As a Christian, I believe that God places certain people in our paths for a reason. Some people are there to test us and others to challenge our faith, but then there are the ones that are meant to mentor and inspire. For me, one of those people is my high school guidance counselor Mrs. Rinard. When I first walked into my high school as a freshman in 2021, I knew she was going to make a huge impact on my life. In the four years that I have gotten to know Mrs. Rinard, she has encouraged and inspired me to be and do the best I can. She inspires me because of her attention and care for each of the students she interacts with daily. Being one of those students, I can attest to her wonderful character of patience, positivity, and kindness. As a counselor, she checks on my progress and makes sure I am right where I need to be. Since I am going to be a first-generation college student, I have a lot of questions that not everyone can answer, but she can, and I rest easy knowing that at the end of the day, I have someone who knows the answer. As a person, she helps me through life’s troubles and most importantly helps me grow in my faith. There have been numerous occasions where I have gone to her because I was struggling or having a rough day. Each time she would bring me back to reality and remind me of exactly who I was. She would tell me that I was smart, confident, and, above all, strong in my faith. She is one of the people who have allowed me to become the person I am today, the person she reminds me I am. If you do a quick Google search, you can find out that there are at least 33,000 school counselors in the United States. Each day, Mrs. Rinard motivates me to be exactly who I am. Each day she is someone I aspire to be like. I cannot imagine what my four years in high school would have been like had she not been my counselor. She is my role model and because of that, I believe and can confidently say that out of the over 33,000 counselors in the United States of America, she is the only one who can make as big of an impact on me as she does.

Australian Slang Terms: Barbie Brekkie Mate Arvo Toys Made by Mattel: Hot Wheels Magic 8 Ball Uno Uke – a – Doodle Numbers in Spanish: Nueve Catorce Tres Siete Synonyms for Friend: Bezzie Companion Ally Cully The New York Times connections game is a household favorite for many. My favorite part about the game is the tricks used to confuse the players. Oftentimes, this is done by using words that could fit into multiple categories. I tried to emulate this practice in my categories as well. The categories I chose were Australian Slang Terms, Toys Made by Mattel, Numbers in Spanish, and Synonyms for Friend. The first category uses slang terms commonly found in Australia. This is an important category because there are words in it that could fit into the other categories. The word Barbie, meaning barbeque, could fit into the third category because a Barbie doll is a toy made by Mattel. The second category is a combination of children’s toys and games made by the company Mattel over the years. The card game Uno falls into this category but could also confuse a player because Uno is the Spanish number for one and could fall into the third category which is Numbers in Spanish. The fourth and final category is Synonyms for Friend. The words in this category are other less common, but still applicable ways to say friend. The word Mate, found in the first row, fits into this category because it is a word that means friend.

When you characterize leadership there is more than one thing that can make someone a leader. Leadership is a broad spectrum and can present itself in many ways. I believe there are many things that make me a leader. First is my desire and ability to care for others. I care for others by showing them love and compassion. I check up on people to see how they are doing and listen when they are having a rough day. I try my best to include everyone because I believe everyone deserves love and kindness. Compassion uplifts others and that is what pushes me to show love to everyone. Another thing that makes me a leader is my positive attitude and outlook. In my experience, negativity can impact ourselves and those around us. It can make us feel like giving up or that we are not good enough. Positivity is different. It is a chain reaction. With a positive attitude, I push myself and others to work hard and look at the happy things instead of the negative ones. Positivity makes people want to keep going. It gives them a purpose and a motivation. Even in the hard times, positivity brings light and overall makes everyone feel good. The last thing that makes me a great leader is my resilience. In life, we face hardships and if we did not, it would not be life. When I am hit with hard times I do not give up. Instead, I keep going. Where others would just quit and stay home, I show up. I do not let life's trials stop me. In history, no great leader ever became great by giving up when things got hard. Overall, I believe that being a leader means having a positive effect on others. I strive every day to push other people to become their best selves. Ultimately, my goal as a leader is not to make others follow me, but it is to serve others. To me, everyone is important and I would rather think of others before myself. I have this mindset because I am a Christian. I follow Jesus Christ, who I know to be the greatest leader to ever walk this earth. His leadership was shown through serving others. I feel I am a great leader because He has taught me what leadership looks like putting others’ needs above your own, forgiving them, and loving them.

Caring for, supporting, and loving others is a big part of who I aim to be every day. As a Christian, I believe it is my duty to lift up and love everyone. The greatest command Jesus gave was to love. Love can be shown through kindness, goodness, caring, support, patience, and many other ways. The biggest way I love and support people is by just being there. In my experience, just showing up for someone can make a big impact on the trajectory of their day. I do that in many ways such as checking in on my friends to see how their days are going or lending a listening ear to someone when they are having a tough day. I try my best to give others a positive attitude and urge them to look at the happy moments. I like to be kind to everyone I meet, so they feel welcome and encouraged. Supporting others, however, can be more than just those things. To me, supporting others can also be sharing my faith. My faith is a big part of my life and I believe by sharing it with others I can impact their lives in the biggest way. It can lead others to feel the greatest form of love and support there is and drastically change their outlook on life. Sometimes I struggle with sharing because I am nervous or not sure how others will react. In the future, I plan to support others not only by being there for them but getting over my fears and sharing my life-changing faith. By loving and supporting others we can change the world. This is the way I contribute to that and it is my hope that through my actions, I can encourage others to do the same.