Personally, my bucket list is extremely long and continues to grow. Since I started writing it eight years ago, I have achieved many of them. I could focus on what I have not yet accomplished, but I'd rather tell of the adventures I've been able to have. One of my goals was to visit a tropical island, which I was able to do with family in 2016. We went to Costa Rica, where we got to enjoy hot springs, hike through a rainforest and zipline. As a lover of fiction, especially fictional television shows, one of my goals was to visit the American Horror Story Murder House in Los Angeles. I was able to achieve this goal in the summer of 2019. I am also a lover of rollercoasters, therefore when I heard about the giant rollercoaster at Six Flags: Great Adventure in New Jersey, Kingda Ka made it to my bucket list. I rode Kingda Ka in the summer of 2015. As this essay only has space for 300 words, I will discuss one more event I was able to accomplish. My bucket list included swimming with dolphins, which I was able to do with my mom in Jamaica.

As a writer, inspiring books are the most incredible aspects of living. The most inspiring book I've read was American Born Chinese, a graphic novel. by Gene Luen Yang. Even though it was a graphic novel, this book's developed characters and creative storytelling made me desire to write more than I had been. On top of the book's amazing storytelling, it was a wonderful piece to read if you'd like to further your understanding of the American Immigrant experience, specifically American Immigrant of Color experience. When reading this book, I found myself mesmerized by the story and I could not stop. I finished the book in under an hour. I also found myself learning about a life different from mine, which is an extremely important work everyone should do. Gene Luen Yang's world building and connecting of worlds has driven me to become a better writer.

Since I was young, I've prided myself for my accountability. My childhood household was Lutheran at conservative church, meaning I grew up learning that homosexuality was a sin. This was a belief I held until my freshman or sophomore year of high school. Although the internet can be mind-numbing, addictive place, using it at that age connected me to people different than me. I was able to learn that what I was taught was wrong and take accountability to those I'd harmed in the past by apologizing and continuing to listen, learn and take action when needed. Later on, the summer before my senior year, I came out as bisexual. In my early twenties, I came out as nonbinary. I believe that my willingness to take accountability is part of the reason I feel so embraced by the LGBTQ+ community today. I feel this particular quality of mine will help me in my life journey as I am willing to take constructive criticism, be wrong, to listen, to be challenged and change my ways if needed. Another quality of mine I feel very proud of is my integrity. I've always done my best to keep my word and if I am unable, I am honest to as why. While my next anecdote is based on a hypothetical situation, I'm confident my idea of that hypothetical situation would be correct. When speaking with friends and family, I've stated that I would never choose profit or money over people. For example, I've stated to a colleague that I would not take any amount of money to be hushed about workplace rights. I believe this quality of mine will be beneficial to me in life as I will build trustworthy bonds and relationships with friends, colleagues and community members. My final quality I value in myself is my kindness. I truly believe if you put good energy out into the world, it will come back to you. Being kind to others cost us nothing and truly makes the world a better place. My kindness can be seen by others when I go out to restaurants, remember the staff's names and always tip well. My kindness can be seen when I open up my home to struggling friends and family. My kindness can be seen when I run out of the car at a stoplight to give some cash to a homeless person. For the same reason as my integrity, I believe this will help me in building trustworthy and deep connections.