I have played Minecraft for most of my life at this point, probably starting around 5 or 6 years old. Playing this game at such a young age is definitely one of the things that has influenced my creativity over the years since I always used to spend so much time building all sorts of different things. I would have to say one of my favorite aspects of the game is the creativity it can inspire and the joy the game can bring by playing it, even in darker times. I can recall in my childhood and my teenage years of making memories and even new friends by playing Minecraft. I would always build everyone's houses for them because they liked how I did it, even when I was young and none of us were very good at the game yet. Even though it has been many years since I first played the game, it still is very relevant in my life. One of the most vivid memories of playing this game was back in the year 2020. School was online at the time and I had not had the opportunity to make many friends that year and was simply stuck at home. The best outlet for my loneliness and confusion at the time was to play video games, specifically I played Minecraft nonstop. That world that I had started on the game back in 2020 marked the first time I had ever beat the game completely by myself and I had worked so hard for it. The frustrations that I would cause for myself were completely worth it in my eyes, because I had worked hard and gotten rewarded for it. For a young teenager, games like Minecraft can be the perfect thing to have during hard times. Playing it so frequently helped me to forget about any loneliness or troubles that I had while also being an amazing outlet for my creativity. Building things that I could be proud of became its own art form, a way of expressing myself. I can say growing up with such a wonderful game has genuinely influenced the person I have become.

The first song I ever heard by Chappell Roan was her breakout hit "Good Luck, Babe". From that moment on, I began listening to her other albums each of her songs making me feel so many emotions and making me feel represented and understood in a way I had not been before. Being a queer teenager is so incredibly difficult, the struggle of even typing that out and admitting it even though I'm out of the closet to my parents, it somehow makes me afraid. When I listen to Chappell Roan's music I feel as if I can be confident in my identity, and that I should be proud of who I am and not afraid to admit it to anyone. There is a particular song that resonates incredibly with me and that is one of her other incredibly popular songs, "Casual". As I mentioned before, there's a lot of confusion when it comes to being a queer teenager and one of the most difficult things to navigate are your feelings for someone when it is not the typical boy and girl relationship. When I listen to the song Casual, I can completely understand how Chappell feels about the situation she's singing about. For a more personal anecdote of my life when regarding this song, I have fallen in love with a very close friend of mine and I am afraid of losing her if I ever told her about my feelings. As Chappell sings beautifully, "Dumb love, I love being stupid, Dream of us in a year, Maybe we'd have an apartment" it is so easy for me to imagine me and this friend having a future together and while I may lose feelings and it might not happen, I enjoy the happiness that it can give me temporarily. It can be devastating to watch this person fall in love with someone else, a feeling that Chappell communicates in her song. When it comes to Chappell's incredible lyricism and beautiful melodies, she targets an audience that can relate to the situation she sings about. Just by providing them an insight into her life, it shows that someone understands them, that someone has been there before and knows how they feel. It can give young people like me hope, that everything will turn out amazing even if it feels heartbreaking at the time. Her music has made me feel seen in a way no other music artist has.

One of the hardest challenges for a woman to face is the stigma that comes from everyone around her. This not only comes from people who are not women and have not faced the struggles that come with it, but it also comes from a deeply buried issue with patriarchy and the way that some beliefs have infected peoples thoughts towards women. How many women have given up their dreams in the face of obstacles that others tell them they cannot overcome? How many future geniuses, artists, and athletes have been forced into a different role than they wanted just because they were women? Throughout my entire life I have struggled with that identity and all the side effects of being a woman from the south, especially when you are labeled as being smart when you are child for your high reading levels. People tend to assume that since you are born as a woman, you cannot be smart or even worse, smarter than a man. This is what has fueled my competitive nature for my entire life. I strive to be better, do better, because I want to prove everyone wrong. I have always been perceived as being stubborn, not willing to give up because I know that I can push myself further and I will. Every young girl has a dream for their future which are each so unique and different. My own personal dream since I was young was to do absolutely anything involving art. Even though I have always been a book smart kind of girl, I always had this ambition and creativity when it came to art. My competitive nature paired with always wanting to challenge myself pushed me to keep practicing. Even when I felt l was not good or I had hit an art block, I knew that if I kept trying then I would succeed. Deep down I knew that this dream might change, that after so many years and new experiences that I might find something different I enjoyed. However, when I got into high school, I found that it did not change but rather took a different shape into the idea of an art history degree. I knew that it would be hard, taking advanced placement classes and working hard despite any discouraging words from peers which I paid no mind to. I had the drive to work hard and it paid off. I know that college will be just as challenging if not more and I am ready for a new goal. Some would say that being a woman makes things harder and I agree to some extent, but I, as a woman, will never give up. Having the grit and drive to complete a goal you have been told you cannot is what needs to be fostered in all young girls. No girl should ever feel as if they are forced to give up their dream and that courage is something everyone needs and should not be ashamed. Being a woman is something I will always be proud of.