Since I was a small child I have struggled with severe ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder. This has not only affected my academic life but also my personal life. Struggling with these issues has pushed me to become resilient and find ways to overcome the challenges they present. For example, my anxiety often makes it difficult for me to be in large crowds, overstimulating environments, and causes me panic attacks either randomly or accompanied by stress. In an effort to find effective ways to handle my anxiety I have taken time to learn calming techniques like square breathing and five-four-three-two-one techniques. Practicing these helps me to focus on my breathing and individual things around me instead of letting the chaos and stress of my surroundings crowd my brain. Additionally, my ADHD has made it difficult for me academically because it is hard for me to focus in rooms with any form of distractions and it typically takes me longer to read and answer questions. After having extreme difficulties with being able to finish timed assessments in my 8th grade year my mom and I decided that it would be best to look into getting me a 504 plan that included a separate small group and time and a half on all tests in high school. This has been extremely helpful and I have noticed much less anxiety surrounding tests and the ability to grow my stamina for testing since we enacted this plan. In addition I come from a household run by a single mother where my funds for education are limited. This means that without any extra scholarships I will be unable to fully experience the parts of college which I need to grow as a leader. I feel that this scholarship has the potential to relieve some of the financial burden of acquiring a college education. Receiving this scholarship will allow me to achieve my dreams and help others.

Leadership has always been one of my most prominent qualities. Whether it be helping someone with a difficult math problem or leading service projects. This past school year leadership led me to make one of the best decisions of my life, starting the Nash Central Food Pantry. The pantry started because I was informed that many students in my school live with food insecurity and that nothing was being done to support them. I was inspired, so I talked to the assistant principal of my school and started the process of creating the pantry. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. Now the food pantry serves food and hygiene products to over 20 families within our school and feeder schools with the help of the interfaith food shuttle. While this commitment to leading the food pantry has been taxing, it has given me a valuable sense of community within my school and helped me to identify a life goal of helping others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself and goes beyond the satisfaction of personal gains but I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish this. Recently I went to the NC state open house for prospective first year students. Prior to this I knew that I loved biology and I possibly wanted to go into the Medical field but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was I wanted to do. On the day of the open house my father took me over to the biomedical engineering tent and into the labs. This is when I really learned about how biomedical engineering can change millions of lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that biomedical engineering teaches you not only about human biology but why the body works the way it does. Hearing this really sparked my interest because I have always been someone that wants to know why something happens. Another thing that interested me in this path was hearing how biomedical engineers were able to collaborate with other engineers and create something to help someone's health. Ultimately I think this degree will set me up to achieve my goal of helping other people while also giving me the opportunity to explore multiple career paths whether that be continuing education pursuing a medical degree, or engineering a new medical device or procedure. Coming from a household run by a single mother my funds for education are limited. This means that without any extra scholarships I will be unable to fully experience the parts of college which I need to grow as a leader. I feel that this scholarship has the potential to relieve some of the financial burden of acquiring a college education. Receiving this scholarship will allow me to achieve my dreams and help others.

Leadership has always been one of my most prominent qualities. Whether it be helping someone with a difficult math problem or leading service projects. This past school year leadership led me to make one of the best decisions of my life, starting the Nash Central Food Pantry. The pantry started because I was informed that many students in my school live with food insecurity and that nothing was being done to support them. I was inspired, so I talked to the assistant principal of my school and started the process of creating the pantry. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. Now the food pantry serves food and hygiene products to over 20 families within our school and feeder schools with the help of the interfaith food shuttle. While this commitment to leading the food pantry has been taxing, it has given me a valuable sense of community within my school and helped me to identify a life goal of helping others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself and goes beyond the satisfaction of personal gains but I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish this. Recently I went to the NC state open house for prospective first year students. Prior to this I knew that I loved biology and I possibly wanted to go into the Medical field but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was I wanted to do. On the day of the open house my father took me over to the biomedical engineering tent and into the labs. This is when I really learned about how biomedical engineering can change millions of lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that biomedical engineering teaches you not only about human biology but why the body works the way it does. Hearing this really sparked my interest because I have always been someone that wants to know why something happens. Another thing that interested me in this path was hearing how biomedical engineers were able to collaborate with other engineers and create something to help someone's health. Ultimately I think this degree will set me up to achieve my goal of helping other people while also giving me the opportunity to explore multiple career paths whether that be continuing education pursuing a medical degree, or engineering a new medical device or procedure. Coming from a household run by a single mother my funds for education are limited. This means that without any extra scholarships I will be unable to fully experience the parts of college which I need to grow as a leader. I feel that this scholarship has the potential to relieve some of the financial burden of acquiring a college education. Receiving this scholarship will allow me to achieve my dreams and help others.

Leadership has always been one of my most prominent qualities. Whether it be helping someone with a difficult math problem or leading service projects. This past school year leadership led me to make one of the best decisions of my life, starting the Nash Central Food Pantry. The pantry started because I was informed that many students in my school live with food insecurity and that nothing was being done to support them. I was inspired, so I talked to the assistant principal of my school and started the process of creating the pantry. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. Now the food pantry serves food and hygiene products to over 20 families within our school and feeder schools with the help of the interfaith food shuttle. While this commitment to leading the food pantry has been taxing, it has given me a valuable sense of community within my school and helped me to identify a life goal of helping others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself and goes beyond the satisfaction of personal gains but I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish this. Recently I went to the NC state open house for prospective first year students. Prior to this I knew that I loved biology and I possibly wanted to go into the Medical field but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was I wanted to do. On the day of the open house my father took me over to the biomedical engineering tent and into the labs. This is when I really learned about how biomedical engineering can change millions of lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that biomedical engineering teaches you not only about human biology but why the body works the way it does. Hearing this really sparked my interest because I have always been someone that wants to know why something happens. Another thing that interested me in this path was hearing how biomedical engineers were able to collaborate with other engineers and create something to help someone's health. Ultimately I think this degree will set me up to achieve my goal of helping other people while also giving me the opportunity to explore multiple career paths whether that be continuing education pursuing a medical degree, or engineering a new medical device or procedure. Coming from a household run by a single mother my funds for education are limited. This means that without any extra scholarships I will be unable to fully experience the parts of college which I need to grow as a leader. I feel that this scholarship has the potential to relieve some of the financial burden of acquiring a college education. Receiving this scholarship will allow me to achieve my dreams and help others.

During my junior year in high school it was brought to my attention that there was a large population of students at my school who live with food insecurity. While I have always been aware that I live in a low income community this information prompted me to take action to help. I immediately contacted one of my school's Assistant Principals, Mrs. Brandi Deans, about how I could start a food pantry that helps to feed students and their families. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. By February of 2024 We had collected 256 cans and we sent out our first box to a family of six who needed food support immediately. The packing of that first box was when I began to have a true burning passion for the food pantry. We have collected thousands of items through generous donations by churches, students, and other community members. The pantry provides food to families every two weeks or as needed. This year has been extremely challenging with the food pantry because Mrs. Deans transferred to another school, meaning that I've had to find a new staff member to support the food pantry. Along with this, our school lost around 300 students due to redistricting which meant we have had to restart our list of families. Thankfully the CIS coordinator at my School and Assistant Principal, Michael Crosby, wanted to become involved in the pantry and have been extremely helpful with regaining the strength of the pantry this year. In the past 3 months we have been able to open the pantry to our feeder school within the community and it has inspired surrounding schools to start their own. The pantry was recently inspected by the Interfaith Food Shuttle to see if we were established enough to be supported by their services. I was so excited when I learned that the pantry had been approved and that the Interfaith Food Shuttle would be able to start supplying us with enough food items to support the pantry each month for the rest of its operation. This pantry has become one of the most important things to me and has made an impact on, not only the lives of others, but on my life as well. My work with the food pantry has helped me to identify a life goal to help others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself in my life’s work. I am extremely excited to continue this passion for helping feed my community beyond high school by hopefully becoming involved in the Carolina Cupboard at UNC Chapel Hill.

My favorite part of being a Lumbee is the community of people who you are connected to. Unfortunately as a child of divorced parents I did not get to live with my Native parent full time. In addition to this I also live in an area where there are very few other Natives. This has made it very difficult to connect with my American Indian heritage. Despite all of this I have tried to incorporate my heritage into as many parts of my life as possible. For example I have chosen to do multiple research papers and projects on the recognition of the Lumbee tribe and Native Americans in North Carolina. By presenting these topics I have gotten to learn more about my heritage but also gotten to share parts of my identity with the people around me. However in the past few months I have gotten the chance to meet many other Lumbees and Natives through my college searches. The people who I have met have instantly connected with me and offered to help me with anything I needed assistance with. This happened many times while I was on the campus of UNC as part of the Morehead Cain Finalist Weekend. Specifically when I was in a class I met a freshman and I learned he was Lumbee. I then told him I was Lumbee and saw his face light up. He then talked to me for a while and we bonded over what it was like to be Native in a small town without many Natives. This was so unusual for me because these people did not know anything about me but they knew I was Native American and that was enough. It has been amazing to know I have an instant community of people who will help guide me and offer friendship in the next stage of my life. As I go into college I plan to join the native groups on campus and join the Native American sorority. Through these activities I hope to learn more about my culture, participate in traditional events, and form meaningful relationships with my peers. I hope that learning and experiencing these things will allow me to be a mentor to young Native American women one day. I feel offering a mentor is one of the most beneficial things someone can do. Hopefully I can help to ease other Natives into the next step into life just as many others have done for me.

The movie Swimmers has had an enormous impact on my life. When I was a sophomore was in a class called AP Seminar and we had to write an essay using stimulus materials provided and then do a research project. The packets overall theme was on resilience. I remember not having a clue to write about and then going to my dads house one weekend and watching the movie Swimmers. The movie was about a girl who swam for the refugee olympic team after fleeing Syria. She ended up winning her event for the Olympics and has been an advocate for refugees ever since. The movie was so moving that I decided to use it as inspiration for my paper. I wrote the paper on the resilience of refugees, using Yursa and her sisters story quite often throughout the paper and feeling completely inspired by them. I am extremely proud of this paper because I was passionate about what I was writing and I feel like the argument I was making had the potential to help others. Seeing how these girls could take the hardships that they had faced and use them to do good in the world was so very inspirational. Seeing how they used what little they had to contribute to something that was bigger than themselves. This inspired me to have the same goal for my life, to make an impact on society that is bigger than just myself and my personal life. When I was writing this paper I remember channeling this desire into the paper and conveying a deep passion for what I was arguing. This transformed the paper from an essay being written for an AP Seminar exam to an argument I was passionate about making to better society. It has remained in my mind throughout all of my leadership endeavors for the past two years. Specifically it contributed to my passion in starting the Nash Central Food Pantry. In my Junior year it was brought to my attention that many students in my school lived with food insecurity. After hearing this information I had a meeting with a school official to see if there were any programs in place to help these students. This meeting ended with both me and the principal in tears because our school desperately needed a program but the school had not provided one. Therefore, I took it upon myself to create the NCHS Food Pantry. Compassion and the motivation I felt from the story in Swimmers has driven me in every aspect involving the food pantry this past year. This desire to help students living with food insecurity has only grown, leading me to expand access to the pantry to cover our feeder school as well as our own. Recently we got the amazing news that our pantry will now be supported by the interfaith food shuttle allowing us to diversify the items we give. I can say that these attributes have always been inside of me but it was the movie Swimmers and the paper that it inspired that caused them to take shape.

During my junior year in high school it was brought to my attention that there was a large population of students at my school who live with food insecurity. While I have always been aware that I live in a low income community this information prompted me to take action to help. I immediately contacted one of my school's Assistant Principals, Mrs. Brandi Deans, about how I could start a food pantry that helps to feed students and their families. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. By February of 2024 We had collected 256 cans and we sent out our first box to a family of six who needed food support immediately. The packing of that first box was when I began to have a true burning passion for the food pantry. We have collected thousands of items through generous donations by churches, students, and other community members. The pantry provides food to families every two weeks or as needed. This year has been extremely challenging with the food pantry because Mrs. Deans transferred to another school, meaning that I've had to find a new staff member to support the food pantry. Along with this, our school lost around 300 students due to redistricting which meant we have had to restart our list of families. Thankfully the CIS coordinator at my School and Assistant Principal, Michael Crosby, wanted to become involved in the pantry and have been extremely helpful with regaining the strength of the pantry this year. In the past 3 months we have been able to open the pantry to our feeder school within the community and it has inspired surrounding schools to start their own. The pantry was recently inspected by the Interfaith Food Shuttle to see if we were established enough to be supported by their services. I was so excited when I learned that the pantry had been approved and that the Interfaith Food Shuttle would be able to start supplying us with enough food items to support the pantry each month for the rest of its operation. This pantry has become one of the most important things to me and has made an impact on, not only the lives of others, but on my life as well. My work with the food pantry has helped me to identify a life goal to help others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself in my life’s work. I am extremely excited to continue this passion for helping feed my community beyond high school by hopefully becoming involved in the Carolina Cupboard at UNC Chapel Hill. I hope that the pantry will inspire current and upcoming students to take action in our community to help others.

In reality the thing I want to do more than anything in my life is to make a difference in the world but I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish this. Recently I went to the NC state open house for prospective first year students. Prior to this I knew that I loved biology and I possibly wanted to go into the Medical field but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was I wanted to do. On the day of the open house my father took me over to the biomedical engineering tent and into the labs. This is when I really learned about how biomedical engineering can change millions of lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that biomedical engineering teaches you not only about human biology but why the body works the way it does. Hearing this really sparked my interest because I have always been someone that wants to know why something happens. Another thing that interested me in this path was hearing how biomedical engineers were able to collaborate with other engineers and create something to help someone's health. Ultimately I think this degree will set me up to achieve my goal of helping other people while also giving me the opportunity to explore multiple career paths whether that be continuing education pursuing a medical degree, or engineering a new medical device or procedure. While I have not faced any extreme adversity in my life I aspire to help others through their times of adversity. During my Junior year it was brought to my attention that many students in my school lived with food insecurity and there was no program at our school in place to help. Being a very compassionate person, I knew I had to do something to help. I set up a meeting with a school administrator to see what I could do. The meeting ended with us both in tears because our school desperately needed it and we were just now doing something about it. I created the Nash Central High School Food Pantry. My desire to help students and their families living with food insecurity has grown so much through this program, it has led me to work to expand access to the pantry to cover multiple other schools in our area. Together with staff partners, I worked to build a collaboration with the Interfaith Food Shuttle allowing us to grow and diversify the items we give. At the time I am writing this we are serving over 30 families, including more than 130 people. This passion project for me has blossomed into a life goal to help others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself. I look forward to participating in many student run organizations in college and possibly starting a new organization that works to provide food support for needy North Carolina high schools.

During my Junior year it was brought to my attention that many students in my school lived with food insecurity and there was no program at our school in place to help. Being a very compassionate person, I knew I had to do something to help. I set up a meeting with a school administrator to see what I could do. The meeting ended with us both in tears because our school desperately needed it and we were just now doing something about it. I created the Nash Central High School Food Pantry. My desire to help students and their families living with food insecurity has grown so much through this program, it has led me to work to expand access to the pantry to cover multiple other schools in our area. Together with staff partners, I worked to build a collaboration with the Interfaith Food Shuttle allowing us to grow and diversify the items we give. At the time I am writing this we are serving over 30 families, including more than 130 people. This passion project for me has blossomed into a life goal to help others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself. One of the things I love about Duke is the variety of student run organizations and clubs. I look forward to participating in many of those and possibly starting a new organization that works to provide food support for needy North Carolina high schools.

Leadership has always been one of my most prominent qualities. Whether it be helping someone with a difficult math problem or leading service projects. This past school year leadership led me to make one of the best decisions of my life, starting the Nash Central Food Pantry. The pantry started because I was informed that many students in my school live with food insecurity and that nothing was being done to support them. I was inspired, so I talked to the assistant principal of my school and started the process of creating the pantry. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. Now the food pantry serves food and hygiene products to over 20 families within our school and feeder schools with the help of the interfaith food shuttle. While this commitment to leading the food pantry has been taxing, it has given me a valuable sense of community within my school and helped me to identify a life goal of helping others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself and goes beyond the satisfaction of personal gains but I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish this. Recently I went to the NC state open house for prospective first year students. Prior to this I knew that I loved biology and I possibly wanted to go into the Medical field but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was I wanted to do. On the day of the open house my father took me over to the biomedical engineering tent and into the labs. This is when I really learned about how biomedical engineering can change millions of lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that biomedical engineering teaches you not only about human biology but why the body works the way it does. Hearing this really sparked my interest because I have always been someone that wants to know why something happens. Another thing that interested me in this path was hearing how biomedical engineers were able to collaborate with other engineers and create something to help someone's health. Ultimately I think this degree will set me up to achieve my goal of helping other people while also giving me the opportunity to explore multiple career paths whether that be continuing education pursuing a medical degree, or engineering a new medical device or procedure.

Leadership has always been one of my most prominent qualities. Whether it be helping someone with a difficult math problem or leading service projects. This past school year leadership led me to make one of the best decisions of my life, starting the Nash Central Food Pantry. The pantry started because I was informed that many students in my school live with food insecurity and that nothing was being done to support them. I was inspired, so I talked to the assistant principal of my school and started the process of creating the pantry. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. Now the food pantry serves food and hygiene products to over 20 families within our school and feeder schools with the help of the interfaith food shuttle. While this commitment to leading the food pantry has been taxing, it has given me a valuable sense of community within my school and helped me to identify a life goal of helping others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself and goes beyond the satisfaction of personal gains but I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish this. Recently I went to the NC state open house for prospective first year students. Prior to this I knew that I loved biology and I possibly wanted to go into the Medical field but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was I wanted to do. On the day of the open house my father took me over to the biomedical engineering tent and into the labs. This is when I really learned about how biomedical engineering can change millions of lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that biomedical engineering teaches you not only about human biology but why the body works the way it does. Hearing this really sparked my interest because I have always been someone that wants to know why something happens. Another thing that interested me in this path was hearing how biomedical engineers were able to collaborate with other engineers and create something to help someone's health. Ultimately I think this degree will set me up to achieve my goal of helping other people while also giving me the opportunity to explore multiple career paths whether that be continuing education pursuing a medical degree, or engineering a new medical device or procedure.

Leadership has always been one of my most prominent qualities. Whether it be helping someone with a difficult math problem or leading service projects. This past school year leadership led me to make one of the best decisions of my life, starting the Nash Central Food Pantry. The pantry started because I was informed that many students in my school live with food insecurity and that nothing was being done to support them. I was inspired, so I talked to the assistant principal of my school and started the process of creating the pantry. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. Now the food pantry serves food and hygiene products to over 20 families within our school and feeder schools with the help of the interfaith food shuttle. While this commitment to leading the food pantry has been taxing, it has given me a valuable sense of community within my school and helped me to identify a life goal of helping others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself and goes beyond the satisfaction of personal gains but I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish this. Recently I went to the NC state open house for prospective first year students. Prior to this I knew that I loved biology and I possibly wanted to go into the Medical field but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was I wanted to do. On the day of the open house my father took me over to the biomedical engineering tent and into the labs. This is when I really learned about how biomedical engineering can change millions of lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that biomedical engineering teaches you not only about human biology but why the body works the way it does. Hearing this really sparked my interest because I have always been someone that wants to know why something happens. Another thing that interested me in this path was hearing how biomedical engineers were able to collaborate with other engineers and create something to help someone's health. Ultimately I think this degree will set me up to achieve my goal of helping other people while also giving me the opportunity to explore multiple career paths whether that be continuing education pursuing a medical degree, or engineering a new medical device or procedure.

During my junior year in high school it was brought to my attention that there was a large population of students at my school who live with food insecurity. While I have always been aware that I live in a low income community this information prompted me to take action to help. I immediately contacted one of my school's Assistant Principals, Mrs. Brandi Deans, about how I could start a food pantry that helps to feed students and their families. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. By February of 2024 We had collected 256 cans and we sent out our first box to a family of six who needed food support immediately. The packing of that first box was when I began to have a true burning passion for the food pantry. We have collected thousands of items through generous donations by churches, students, and other community members. The pantry provides food to families every two weeks or as needed. This year has been extremely challenging with the food pantry because Mrs. Deans transferred to another school, meaning that I've had to find a new staff member to support the food pantry. Along with this, our school lost around 300 students due to redistricting which meant we have had to restart our list of families. Thankfully the CIS coordinator at my School and Assistant Principal, Michael Crosby, wanted to become involved in the pantry and have been extremely helpful with regaining the strength of the pantry this year. In the past 3 months we have been able to open the pantry to our feeder school within the community and it has inspired surrounding schools to start their own. The pantry was recently inspected by the Interfaith Food Shuttle to see if we were established enough to be supported by their services. I was so excited when I learned that the pantry had been approved and that the Interfaith Food Shuttle would be able to start supplying us with enough food items to support the pantry each month for the rest of its operation. This pantry has become one of the most important things to me and has made an impact on, not only the lives of others, but on my life as well. My work with the food pantry has helped me to identify a life goal to help others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself in my life’s work. I am extremely excited to continue this passion for helping feed my community beyond high school by hopefully becoming involved in the Carolina Cupboard at UNC Chapel Hill.

During my junior year in high school it was brought to my attention that there was a large population of students at my school who live with food insecurity. While I have always been aware that I live in a low income community this information prompted me to take action to help. I immediately contacted one of my school's Assistant Principals, Mrs. Brandi Deans, about how I could start a food pantry that helps to feed students and their families. We decided to create a survey that was sent to students and their families that helped us come up with a list of who we needed to help. I made sure that students felt safe sharing information by never tying my name to the pantry publicly and making sure the only one who knew the names and personal information about students was Mrs. Deans. Our first launch of the survey gave us 10 families with anywhere from 4-8 family members in need. By February of 2024 We had collected 256 cans and we sent out our first box to a family of six who needed food support immediately. The packing of that first box was when I began to have a true burning passion for the food pantry. We have collected thousands of items through generous donations by churches, students, and other community members. The pantry provides food to families every two weeks or as needed. This year has been extremely challenging with the food pantry because Mrs. Deans transferred to another school, meaning that I've had to find a new staff member to support the food pantry. Along with this, our school lost around 300 students due to redistricting which meant we have had to restart our list of families. Thankfully the CIS coordinator at my School and Assistant Principal, Michael Crosby, wanted to become involved in the pantry and have been extremely helpful with regaining the strength of the pantry this year. In the past 3 months we have been able to open the pantry to our feeder school within the community and it has inspired surrounding schools to start their own. The pantry was recently inspected by the Interfaith Food Shuttle to see if we were established enough to be supported by their services. I was so excited when I learned that the pantry had been approved and that the Interfaith Food Shuttle would be able to start supplying us with enough food items to support the pantry each month for the rest of its operation. This pantry has become one of the most important things to me and has made an impact on, not only the lives of others, but on my life as well. My work with the food pantry has helped me to identify a life goal to help others and to make a difference that is bigger than myself in my life’s work. I am extremely excited to continue this passion for helping feed my community beyond high school by hopefully becoming involved in the Carolina Cupboard at UNC Chapel Hill.