I feel that throughout the past year and a half, I have had to overcome more obstacles than I could have ever imagined. I had a traumatic death in my family, had to leave school and all of my friends due to Covid-19, and had to complete my school work fully online. There were many days I wanted to give up. I had a lot of long and hard days where I struggled to find myself. I remember sitting with my parents one night and explaining my feelings about the situation I had been put in, and I remember them telling me I had a choice. When they explained what they meant by this, I came to the realization that I did have a choice. I could choose to be sad and miserable at home, or I could turn the bad situation I was put in and use it for good. I decided that I was going to use my time away from school and friends to better myself and to serve other people. I got in the gym and worked really hard on my physical health which in turn boosted my mental health tremendously. During this time, I was able to reach out to people from school and in my community and explain to them that the hard times we were going through can be used for good. I wanted to, more than anything, let others know that I was there for them and thinking about them. I have served in many leadership positions and been a part of many leadership projects, but this situation I got put in helped me grow more as a leader than ever before. I learned to fight for what I believe in and to let others know I will walk beside them and fight with them too. I learned that even when times get hard, and things do not go the way we plan, there is good that can Coe out of the situation if we never give up. I learned that I am a strong and powerful woman and that I can do anything and make it through anything I put my mind to. Now that I have made it out of the Covid stay-at-home order and I am back at school, I can see how much I have grown, and that is something I am very proud of.

Upon coming to college my freshman year, I felt that I had lost myself. There were days I would look in the mirror and not recognize the person I had become. I went from a joyful, bubbly, people-person to a lonely, depressed, and severely anxious person. I felt that I had lost my light, and I did not know how to get it back. The harder I tried to become the person I used to be, I continued to lose myself more and more. Looking back on freshman year as a current junior in college, I am so proud of how far I have come. I have learned that I am strong and that I am a fighter. Through all of the hard and lonely nights, I never gave up. When giving up seemed like the easiest option, I kept fighting to get better. I feel that those two traits are very valuable and that with those two traits, I have learned I can make it through any trial that comes my way. It has been a long and tough journey to get to where I am now, but it has been a precious thing to look back and see how far I have come. I am proud of myself and the place I am now. I am ready to fight through whatever obstacles come my way because I now know I can get through them. I am strong, and I am a fighter.

Be kind, be you. I feel that if there is one message people need to hear, it is this. Imagine our world if everyone would simply treat others with kindness and be their true, authentic self. I feel that if people would understand and act by those two simple phrases, our generation would flourish and thrive more than ever before. With small acts of kindness, our generation could change the world. If we could give a little of ourselves to each person we see, whether sharing a smile with a homeless man or a dinner date with friends of different races, imagine how the trajectory of our country would change. We need to drop the status quo that we have in this country right now, and we need to come together to just be kind. I feel that when we are our true selves, it will be easier to let kindness flourish. I look forward to our generation changing the status quo and making a big impact on others and this country as a whole.