I've learned what makes me happy. This might sound simple and obvious knowledge, everyone knows of something that makes them happy, but I've made a list of things I do that make me happy. I love to dance, bake, sing, clean, and hang with friends. I've also realized I am happier in a clean environment, and organized and structured life. I learned to have compassion for myself. Being okay with not having a good day or not finishing the assignment I wanted to be completed that day. I changed how I talked about myself and others by choosing to say "silly" instead of "stupid" or "dumb." I set expectations every day, especially if I know I'm going to be anxious. These are little bare minimum things that I expect of myself. I was really nervous for my first day back in-person class this semester; the expectation for the day was to show up. I didn't have to talk or ask questions, I simply needed to show up. This has helped me to accomplish goals for myself as well. Having an expectation to answer one question in class helps me get more comfortable with participating. Daily expectations give me small achievable steps towards my goals that are realistic as well as help me feel accomplished. I spent hours reflecting on what improved my mood and giving detailed descriptions of what each meant to me and how I apply them in my life.

I think the biggest problem facing the world right now is selfishness. People in the world tend to do things that only benefit themselves at the expense of others or without thinking of the effect their actions could have on others. Through patience, I believe we can all become a little less selfish. If you take a few seconds to reflect on what you want to do you will be able to determine if it is only beneficial to you or if it would be fair to others. If you are patient with the people you interact with you could make their day just a bit easier. I try to be patient when taking orders with every guest I care for at work. If a mother has screaming kids, I give her as much time as she needs to gather the kid's orders. I could just as easily roll my eyes, look bored and annoyed, but I choose not to, it won't help the mother's situation, she will only feel worse. Being patient with others leads to having the space to understand others and what they are going through. Patience leads to kindness and love. With more love and understanding in the world, there is less fighting, less war, less contention. If everyone were to be less selfish the world could be a better, happier place to live. In addition to being patient with others, it is important to be patient with yourself, have compassion for your mishaps, and accept that it is okay to make mistakes and to learn from them. Life becomes so much easier when we are patient with ourselves. Patience is the key to overcoming selfishness.

Being independent means making decisions for yourself, being able to financially support yourself. This means freedom to do what I want, it also means risk, making bigger, heavier decisions. I prepare to be independent by saving money, finding ways to support myself through college, collecting things I'll need when I move out. I also set boundaries for myself, what situations I am uncomfortable with doing and want to stay away from (drugs, alcohol). Independence to me means not having to ask permission to do everything I want to. To me, it even means choosing when to study, cook, hang out with friends. Independence means gaining more freedoms with more responsibility, realizing the consequences of every choice, and being ok with those choices, and being able to live with them. It's scary and exciting. Exciting to be able to make those fun decisions but scary to figure out how to make the hard decisions.

Spending time with my family makes me happy. Decorating for the holidays, baking cookies, making dinner, cleaning, watching movies, playing games, anything I do that allows me to spend time with my family. It makes me happy to serve others, help them when they are in need, or brighten someone's day. Knowing I can positively impact someone's day or make their life a little easier through simple and heartfelt actions. Accomplishing personal goals and self-care are things that I can do for myself that I find joy in. I find joy in seeing snow appear on the mountains, or when adults jump off the curb like children, or people parking in the shade of trees on hot sunny days, seeing people enjoy the cold (rosy cheeks and noses). I love looking for the little random things that make me smile, adding them to my list, and rereading the list when I'm sad.

To say I show love the same way to all those I love would be a lie. The way people feel love is classified in 5 different ways; physical touch, quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, and receiving gifts. I know my friend Natalie feels loved when people spend quality time with her. As we live in different states we cannot spend time in person, but we have found ways to hang out together despite the challenge of there being a few thousand miles between us. On days when we are both frees we call and talk, we often facetime and watch movies together using the Disney plus group watch function. My mom's love language is acts of service, I clean the house for her when it gets messy and she is busy. Where these 5 love languages express how we feel love they do also express how we show love. I receive and show love through physical touch, hugs, kisses on cheeks, snuggles, holding hands, high fives, fist bumps. I think it is important when showing love you understand how they feel loved but also how you show you love them. As I show love through physical touch it is important for my mom to know when I hug her I am showing her I love her, just as it is important for me to know she feels love when I perform acts of service for her.

Friendship is love, it is understanding someone, and taking all of them how they are. A good friend will listen to you, they adapt to accommodate you as you should adapt to accommodate them. Friendship to me means people to lean on when times are hard. Friends support each other. I have a friend that works for a brand to sell their product, in order to support her I purchased some of these items. Supporting a friend doesn't always mean buying things from them, I can support her by helping to promote the company, leaving good reviews on the products I did buy, direct other people to the company and my friend. Being a good friend also means thinking of them, reaching out if you haven't heard from them in a while. Letting them know you are thinking about them and care. As humans, we want to matter to someone, to be important to them, and connect with them. To be a good friend it's to give and take, to let them know they matter to you and to know you matter to them.

I have found my favorite way to help others is to be better for them, to listen to their problems, give advice if wanted. Working at Chick-fil-A, we try to serve all those that come, not only by means of serving food but trying to improve their day with just a few quick interactions. Sometimes all someone needs are someone to listen to them, relate to, or try to understand where they are coming from. Patience plays a big part in this, listening to someone takes patience to listen to everything they are saying. Not just hearing what they are telling you but trying your best to understand, asking clarifying questions so they know you are trying to understand them. I have found this not only my favorite way to help others but also the most beneficial, by listening to them you allow them to vent, you also learn what you can do to help them.

I love organizing, cleaning, and scheduling out my life. I am known to say my room is messy when in reality my bed isn't made and I've left a few things on my desk, typically not what you'd consider really messy, but I can't stand it. I have found that a cleanroom often helps me have a clear mind. I am able to focus better on my tasks and thing better. I schedule out my weeks, starting with my work schedule, then scheduling my schoolwork around that, estimating how long it will take me. This helps to keep my life balanced and make sure all my assignments get done. To improve my skill or organization, I continue to try new ways that might work better for me. The amazing part about organizing your life is that it is unique to you, what works for you might not work for everyone, but that's okay because it just has to work for you.

"You can do hard things, but you do not have to do them alone." You aren't alone in this world. You don't have to face life's challenges alone. You can rely on friends or family members to help you out. I always tried to figure stuff out on my own, I liked being able to solve my problems and that sense of accomplishment I got from it. As I got older life got harder, school got harder, my dad had a stroke and his recovery was long, difficult, and don going. I began to feel alone like no one understood me. To me this sentence was my mantra, I recognized I can still do the hard things I wanted, I could still overcome my challenges but I didn't have to do them alone. I could rely on the relationships I have built with my family and friends. When I realized my mental health was declining, I got a therapist because I knew I didn't have to deal with my mental health alone, I can get the help I need. I think that it is important for people to remember that they don't have to go through life alone, there are people that want to help them, people that can help them, and it's ok to reach out to them and ask for help.

Life is about rewarding yourself. For big accomplishments or doing something you didn't want to but needed to get done, a little reward at the completion of the task keeps me motivated to get things done. The reward changes based on how big the task is, for example finishing a school assignment might get a cookie, 30 min on social media, or a call with a friend. For a bigger task such as completing a class, I am struggling with and am not enjoying, with a passing grade, I might allow myself to go get a massage. It all depends on what makes it worth it to me. Now a reward system is great for daily tasks or short-term goals, but when I find myself lacking the motivation to complete these tasks, even with the thought of a reward, I remember what I want in life, the bigger goals I have, the dreams, hopes, and visions I have of my future. I want to be a pediatric dental hygenist, I want to build a house, I want to be financially secure. I think about these things I want and remember that the steps I am taking now will get me to those goals. Yes, school is hard, and general ed sucks, but the classes I can't wait to take the classes that will build my knowledge and allow me to be a dental hygenist. Having a job will allow me to accumulate money and save it, spend it wisely, and be able to buy what I want. I search floor plan layouts that I like, saving them to Pinterest boards, or build houses on the sims to experiment with layouts. In conclusion, I am motivated by both a small rewards system and planning for the future.

As someone who loves to serve others, it is easy to forget about my wants or needs. I confused myself that taking care of others is taking care of myself. Something I did to take care of myself is set boundaries, recognizing that setting time aside for myself is okay and that I need time that is mine and only mine where I don't have to meet the demands others have for me. It took months of therapy for me to be okay with giving up time for others to make time for me. In practice, it's me reducing my work schedule, scheduling out time for my school work, so that I can have time for myself to do what I want to do. These boundaries I am setting are me learning to say no more often. I often get to the point where I can't handle any more tasks but will still accept responsibilities. In being able to say "no" and give me time for myself I feel less stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious. This has impacted my life in that I recognize it is just as important to take care of yourself as it is to help others.

In a world where we have answers to any question we have with a touch of a few buttons, patience is easily forgotten and dismissed. Everyone needs patience at times. It's important to be patient with everyone you encounter because you never know what kind of day they are having, but patience is important to be because we often forget to be patient with ourselves. Sometimes I expect the best from myself when I'm not able to give my best. When battling a feeling of depression and working your way out of that pit, patience is extremely important. You can't expect to be better right away or expect it to last. Be patient when you experience relapse. A big part of learning this patience is not judging yourself. This has been a hard one for me to learn, self-criticism is harmful and it's not something others can usually see. It is a mental battle that is constantly being fought, trying to get better, but it takes time and patience. I've been in therapy since February of 2021, I have worked on my mental health and have made improvements, but it's a journey I am still on and working through. It's a process that takes place every day, rewiring my brain to think positively. It takes a lot of patience for me to wait through this process to get back to the person I want to be and have grace for myself on the days that I struggle. It's important to learn to be patient with yourself in every stage of life and not judge yourself for where you are.

The song that inspires me the most is "Gonna Be Okay" by Brent Morgan. This song is an anthem to my heart and soul. This song talks about how life is overwhelming, the voices in your head won't quit, and you feel alone. The most important message in this song is "don't give up on you". In my senior year, my dad suffered from a stroke. It was a rough time for me and my family we were functioning, but COVID-19 happened and my friends and support system were taken from me. Another trial felt impossible to survive, this song was my anthem and my hope. I listened to every day in quarantine, at 2 am when I felt desperately alone. In a time where I felt like I had lost everything the words "If its the last thing that you do, don't give up on you" were the words that gave me hope and direction. I didn't want to lose myself amid everything that I already lost, so I held onto the hope that I would feel like myself again. I've since gone to therapy and have been finding my way back to who I am, but without this song and this anthem, I don't know if I would be where I am today, with the hope I have and the plans for the future.

Being optimistic used to come easy to me. As a child and through my early teens most people would describe me as "Happy Hailey", their "ray of sunshine", even as a baby my nickname was smiley. As I have faced trials and gone through a pandemic I realized it was a lot harder to keep that optimistic attitude that came so naturally before. Some things that I have done to remain optimistic have been to do an activity daily that brings me joy and review my plans for the future, adjusting them if needed. I have also relied on my faith and testimony of God, trusting in his plan. These give me hope and strength to endure through my trials. Something that I've learned from being an optimist is, life is more enjoyable when you are happy, hopeful, and focused on a goal. When I lose track of my goals I often find myself feeling lost with no direction. I use my goals to anchor me to life and keep me moving forward rather than becoming stagnant and unchanging in life.

I want to impact people to do better, be their best selves, and love that part of themselves. In being a mentor to others I want to instill confidence in them, let them grow and discover. I want them to have a desire to impact others and serve them. I believe in leading by example, by showing others that being kind and helpful is an amazing way to live. When I talk to people younger than me I try to encourage them to accomplish their goals especially if they feel like no one is supporting them in their decisions. I drive girls to school for their parents and I always try to encourage them to make good choices while empathizing with them about their struggles. I let them be heard and have a space they can be themselves, so I can get to know them and what they are going through while offering helpful advice about how they can handle the situation or their emotions. I want people to know that they are heard, to know they aren't alone, and that they can accomplish their goals.

Tarred, feathered, and persecuted for his beliefs Joseph Smith persevered through his trials and did what he needed to restore the gospel. He is a great example of persevering through trials when all odds are against you. He was a martyr, and there is something beautiful about standing up for something that you believe in, not letting others dictate who you are and what you can or can't believe in. He went through a lot of hard things but he never gave up, he never said 'this is too hard-I can't do it.' He was so determined to do the right thing, even after he was put in jail for his beliefs. Joseph also had a love for serving others and it was a big part of who he was. He was continually helping people who were sick, building houses, and protecting the people who were following him. Service is such an overlooked deed and it can impact people's lives significantly. Between small acts that can make someone's day better and bigger acts that can improve a person's life. I share in this love of service and admire that trait in others. He knew what he was doing was right and wasn't going to let others persuade him into saying that it wasn't. Doing difficult things is hard but not impossible. He had a question and ended up starting a church that is still active almost 200 years later. I admire Joseph Smith because of his courage to be himself, determination to get things done, perseverance through trials, and love for serving others.