An example of my leadership is through high school tennis and how I am a captain for the rest of the team. I was named captain of the team along with my friend our sophomore season and have been captains ever since. Since being named captain, I have learned a lot about myself and what being a leader to any extent means to me. The leadership that has come with being the captain of our high school tennis team has also helped me become a better person. The shared goals with teammates and even competitors have helped build bonds and hopefully lifelong friendships. These friendships helped me enjoy the sport and life much more. Even though tennis is mainly an individual sport, there are times when you are still part of a team. During my first year of high school, we had four Freshmen playing on the seven-person team. However, we still won the state championship. My teammates have become my friends and this camaraderie has helped carry the momentum on the court and held the title three years running. While winning has been great, I have been able to grow with these friends because of the support we all give each other, and know these friendships will last beyond high school. I believe the main way that I will apply what I have learned from the leadership on my tennis team is through the next level which is college tennis. Of course, starting out as a freshman I won't be team captain, but I will be able to contribute many characteristics of leadership such as initiative, teamwork, and resilience that will allow me to bond with the players and help me fit in with the team as a whole. Leadership is very important off the court as well because if everyone just sat around doing nothing, nothing would get done. The world would not be able to function without leaders such as teachers, coaches, and many others that lead a group of people each day. I feel as though leadership comes in many sizes, but no matter who someone is leading or by what means they are doing so, a positive difference is being made each and every day. That is how I have shown leadership throughout my time in high school and what it truly means to me. I have learned a lot from this leadership role and hope to apply these characteristics at the college level and even past that many years into my future career.

My favorite way to help others is by spreading the knowledge that I have gained with others. I do this by math tutoring kids in junior high and high school and by teaching tennis lessons to those with less experience on the court than me. When I am math tutoring I try to help others so that they have the extra boost of confidence in their understanding of various math topics learned in school. Not only do I help the students, but I feel as though they help me become a more well-rounded high school student and give me knowledge that I can pass on to others once I am in college and many years into the future of my career. I have played tennis for essentially my whole life and throughout my tennis journey, I have had a lot of great coaches from around the world. They have taught me many good lessons about what it takes to be a great tennis player and leader on and off the tennis court. Through, teaching tennis lessons to younger kids, I am able to pass this information on and spread the knowledge throughout the tennis community. I truly aspire to help people each day I wake up and hope to impact many more in a positive way before I go off to college and many years into the future of my life afterward.

What motivates me on a daily basis are the goals and passions that I have strived more ever since I was a young kid. These goals include playing tennis at the collegiate level and finding a career that I enjoy and will have stability in throughout my lifetime. When I wake up I always have the motivation to get better at something in my life whether that be developing a faster tennis serve, improving my grades in my various classes, or research career fields such as economics and finance that may be a good fit for me. I believe that my motivation has given me the opportunity to work towards these goals and today they are both a reality given the position I am in from an athletic and academic standpoint. I hope that these passions and goals will continue to motivate me throughout college and many years afterwards once I have chosen a career to be a part of.

Something that I have learned about myself is that I can change what I value in life and what I want to work for in a small period of time. Throughout high school, I had been working towards careers that would make me the most money at some point in my life. Although money is great, this last year I have done a lot of reflecting and now want to go into a career field that I truly enjoy and want to be a part of each and every day I show up for work. This was a result of my changing my outlook on life and what it means to be successful in life. Before I thought success was a measure of how much money someone makes. I thought that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos were the most successful people in the world, but now I believe that happiness is a measure of success. I have learned that I want to work towards a stable career, but one that will bring me happiness in my life. That is what I have learned about myself that I felt was very valuable as I will soon be in college and eventually begin a career.

What truly makes me happy is when something that I have done in my life makes someone else happy. Of course, I'm happy when I get a good grade or perform well in a sports tournament, but that happiness is limited. When I make someone else happy, I feel as though that happiness lasts a very long time and I build a stronger relationship with someone else. An example of this is when I math tutor. Not only am I helping the student build confidence in learning various subjects of math, but the student is helping me become more well-rounded as a high schooler about to be in college in a year. Tutoring especially makes me happy because I can see the student grow not only from a mathematical knowledge standpoint, but they come more outgoing with that math knowledge and gain confidence in themselves that they build that knowledge. I believe that happiness has a lot of weight in determining how successful someone's life is and I hope whatever career I chose to be a part of, will give me that happiness and sense of success that I want for my future.

Last year I took an economics course, but I didn't have much interest in the subject at the time. Throughout high school, I have been forced to take classes in areas of knowledge that I don't see myself going into and subjects that I really don't enjoy. This has surely taken a toll on me because when I'm doing homework for those classes I ask myself, "Why am I doing this? What good is this class going to do for me in the future?" Of course, I do the homework to the best of my abilities so that I can receive a good grade, but I don't feel productive after doing it. I don't feel like I have accomplished anything that has to do with my future goals of being a part of something that I enjoy. This was until last year when I took an economics class that was offered at my high school. A big reason why I enjoyed this class so much was because of the teacher who influenced my brain to make the switch from a money-oriented to a happiness-oriented future career. I started to enjoy doing my homework and even did extra research on the topics I wasn't too confident in or just wanted to learn something more about. I started thinking back to that knowledge that I had learned in the once meaningless classes and wondered if I had more passion to learn in those classes if I would enjoy learning to a greater extent. To date, I still want to go into the field of economics, but my mind is much more open to new areas of knowledge and even new ways of learning because the economics class I took last year was online due to Covid. Mental health has changed my beliefs about the future and what it means to be successful in life for the better. I have become a more goal-oriented person and I don't distract myself as much with the fact that going into the economic field doesn't pay as much as other fields of learning. My relationships with teachers have changed because of these experiences with my mental health because I can relate to a teacher who doesn't get paid as much as say a doctor, but they enjoy teaching the younger generation. My relationship with the school has also changed because although I still don't love going to school, I still try my hardest to get all the knowledge I can out of a day of learning. Each class this year has given me a new outlook on the world and questioned the beliefs that were stuck in my head a few years ago. I believe that I will stick with this new addition to my belief system and when I eventually do choose a career, I will enjoy what I'm going and truly feel as though my goals for the future of my life have been accomplished. This teacher has made me reevaluate my life as a whole and has changed my perspective about higher education and what I want to strive for once I graduate high school, study a course in college, and eventually start a career for the rest of my life. I truly thank this teacher for everything they have done for me and would be a different person without their guidance through high school.

I have endured a lot of adversity throughout my life, but particularly during the infamous era of Covid-19. One of these examples is when my grandma was diagnosed with cancer. When I first found out it was a complete shock to me because she is one of the happiest, healthiest people I know. I am very close to her, but nothing today seems the same as it was just a couple of years ago. I didn't know how to react to this situation because nothing this serious had ever happened to me. I tried focusing on other hobbies like chess and golf to help distract me from the negative emotion felt because of my grandma’s cancer as well as the pandemic. In the end, the only true escape was the focus and joy on the tennis court. I trained harder than ever and played not only for me but for my grandma. My tennis was also a distraction for my grandma. She loves watching me compete on the court playing the sport I love. This all happened during my Junior year. I was at the top of my game and the normal stresses such as AP and IB tests were less overwhelming, knowing what my grandma was going through. Tennis had helped me focus on things I could control and in doing so become part of my identity that I was missing. We went on to win the state championship and my grandma was there to watch us win. Sticking to my routine of everyday life, striving for my future goals in life, and solidifying my passions have helped me overcome this moment of adversity in my life. I believe that this was a step towards improving my resilience in the future of my life because I can use it for other extenuating circumstances that come my way even when they are completely unexpected such as the diagnosis of my grandma's cancer. I believe that resilience really defines someone because it's easy to live life to the fullest when everything seems to be going perfectly, but when multiple negative events take place at a time, only a few people can respond in a positive way. I will use my resilience in many ways such as working hard through my college classes when they become overwhelming and assisting the friends and family that matter in my life to help them become resilient to things happening in their lives. That is an example of how I am endured adversity, how I've overcome it, and how this resilience that I have gained from it will help me in the future of my life.

My dog's name is Reggie! He just turned six years old, but still acts like a little puppy! I included some photos throughout my dog's life of him napping, playing with toys, and playing in the snow! He is much more photogenic than I am and I hope you enjoy the photos!

My experiences with mental health have definitely influenced my career aspirations. The way that my career aspirations have changed has been shifting from wanting any job that pays well no matter how much I like the job or what to be a part of it into wanting to chase a career that I will truly enjoy and can see myself doing decades from now. Throughout high school, I have been forced to take classes in areas of knowledge that I don't see myself going into and subjects that I really don't enjoy. This has surely taken a toll on me because when I'm doing homework for those classes I ask myself, "Why am I doing this? What good is this class going to do for me in the future?" Of course, I do the homework to the best of my abilities so that I can receive a good grade, but I don't feel productive after doing it. I don't feel like I have accomplished anything that has to do with my future goals of being a part of something that I enjoy. This was until last year when I took an economics class that was offered at my high school. A big reason why I enjoyed this class so much was because of the teacher who influenced my brain to make the switch from a money-oriented to a happiness-oriented future career. I started to enjoy doing my homework and even did extra research on the topics I wasn't too confident in or just wanted to learn something more about. I started thinking back to that knowledge that I had learned in the once meaningless classes and wondered if I had more passion to learn in those classes if I would enjoy learning to a greater extent. To date, I still want to go into the field of economics, but my mind is much more open to new areas of knowledge and even new ways of learning because the economics class I took last year was online due to Covid. Mental health has changed my beliefs about the future and what it means to be successful in life for the better. I have become a more goal-oriented person and I don't distract myself as much with the fact that going into the economic field doesn't pay as much as other fields of learning. My relationships with teachers have changed because of these experiences with my mental health because I can relate to a teacher who doesn't get paid as much as say a doctor, but they enjoy teaching the younger generation. My relationship with the school has also changed because although I still don't love going to school, I still try my hardest to get all the knowledge I can out of a day of learning. Each class this year has given me a new outlook on the world and questioned the beliefs that were stuck in my head a few years ago. I believe that I will stick with this new addition to my belief system and when I eventually do choose a career, I will enjoy what I'm going and truly feel as though my goals for the future of my life have been accomplished.

One investing tip that I've taken to heart is to be patient with what you invest in and for how long. I've taken this tip to heart because a lot of my friends have bought and sold something right after it goes up a bit in value and a few weeks later, that stock has gone up even more. The GameStop and dogecoin spikes in price are all over the internet, but the wealthiest investors are those who have devoted their lives to stock and seen it go up over the years such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Of course, very few people are going to be as successful as those two, but someone who is patient with their stocks and holds on to them for an extended period of time will eventually make more money from investing than someone who buys and sells stock on the same day. I hope that I am able to invest a good portion of the money I earn into stocks and retirement funds to gain wealth as my life moves on.

One moment in my life where I had to be optimistic through a tough time was when my grandma was diagnosed with cancer. When I first found out it was a complete shock to me because she is one of the happiest, healthiest people I know. I am very close to her, but nothing today seems the same as it was just a couple of years ago. I didn't know how to react to this situation because nothing this serious had ever happened to me. I tried focusing on other hobbies like chess and golf to help distract me from the negative emotion felt because of my grandma’s cancer as well as the pandemic. In the end, the only true escape was the focus and joy on the tennis court. I trained harder than ever and played not only for me but for my grandma. My tennis was also a distraction for my grandma. She loves watching me compete on the court playing the sport I love. This all happened during my Junior year. I was at the top of my game and the normal stresses such as AP and IB tests were less overwhelming, knowing what my grandma was going through. Tennis had helped me focus on things I could control and in doing so become part of my identity that I was missing. We went on to win the state championship and my grandma was there to watch us win. This moment in my life has taught me that there is something to work towards each day no matter the circumstances and there is always a bit of hope that something can get better. Being optimistic has really saved me throughout my life and I will continue to show optimism throughout the rest of my life.

One personal finance lesson that I find important is to spend within your means. This is important because there is always something to work towards and not all money is being spent at once. If more money is saved than spent, someone will eventually be financially stable and can then spend money on items that they want. I strongly believe that money should be spent on things that are necessary to either fulfill a goal that was set a long time ago. Furthermore, I have heard a lot of wealthy people today such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk talk about how working comes first and then spending can come years after that. Of course not everyone is going to be billionaires such as these two guys, but I believe that what they say is true and can set someone up for a stable and reliable future from a financial standpoint. That is one personal finance lesson that I find important.

I stay true to myself in my daily life through my passions and goals. I don’t force myself to do things that I don’t feel comfortable with or simply don’t want to do even if my friends think it’s okay. I make it a goal to stick to a routine that will help me strive towards my passions and goals later in my life by getting homework done when it’s assigned and practicing tennis six or seven days a week. I typically don’t just do things to pass time, but do things to work towards something for my future and to be the best version of myself I can be and not what others want me to be. I will continue to stay true to myself in college because I believe that is the best way to succeed in life as a whole and to get the best quality of life as possible!

I believe that giving is important because it builds a support system for someone if they are in need of something. Giving doesn't just have to be money or an item, but it can also be time, compassion, and other aspects of good character. I try my hardest to give back whenever I can and I know I am limited because of the lack of resources a high school student has, but I have positively affected several people through math tutoring and tennis lesson. I have acquired all this knowledge from past math classes taken throughout high school and countless hours on the tennis court so I am now able to give some of that knowledge to kids who I could relate to several years ago. The main reason I give to others is to build their confidence that they should strive for the goals and passions they have for the rest of their lives. I will continue to give once in college and especially many years afterward.

The characteristic that I value most in myself is my perseverance through the many challenges that life brings my way. Some of the main ways I show this perseverance include bouncing back after a tough loss on the tennis court or studying especially hard after receiving a poor grade on a school assignment. No matter what the task may be, I always try to find the positives about it and create a sense of productiveness to it that will help me be the best version of myself possible. One of the most significant obstacles that I faced was when my grandma was diagnosed with cancer. When I first found out it was a complete shock to me because she is one of the happiest, healthiest people I know. I am very close to her, but nothing today seems the same as it was just a couple of years ago. I didn't know how to react to this situation because nothing this serious had ever happened to me. I was definitely in a rough spot in my life and didn't have much motivation to continue my passions at the time. Eventually, I reflected on what I wanted in life and that was to reach my academic and athletic goals. I started training harder than ever in both tennis and studying especially hard in the classroom. After some time my tennis national ranking was higher than it had ever been and I had straight A's in all of my classes. My high school team even won the state tennis championship and my grandma was there to watch me compete. This was a moment in my life where I thought there was nothing I could do, but I persevered through it and ended up exceeding my expectations. I believe this obstacle made me the more well-rounded person I am today and I can't imagine what would have happened had I not chosen to persevere. I feel that having this characteristic will help me in my life journey because it will create opportunity. Opportunity for me to achieve the many dreams that I have had ever since I was a kid such as playing tennis at the college level and having great success with my career post-college. From a tennis standpoint, I have always been able to persevere during tough matches and come back from a large deficit to win. I like to think of an A in school as a win because if I have a grade below that, I must figure out what switch needs to take place in order for me to get that win. My tennis and grades go hand and hand so I believe that this long, rigorous journey of life will be a challenge, but my ability to persevere will surely assist me along the way.

Life is tough and many obstacles are thrown our way no matter what path to the life we take. For me, these obstacles tend to come at some of the worst times, but I just have to keep on fighting through them. One of the most significant obstacles that I faced was when my grandma was diagnosed with cancer. When I first found out it was a complete shock to me because she is one of the happiest, healthiest people I know. I am very close to her, but nothing today seems the same as it was just a couple of years ago. I didn't know how to react to this situation because nothing this serious had ever happened to me. I was definitely in a rough spot in my life and didn't have much motivation to continue my passions at the time. Eventually, I reflected on what I wanted in life and that was to reach my academic and athletic goals. I started training harder than ever in both tennis and studying especially hard in the classroom. After some time my tennis national ranking was higher than it had ever been and I had straight A's in all of my classes. My high school team even won the state tennis championship and my grandma was there to watch me compete. This was a moment in my life where I thought there was nothing I could do, but I persevered through it and ended up exceeding my expectations. I believe this obstacle made me the more well-rounded person I am today and I can't imagine what would have happened had I not chosen to persevere.

I practice self-care by keeping a routine to follow each day. Some of the tasks in the routine include simplicity such as making my bed, but others are more complex such as doing yoga and working out at the gym. Not only does this keep me organized, but also makes me feel as though I have been productive even if that routine was just making my bed. This is turn helps me feel better about myself and gives me the motivation to do more significant tasks throughout the day which may make me feel even better about myself. This practice of self-care that I do impacts my life very significantly. I become very stressed out with both my academic and athletic life to the point where I just need to slow things down and go back to the roots of my routine. This allows me to focus on myself to a greater extent instead of getting caught up with a big upcoming test, a bad grade I received in the past, or a big sporting event in the near future. Self-care is extremely important to me because I understand what happens when not taken seriously. I try my best each day to do something for myself so that I can be a better person to those that surround me each day.

Friendship means a lot to me because of all the friends I have seen come and go throughout my life. A true friendship to me is when there are two or more people who can count on each other to support them through the tough times that life brings and future goals that someone wants to achieve. Friends are the first people you want to tell when you get accepted into a college, but also when you find out a family member is very sick. Friends are there to reinforce a happy thought or to mitigate a negative one. I have experienced firsthand how someone who was thought to have been a friend really wasn't, but also a friend that didn't seem like a true friend emerging as one thereafter. Friendship means something different to each person given their past and present circumstances with friends themselves, but once a true friend is found, everything changes for the better.