As a child, every summer I would attend the Bible Camp held at the Lutheran church near my house. The curriculum has changed a decent amount since then, but I remember it was a week filled with many different activities. We would do arts and crafts, play games outside, watch Bible story skits put on by the counselors, make and eat themed snacks, and huddle around an old TV to watch a contextual testimonial from another kid our age. I still have many of the crafts I did back then, and the Bible Buddies we were given each day are sitting at the bottom of one of my drawers. Because I had so many fond memories of Bible Camp each summer as a child, I got in contact with the ladies that ran the program at the church the first year I had aged out. I asked if I was able to become a counselor for the camp. They knew that I was relatively responsible because they always saw me working at the local grocery store. That grocery store is also a place where the parents of kids I have had in my groups frequent and sometimes their children will excitedly point at me, remembering how I was their counselor. This upcoming summer will be my fourth year volunteering as a camp counselor. It would be five, but there was no camp session held summer of 2020. Volunteering has always been important to me because of going to a Catholic school. Bible Camp is not the only volunteer experience I have been a part of, but it is the one that sticks out the most. It is the activity I have dedicated the most time to. I have spent around 50 hours as a Bible Camp counselor. Overall, throughout high school, I have gathered 121 hours of service. I hope that by pursuing my secondary education, I can be someone that these kids can look up to in other ways besides just through Bible camp. I take education very seriously and have always tried my hardest in school in order to maintain good grades and secure my future. My goal is for kids who may be just now starting school, and to inspire them to make an effort in their studies. I have made contact with some of my past counselors and have been inspired by their success, so I hope to do the same for others.

The legacy of military service runs deep in my family, beginning with the distinguished service of my great-grandfather, Captain Raymond Greene. As an Army chaplain from 1943 to 1946, he provided spiritual guidance and support from the Lutheran-Methodist faith to soldiers serving in the Pacific Theater, including deployments to the Philippines and New Guinea. Following in his footsteps, my grandfather, Specialist Paul Greene, served as a medic in the Army Medical Corps from 1957 to 1963. His unwavering commitment to saving lives on the battlefield reflects the noblest traditions of the medical profession within the military. Finally, the family tradition of service, my aunt, Lieutenant Melinda Greene, pursued a career in the Air Force from 2000 to 2023. Rising through the ranks to become a lieutenant and serving as a member of the Judge Advocate General Corps, she provided legal counsel and representation to service members, ensuring justice and upholding the rule of law within the military. Her recent retirement marks the culmination of a distinguished career dedicated to the principles of integrity, service, and excellence. As my first year of university is coming to a close, my academic goals are inspired by the influence of my grandfather and aunt, who not only excelled in their military service but also excelled in their academic careers. Over these next three years, my goals are to maintain my position on the Dean’s List and to obtain an internship. Another one of my relatives’ influences is their affinity for tennis. I have played it all my life, and I am determined to make it onto the ASU competitive team next year. Looking forward, I hope to secure a career in either an animation or film related field. I am not picky, so long as I get to utilize my degree. I am also hoping to continue playing tennis as a way to live a balanced lifestyle. By integrating my passion for sports with my professional pursuits, I aim to cultivate a fulfilling and holistic life path that honors the values of service, excellence, and personal growth inherited from my family's military legacy. As I strive to excel academically, pursue my passion for tennis, and forge a career in the animation or film industry, I carry with me the lessons learned from them. I seek to create a future filled with meaning, fulfillment, and service to others, such that I am already working on today.

I have gone to Catholic school since first grade. I am not going to say that Catholic school has no positives, because it does. It has definitely made being queer very hard, from bullying by other students to adults teaching harmful and outdated beliefs. I came out as bisexual in eighth grade. I was the first person in my entire middle school who was openly queer and one of the only people in the entire school system. I did not really come out by choice. I was outed by a guy who I told in secrecy. Eventually, two other girls would come out as bi during eighth grade, but until then, I received all the hate from my peers. For example, girls would not let me change with them during gym because they were scared I would harass them. High school started out even worse than middle school when it came to what I had to go through. Even though more and more people were coming out, mostly from my grade but also from the grade above me, other students were reluctant to change. We had a discussion in my religion class about gay marriage, and my teacher singled me out and made the rest of the class gang up on me with questions. I was so upset that I hid in the bathroom afterward. Because of that, my therapist gave me an exemption note from any class discussions relating to my identity. However, my religion teachers rarely cared. After that, another incident occurred. I was made aware by a more popular girl who I didn't really know well that a popular guy had posted pictures of a lesbian student and me with the f slur on his Snapchat story. We brought the screenshots to our vice principal, but he didn't really care. Throughout all high school, I had many similar bullying experiences. Junior year, I was often barked at in the hallways, and when I made an art display for homecoming that was not only approved by the principal but received positive feedback from many of my classmates. Even still, not even an hour after setting it up, some of the guys in my grade tore it down. Other than those incidents, I also had the vice-principal's son pour water on me and had to deal with being called slurs. Once after a tennis match, my teammate’s boyfriend called me a slur right in front of her. Most of my teachers were as supportive as they could be without losing their jobs, but my religion teachers were always very openly homophobic and transphobic. I came out as genderqueer in sophomore year after two other students had come out as trans, and they would single us out during every class. Our religion textbooks had such gems as comparing “homosexual activity” to “eating dirt” because of how unnatural it was. Not to mention, whenever we would have a guest speaker, you could bet they would say something. I am thankful now to be going to a very supportive and open university. I will be attending Arizona State University in the fall to study animation. I have already joined the main LGBT club on campus. I am excited to finally be able to express myself openly after suppressing myself for so many years. After college, I hope to use my skills in animation to work on projects that inspire queer youth. I know shows like The Owl House, or Blue Period, have influenced me a lot, and I would love to work on projects just like that.

I was always interested in art from a young age, but I did not seriously pursue it until late middle school. I started out just using a pencil, pens, and highlighters in a sketchbook. Those still continue to be some of my favorite sketching basics. After a little while, I upgraded to alcohol markers and fineliners. Nowadays, I rarely use alcohol markers except in my sketchbooks or for little painting details. I started painting during the pandemic during my freshman year. My main medium is watercolor, however, I also use ink and gouache sometimes. Painting has become my main traditional art expression. Another art upgrade that I had during that same time of the pandemic was saving up and purchasing a graphic display tablet, along with the illustration program Clip Studio Paint. Digital art is now my main medium. I am fairly well-known in the local art community for my participation in art fairs and competitions. I represented my high school last year at the Big East Art Conference. I have participated in Art in the Park in Appleton twice and will be participating for a third time this summer. Last summer, I had a booth at Artstreet in Green Bay and actually won their Emerging Artist Award which came with a prize of $100. I am displaying at their Artigras show in Green Bay soon in March as well. There are a few other smaller and less-known art fairs that I have participated in since 2021. Art fairs are a lot of work, but I enjoy doing them and have met a lot of great people during my time. When high school started, I was not sure what I wanted my career goals to be. First, I wanted to be a lawyer. Then, I wanted to be an architect. I thought about graphic design for a little bit. Finally, I decided on animation as my major a little under a year ago. Currently, I am at Arizona State University studying animation and film and media production. I love animation and the ways in which it is currently being innovated. I also love film and have become an avid movie watcher the past couple years. I would like to go into the film or TV industry and work on projects that I myself could see myself watching. I have been very interested in sound design and sound editing as of late so I could see myself pursuing it. I am very excited to continue studying art at ASU and I have had a great first semester there.

There are many movies that I have watched that I have thoroughly enjoyed and have thought were great, but there is only one movie that has changed the course of my life. When I watched Into the Spiderverse for the first time in a movie theater in eighth grade, I decided then that I wanted to pursue animation. This movie stands out as my favorite film of all time for many reasons, but the main ones being the plot, symbolism, characters, and art direction. This is a movie that I believe everyone should watch, and that almost everyone will enjoy. The animation is amazing of course, but it is one thing for a movie to have gorgeous animation and another thing to have gorgeous animation and a great story and characters, which luckily this movie accomplishes. It was a miracle of a film from a studio with a not great track record of animated movies. This may all seem like high praise, but this movie truly is that good. Spiderverse is one of those rare films where every piece falls perfectly into place to form a magical experience of a movie. It goes without saying if you have seen this movie or even just the art from it that the art direction and animation style is incredible. This is by far the best part of the movie, and that is saying something because of how good all the other aspects are as well. This movie utilizes incredibly fluid and eye-popping animation that makes every character almost leap off the screen. The animation style used in Spiderverse blends 3D animation with 2D rendering, and at the time this was revolutionary. It is truly one of the most beautiful animated movies ever made, especially in contemporary animated history. If all 3D animation looked this good, I could almost understand abandoning 2D animation. In a movie like this where there are so many different characters who all look and sound visually different, it is really hard for that to not work. But this movie does a perfect job of giving each character the exact right amount of screen time and dialogue. The dialogue itself is very well done, almost all of the jokes land and each character has a clear personality and says things that make sense for who they are. I bought everything about Miles, from his struggle with adapting to his new school and spider powers, his connection to his dad, and his relationship with his family. When Miles finally masters his powers, it feels like genuine triumph. The scene of Miles jumping off the building made me want to stand up and cheer while watching. this movie gets what is so special about Spider-man as a character. This was why the entire movie felt like one giant love letter to the Spider-man character and franchise. It is also a love letter to animation and to the art of superhero movies. In my opinion, it is the single best superhero movie to come out of the 2010s. It was an unprecedented masterpiece in the world of animation. This movie alone is a modern classic, and in my opinion, it is my personal opinion that when the trilogy that this movie is a part of is finally completed, it will stand out as one of the greatest film trilogies of all time.

I have been playing tennis since I could walk. My grandpa loves tennis, and he insisted that my sister and I learn how to play. Over the past 15-16 years, I have accrued an intense passion for the sport. I played on my high school’s varsity team for three years at the positions of three singles, two singles, and one doubles, and my senior year I placed eighth at state with my partner. My sister and I compete in tournaments across the state of Wisconsin, and played together on our school team during my senior year of tennis. I went to a small Catholic school for all four years of high school, and did well in terms of my grades. I was involved in many extracurriculars besides tennis, including the JV powerlifting team for two years and the JV golf team for one year. I was also a member of the strength and conditioning club, the art club, Mock Trial, the theatre department, and was president of the yearbook club my senior year. Besides competing in tennis, I also competed in jiujitsu, golf, robotics, and geography competitions. Working out and playing tennis has been a way that I have been able to connect with friends as well as make new ones. I was able to balance my athletic and academic lives fairly easily throughout high school with the help of my grandparents and teachers. Thankfully, I was able to continue that into my first year at Arizona State University. The main reason I chose to go to Arizona State was so that I could play tennis. This first year, I am playing recreationally once a week on a club team, but next year I am going to try out for the competitive intramural team and I hope to make it. I am studying animation, as well as film and media production. I have made many new friends through the art and design college that have helped me to adjust so well. I am planning on moving to Arizona permanently next year so I can hopefully attain an internship. Currently, I am very interested in the world of sound design and sound editing, but that may change in the future. Regardless, I am excited to continue my studies and dive into my career. As I continue to pursue my academic and career ambitions, I still want to include tennis and working out as a major part of my life.

My ideal self would be a person who is authentic and unafraid to be themselves, who has a successful career in the animation field, and is actively improving their own life and the lives of those around them.

I have been diagnosed with many mental conditions, and have attended therapy since fourth grade. I was diagnosed with ADHD in fourth grade, GAD in eighth grade, gender dysphoria in ninth grade, agoraphobia in eleventh grade, and autism in twelfth grade. I have always been a very good student, and have taken school seriously. However, I have absolutely had to struggle many times in order to achieve my academic goals, more than my neurotypical peers. I have gone to a small Catholic school since first grade. Because it is such a small school system, there are not really any resources for neurodivergent students and the few resources that the school has been given only to students who are frequently failing. The only resource I have been given is the ability to sit in front of the class to make it easier to focus on my ADHD. I have also had to deal with a lot of bullying. Because of my ADHD and autism, I can come off as annoying or weird. I often stim by repeating words or phrases or clicking my hands like a crab. These and other autistic traits make people see me as odd and potentially annoying. I don't understand social cues and it can be hard for me to interpret or understand what people are really saying or implying. I played one doubles on my school tennis team this year, which was my first year playing doubles instead of singles. My partner informed me several times that while I had interpreted the interactions between us and our opponents to be positive, many times, they were actually looking down on or making fun of me. I am happy that Arizona State University, the school I will attend in the fall, has a much greater support system for neurodivergent students. Their SAILs program is allowing me to have extended testing time and to continue to choose my seat in class. I appreciate having an extended testing time because I often get very anxious while taking tests and make stupid mistakes because I am rushing through them. I am going to use my unique skills and outlook to succeed in college. I hope to make friends who also have similar mental conditions, and who can understand what it is like to live with them. I have had to suppress many natural parts of myself and who I am in order to fit in, which can feel suffocating. I hope that by going to a larger school with more resources and a large, diverse student body, I can meet those individuals and work together with them to become the best and most successful version of myself.

I was always interested in art from a young age, but I did not seriously pursue it until late middle school. I started out just using a pencil, pens, and highlighters in a sketchbook. Those still continue to be some of my favorite sketching basics. I started painting during the pandemic during my freshman year. My main medium now is watercolor. I am fairly well-known in the local art community for my participation in art fairs and competitions. I represented my high school last year and this year at the Big East Art Conference. I have participated in Art in the Park in Appleton twice and will be participating for a third time this summer. Last summer, I had a booth at Artstreet in Green Bay and actually won their Emerging Artist Award which came with a prize of $100. I displayed at Artigras in Green Bay in March and won the Emerging Artist Award for the second time. There are a few other smaller and less-known art fairs that I have participated in since 2021. Art fairs are a lot of work, but I enjoy doing them and have met a lot of great people during my time. When high school started, I was not sure what I wanted my career goals to be. First, I wanted to be a lawyer. Then, I wanted to be an architect. I thought about graphic design for a little bit. Finally, I decided on animation as my major a little under a year ago. This fall, I will be attending Arizona State University with a major in animation and a minor in film and media production. I hope to get a job at Dreamworks in the future. I am very excited to start this journey and further my artistic passion and talent. The first piece I submitted was the piece that had me win my first Emerging Artist Award. The judge cited my unique style of using watercolor and the way that I showed dimension in the figure. Instead of using watercolor to achieve a smooth, blended look, I prefer to use the transparency of watercolor to almost carve out the figure. This is seen even more in my second piece, which was the piece that I displayed at the Big East Art Conference last year. This is my largest piece. It was inspired by two statues and I think it is a central example of my style of watercolor painting.

I have been diagnosed with many mental conditions, and have attended therapy since fourth grade. I was diagnosed with ADHD in fourth grade, GAD in eighth grade, gender dysphoria in ninth grade, agoraphobia in eleventh grade, and autism in twelfth grade. I have always been a very good student, and have taken school seriously. However, I have absolutely had to struggle many times in order to achieve my academic goals, more than my neurotypical peers. I have gone to a small Catholic school since first grade. Because it is such a small school system, there are not really any resources for neurodivergent students and the few resources that the school has been given only to students who are frequently failing. The only resource I have been given is the ability to sit in front of the class to make it easier to focus on my ADHD. I have also had to deal with a lot of bullying. Because of my ADHD and autism, I can come off as annoying or weird. I often stim by repeating words or phrases or clicking my hands like a crab. These and other autistic traits make people see me as odd and potentially annoying. I don't understand social cues and it can be hard for me to interpret or understand what people are really saying or implying. I played one doubles on my school tennis team this year, which was my first year playing doubles instead of singles. My partner informed me several times that while I had interpreted the interactions between us and our opponents to be positive, many times, they were actually looking down on or making fun of me. I am happy that Arizona State University, the school I will attend in the fall, has a much greater support system for neurodivergent students. Their SAILs program is allowing me to have extended testing time and to continue to choose my seat in class. I appreciate having an extended testing time because I often get very anxious while taking tests and make stupid mistakes because I am rushing through them. I am going to use my unique skills and outlook to succeed in college. I hope to make friends who also have similar mental conditions, and who can understand what it is like to live with them. I have had to suppress many natural parts of myself and who I am in order to fit in, which can feel suffocating. I hope that by going to a larger school with more resources and a large, diverse student body, I can meet those individuals and work together with them to become the best and most successful version of myself.

I have been diagnosed with many mental conditions, and have attended therapy since fourth grade. I was diagnosed with ADHD in fourth grade, GAD in eighth grade, gender dysphoria in ninth grade, agoraphobia in eleventh grade, and autism in twelfth grade. I have always been a very good student, and have taken school seriously. However, I have absolutely had to struggle many times in order to achieve my academic goals, more than my neurotypical peers. I have gone to a small Catholic school since first grade. Because it is such a small school system, there are not really any resources for neurodivergent students and the few resources that the school has been given only to students who are frequently failing. The only resource I have been given is the ability to sit in front of the class to make it easier to focus on my ADHD. I have also had to deal with a lot of bullying. Because of my ADHD and autism, I can come off as annoying or weird. I often stim by repeating words or phrases or clicking my hands like a crab. These and other autistic traits make people see me as odd and potentially annoying. I don't understand social cues and it can be hard for me to interpret or understand what people are really saying or implying. I played one doubles on my school tennis team this year, which was my first year playing doubles instead of singles. My partner informed me several times that while I had interpreted the interactions between us and our opponents to be positive, many times, they were actually looking down on or making fun of me. I am happy that Arizona State University, the school I will attend in the fall, has a much greater support system for neurodivergent students. Their SAILs program is allowing me to have extended testing time and to continue to choose my seat in class. I appreciate having an extended testing time because I often get very anxious while taking tests and make stupid mistakes because I am rushing through them. I am going to use my unique skills and outlook to succeed in college. I hope to make friends who also have similar mental conditions, and who can understand what it is like to live with them. I have had to suppress many natural parts of myself and who I am in order to fit in, which can feel suffocating. I hope that by going to a larger school with more resources and a large, diverse student body, I can meet those individuals and work together with them to become the best and most successful version of myself.

I have been diagnosed with many mental conditions, and have attended therapy since fourth grade. I was diagnosed with ADHD in fourth grade, GAD in eighth grade, gender dysphoria in ninth grade, agoraphobia in eleventh grade, and autism in twelfth grade. I have always been a very good student, and have taken school seriously. However, I have absolutely had to struggle many times in order to achieve my academic goals, more than my neurotypical peers. I have gone to a small Catholic school since first grade. Because it is such a small school system, there are not really any resources for neurodivergent students and the few resources that the school has been given only to students who are frequently failing. The only resource I have been given is the ability to sit in front of the class to make it easier to focus on my ADHD. I have also had to deal with a lot of bullying. Because of my ADHD and autism, I can come off as annoying or weird. I often stim by repeating words or phrases or clicking my hands like a crab. These and other autistic traits make people see me as odd and potentially annoying. I don't understand social cues and it can be hard for me to interpret or understand what people are really saying or implying. I played one doubles on my school tennis team this year, which was my first year playing doubles instead of singles. My partner informed me several times that while I had interpreted the interactions between us and our opponents to be positive, many times, they were actually looking down on or making fun of me. I am happy that Arizona State University, the school I will attend in the fall, has a much greater support system for neurodivergent students. Their SAILs program is allowing me to have extended testing time and to continue to choose my seat in class. I appreciate having an extended testing time because I often get very anxious while taking tests and make stupid mistakes because I am rushing through them. I am going to use my unique skills and outlook to succeed in college. I hope to make friends who also have similar mental conditions, and who can understand what it is like to live with them. I have had to suppress many natural parts of myself and who I am in order to fit in, which can feel suffocating. I hope that by going to a larger school with more resources and a large, diverse student body, I can meet those individuals and work together with them to become the best and most successful version of myself.

I have been diagnosed with many mental conditions, and have attended therapy since fourth grade. I was diagnosed with ADHD in fourth grade, GAD in eighth grade, gender dysphoria in ninth grade, agoraphobia in eleventh grade, and autism in twelfth grade. I have always been a very good student, and have taken school seriously. However, I have absolutely had to struggle many times in order to achieve my academic goals, more than my neurotypical peers. I have gone to a small Catholic school since first grade. Because it is such a small school system, there are not really any resources for neurodivergent students and the few resources that the school has been given only to students who are frequently failing. The only resource I have been given is the ability to sit in front of the class to make it easier to focus on my ADHD. I have also had to deal with a lot of bullying. Because of my ADHD and autism, I can come off as annoying or weird. I often stim by repeating words or phrases or clicking my hands like a crab. These and other autistic traits make people see me as odd and potentially annoying. I don't understand social cues and it can be hard for me to interpret or understand what people are really saying or implying. I played one doubles on my school tennis team this year, which was my first year playing doubles instead of singles. My partner informed me several times that while I had interpreted the interactions between us and our opponents to be positive, many times, they were actually looking down on or making fun of me. I am happy that Arizona State University, the school I will attend in the fall, has a much greater support system for neurodivergent students. Their SAILs program is allowing me to have extended testing time and to continue to choose my seat in class. I appreciate having an extended testing time because I often get very anxious while taking tests and make stupid mistakes because I am rushing through them. I am going to use my unique skills and outlook to succeed in college. I hope to make friends who also have similar mental conditions, and who can understand what it is like to live with them. I have had to suppress many natural parts of myself and who I am in order to fit in, which can feel suffocating. I hope that by going to a larger school with more resources and a large, diverse student body, I can meet those individuals and work together with them to become the best and most successful version of myself.

I have been diagnosed with many mental conditions, and have attended therapy since fourth grade. I was diagnosed with ADHD in fourth grade, GAD in eighth grade, gender dysphoria in ninth grade, agoraphobia in eleventh grade, and autism in twelfth grade. I have always been a very good student, and have taken school seriously. However, I have absolutely had to struggle many times in order to achieve my academic goals, more than my neurotypical peers. I have gone to a small Catholic school since first grade. Because it is such a small school system, there are not really any resources for neurodivergent students and the few resources that the school has been given only to students who are frequently failing. The only resource I have been given is the ability to sit in front of the class to make it easier to focus on my ADHD. I have also had to deal with a lot of bullying. Because of my ADHD and autism, I can come off as annoying or weird. I often stim by repeating words or phrases or clicking my hands like a crab. These and other autistic traits make people see me as odd and potentially annoying. I don't understand social cues and it can be hard for me to interpret or understand what people are really saying or implying. I played one doubles on my school tennis team this year, which was my first year playing doubles instead of singles. My partner informed me several times that while I had interpreted the interactions between us and our opponents to be positive, many times, they were actually looking down on or making fun of me. I am happy that Arizona State University, the school I will attend in the fall, has a much greater support system for neurodivergent students. Their SAILs program is allowing me to have extended testing time and to continue to choose my seat in class. I appreciate having an extended testing time because I often get very anxious while taking tests and make stupid mistakes because I am rushing through them. I am going to use my unique skills and outlook to succeed in college. I hope to make friends who also have similar mental conditions, and who can understand what it is like to live with them. I have had to suppress many natural parts of myself and who I am in order to fit in, which can feel suffocating. I hope that by going to a larger school with more resources and a large, diverse student body, I can meet those individuals and work together with them to become the best and most successful version of myself.

I have been diagnosed with many mental conditions, and have attended therapy since fourth grade. I was diagnosed with ADHD in fourth grade, GAD in eighth grade, gender dysphoria in ninth grade, agoraphobia in eleventh grade, and autism in twelfth grade. I have always been a very good student, and have taken school seriously. However, I have absolutely had to struggle many times in order to achieve my academic goals, more than my neurotypical peers. I have gone to a small Catholic school since first grade. Because it is such a small school system, there are not really any resources for neurodivergent students and the few resources that the school has been given only to students who are frequently failing. The only resource I have been given is the ability to sit in front of the class to make it easier to focus on my ADHD. I have also had to deal with a lot of bullying. Because of my ADHD and autism, I can come off as annoying or weird. I often stim by repeating words or phrases or clicking my hands like a crab. These and other autistic traits make people see me as odd and potentially annoying. I don't understand social cues and it can be hard for me to interpret or understand what people are really saying or implying. I played one doubles on my school tennis team this year, which was my first year playing doubles instead of singles. My partner informed me several times that while I had interpreted the interactions between us and our opponents to be positive, many times, they were actually looking down on or making fun of me. I am happy that Arizona State University, the school I will attend in the fall, has a much greater support system for neurodivergent students. Their SAILs program is allowing me to have extended testing time and to continue to choose my seat in class. I appreciate having an extended testing time because I often get very anxious while taking tests and make stupid mistakes because I am rushing through them. I am going to use my unique skills and outlook to succeed in college. I hope to make friends who also have similar mental conditions, and who can understand what it is like to live with them. I have had to suppress many natural parts of myself and who I am in order to fit in, which can feel suffocating. I hope that by going to a larger school with more resources and a large, diverse student body, I can meet those individuals and work together with them to become the best and most successful version of myself.

I have gone to Catholic school since first grade. I am not going to say that Catholic school has no positives, because it does. It has definitely made being queer very hard, from bullying by other students to adults teaching harmful and outdated beliefs. I came out as bisexual in eighth grade. I was the first person in my entire middle school who was openly queer and one of the only people in the entire school system. I did not really come out by choice. I was outed by a guy who I told in secrecy. Eventually, two other girls would come out as bi during eighth grade, but until then, I received all the hate from my peers. For example, girls would not let me change with them during gym because they were scared I would harass them. High school started out even worse than middle school when it came to what I had to go through. Even though more and more people were coming out, mostly from my grade but also from the grade above me, other students were reluctant to change. We had a discussion in my religion class about gay marriage, and my teacher singled me out and made the rest of the class gang up on me with questions. I was so upset that I hid in the bathroom afterward. Because of that, my therapist gave me an exemption note from any class discussions relating to my identity. However, my religion teachers rarely cared. After that, another incident occurred. I was made aware by a more popular girl who I didn't really know well that a popular guy had posted pictures of a lesbian student and me with the f slur on his Snapchat story. We brought the screenshots to our vice principal, but he didn't really care. Throughout all high school, I had many similar bullying experiences. Junior year, I was often barked at in the hallways, and when I made an art display for homecoming that was not only approved by the principal but received positive feedback from many of my classmates. Even still, not even an hour after setting it up, some of the guys in my grade tore it down. Other than those incidents, I also had the vice-principal's son pour water on me and had to deal with being called slurs. Once after a tennis match, my teammate’s boyfriend called me a slur right in front of her. Most of my teachers were as supportive as they could be without losing their jobs, but my religion teachers were always very openly homophobic and transphobic. I came out as genderqueer in sophomore year after two other students had come out as trans, and they would single us out during every class. Our religion textbooks had such gems as comparing “homosexual activity” to “eating dirt” because of how unnatural it was. Not to mention, whenever we would have a guest speaker, you could bet they would say something. I am thankful now to be going to a very supportive and open university. I will be attending Arizona State University in the fall to study animation. I have already joined the main LGBT club on campus. I am excited to finally be able to express myself openly after suppressing myself for so many years. After college, I hope to use my skills in animation to work on projects that inspire queer youth. I know shows like The Owl House, or Blue Period, have influenced me a lot, and I would love to work on projects just like that.

I have gone to Catholic school since first grade. I am not going to say that Catholic school has no positives, because it does. It has definitely made being queer very hard, from bullying by other students to adults teaching harmful and outdated beliefs. I came out as bisexual in eighth grade. I was the first person in my entire middle school who was openly queer and one of the only people in the entire school system. I did not really come out by choice. I was outed by a guy who I told in secrecy. Eventually, two other girls would come out as bi during eighth grade, but until then, I received all the hate from my peers. For example, girls would not let me change with them during gym because they were scared I would harass them. High school started out even worse than middle school when it came to what I had to go through. Even though more and more people were coming out, mostly from my grade but also from the grade above me, other students were reluctant to change. We had a discussion in my religion class about gay marriage, and my teacher singled me out and made the rest of the class gang up on me with questions. I was so upset that I hid in the bathroom afterward. Because of that, my therapist gave me an exemption note from any class discussions relating to my identity. However, my religion teachers rarely cared. After that, another incident occurred. I was made aware by a more popular girl who I didn't really know well that a popular guy had posted pictures of a lesbian student and me with the f slur on his Snapchat story. We brought the screenshots to our vice principal, but he didn't really care. Throughout all high school, I had many similar bullying experiences. Junior year, I was often barked at in the hallways, and when I made an art display for homecoming that was not only approved by the principal but received positive feedback from many of my classmates. Even still, not even an hour after setting it up, some of the guys in my grade tore it down. Other than those incidents, I also had the vice-principal's son pour water on me and had to deal with being called slurs. Once after a tennis match, my teammate’s boyfriend called me a slur right in front of her. Most of my teachers were as supportive as they could be without losing their jobs, but my religion teachers were always very openly homophobic and transphobic. I came out as genderqueer in sophomore year after two other students had come out as trans, and they would single us out during every class. Our religion textbooks had such gems as comparing “homosexual activity” to “eating dirt” because of how unnatural it was. Not to mention, whenever we would have a guest speaker, you could bet they would say something. I am thankful now to be going to a very supportive and open university. I will be attending Arizona State University in the fall to study animation. I have already joined the main LGBT club on campus. I am excited to finally be able to express myself openly after suppressing myself for so many years. After college, I hope to use my skills in animation to work on projects that inspire queer youth. I know shows like The Owl House, or Blue Period, have influenced me a lot, and I would love to work on projects just like that.

I have gone to Catholic school since first grade. I am not going to say that Catholic school has no positives, because it does. It has definitely made being queer very hard, from bullying by other students to adults teaching harmful and outdated beliefs. I came out as bisexual in eighth grade. I was the first person in my entire middle school who was openly queer and one of the only people in the entire school system. I did not really come out by choice. I was outed by a guy who I told in secrecy. Eventually, two other girls would come out as bi during eighth grade, but until then, I received all the hate from my peers. For example, girls would not let me change with them during gym because they were scared I would harass them. High school started out even worse than middle school when it came to what I had to go through. Even though more and more people were coming out, mostly from my grade but also from the grade above me, other students were reluctant to change. We had a discussion in my religion class about gay marriage, and my teacher singled me out and made the rest of the class gang up on me with questions. I was so upset that I hid in the bathroom afterward. Because of that, my therapist gave me an exemption note from any class discussions relating to my identity. However, my religion teachers rarely cared. After that, another incident occurred. I was made aware by a more popular girl who I didn't really know well that a popular guy had posted pictures of a lesbian student and me with the f slur on his Snapchat story. We brought the screenshots to our vice principal, but he didn't really care. Throughout all high school, I had many similar bullying experiences. Junior year, I was often barked at in the hallways, and when I made an art display for homecoming that was not only approved by the principal but received positive feedback from many of my classmates. Even still, not even an hour after setting it up, some of the guys in my grade tore it down. Other than those incidents, I also had the vice-principal's son pour water on me and had to deal with being called slurs. Once after a tennis match, my teammate’s boyfriend called me a slur right in front of her. Most of my teachers were as supportive as they could be without losing their jobs, but my religion teachers were always very openly homophobic and transphobic. I came out as genderqueer in sophomore year after two other students had come out as trans, and they would single us out during every class. Our religion textbooks had such gems as comparing “homosexual activity” to “eating dirt” because of how unnatural it was. Not to mention, whenever we would have a guest speaker, you could bet they would say something. I am thankful now to be going to a very supportive and open university. I will be attending Arizona State University in the fall to study animation. I have already joined the main LGBT club on campus. I am excited to finally be able to express myself openly after suppressing myself for so many years. After college, I hope to use my skills in animation to work on projects that inspire queer youth. I know shows like The Owl House, or Blue Period, have influenced me a lot, and I would love to work on projects just like that.

I have been playing tennis since I could walk. I was a member of my middle school tennis team and a member of my high school tennis team. I was on varsity for three years. These three years are some of my favorite memories from all of high school. I have learned many valuable lessons from tennis. During my sophomore tennis season, my first year on varsity, the main lesson I learned was the importance of mindset. Our team was Division 2, but we played a fair amount of Division 1 teams throughout the season. One of our first matches during the season was against a Division 1 team that had been undefeated during the season. The entire team was skeptical that we could pull off a win. We were laughing in the locker room about how we would have time to get dinner together after we got destroyed by this team. While we didn't get destroyed, we did lose. Our coach talked to us the next day and told us that the reason we lost was because of our mindset. Because we went into the matches thinking we would lose, we did. We played this team again around a month later. This time, I encouraged the rest of the team to have “positive vibes”. When we went onto the court, we went with the mindset that we would win. Surprisingly, we did. From then on, our team motto was “positive vibes”, and both me and the team made sure to always go into matches with the thought and motivation that we would win. During my junior tennis season, the main lesson I learned was perseverance. In the fall of 2020, I developed complications from COVID-19 and was left with severe lung scarring. This made my lungs shrink to a third of their original size and made athletic activities like tennis challenging. Despite that, I still wanted to have a successful tennis season. I ran two miles every day over the summer to get prepared. Up until my last two matches, I had a great season and pushed myself to achieve my goals. I persevered despite my difficulties. The last lesson I learned was during my senior tennis season, where I learned the lesson of leadership and teamwork. I had to learn the lesson of leadership quickly because I was one of two team captains. We had eighteen new players, most of whom had never played tennis before, and it was my job to prepare them for the season. I also had to learn how to work together, mainly with my co-captain. I had been a singles player for my first two years on varsity, but my coaches decided to make my co-captain and me doubles partners. She had played doubles the previous year, and I needed to rely on her to get the hang of it. I was embarrassed at first to not be the best, but we were able to use teamwork and put together a series of doubles strategies that used both of our strengths. Through these strategies and our teamwork, we took 9th place at state when neither of us had ever even made it before. These skills and the ones mentioned before are skills that I hope to carry onto college and my life beyond.

After the end of my sophomore tennis season, I contracted COVID-19. I did not initially realize how much this one experience would impact my life going forward. The complications I experienced from this disease were one of the biggest hurdles of my life and something that I still deal with to this day. I had many serious symptoms from COVID. I was bedridden for about a week, but I still attended all of my classes virtually. I flipped between fevers and cold spells as I dealt with pain in all of my limbs. I had a vicious cough that made it hard to speak and breathing made my lungs ache. Eventually, I started to get better. I went for walks and eased back into my academic and athletic activities. That is when I realized that I wasn’t in the clear. The first problem that I noticed was my lack of motivation. Classes that were once easy became challenging and my brain was so exhausted that when I was done with school I skipped homework and went straight to bed. This resulted in a noticeable dip in grades and sociability. The second, much bigger problem I noticed was that many of my physical COVID symptoms did not go away. I experienced intense lung pain and trouble breathing deeply. Playing tennis and exercising, in general, became impossible. As much as I tried to call attention to my health problems, I received no help. Finally, I collapsed during art class and people started to listen to my pleas. After multiple tests and doctor visits, I was told that my lungs had shrunk to a third of their original size due to intense scarring from COVID. I was prescribed one steroid initially, but after a few weeks, I was prescribed a second. The steroids empowered me to get back into tennis and fitness. I ran two miles every day to prepare for my junior tennis season. I finally felt like I had conquered my condition. My hard work did end up paying off. I was made the #2 singles player and had the best record on my team with twelve wins and only four losses. I also took first place in the conference. Seeing where I was a year ago compared to where I was at that moment, made me so proud of all of the work I had put in. I had managed to improve so much despite my new disability. I feel like this experience shows how I have been able to overcome the mental and physical challenges that have been shoved in my path, and how those challenges actually make me stronger and more successful. Even when I am beaten down and discouraged, I manage to build myself back up.

As a child, every summer I would attend the Bible Camp held at the Lutheran church near my house. The curriculum has changed a decent amount since then, but I remember it was a week filled with many different activities. We would do arts and crafts, play games outside, watch Bible story skits put on by the counselors, make and eat themed snacks, and huddle around an old TV to watch a contextual testimonial from another kid our age. I still have many of the crafts I did back then, and the Bible Buddies we were given each day are sitting at the bottom of one of my drawers. Because I had so many fond memories of Bible Camp each summer as a child, I got in contact with the ladies that ran the program at the church the first year I had aged out. I asked if I was able to become a counselor for the camp. They knew that I was relatively responsible because they always saw me working at the local grocery store. That grocery store is also a place where the parents of kids I have had in my groups frequent and sometimes their children will excitedly point at me, remembering how I was their counselor. This upcoming summer will be my fourth year volunteering as a camp counselor. It would be five, but there was no camp session held summer of 2020. Volunteering has always been important to me because of going to a Catholic school. Bible Camp is not the only volunteer experience I have been a part of, but it is the one that sticks out the most. It is the activity I have dedicated the most time to. I have spent around 50 hours as a Bible Camp counselor. Overall, throughout high school, I have gathered 121 hours of service. I hope that by pursuing my secondary education, I can be someone that these kids can look up to in other ways besides just through Bible camp. I take education very seriously and have always tried my hardest in school in order to maintain good grades and secure my future. My goal is for kids who may be just now starting school, and to inspire them to make an effort in their studies. I have made contact with some of my past counselors and have been inspired by their success, so I hope to do the same for others.

I am going to Arizona State University in the fall to study animation and visual effects. I am also planning on minoring in either film and media production or design studies. It is my dream to work at Dreamworks after graduation. They are my favorite animation studio and it would be an amazing opportunity to get to animate for them and work on their projects. I have always preferred animated movies to live-action movies. Most of my favorite movies are animated. It is my opinion that animation is just a superior medium, because of the way that effects, backgrounds, character design, etc. can be utilized in ways that no live-action project could. I always knew I wanted to pursue an art-related career, but it wasn't until I saw Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse in 2018 that I knew I wanted to study animation. I want to be able to inspire others just as art and animation have inspired me. I have done many different volunteering activities and have acquired over 120 hours of service during my time in high school. I was a Bible Camp Counselor during my freshman, junior, and senior years of high school. I was a tennis coach at the St. Mary Catholic summer tennis camp program during my sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. I coached the St. Mary Catholic Middle School tennis team by leading drills and games as well as planning out lineups during my junior year of high school. In my senior year of high school, I was selected as a Senior Leader, meaning that I help with freshman orientation, school preview nights, and school spirit events. I have also done many smaller volunteering activities, such as volunteering at sporting event concession stands and community charity events. I have worked as a cashier and bagger at Festival Foods in Menasha for all four years of high school. I also make money on the side from my online shop, and by selling at art fairs such as Appleton Art in the Park, Green Bay Artstreet, and Green Bay Artigras. I have been playing tennis for fourteen years. I was a varsity tennis player for three years. I have been making art for five years. I am proficient in many traditional mediums such as watercolor, ink, oil paint, etc. I also am able to operate Clip Studio Paint. I can play the piano and the trumpet. I believe I am a worthy candidate for this scholarship because of my high academic performance, my work within the community, and my commitment to my goals.

I was always interested in art from a young age, but I did not seriously pursue it until late middle school. I started out just using a pencil, pens, and highlighters in a sketchbook. Those still continue to be some of my favorite sketching basics. After a little while, I upgraded to alcohol markers and fine liners. Nowadays, I rarely use alcohol markers except in my sketchbooks or for little painting details. I started painting during the pandemic during my freshman year. My main medium is watercolor, however, I also use ink and gouache sometimes. Painting has become my main traditional art expression. Another art upgrade that I had during that same time of the pandemic was saving up and purchasing a graphic display tablet, along with the illustration program Clip Studio Paint. Digital art is now my main medium. I am fairly well-known in the local art community for my participation in art fairs and competitions. I represented my high school last year at the Big East Art Conference. I have participated in Art in the Park in Appleton twice and will be participating for a third time this summer. Last summer, I had a booth at Artstreet in Green Bay and actually won their Emerging Artist Award which came with a prize of $100. I also displayed at Artigras in Green Bay and won the Emerging Artist Award for a second time. There are a few other smaller and less-known art fairs that I have participated in since 2021. Art fairs are a lot of work, but I enjoy doing them and have met a lot of great people during my time. When high school started, I was not sure what I wanted my career goals to be. First, I wanted to be a lawyer. Then, I wanted to be an architect. I thought about graphic design for a little bit. Finally, I decided on animation as my major a little under a year ago. This fall, I will be attending Arizona State University with a major in animation and a minor in film and media production. I hope to get a job at Dreamworks in the future. Otherwise, I would really just love to work any job related to animation and film. I would ideally stay on the west coast in either Arizona or California after I graduate. I am very excited to start this journey and further my artistic passion and talent.

I was always interested in art from a young age, but I did not seriously pursue it until late middle school. I started out just using a pencil, pens, and highlighters in a sketchbook. Those still continue to be some of my favorite sketching basics. After a little while, I upgraded to alcohol markers and fine liners. Nowadays, I rarely use alcohol markers except in my sketchbooks or for little painting details. I started painting during the pandemic during my freshman year. My main medium is watercolor, however, I also use ink and gouache sometimes. Painting has become my main traditional art expression. Another art upgrade that I had during that same time of the pandemic was saving up and purchasing a graphic display tablet, along with the illustration program Clip Studio Paint. Digital art is now my main medium. I am fairly well-known in the local art community for my participation in art fairs and competitions. I represented my high school last year at the Big East Art Conference. I have participated in Art in the Park in Appleton twice and will be participating for a third time this summer. Last summer, I had a booth at Artstreet in Green Bay and actually won their Emerging Artist Award which came with a prize of $100. I also displayed at Artigras in Green Bay and won the Emerging Artist Award for a second time. There are a few other smaller and less-known art fairs that I have participated in since 2021. Art fairs are a lot of work, but I enjoy doing them and have met a lot of great people during my time. When high school started, I was not sure what I wanted my career goals to be. First, I wanted to be a lawyer. Then, I wanted to be an architect. I thought about graphic design for a little bit. Finally, I decided on animation as my major a little under a year ago. This fall, I will be attending Arizona State University with a major in animation and a minor in film and media production. I hope to get a job at Dreamworks in the future. Otherwise, I would really just love to work any job related to animation and film. I would ideally stay on the west coast in either Arizona or California after I graduate. I am very excited to start this journey and further my artistic passion and talent.

I have been playing tennis since I could walk. I was a member of my middle school tennis team and a member of my high school tennis team. I was on varsity for three years. These three years are some of my favorite memories from all of high school. I have learned many valuable lessons from tennis. During my sophomore tennis season, my first year on varsity, the main lesson I learned was the importance of mindset. Our team was Division 2, but we played a fair amount of Division 1 teams throughout the season. One of our first matches during the season was against a Division 1 team that had been undefeated during the season. The entire team was skeptical that we could pull off a win. We were laughing in the locker room about how we would have time to get dinner together after we got destroyed by this team. While we didn't get destroyed, we did lose. Our coach talked to us the next day and told us that the reason we lost was because of our mindset. Because we went into the matches thinking we would lose, we did. We played this team again around a month later. This time, I encouraged the rest of the team to have “positive vibes”. When we went onto the court, we went with the mindset that we would win. Surprisingly, we did. From then on, our team motto was “positive vibes”, and both me and the team made sure to always go into matches with the thought and motivation that we would win. During my junior tennis season, the main lesson I learned was perseverance. In the fall of 2020, I developed complications from COVID-19 and was left with severe lung scarring. This made my lungs shrink to a third of their original size and made athletic activities like tennis challenging. Despite that, I still wanted to have a successful tennis season. I ran two miles every day over the summer to get prepared. Up until my last two matches, I had a great season and pushed myself to achieve my goals. I persevered despite my difficulties. The last lesson I learned was during my senior tennis season, where I learned the lesson of leadership and teamwork. I had to learn the lesson of leadership quickly because I was one of two team captains. We had eighteen new players, most of whom had never played tennis before, and it was my job to prepare them for the season. I also had to learn how to work together, mainly with my co-captain. I had been a singles player for my first two years on varsity, but my coaches decided to make my co-captain and me doubles partners. She had played doubles the previous year, and I needed to rely on her to get the hang of it. I was embarrassed at first to not be the best, but we were able to use teamwork and put together a series of doubles strategies that used both of our strengths. Through these strategies and our teamwork, we took 9th place at state when neither of us had ever even made it before. These skills and the ones mentioned before are skills that I hope to carry onto college and my life beyond.

My definition of feminism is the ongoing fight to achieve equality between all genders in all areas of life. I know feminism was originally just for cis women, but I think many of the problems that cis women face are similar or identical to the problems that trans people face. I can say personally that as an afab genderqueer person, the challenges I have faced before and after coming out are related. The patriarchy affects everyone, even the class it was created for. There is a common misconception that only women can be feminists and that feminism only benefits women. In reality, feminism strives for equality of the sexes, not superiority for women. And one of the main aims of feminism is to take the gender roles that have been around for many years and deconstruct these to allow people to live free and empowered lives, without being tied down to traditional restrictions. It is so important to talk about feminism because gendered oppression is often subtle and that's what makes it so insidious. Much of this oppression is actually baked into our history and culture, and unless we talk about it it will continue to be perpetuated. It comes as no surprise that a lot of young people in the modern-day do not recognize the need for feminism. Sexism may not be as glaringly obvious as it was 100 years ago, but that does not mean it has been completely abolished. There are still many obvious problems that people other than men face, such as the gender pay gap and the pink tax. The person who has always been an example of feminism for me since I was young is Marie Curie. It is not necessarily her words or actions that display feminism, but her entire life and her accomplishments. She opened up so many paths for women and showed what it looked like to be smart and hardworking as a feminine person navigating a male space. Through her work, she opened up so many paths for women. She was the first professor at the Sorbonne, the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, and the first person ever to receive it twice. She was also able to do all this while being a traditionally feminine mother and wife. I go to a private Catholic high school, where feminism is widely looked down upon. Along with some of my friends, I have been able to change the lessons that are taught to our underclassmen. First, we petitioned to remove the parts in our Apologetics and Morality classes where it is taught that women are subservient. Then, we petitioned for our Theology of the Body class to actually include sex education other than abstinence, especially because that abstinence is usually made to be the responsibility of women. I hope that after I graduate, the ideas that I have helped to bring to the table will continue to flourish.

The most pivotal moments of the fight against climate change are going to be taking place in the next 10-20 years. That is why I believe it is essential for my generation to discuss solutions. I am going to approach this problem from the point of view of the United States, even though climate change impacts the global south to a far greater extent than the US. The first step to fighting against climate change is to go on the defensive and strengthen infrastructure. Extreme weather events due to climate change will likely escalate the disruption of infrastructure. Infrastructure and sustainable development are positively linked. Climate change takes advantage of our weak infrastructure every year and causes power outages, bridge collapses, building damage, etc. In coastal regions, rising sea levels and more extreme storms can lead to more storm surges and flooding, which can damage roads, bridges, railways, ports, and coastal airports. Increased local flooding can affect roadways and tunnels, weaken roadway materials, and cause traffic congestion. We can only begin to fight in other ways once this problem is solved. The next step would be nationalizing oil and gas companies like Shell and Exxon-Mobil. The main argument for nationalizing the U.S. oil giants is straightforward. The single most important factor causing climate change is that we continue to burn oil, natural gas, and coal to produce energy. It follows that we must stop burning fossil fuels to have any chance of moving the global economy onto a viable climate stabilization path. These companies not only engage in unsavory business practices but also are the biggest obstacles to stopping climate change. They have known about climate change since the 1970s but choose profit over the lives of everyone on this planet. Of course, once these companies are nationalized, we also need to have our government actually act in our interest. The main work I do to fight climate change is to advocate verbally. While I do things like recycle and shop sustainably, I do not believe that individuals can make much of a difference. In fact, only 100 investors and state-owned fossil fuel companies are responsible for around 70 percent of the world’s historical GHG emissions. This contradicts the narrative pushed by fossil fuel interests that individuals’ actions alone can combat climate change, as individual actions have minute effects relative to these emissions. The most important thing we can do as individuals is force change and hold our leaders accountable.