When I think of playing Nintendo games, the first thought that comes to my mind is the deafening roar of my brother's laughter when he throws a banana forward at just the right angle to make me slip and lose the race. Never far behind is the same boisterous laugh when I fail to execute the same maneuver. Mario Kart will always be my favorite multi-player Nintendo game because my brother was what made it fun. The merciless challenge he brought to the game along with his unadulterated joy brought forth in an earth-shattering laugh made each race a personal adventure. My brother has always been the kind of gamer who completes every side quest, collects every collectible, and receives every achievement in any game he plays. Whenever we had people over to play co-op games, we would always use his profile since he had unlocked every character, map, and perk each game could offer. Since Mario Kart is full of collectible characters, maps, and trophies, my brother had his hands full. He would spend hours mastering every map with every character at every speed. To put it simply, I had no chance of beating him. He knew every map backward--which is not an exaggeration since that is one of the game's many challenges. While I admired his determination, I dreaded the implications of my hopeless inferiority to his Mario Kart mastery. At first, I was frustrated with my brother's skills in game mechanics as well as in his intricate knowledge of the maps and their secrets. But after each shell, banana, and mushroom he taunted me with, I began to enjoy the lopsided challenge. Each burst of my brother's antagonizing laughter fueled my own determination to be better than him in the race. Over time, I began to pick up on his tricks. I was finally able to catch up with him, hitting him square-on with green shells, blocking his sneaky shots, and following him through secret shortcuts in the maps. I learned his playing style, and when I felt I had mirrored it thoroughly, I threw in some of my own strategies like driving so close to an obstacle that a red shell gets confused and hits it instead of me. As I improved, my brother enjoyed the challenge more and more--his bursts of laughter growing in volume and frequency. When I finally beat him, he still laughed, though this laugh was different than the smug enjoyment he got out of me slipping on a banana. This laugh was a laugh of approval, pride, and anticipation. As he laughed, I saw a fire light in his eyes with a look that told me I was now simultaneously an equal, a threat, and a challenge to him in Mario Kart. I saw a fire of determination to win against a worthy opponent--a fire I recognized as having myself ever since I first began playing with him. Posing equal challenges to each other made the game more enjoyable than I thought it ever could be. My brother's outrageous laughter got even louder as he, too, found the game more fulfilling due to a greater challenge. Just recently, Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Switch released new maps--some as remakes of old maps from the original Wii game. Now, even though we do not get to play as often as we used to since my brother has moved out, I still treasure the moments we do get to bond over flying blue shells, failed shortcut attempts, and peals of laughter so loud they elicit noise complaints.

I am not good at being a friend. A good friend is a good listener, an encourager, and someone who constantly inspires self-improvement. I am unsure whether or not I possess any of these traits, but these are things I find in my own friends that I attempt to exercise in hopes of being at least half as good of a friend to them as they are to me. Listening is the first attribute people seek in a potential friend. When someone gives me their full attention, it shows me that they are thoughtful and care about other people enough to focus on their individual needs. When I talk to a friend, I strive to create an environment of validation by listening attentively and thoughtfully. Everyone deserves to be heard, especially the people who mean the most to me. After a good, long venting session, nothing proves a meaningful friendship like knowing exactly how to encourage each other. When I hit rock-bottom, my friends can build me back up to be a better version of me than I was before. I take notes from my friends so that I can also encourage them in their times of need. Life would be a miserable struggle if I didn’t practice self-improvement. I surround myself with people who are living examples to me of the kind of person I want to be one day. I know I am not anywhere close to being the amazing kind of people my friends are, but by trying my hardest to be the best person I can be, perhaps I can influence someone for good. By practicing these things, I hope I can be the kind of friend, as my best friend says, who “you can do everything and nothing with and still have the best time.”

Every day, I wake up to a stress-inducing day full of chores, school, work, and whatever tasks spontaneously present themselves throughout the day. To keep myself from going insane, there are certain practices I keep to every day; I keep up a daily routine, make lists and schedules, and exercise. For some, these practices might seem boring or even more wearisome, but they put order and comfort into my busy day in a way that makes it enjoyable instead of laborious. A daily routine helps me to remember all of my necessities so none are drowned out in the sea of new tasks each day brings. These necessities consist of having a Bible study and praying when I wake up, brushing my hair and teeth, washing my face, taking my vitamins, exercising, showering, and brushing my teeth again before bed, closing out the long day with another Bible study and prayer. This routine helps me to ground myself and feel ready for the day and for the following morning. My next self-care practice resides in writing To-Do lists and schedules. My To-Do lists help me remember and organize everything I need to accomplish one day at a time. I write a schedule for the following day each night before bed to prove to myself that even though my schooling and my job take out most of my day, I still have time to accomplish everything I need to. Both listing and scheduling calm my anxiety and put order into an otherwise hectic day. Lastly, exercising makes me feel energized and satisfied with my physical and mental health. I do not stress myself out on the way I exercise. I could play ping-pong, go walking, or do yoga; they all improve my health in ways nothing else can.

Lack of motivation is a stumbling block for me when it comes to self-improvement and continual personal growth. To pick myself back up and continue, I must find inspiration and drive; for me, this inspiration comes from the man who penned the quote above this application, Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin was incredibly resourceful and active when it came to continual improvement. When it came to expanding his knowledge, even from a young age, he read anything he could get his hands on. He also strove to perfect all virtue. He would list all of the traits he considered to be virtuous and proceed to create for himself a graph to track his progress in each virtue throughout the span of a week. Attempting to replicate this with the Fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 in the Bible, I discovered how truly difficult it is to be perfectly virtuous in the span of just 24 hours. Nevertheless, I continued to learn how to act with kindness and patience toward other people, how to practice self-control and be at peace, and how to be joyful, loving, good, gentle, and faithful in every situation. By continuing to expand my knowledge through books and through practicing virtue, I maintain my growth mindset. When my motivation fails, I find inspiration in the people who have put in the effort to grow continually. Physical idleness is never acceptable, so why would I permit my mind to be idle?

Starting out my working experience at a fast food restaurant was a nightmare. Working up front, I was chewed out by customers for things that weren’t my fault. Working in the back, I was yelled at by my coworkers for things I had no control over. Working with food right in my face the whole day undoubtedly made me ravenous for the duration of my shift, but it was against store policy to eat on the clock; I couldn’t afford to take a break to eat, so I just didn’t. Despite everything, I didn’t dread going to work every day. I knew I could rely on myself to do well, and that was enough for me. I did my job to the very best of my ability wherever I was positioned. Whenever I was in the middle of a terrible rush at work, I wouldn’t stress myself out by pushing myself to my breaking point; I would do my best, reminding myself that it was enough. I wouldn’t yell at my coworkers, but encourage them instead. If one of my coworkers had had a rotten day, I would bring something for them the next day to remind them that not every day has to be a bad day. If I had an unhappy customer, I listened patiently to their complaints, reminding myself that their negativity did not have to affect my positive contentment. Working fast food taught me many valuable lessons I will remember for the rest of my life. It taught me that the world can be an infinitely negative place and will try to bring me down, but it will only succeed if I let it. There is always cause to be positive; spreading that positivity to others creates more contentment in myself. Life is a win-win.

1. Just because. 2. Yes. 3. One time my brother ate the last of the Oreo’s. I haven’t fully recovered from this emotional pain, so prayers would be much appreciated.

The people who have influenced my life in the most positive and productive way are not our everyday “influencers.” The popular content creators we refer to as “influencers” make videos, songs, and podcasts to win the world’s devotion in an internet-wide popularity contest. While this is an effective way to influence people, it is not the most influential in our everyday lives. In the middle of a horrendous traffic jam, fuming drivers honked repeatedly, channeling their anger at each other. I looked to the car next to me where an elderly couple smiled sweetly at me, patient as ever. This has forever been a reminder to me that there is no point in wasting energy on being angry and impatient with something I cannot control. I had forgotten my wallet when eating out with my friend. She paid for my meal and would not accept anything when I attempted to pay her back. It made me realize that money doesn’t matter. Instead of being a barrier in relationships, it can be a tool for generosity and can help strengthen bonds when I forgo stinginess. Visiting a new church congregation, I was overwhelmed by the crowd of unfamiliar faces. Members of the congregation spanning from my age to elderly couples came up to me and introduced themselves, making me feel welcome and at home. This showed me how big of a difference friendliness makes, and I vowed to follow their examples. Every one of these people are not well-known. They have not thrown themselves out for the world to see their good works, but they have made a huge difference in my life and in countless other lives. We are all highly influential people, including myself, and I stand for being a good influence like the people who influenced me.

Inspection day for Zaxby’s in my small town of Hazel Green was only one day away. As an employee, my stress levels were high. On each of my managers’ mock inspection tests, the store had scored a sixty-nine or lower; that wasn’t good. Everyone in the store, even our general manager, was scrubbing walls, shelves, and anything we laid our eyes on in preparation for inspection the next day. If I didn’t have an order to make, I was put to work. Wanting to be a good employee, I did whatever my managers told me to, which was usually along the lines of scrubbing years of dried food that had accumulated on every surface, turning into chunky, grey goop as it came into contact with the soapy water. It was grueling and revolting. I had been starving at first, skipping lunch so I could clean, but I quickly lost my appetite. No matter how many stains and how much dried food I had to scrub, I kept going and didn’t complain because I wanted to be a good employee and set a good example for my coworkers. By the end of my shift, I was exhausted, but the store was ten times cleaner than it had been that morning. I felt incredibly accomplished and I knew my general manager hadn’t failed to notice my willingness to do a thorough job. A couple weeks later, I became one of the highest-paid employees in the store. I love that I am a thorough and hard-working person. I am reliable and people notice. Even if I am told to do something I’d really rather not do, like scrub gruel off of a wall, I will scrub until it’s the cleanest wall in the store because I can; because I make a difference.

Simple pleasures can happen in a flash, but can stay with you for a lifetime. For me, simple pleasures are things like smiles, simple solitude, and sleep. Seeing anyone smile at me is so quick and fleeting, yet it can put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Something so small as a simple smile is encouraging, accepting, and makes me feel cared about. Another simple pleasure is silence, simple solitude. While this may seem like an introvert’s cop-out answer, silence and solitude helps recenter me. I can think through my priorities and goals to make them clearer and more attainable. A quiet time when I can just sit, think, and recenter is a simple pleasure I will never take for granted. I never knew how much I appreciated sleep until I was incapable of it. Years ago, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I wasn’t able to breathe correctly at night because my adenoids were abnormally large. For months I was unable to sleep normally. When I finally had surgery to remove my adenoids, I could breathe. Ever since then, I have been able to sleep soundly and restfully. I cannot express the joy simply sleeping brings me now. Even though a smile, solitude, and sleep are incredibly simple, everyday experiences, I cannot deny that they bring me inexpressible joy and thankfulness. Each one reminds me of how much I’ve been blessed; because of them, I strive to never take anything for granted, no matter how simple they seem to be.

When rain beats against my window in the morning, it reminds me that I have a roof over my head and a warm, dry place to sleep. When I pick out my clothes in the morning it reminds me that I have choices and many, many things to choose from. When I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner it reminds me that I have an abundance of food and water. When I talk to my loved ones it reminds me that there are so many people who love me and care about me. When I call my friends it reminds me that I have so many outlets of communication and that I never have to be lonely. Whenever I do schoolwork, it reminds me that I have access to unlimited knowledge and the potential to do and to be whatever I put my mind to. I have so, so much that I know I do not deserve, but I know I can use it to help other people who need it more and deserve it so much more than me. That is what makes me happy; I have the potential to make a difference with what I have been given. Why hold back when I can give someone the happiness I have been eternally blessed with?

A healthy routine and scheduling is the key to a long and healthy life. As everyone would agree, things such as exercise, healthy eating habits, a good social life, and achievable goals provide a person with the best chance at living a long and healthy life. Where most people come short, however, is the scheduling of all of these put together. If Linda, a lazy couch potato with no experience in any of the skills listed above, decides that she wants to turn her life around and live in a healthy lifestyle, she would likely become overwhelmed with the expectations this list throws upon her. To be successful in her endeavors of living a long and healthy life, the best method would be simple planning. How would she exercise? Linda can start by taking time out of her week and setting it aside for exercise. The same goes for healthy eating. Linda can plan each meal of the week to eat something healthy instead of having no plan, which can tempt her to eat something detrimental to her health such as most fast food restaurants. Linda can plan social outings once or twice a week to encourage her to grow socially. Finally, she can set herself some achievable goals, planning to set aside an hour or two every day devoted to working towards them. Answering the question, “What is the best way to live a long, healthy life?” is easily answered by anyone; the hard question to address is the method by which someone lives their long, healthy life. The answer, however, is simply planning, scheduling, and routine.

My role model is not a celebrity, a war hero, or a family member. I look up to someone who died over two hundred years ago. Perhaps it’s Benjamin Franklin’s passion for learning or his remarkable perseverance that draws me to be like him. His morals and what he stood for inspire me to be a better person every day. Franklin was ambitious. At a young age, he and his brother started a newspaper. While looking for new writers to contribute columns to their paper, Franklin decided to try his own hand at one. Knowing his brother would disapprove of anything his little brother had written, he wrote a column under the name of Silence Dogood and slipped it under the door of their printing house one night. When his brother and his friends read the column, they were impressed. It worked so well that he continued and eventually wrote several columns for their paper. He took a chance, trusted his writing skills, and it paid off. This teaches me that no matter the oppositions I will face, I can achieve my goals if I take a chance and put my all into it. When he was twenty-three, Franklin bought the Pennsylvania Gazette. It was hard to run his own newspaper, but he found strength and inspiration in something his father used to tell him. When Franklin was a child, his father would quote Proverbs 22:29, “Seest thou a man diligent in his own calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men.” Franklin aspired to be diligent in his “calling” of newspaper printing. In his own words, “I from thence considered industry as a means of obtaining wealth and distinction, which encouraged me….” He stood before five kings and had dinner with the King of Denmark. His determination inspires me to keep trying, even when my path begins with a steep, intimidating climb. Franklin had wisdom and was said to be extremely respectable. I believe this came from hours of reading and self-discipline. He was extremely self-motivated, and he would set apart one or two hours each day to study and expand his knowledge and education. I have more at my fingertips than Franklin ever had in his whole lifetime! If he could do that, how much more could I do? I only have to take advantage of the time I have been given to improve myself. In fact, Benjamin was always trying to improve himself. When he was about twenty-two, he decided to try for moral perfection. It posed a huge challenge to him, especially when he was first starting out, because he had no guidelines or methods to go by. First, he named the virtues he wished to master; then, he created a strategy to master them. He invented a graph for recording his progress. He came up with thirteen fundamental virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, chastity, and humility. Franklin realized that trying to perfect these virtues all at once would be overwhelming, so he practiced them one at a time. His graph laid out the days of the week on the x-axis and the first letter of each virtue on each line of the y-axis. When he found himself lacking in temperance, he would draw a black spot on the temperance section underneath whichever day of the week it was. He wrote, “I determined to give a week’s strict attention to each of the virtues successively. Thus in the first week, my great guard was to avoid the least offense against Temperance, leaving the other virtues to their ordinary chance, only marking every evening the faults of the day. If in the first week I could keep my first line marked T clear of spots, I supposed the habit of that virtue so much strengthened that I might venture extending my attention to include the next, and for the following week keep both lines clear of spots.” He also created a daily schedule that included a wake-up time, working periods, a time to review his accounts, a time to put things in order, and a time specifically dedicated to examining his day and writing in his morality chart. Reading about his struggles and methods for his own self-discipline was extremely inspirational to me. I decided to try the same method, except I substituted the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 for Franklin’s thirteen virtues. I have struggled with it immensely, my respect for Franklin skyrocketing in the process. I will continue to work at it like Franklin did. There are so many reasons why I look up to Benjamin Franklin. If I were to write them all, it would take days to read. Everything he did had some motive for good behind it. He constantly strove to better himself and the lives of the people around him. Most of all, he credited God with his success. His words of thanks to God reveal his overwhelming humility. If ever I achieve even a fraction of the greatness Franklin did, I hope to say these words as well: “And now I speak of thanking God. I desire to acknowledge that I owe the happiness of my past life to his kind Providence, which led me to the means I used and gave them success.”

I shot the target from 500 feet away. It’s Thanksgiving tradition for the family to go out skeet-shooting. The adults get moving skeets while the kids get stationary ones. The year before, my uncle gave me a shotgun to shoot the bright orange skeet. When I pulled the trigger, my arm got thrown out. The next year, I was scared to death to touch another shotgun, but my uncle told me to be brave. I took the shotgun, aimed, and fired. I hit the target. The only way I will hit the target is if I’m bold enough to try.

I think that no one in the world cares about what I struggle with when I’m depressed. I find myself hyperventilating on the floor when I get a panic attack from my anxiety. The worst of all is that I can’t tell anyone about my problems because of my communication disorder. A year ago, I was at a Bible camp. It was the middle of the week and I was sleep deprived. I told my counselor that I was feeling anxious and, by attending the assembly that night, I might have a panic attack. My counselor told me to try my best to push through it anyway, so I went. I had a panic attack before assembly even started. I got away from everybody, covered my ears, and rocked back and forth, sitting at a picnic table. My mom had to come pick me up the next day. It hurt me deeply that I had to leave camp early. I had to leave the friends I’d just met and I missed out on Bible studies and classes that I wished I could have been there for. I was depressed about it, but I also didn’t feel like I could tell anyone. I struggle with a lot of negative thoughts and previous events that I haven’t worked through yet. My problem is, every time I want to open up I hit a wall. I have a communication disorder that hinders me from talking about my feelings. It is right at the edge of being autism, but it isn’t classified as autism. My mom went to the hospital about a year and a half ago because her medications were messing her up. It was hard for our whole family and it was the first time I’d seen my dad cry. I wanted to talk about the frustration and depression I felt over it, but every time I opened my mouth to say something about it, nothing came out. It was like my mind was holding me back from saying what I needed to say. My dad wanted us all to talk about what we were feeling while my mom was in the hospital, but I just couldn’t. It made me feel resentment towards people who don’t have the problems I have and I started to withdraw from my friendships. I always hit a barrier when I try to talk about my feelings, so my communication disorder is always a hindrance when I try to make friends or build on my already existing relationships. I think of my depression like a bear in hibernation. When it’s not out in full force, it’s snoring in the background until it comes back out. My depression buzzes in the background like a ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off again. When the bear does wake up, I just cry and lie down in my bed, never wanting to get up again. I don’t want to see or talk to anybody, which damages my relationships, and I don’t want to do anything which makes me even more depressed. I feel like nobody cares about what I do, and I feel trapped because I can never tell people how I feel. I’m always scared that I will have another panic attack, and my depression uses that fear as fuel. The one thing that always pulls me through my anxiety, depression, and lack of communication is God. I know that if I have a panic attack, it will all turn out okay because He is right beside me, holding my hand through it all. When I’m depressed, I pull out my Bible and He comforts me through His words. I know He loves me. When I feel like I can’t talk to anyone, I go to Him in prayer because He is always listening and I can always talk to Him. The more I talk to God, the more I find that I can talk to my family and friends about my problems. My anxiety, depression, and communication disorder are definitely in my way when making friends and going after my life goals, but God carries me through each time I need help. By going to God, I can conquer my problems and my fears, to be a better sister, daughter, and friend, and to be who I want to be.