When I was growing up, my grandparents took me camping and as we were leaving my grandpa said we gotta leave this better than we found it, and this saying has been a core belief of mine. My main goal in life, is to leave my community and home better than I found it. This core belief was compounded by PBS’s Wild Kratts and the vast amount of wildlife documentaries I watched growing up, to love nature. This love of nature has stuck with me, my entire life, but the thought of proving for my family with a good paying job took over my focus, for a period in my life. This changed when i was introduced to landscape architecture. This field has given me hope, that I can be surrounded by what I love, nature, turn it into an art form, all while conserving nature, and having enough for my family to not worry about finances. How I plan to make a difference is a four part answer. The first part I have already started on doing, it is to join and be active in a conservation group. I have joined a conservation group called Western Watersheds, and through this group I have volunteered my time to try and conserve our public lands from overgrazing, and from the destruction of our national parks. This leads me onto step two, travel throughout our great nation, to understand the vast beauty it possesses. I believe that you cannot help others, unless you have helped yourself first, so if I do not understand, and have a personal perspective of these landscapes, how can I fight for them. The third and arguably the most important, is to continue conservation through my work, and while doing that continue the fight for nature. This includes, ensuring environments are not being harmed by the specific plants I choose for landscapes, and the use of local botany is a necessity. Going off of that, is the need to continue to protest, and contact my local representatives to ensure the focus on Mother Nature. This fight doesn’t stop with the change of presidents, it doesn’t stop with the change in my local representatives, it stops when people stop caring. I wont be that person. Finally, the last part of my plan is to keep my core belief, to leave this place better than I found it, I will leave this nation, this community, better than I found it. If you have any other questions please reach out to gunnercavener@gmail.com.

Having multiple of everything is my normal. Two Christmas’s, two birthdays, two different schedules. I live at my mom’s house Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and my dad’s the rest of the time. I have lived my entire life this way, being the middle man between two people who hate each other. From comforting my mom about my father’s narcissistic tendencies, to delivering information from my dad to my mom, because he won’t communicate with her. This has created me to be adjusted to constantly moving, constantly needing to do something. Whether that is the same chores again that I just did at the other parent’s house, or if it’s trying to lead throughout my community, I am always longing for more. That transferred over incredibly well over to my professional life. Despite the fact that I have not started my professional life, I have started creating the building blocks that will jumpstart my career. My end goal for my life is to own an architecture firm. Until then I am planning on going to the University of Idaho to dual major in Architecture and Business Management. Circling back on the building blocks I developed, I was in a uber competitive leadership program called Leadership Boise Academy, and I was in an architecture devolpment program called ACE. Throughout my life I have always had two, so it gave me the ability to look into the future, and aim higher than my peers. If you have any other questions please reach out to gunnercavener@gmail.com.

My name is Gunner Cavener, and I am an almost-graduated senior at Renaissance High School in Idaho. I have spent my whole life serving my community in one way or another. If you’d like me to go into greater detail, just contact me at gunnercollege@gmail.com. I’d be happy to share more. Growing up, it felt like I had three sets of parents: my mom, my dad and stepmom, and my grandparents. It was like living in three different worlds. Every summer, my grandparents would take me camping. As we were packing up one time, my grandpa said something that stuck with me: “We gotta leave this better than we found it.” That simple phrase has been a core belief of mine ever since. My grandparents helped nurture my natural curiosity about the world and how I fit into it. Life with my mom wasn’t always easy. She struggled with depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember, whether it was dealing with the stress of co-parenting with my dad or trying to make it on her own as a single mom. She survived, and honestly, that’s all anyone could have asked of her. My father battled alcoholism for most of my life. He may not call it that, but I do. Growing up around that made me realize early on that my parents’ actions were not my fault. I learned that I didn’t have to carry their burdens. All I had to do was be unapologetically myself. What separates me from other applicants are three core beliefs I live by: First, to show up for myself, so that I can show up for others. Second, to leave my community and home better than I found it. Third, to wake up every day and give it everything I have. All of this has led me to pursue a career in landscape architecture. I want to design spaces that incorporate the beauty of nature into the everyday lives of people — spaces that feel both wild and welcoming. I believe that the places we live, work, and play in should inspire us to be better stewards of the earth and of each other. And just like my grandpa taught me, I plan to leave this world, and my community better than I found it. Thank you for your time, if you have any other inquiries, do not hesitate to reach out to me at gunnercollege@gmail.com.

Why? Because LeBron is the greatest person to touch a basketball. LeBron floats through the air to yunk on anyone. He is the most clutch basketball player of all time. LeBron chooses what shot he wants. LeBron invests in his body and it shows. I love singing LeBron parodies, with Man on the Lakers being my favorite. LeBron is what peak athletic performance is, at age 40. It is a hobby of mine to debate old heads that LeBron is the goat, because he is. LeBron despite his amazing play on the court, LeBron is a role model for young kids. He has no controversies, no accusations, nothing that hurts his character. Beyond all of that, he is a cultural icon as well. The Lebrawn James meme is still flourishing, TACOOOOOO TUESSSSDAYYY still makes me chuckle. It made national news when he went to wwe before he was drafted. He made the Gatorade cover, as a high schooler. He did all of this, while not having everything given to him as a kid. He didn’t come from the fanciest of houses, or Beverly Hills, but he is still the GOAT. Despite not having a father, LeBron acts as a father figure for not only his kids, but other young kids around the world.