When I was a kid, my family played all of our video games on our Wii. I went over to friends' houses and learned how to use those real controllers. My friends and I were always the annoying little sisters whose brothers would destroy us in whatever game we played. Yet, in the confines of my own home, I as the oldest child was on top of the Wii competition. Our favorite game to play on the Wii was New Super Mario Brothers. I can hear Mario yelling out the name of the game right now as I write. As one of three kids, we would inevitably fight over our two remotes. I would assert my oldest child powers and end up with the player one remote of course. The game begins and we spend hours on the same four levels. Despite my belief that I was a hot shot at Mario, in reality, all of us were blissfully terrible. One of the biggest things I remember about this game when I was a kid was waking up on multiple occasions to an exciting surprise. Overnight, our parents had stayed up late and passed a bunch of levels that we were stuck on. This was always so exciting because we got to play levels that we couldn't reach ourselves. I loved the swimming levels and the ones where we got to ride Yoshi. We were absolutely incredulous at our parents' amazing skills and ultimately, it became a way that we all bonded as a family. Finally, after lots of hard work, we (mostly Mom and Dad) made it to the Bowser fight level to pass the first world. My siblings and I took turns fighting Bowser with little success. All you had to do was jump on Bowser three times when he spun on the ground without getting hit. It sounds simple, and we did get close many times. Fatigued, we almost gave up. That was until our mom walked in and took over the remote. She swiftly got through Bowser's castle and reached the battle with Bowser. We all sat on the couch, biting our nails wondering if our mom would be victorious. She jumped on Bowser the first time to cheers from the couch. On the edge of our seats, she jumped on Bowser again! We were absolutely shocked. She was so close to finally passing the first land. Yet, the fear was heightened because of how close she had gotten. It would be devastating to start the level over now. As she jumped on Bowser for the third and final time, we were off our seats celebrating. I was so proud of my mom and excited to see a whole new world of levels to play. The celebration still holds a special place in my heart. We spent time together and completely respected the sick skills of our mom. My mom impresses me in so many ways, but that was the day that my mom became my hero.

I roll out of bed after several minutes of contemplating sleeping through all of my commitments. I probably play some music as I sleepily brush my teeth. To motivate myself, I put on a cute outfit with some semblance of care and effort. I organize all my books, stock up my backpack, and leave for the day. My entire mood shifts when I step out the door and feel the crisp air on my skin and the cool breeze blowing through my hair. I excitedly run back inside to grab a sweatshirt or sweater. I start scheming about all my activities this fall and run to Starbucks for my hot Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL). Fall holds a special place in my heart. Since moving to Texas from Missouri for school, the previous morning routine has been pushed back a couple of months. Yet, drinking a pumpkin spice latte reminds me of all of the fall traditions I have with my family. As I hold the warm cup in my hand, I think of being tightly nestled in a blanket to stay warm by the fire pit. I hold the drink up to my nose to take in its smell. I remember the pumpkin pie my grandma makes for Thanksgiving or strolling the aisles of a country store. I take a sip and my chest is filled with warmth. The taste brings me home amongst the falling leaves and the mums collected on my porch. It takes me to afternoons spent in an orchard with an apple-picking bag in hand. It takes me to car rides along the Mississippi River and through the rolling hills of harvested corn fields. Since I am so far from this fall culture and my favorite activities, the pumpkin spice latte serves as one of my reminders. When I am at home with my family, my mom and I eat all of the fall-themed treats we can find. The first thing we buy is candy corn the very first time we see it on the shelves at Target. While we're in Target, we'll definitely stop in for our PSL. That's how we mark the beginning of fall together. We can drive around or run errands with complete joy with a Pumpkin Spice Latte in hand. The thought brings comfort. It's the taste, smell, and feel of the latte that plays a role in that memory and elicits emotion for me. While I just enjoy a pumpkin spice latte because it's tasty, it's memories like that that give the drink a special place in my heart.

One day in Barnes and Noble was all it took to convince me that I could change the world. Knowing my desire to pursue a meaningful career, my mom picked out a book for me about Paul Farmer. The name was unfamiliar at the time, but since that day, Farmer has become something of a personal hero of mine. The book entitled "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder was a biography written from Kidder’s perspective as someone who became a friend of Farmer. It storied Farmer’s family life and character as well as explaining detailed information on his life’s work: Partners in Health. As a medical student, Farmer founded the organization to prevent suffering and death from curable diseases in Haiti. The book chronicles the organization’s development in Haiti and Peru. I’ve read a lot of nonfiction, much of it about the lives of great people, but "Mountains Beyond Mountains" has stuck with me since I first picked it up. This is because Farmer was not your average philanthropist who threw money at a problem. He took the time to diagnose the problem accurately. Reading these diagnoses often made me feel disgusted and discouraged, but Farmer continually focused on the uselessness of despair. The book completely changed the way I view the world and my place in it. Despite informing me about unimaginable suffering, it also left me with a sense of hope that change is possible. I now point to this book as the advent of my career goals. I am doing a double major in International and Global Studies and Public Health. Both of these fields focus on diagnosing problems in the way that Farmer did and responding. I plan on getting a master's degree in Public Health to work in a local health department. Until then, I have been doing much of my undergraduate research on epidemiology and international government organizations. This has included research on Tuberculosis in Haiti, the role of the World Health Organization in the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and even what Catholic Social Teaching says about health for my theology class. When I am done with school, I want to start my career in health policy using statistics and health information to promote greater health access and outcomes. My biggest goal for my career is to work with an international nonprofit, like Farmer’s Partners in Health, because I so deeply believe in the mission of Paul Farmer. I am not a futurist, but the passion that this book has instilled in me has given me a long-term plan for my life. I feared I would never have such a concrete plan for my life. I am starting the process of looking for summer programs relating to this field. My number one goal is to get an internship abroad in the health field. I believe the best way to truly understand the way others live is to experience it with them; to hear them speak to you directly. I hope this will help me better understand career options and things that I enjoy. This is a very expensive goal. I am saving up, applying for scholarships, and scouring the internet for savings. This scholarship would help me reach for my career ambitions.

As a student, I am constantly told that employers are looking for soft leadership skills. These can take many different forms and styles and I am working to develop some of those skills. You could surely call me outgoing, which throughout my time in high school and college led me to various leadership positions. Yet, if you ask many people close to me, they might tell you I am an unlikely leader. I'm conflict-avoidant. I can be vulnerable with people I trust, but I struggle to let down my armor to have difficult conversations or express my needs. What makes me a leader in spite of this is my commitment and courage. As a high school senior, I took on a role as a peer tutor and mentor to a few freshmen students. Our counselor Ms. Johnson’s office was a place for students to meet up and unwind. One afternoon, I was there petting her dog, Marshmallow, when a student was arguing with her about her grades. Immediately, I offered to help her out with the classes she was struggling with. I assisted her with writing and math primarily. Throughout my time working with her, I realized that confidence in her abilities was a primary issue in her grades. She believed that she was ‘just stupid’ and that there was nothing she could do to improve her grades. As I worked with her, she began to improve. We would excitedly share essay grades with Ms. Johnson. Because of how much progress we saw, I began talking to other seniors to set up more tutoring sessions with other students. I saw the disparities between my tutees’ educational experiences leading up to high school. It enraged me. This passion is what led me to get more involved and involve other students. I see this as a valuable leadership experience because of the initiative that I took. I communicated with adults and students. I set up meeting times and checked in on students. I also connected students to other tutors. Many of these things were out of my comfort zone, especially when I saw weaknesses in the program. There are many aspects of my work with this program that I see as a failure. We didn’t reach as many students as I would have liked. There wasn’t as much organization as I hoped for. I hoped for more support from Ms. Johnson. Yet, I pushed through and did my best. Because of my initiative, I made a small difference. I acknowledged weakness, made adjustments, and moved forward. That makes me a leader. As a member of the Marianist Leadership Program (MLP) at St. Mary's University, I have explored the concept of leadership in various expressions. We have discussed and practiced leadership in large group settings, in developing intimacy in small groups, in our everyday lives, and especially in service. Servant leadership and leading by example of love are both concepts that we emphasize and strive for. Going into college, I wanted to explore my passions and pursue leadership within those passions. MLP has allowed me to do that. We lead numerous events including semesterly service days and community activities. It is because of my passion for MLP’s mission of service and faith that have encouraged me to take part in this. I want to continue leadership in service to others throughout my life. I want to develop as a person of passion and leadership.

In cultural anthropology classes that I have taken for my major in International and Global Studies, the first thing you discuss is the definition of culture. My favorite colloquial definition of culture is as follows: a shared common sense within a social, national, or ethnic group. I like this definition because it makes you think about the invisibleness of your own culture and the ways that the culture of others is clear. When you discover that something that is common sense to you is foreign to someone else, your own culture becomes visible. Some of these things are obvious like food or dance. People may not think that is a type of common sense, but if you’re never exposed to other music or dance then it certainly would be. Culture is made visible and possible to appreciate because of the knowledge of other cultures. One of the ways my culture has become visible is through practicing my religion at school. I am from St. Louis, Missouri and I go to school in San Antonio, Texas where the culture is very affected by Mexican and other Hispanic cultures. I always felt comfortable in Catholic spaces on campus because of shared beliefs and practices. However, I quickly became aware of some ways that practicing the Catholic faith was different for my Hispanic peers. The first thing that stood out was the importance of language in expressing your faith. I have heard many people explain with frustration, “Ugh, I just can’t pray in English.” I learned about different saints that were important to people from different countries. Even the way that my Hispanic peers made the sign of the cross was different. After crossing themselves, they bring their hand up to their lips and kiss the place where their thumb and pointer finger meet. When I asked people why they do this, some people would say, “You don’t do that?” or simply, “It’s cultural.” It seems so simple, but it's odd to see something that is common sense to you be done differently. All of these things exposed the ways that I express my faith differently. I thought about the importance of my language in faith: formal English like thou and thy for memorized prayers and my comfort with the occasional Latin. I saw the formality that I brought to Mass that my peers did not. I began to appreciate not only ‘the faith’ but ‘MY faith’ as it is a different expression from that of others. I also knew the way that I practice is not just random, but a long chain of the way that people in my family have practiced over the years. Obviously, there have been a lot of shifts in that time, but it connects me to people of the past. I never saw my religion that way before- or anything I did having a strong connection to my more distant ancestors. Some may think that could secularize my religion. For me, it is just an added beauty to something I already held dear. This discovery would not have been as meaningful or clear without the help of academic language and discussion to help me analyze the experiences I was having. That has been my favorite part of my major. I hope to pursue a career in public health, a field in which cultural and national knowledge is of utmost importance. This is especially true for a country with as much influence as the United States. I want to keep learning in and beyond the classroom to better understand myself and the world.

The freshman fifteen: you're warned about it numerous times before your first year away from home. I understood and didn't think this would be a problem for me. Once arriving at school though, I quickly understood why the freshman 15 is real: lifestyle change. In high school, I was in school from 6:00 in the morning until 2:15 in the afternoon. Then I went on to spend the rest of my afternoon playing one of the three sports I participated in at the time. In the fall, I played volleyball, I played basketball in the winter and ran track in the spring. I saw the ways that my fitness changed during these sports and was confident in my physical health and ability. I knew what work I needed to put in to make my body perform the way that I wanted it to. I chose not to pursue collegiate sports because I didn't want my life to revolve around my athletic career when other things meant more to me. I am part of a leadership program and I wanted to focus on academics, volunteering, and internships as well as my social life. This is a decision that I do not regret. Once starting school, however, I realized I didn't know how to live a physically fit lifestyle outside of the boundaries of organized sports. I tried to work out regularly in our fitness center, but I wasn't able to develop a routine. On top of that, my eating habits were changing completely. When you eat and where you eat are different in college and you need to be aware of the way that affects your mental and physical health. I began to feel more tired, unwell and I knew I wasn't able to do some of the things that I used to enjoy. I realized the ways I felt better when I ate healthier or worked out. What surprised me was how much better I felt mentally when I improved my habits. To be consistent in these habits, I had to make reasonable expectations and goals for myself. I thought back to my experiences with sports. I was in good physical shape because I worked to make my body do what I wanted it to. I just had to think about what I wanted my body to do now. I decided on two things that were most important to me. First, I wanted to play basketball comfortably with friends and I wanted to be in good enough shape for hiking in the heat. These two things bring me a lot of joy, and they help me connect with my friends and family. This realization helped me get into better shape and improve my health. This is still an ongoing process for me. There are ups and downs, but I feel confident in my goals. I found different reasons to get into the gym. I went with friends or went to play basketball more often. It took the pressure off and made it enjoyable. I hope to continue my health journey after my freshman year experience.

College is such a unique and exciting time in your life. You have the opportunity to move relatively easily anywhere in the country with very little need for explanation. You live only with other people your age with very few responsibilities other than your studies and personal finances. You have much more free time than you have ever had and can fill that time however you would like. It's an extremely fun and exciting period of your life. Yet, all of this freedom means that you have complete control over your health and well-being. As a catastrophizer, this was a very challenging thing for me to adjust to. At first, every change I made or mistake made felt like the end of the world. I was new and lonely and spent long weekends in my room feeling bored and sad. I was wondering why I wasn't immediately busy with social activities or getting along well with the other freshmen in my dorm. I look back at my journal entries from that time and I become absolutely mortified. It is funny to think about how much I have grown. I was just very hard on myself and had high expectations of the people around me. Two things changed my experience for me during that time. The first was letting go of all the expectations I had for my experience. This was a sad thing to go through. I remember being on the phone with my friend from home just crying and telling her I was "mourning my expectations." It sounds extreme- and I admit I chuckle now at my ability to make such a big deal over what I now realize was unreasonable- but I was just letting go of the idea that life would be easy once I got to school and everyone would love me and my character. The second thing was filling my alone time with non-screen activities. I would make coffee, go on walks, and journal more. The number one activity that took me out of my loneliness was painting. I can't say I have a passion for painting or art that comforted me, but it was a familiar activity that allowed me to sit with my thoughts, calmed me down, and I could do it for hours at a time. I spent many Saturdays completely content in my room listening to podcasts and creating mediocre landscapes. This new comfort and contentment allowed me to more confidently make friends and allow myself the time to get comfortable in my new environment. Slowly, I no longer needed to paint to fill my time. I began to spend hours with friends or explore new places on the weekend. I now lean on those people for support and well-being. When hard times come, I am able to rely on those skills that I developed in the first couple of months of college. I can take that time to myself and be content alone. Of course, college has come with physical and spiritual challenges as well. I could write a whole two other essays about each of those topics. In order to adjust to those challenges, however, I needed to come to this healthy mindset first. It has allowed me to tackle those things head-on. Despite continued challenges, of course, I am very proud of the ways I have improved.

One day in Barnes and Noble was all it took to convince me that I could change the world. Knowing my desire to pursue a meaningful career, my mom picked out a book for me about Paul Farmer. The name was unfamiliar at the time, but since that day, Farmer has become something of a personal hero for me. The book entitled "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder was a biography written from Kidder’s perspective as someone who became a friend of Farmer. It storied Farmer’s family life and character as well as explaining detailed information on his life’s work: Partners in Health. As a medical student, Farmer founded the organization to prevent suffering and death from curable diseases in Haiti. The book chronicles the organization’s development in Haiti and Peru. I’ve read a lot of nonfiction, much of it about the lives of great people, but "Mountains Beyond Mountains" has stuck with me since I first picked it up. This is because Farmer was not your average philanthropist who threw money at a problem. He took the time to diagnose the problem accurately. Reading these diagnoses often made me feel disgusted and discouraged, but Farmer continually focused on the uselessness of despair. The book completely changed the way I view the world and my place in it. Despite informing me about unimaginable suffering, it also left me with a sense of hope that change is possible. If everyone in the world read this book, they may consider the ways that we prioritize money and the way that leaves the poorest among us more destitute. The way this is discussed would anger many people. Many have accused Farmer of being a communist, and having read the book, they aren't too off base. Others may simply find the book boring. There is a lot of detail about the interworkings of international health organizations. I find these details fascinating, but I understand that this excitement may not be shared. Yet, it inspired me that there are answers to the world's largest problems. I would hope this alone would inspire others to find their own "Mountains Beyond Mountains" and know that their passion can be lit to change the world in their own way. This can be inspired by the way poverty and its causes are highlighted in this book, even if health isn't your passion as it is mine.

It is shocking to me how so many people have a soft spot in their childhood associated with the Disney franchise. The opening music with the castle at the start of every movie inspires warmth in the hearts of millions around the world. Of course, I include myself among those millions. I have spent hours watching Disney movies, been on numerous trips to Disney parks, and even have Disney merchandise. In all of these, what stands out as my favorite thing about Disney is the music. Music connects people uniquely and beautifully. I think of some of the albums I seem to know every word to: Alicia Key's "ALICIA," the Hamilton soundtrack, and many more from what my dad would play in the car like "Backatown" by Trombone Shorty. They all represent a release, an appreciation of beauty and culture, and a sharing of interest with friends and family. I look back to all the people who have shared in that music with me with a fondness that I cannot explain. Yet, no album has inspired as many sing-a-longs as Disney soundtracks have. I can add to that list of memorized albums numerous Disney soundtracks: Mulan, Tangled, Encanto, Princess and the Frog, Hercules, Coco, Frozen and The Lion King. This comes in handy when it's time to burst out in song. I remember one week in high school, my basketball had a couple of hard games. We brought in a speaker for practice and I was rather surprised to see the absolute performance that so many of my teammates began to put on when our coach's daughter played "The Family Madrigal." Any embarrassment was thrown to the wind as we all yelled the words and danced. I was so excited to be unapologetically happy and enthusiastic. I hold that afternoon dear because of the way we bonded and overcame the challenging time with joy through the medicine of Disney music. In college, this joy and connection that come from Disney music have continued. During my first semester, we joked by always playing "Un Poco Loco" to ease the tension if someone did something embarrassing or if we were arguing. We shouted and danced around the room to the song. When remembering that time, I play that song and remember the way it bonded me with my friends. One of my favorite college activities has been karaoke at the dorms. One of the first songs I sing every time is "Love is an Open Door" as a duet with one of my friends. She often brings her giant stuffed Olaf to throw around the room. At the end of the song, we are surely laughing and out of breath. Disney music has also connected me to my little sister. We have an 11-year age gap, and Disney music has given us something that we can both genuinely enjoy. I play it whenever we drive or hold dance parties. When we are at our other siblings' events, I use Disney music to keep us both occupied. Sharing interests is such a light and fun way to bond with family. As I mentioned earlier, I bonded with my parents over their interest in jazz and brass music. Now my sister and I similarly share a taste in music: Disney music. Disney music is shared and enjoyed by people of all ages. Whether in the car, at school, or over any speaker, it brings joy. It holds so many memories of love, care, and ridiculous shared enthusiasm. I've had a goofy grin on my face thinking about it. That's what it means to me.

I will be a well-adjusted adult that confidently expresses my needs and works to find creative solutions to complex public health problems.