your orbit the thing is that You are my sun i would do anything for You but if You are the sun, then i am just a planet and if i am a planet, then i am pluto because like pluto as the time has passed i've been determined too small too small, too small, too small too small to recognize as significant so while i still orbit You You remain at the center of my universe but i am too insignificant to even be a planet revolving around You it becomes clear because You are the center of my universe it makes it impossible for me to be the center of Yours.

My instagram is @ellerieheinzmann Tip: Never be ashamed of asking for help. Tutoring does not make you "dumb." It is one of the smartest things that anyone can do. Rationale: Growing up, especially going through grade school, there is a stigma around needing extra help in school or needing any type of tutoring. As I went through high school and now college, I think it's the complete opposite. Asking for help or going in for help makes someone a better student. I don't think there should be any shame in asking questions or going in for extra help because this allows students to be fully understand things and in the long run will only help. My sophomore year of high school, I was terrified to need help after failing my first AP World History exam, but it was the smartest decision I made because I was able to get the help I needed to get an A in the class and also pass the AP test and get college credit. Now as a sophomore in college, I regularly ask questions and go to tutoring weekly for my chemistry class because it helps me reach my full potential as a student.

"The way you love or treat yourself dictates or defines how others will treat you." This powerful quote comes from Dr. Prem Jagyasi, and is a saying that I completely agree with. I believe, that to some extent, we can control how other people perceive us which will directly correlate to how they treat us. For me, this means that taking care of myself through healthy eating is one way in which I can present my best self to others. I believe that having the healthy habit of getting proper nutrition boosts not only my confidence, but also my general mood and will allow me to present the best version of myself to others that I come into contact with. Especially when I was in high school and gaining a lot more freedom in my schedule, with this came the freedom to plan my own meals and choose what foods I was going to consume. As an athlete and a busy student, it has always been imperative that I fuel my body with the right nutrition. Especially since I am a distance runner, I need to ensure that I get enough carbohydrates and proteins. Of course consuming sufficient calories is important, but consuming quality calories is very important if I want to be a successful athlete so this means making sure I get vegetables with lots of nutrients and having lean protein like chicken. The greatest thing about this is that although it may seem boring to eat "healthy" food all the time, it can be fun to experiment new ways to put foods together. I have noticed that eating healthy makes my body feel good and when my body feels good my mind also feels good. I am able to focus well in school and treat those around me to the best of my ability because I feel good about myself and confident. Returning to the words of Dr. Jagyasi, the way that you treat yourself will have an effect on how others see you. If it is clear that you take care of yourself and prioritize your health, this will reflect and others will see this. Additionally, living clean is a way in which I love myself and by loving myself this assists in showing my best self to others. Unlike the phases in my life where I have neglected self care and lost focus on my health, I love and appreciate my mind and body so much more when I eat healthy, nutritious foods. Instead of focusing on my own insecurities, when I feel healthy I can channel my energy into other positive things like being the best teammate I can or supporting my students that I mentor as a peer coach. Clean living is not only about the physical body. I believe that how you feel physically is directly related to how you will feel mentally. If you have a good, healthy balance physically with healthy eating and exercise, I think that mentally you will also feel the best that you can. The correlation between the two can either build up or break down your confidence. For me, by choosing to focus on clean living, it is a way for me to love myself and build myself up so that I can give my best to others around me.

For as long as I can remember I have loved science. It started with a love for nature. My sister and I would spend hours outside searching for little helicopters and we would plant them around our yard just waiting for the next season when a little tree would start to grow. When I was nine years old I developed a deep love of biology and specifically of the marine category. Fascination with marine biology is often a passing phase with many children, but I continued to grow this love for marine life and took marine biology my junior year and I started working a part time job while also being a student and a three-sport athlete so that I could fund my own marine biology trips. First, I went to North Carolina where I volunteered at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. I furthered this love when about a year and a half later I funded another trip for myself to the Florida Keys where I learned at MarineLab all about the ecology of sea grasses and we also researched coral bleaching through a series of coral reef snorkeling sessions. I have a deep passion for the health side of biology as well. This past summer, I underwent a major surgery on my left hip and the numerous visits to the doctor intrigued me about the profession of orthopedic surgeon. I really connected with my doctor and the way he interacted with me, and it was very inspiring to me that there was a way that I could combine my love of biology with helping people and building relationships with them. I have grown deeply fascinated with looking at x-rays and viewing the differences of how my hip looked before surgery and how now it is properly healing, and my anatomy has been corrected. Before my surgery, I was living in constant pain, and I was inhibited from running with my college team which is one of my stress relievers and hobbies. I love the idea that through science, doctors are able to fix the internal physical issues, but it can give someone their whole life back. As a female, obstacles are magnified because while we face the difficulties that come with an education and hopefully a career in STEM, we also face doubt and judgement that comes from old societal standards to be mothers and wives. Men are permitted to openly pursue their passions, women are supposed to be selfless and give up their own desires and passions for the welfare of the household. I truly believe that one can be a successful woman with a career in STEM while also having a successful family life. My childhood pediatrician was a perfect example of this because not only is she a fabulous doctor, but she has amazing daughters. I look up to my doctor because I had seen her for about sixteen years of my life and I deeply admired her, but when I met her daughters, it was like realizing that there is also the possibility for an equally fulfilling life that is outside of work. Much like the small helicopter seeds that my sister and I planted in our yard, my love for science has only grown through the years and is deeply planted in who I am as a person. We now have full size maple trees growing in the backyard and like these trees that have grown tall, I want to be able to continue pursuing my scientific passions and create a career for myself.

When you're a quiet person people tend to decide who you are. Where I grew up I had gone to school with the same 40 kids from kindergarten until eighth grade and by eighth grade everyone had decided for me who I was: a quiet, teacher's pet who had a lot of sisters. People determined me as this boring rule follower who came from a perfect family and it left no room for me to decide who I actually was. Through middle school I just experienced plummeting self esteem and truly started believe that I was completely boring. At the start of eighth grade, a new girl came to my school and I saw this as my chance. A chance to be someone different, the person that I wanted to be. Alivia, the new girl was popular with everyone, but even though she had claimed this popularity she was very genuine and kind. In a place where I felt completely invisible, Alivia made me feel seen and like I actually mattered. Throughout the year we formed a bond through cheerleading and doing the school play together. She exuded a confidence that made everyone want to talk to her and be around her. From the outside, Alivia seemed to have a perfect life with everything I had ever wanted. She was beautiful, smart, popular and athletic. In the last week of our eighth grade year, Alivia died by suicide. This was the hardest thing I have ever experienced because I lost the one person that made me feel truly seen, but it has also taught me some of the greatest lessons and shaped how I treat others in my life. Through this experience I realized that you can make assumptions about someone's life, but you may never truly know what they are going through. This girl that I had idolized and viewed as perfect was struggling in a way which I would never have imagined because I was too focused on myself. As I made my way through high school and now into college this has really motivated me to give people the benefit of the doubt and also check in on my friends who seem to be happy all the time. People go through things in private that we may never know about and it is important to remember this. It is always better to lead with kindness and give a little extra grace to other people because you may not know their struggles. Grace costs you nothing.

In my community, I think that it is really important to build up the younger kids who will help to shape our future. Often it seems like adults forget that kids may struggle too, but I can remember back to my fourth grade self who struggled with her confidence and who it took many years to help find her voice. While I was in high school, I participated in a tutoring program where you would be paired with your "homework buddy" for the semester or the whole year. I really loved this program because while I enjoyed helping a young student I also really liked the ability to build a relationship that came with visiting them once every week. So while we worked on homework and I was able to help a student build their confidence in school we also built a friendship and we could talk about other things as well.

When you're a quiet person people tend to decide who you are. Where I grew up I had gone to school with the same 40 kids from kindergarten until eighth grade and by eighth grade everyone had decided for me who I was: a quiet, teacher's pet who had a lot of sisters. People determined me as this boring rule follower who came from a perfect family and it left no room for me to decide who I actually was. Through middle school I just experienced plummeting self esteem and truly started believe that I was completely boring. At the start of eighth grade, a new girl came to my school and I saw this as my chance. A chance to be someone different, the person that I wanted to be. Alivia, the new girl was popular with everyone, but even though she had claimed this popularity she was very genuine and kind. In a place where I felt completely invisible, Alivia made me feel seen and like I actually mattered. Throughout the year we formed a bond through cheerleading and doing the school play together. She exuded a confidence that made everyone want to talk to her and be around her. From the outside, Alivia seemed to have a perfect life with everything I had ever wanted. She was beautiful, smart, popular and athletic. In the last week of our eighth grade year, Alivia died by suicide. This was the hardest thing I have ever experienced because I lost the one person that made me feel truly seen, but it has also taught me some of the greatest lessons and shaped how I treat others in my life. Through this experience I realized that you can make assumptions about someone's life, but you may never truly know what they are going through. This girl that I had idolized and viewed as perfect was struggling in a way which I would never have imagined because I was too focused on myself. As I made my way through high school and now into college this has really motivated me to give people the benefit of the doubt and also check in on my friends who seem to be happy all the time.