The one show that I could watch over and over again and not get sick of is Demon Slayer. The way that Tanjiro, our main character, loves and takes care of his family, whether it's found family or biological family, is simply something that I can always get behind and admire. The only reason why I admire it so much is because I would do the same thing for my family. At the beginning of the story, Tanjiro seems to have it all. Then he comes home to his whole family dead and killed by demons while his younger sister is actively turning into one. He feels that all is lost, but he makes a vow to become a demon slayer and fight the good fight to help save humanity from atrocities like this. I know I felt this way when I lost my father in 2017. Leading up to his death was not easy either. Before my father passed he had lost our home and were living in our family restaurant with only a folding wall hiding us at night. We all shared one foldable mattress that acted as a couch in the daytime. So when we got the news that my father had lung cancer, it felt like nothing could change our trajectory of pain and suffering. As we continued to fight on, he slowly got better and we got news that the cancer was gone. My family was also able to move into a 3-bedroom apartment and it seemed like things were finally looking up. However, in the summer of 2017, the cancer came back and on August 15th he passed away. My father was a very studious man who cared deeply about education. He would allow me to help with his sermons and together we would binge inspirational documentaries about war and international affairs. It was about 2-3 weeks into school when this devastation hit my family, but I vowed that I would try my best to keep my father's wishes and protect my family in name and honor through education. I am so proud to say that in 2022, I graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA as an honor graduate and AP scholar because of this. Although the series is not complete yet, Tanjiro continues to change the definition of what a demon slayer is. A demon slayer is not just someone who can kill a demon. It is someone who can stand by their principles and beliefs no matter the situation or circumstance. It is someone who uses every breath and bone in their body to fight and protect the ones that they love, relentlessly. Now, I am going into my 3rd year of university at Penn State University, studying Neurological Psychology with a minor in Chemistry, and I will be the first member of my family to complete and obtain a college degree. Although my story is not complete yet as well, there is so much ahead of me and I know nothing can hold me back from raising my family name even if I have setbacks along the way. If you are seeking a show that is beautifully created through crisp art, timeless storytelling, and heart-wrenching emotion, Demon Slayer is the only anime you need to watch.

Can you imagine being called into the office of a multimillionaire high fashion magazine in the middle of glorious Manhattan, New York for a chance to at your dream job only to find your boss hitting it off with his previous assistant? And not in a PG-13 way. I could never but that's exactly the situation for Ugly Betty. This summer, I had the pleasure of binging Ugly Betty, starring America Ferrera, which featured Miss Betty Suarez as she faced many challenges on her road to becoming a magazine publisher. From the name-calling on day one to being blatantly ignored, Betty never gives up. Her 2006 story is inspiring and shines a light on many issues that are still present today. Betty faces microaggressions for her ethnicity, multiple abuses of power, and the effects of unrealistic beauty standards, I mean the show is called Ugly Betty. Yet, she doesn't let these aspects of her new life write her final story. Betty is a part of a very interesting community. She has a loving and caring family at home while at work she has a fashion target on her back with multiple people trying to bring her down. She lives with her dad, older sister, and nephew. When she was younger she lost her mom, but was still able to flourish with an amazing and supportive family. She also is not as tied to her heritage as much as she would like to be, because she was born in the U.S. and her family is from Mexico. When I got to this part of the show, I began to heavily empathize with Betty. I am also a first-generation student who is not fluent in her parents' language and is trying her best to navigate life with the loss of her father. When I relished Betty's work ethic and commitment, I decided that Ugly Betty was the show for me. However, Betty isn't perfect. She works very hard and has many fun adventures, but she is still a flawed person. I enjoy that the story does not force Betty to be amazing simply because she's "ugly" and that's the one flaw she has to deal with for the rest of her life. She gets chances to fall in love, and climb the ladder in her career, and is still able to make mistakes along the way. I think Betty is perfect for young to middle-aged girls specifically because of this fact. Betty Suarez is a normal person who tries to be as good as she can, but no one is perfect. Even if look "bad", you shouldn't let that be your vice. Be you! You're not a passion project, you are a person with passions. I think that's an amazing focal point of the story that Ugly Betty tells. Over four seasons, Ugly Betty touches on topics such as teen pregnancies, absent fatherhood, deportation, sex addiction, cults, affairs, and being a person in the LGBTQ+ community at a time when gay marriage was not even legal yet. If you are looking for an ageless, inspirational show about multiple underdogs rising, Ugly Betty is the show for you!

My family restaurant was my first job, home, and church in one. It was also where I learned how to drive, practiced customer service and gained public speaking skills. It was where I learned you can't just reach for your dreams, you have to run after them. One step at a time, every day. My family owned a Liberian restaurant in a mini plaza strip that was right across from a car wash and a roller rink. When my parents first bought the restaurant I was about 10 years old, and my three younger siblings were 8, 6, and 4 respectively. Just before then, we had been living out of our 6-seat SUV and my parents had been working for our daily post office, bagging newspapers and delivering them around 3:00 to 4:00 in the morning just to be able to pay for car insurance and the car note. We shared 2 comforters, one to sleep on and the other to lay underneath while my parents worked from 9:00 pm - 5:00 am every day. My father was also a pastor, so every Sunday we would visit a church and he would preach a sermon the best he could even when he didn't get more than 4-5 hours of sleep the night before. So when my parents saved enough to buy our storefront space, it was a blessing for all of us. Our storefront became where we would serve food in the day, sleep at night, and preach on Sunday mornings. As one would expect, owning and maintaining a restaurant is not easy. My parents had to learn how to market a business and build a steady customer base all from scratch while taking care of four young and rowdy children. Luckily, their work ethic and commitment rubbed off on me and I helped take care of my siblings while my parents worked. I also committed myself to learning as much as I could with the resources that were available to me. I would take high school courses over the summer while entering middle school and even used the building our restaurant was a part of to stay active. I would watch over my siblings and make dishes for customers whenever my parents went out and help them around the kitchen when they were helping others. I became self-efficient and learned to love to give to others even when it seemed like I had nothing. Because of this, I have acquired over 8 years of volunteer experience in giving food to my local community of those who were homeless and teaching students to help them pursue their passions. If I were to change the restaurant industry, I would incorporate strategic volunteer work into each business. Not only would it help the staff of the restaurant it would also incorporate servitude into the everyday lives of communities. Cultural barriers would be crossed respectfully and new cultures would arise while opening the doors to stronger communication, and trust throughout communities. Through my family business, I got my first taste of customer service and hard work, during and outside of school. It taught me how to stay focused even when things get hard and to never give up. No matter what trials and tribulations come my way, I can make it. With this scholarship, I aim to keep my commitment to these principles that my parents and this experience have given me and help other students find these principles as well.