"These cats don't get picked often," the adoption coordinator explained. This room was different from the room next door, where young, innocent kittens sprinted around, adopted by the minute. Instead, older cats coated this adoption room, shaking and hissing at the sight of my hand, hiding in the room's dark corners and watching us with hunched backs and lowered tails. One cat sat in the corner of the room, her head pressed against the wall, her fur matted and patchy. Abused and without full brain function, her name was Cali Coco. Cali Coco was the first special needs animal I would adopt, but it was clear that I couldn't stop with her. When I first laid eyes on the cats in the room, I knew I had to do everything possible to save other animals in Cali Coco's position. Not two weeks later, I founded the nonprofit organization Grinning Tails in seventh grade. I coordinated biannual Grinning Tails Fundraisers centered around a community dog wash to raise money for Best Friends Animal Shelter. I presented Grinning Tails to the entire middle school and designed an official Grinning Tails website. In addition, I spoke with Best Friends' lead of Youth Engagement to bring adoptable dogs to each fundraiser and communicated with Etsy sellers willing to make dog collars, bandanas, and dog bowls for the nonprofit. Over the two-year initiative, I gained over $3000 in donations for the Best Friends Animal Shelter in Atlanta. My nonprofit eventually migrated toward a club on campus as I founded the Best Friends Animal Shelter Club. Within the first month of its existence, more than 100 people joined the club, and more than 50 are officially registered as Best Friends Animal Society volunteers. Next year, I will pass leadership to the next president, who will continue to recruit volunteers well after I leave Westminster, leaving my mark on Westminster and the dogs and cats of Atlanta for the rest of my life. Every Westminster High School student will now have the opportunity to volunteer through a school-led community service initiative to directly benefit the lives of the dogs and cats of the Atlanta area. Since birth, I have always felt a need to better the lives of those less fortunate in my community. I often grow irritated with the members of my community who live in blissful ignorance of those in need of aid; I acknowledge my privilege in this world, and I hope to use it for the betterment of those around me. I founded the Red Cross Club of Westminster in hopes of providing easy access to volunteer work and CPR certification to high school students; I was selected to join the Service Planning Panel of Westminster’s Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Club to advocate for women’s strength within our high school community; regardless of the location and the circumstances, there is always an opportunity for all of us to make a change to our environment. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to attend an extraordinary university and continue to perpetuate these traits within the classroom and throughout the rest of my life. As I did in middle and high school, I hope to continue my work in community service by starting similar clubs that would allow for large numbers of students to gather together in a shared affinity of service and volunteer across the Chapel Hill community.

"These cats don't get picked often," the adoption coordinator explained. This room was different from the room next door, where young, innocent kittens sprinted around, adopted by the minute. Instead, older cats coated this adoption room, shaking and hissing at the sight of my hand, hiding in the room's dark corners and watching us with hunched backs and lowered tails. One cat sat in the corner of the room, her head pressed against the wall, her fur matted and patchy. Abused and without full brain function, her name was Cali Coco. Cali Coco was the first special needs animal I would adopt, but it was clear that I couldn't stop with her. When I first laid eyes on the cats in the room, I knew I had to do everything possible to save other animals in Cali Coco's position. Not two weeks later, I founded the nonprofit organization Grinning Tails in seventh grade. I coordinated biannual Grinning Tails Fundraisers centered around a community dog wash to raise money for Best Friends Animal Shelter. I presented Grinning Tails to the entire middle school and designed an official Grinning Tails website. In addition, I spoke with Best Friends' lead of Youth Engagement to bring adoptable dogs to each fundraiser and communicated with Etsy sellers willing to make dog collars, bandanas, and dog bowls for the nonprofit. Over the two-year initiative, I gained over $3000 in donations for the Best Friends Animal Shelter in Atlanta. My nonprofit eventually migrated toward a club on campus as I founded the Best Friends Animal Shelter Club. Within the first month of its existence, more than 100 people joined the club, and more than 50 are officially registered as Best Friends Animal Society volunteers. Next year, I will pass leadership to the next president, who will continue to recruit volunteers well after I leave Westminster, leaving my mark on Westminster and the dogs and cats of Atlanta for the rest of my life. Every Westminster High School student will now have the opportunity to volunteer through a school-led community service initiative to directly benefit the lives of the dogs and cats of the Atlanta area. Since birth, I have always felt a need to better the lives of those less fortunate in my community. I often grow irritated with the members of my community who live in blissful ignorance of those in need of aid; I acknowledge my privilege in this world, and I hope to use it for the betterment of those around me. I founded the Red Cross Club of Westminster in hopes of providing easy access to volunteer work and CPR certification to high school students; I was selected to join the Service Planning Panel of Westminster’s Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Club to advocate for women’s strength within our high school community; regardless of the location and the circumstances, there is always an opportunity for all of us to make a change to our environment. While I may concentrate my core values of advocacy, extroversion, and drive on community service, I also wield these traits within the classroom and in my relationships. A compassionate smile, a simple “hello,” or a “wow, I love those pants!” can go a long way to someone having a bad day; the drive to enroll in a challenging class or to complete an impossible task will always lead to the overall betterment of the mind and the psyche. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to attend an extraordinary university and continue to perpetuate these traits within the classroom and throughout the rest of my life.