I've finished grading for the night, and I've put my children to bed. My partner is already asleep, with the cat curled on the bed next to them. I have that feeling of accomplishment, I think of all of the students I have helped throughout the day. I think about the lessons and instructions I gave, and the artists we're currently learning about in my Art History class. I wonder if my students are truly taking anything away from my teaching. I assure myself they are, as they always tend to enter and leave my classroom with smiles on their faces. My dream life is with my family, living in a big city. I hope to become an art teacher to further my passion in helping people. I'll have a Master's degree in Art Therapy to provide the most benefit to my students as possible. I'll spend any of my extra time running a non-profit for LGBTQ+ youth in my area. With this program, I would provide education to benefit the future of our community and our world.

I haven't always known what my career is going to be. In fact, for a while it changed quite frequently. I didn't know what I was interested in. Perhaps english, science, psychology, art? I felt that I was too much of a social and emotional butterfly to settle myself down into one spot forever. I wanted a job that I could connect with others, but also not have the same schedule every single day until I retire. I wanted to love what I do, but I didn't know what I loved. One day, I decided to make a list. What did I need in a career? I needed spontaneousness, some flexibility, but most importantly - I needed to be helping others. That was my passion. That was the thing that would always keep me going. My favorite way to help others is through teaching. I have future plans to become an art teacher and therapist, but currently to help others I tutor at my school and instruct paintings at my job. Seeing smiles on my students' faces brings me an utmost joy. I love providing that little spark that sends people on a creative journey in their paintings. When I instruct, I love hearing people laugh and giggle no matter what their paintings turns out to look like. When I tutor, I get to help students with subjects that I also struggled with as a student. That connection with others is something I can never give up. My favorite way to help others is to give my full attention to someone in need and hopefully make the world a better place at the end of the day.

A work of art that I have encountered in my life that is very important to me and has made a large impact on my feelings and expressions towards art is the painting series Femme Maison (1946-1947) by Louise Bourgeois. The first time I met Louis Bourgeois' art was in high school Academic Team, when she was one of our artists to study. Since then, I have found myself growing in fascination and appreciation for her and her work. Femme Maison translates to housewife, as Bourgeois portrays with the houses as the upper bodies of women. These paintings all include images of disfigured and a colorful range of women. The women in the paintings represent the female identity and the questioning of said identity. Some of the women seem to have houses or buildings in the place of their heads. These paintings are very important to me because they represent femininity, the stigma around being female, and the importance of emotion in art. Louise Bourgeois' art represents the difference between the mind, the body, and societal normalities. Her work is extremely influential on my own because she seems to have so much confusion in her work, yet at the same time an overwhelming amount of clarity depending on how you view the art. For me, Femme Maison represents women, gender roles, and gender identity. The series represents what it is like to be a woman and how women live through the lens of men. Louis Bourgeois has not just created a painting, she has molded something that sparks fear, anger, and frustration in every person who analyzes it. Femme Maison is a timeless series that is relatable, heartbreaking, and will continue to influence my career in art for the rest of my life.

Everyone wants to change the world. You'll find (especially when reading these essays) that there are only a select few that will actually manage to do it. What gives someone the encouragement to change the world? Maybe it's because they don't like how they are currently living. Maybe it's because they think it will give them a legacy. Whatever the reason, everyone has one. Everyone pictures how the world should be in their minds. Everyone lives inside of that future world when they don't want to look at the current one. I found that this was something I needed to stop doing. I needed to stop envisioning how I wanted things to look and start acting on those thoughts. Create the world you want to live. Write the story you want to read. My biggest artistic ambition is to change the world through art (there's a reason it's called an "ambition"). You're probably asking yourself, "How can someone change the world through a little canvas?" I've asked myself the same question over and over again. Here is what I have decided: The world is the canvas. That might also sound crazy, yes? The world is my canvas. I don't just create art on canvas, wood, or glass. I create a canvas with my words. I'm not only an artist, but a writer. A writer who wants to reach people through words. I want to change the world not only with my art, but with my books. If you've ever created art, you know it's vacillating. It's so time consuming and stressful, yet it feels so good to express yourself outside of the mind. It feels like you're bringing your soul to life with every brush stroke or every word. Art is expression, and vise versa. I don't feel like enough people know this. I'm fascinated by people, if you can't tell. I plan to go to college to study psychology. I want to then go on to graduate school and hopefully get my doctorate in clinical psychology. I want to continue to study humans, while also promoting art as the main form of expression. I want to write books, films, and perform research studies to prove that art is how humans talk to each other. Nonverbal communication isn't just body language, it's expression in art and writing. What is art expression, exactly? It's using a paintbrush to express hate instead of violence. It's letting out feelings and emotions through a poem instead of anger. The world needs to know how to use art expression. Not only do they need to know how to use it, but they need to know how to understand it. I feel that if people could understand each other through artistic expression we wouldn't be in some of the situations that we are in currently. Maybe we could have avoided a war or two. Maybe the world could learn to love one another again. Love and art. Those are two things that we don't even think about combining with politics. Love and art with politics is like pineapple on pizza. Maybe some people like it, but it's mostly frowned upon. I want to change this. In changing how we view art and political ideologies, I believe this will change the world. Now, I'm ambitious, but I don't overestimate my abilities. I know I'm one person. In nine years or so, I'll just be a woman with a PhD. You're probably wondering how I plan to change the whole world, when I'm just one person. This is when the psychology degree comes into play. I want to help people, that's always been my goal. As a clinical psychologist, I plan to practice counseling alongside my research. Helping one person at a time will be how I change the world. If I can help just one person with art, then they will be inclined to help others with art. I will teach my children and my nieces and nephews to express themselves through art. I will write papers and books that hopefully an artistic high schooler will find. They will learn how to express themselves through art. Maybe I'll even become a professor at a university and I'll be able to educate classrooms at a time. The world will express itself, one person at a time. This scholarship will not only help me bring this vision to life, but it will be the backbone of my vision. This scholarship would fund my college career and change the world.

"I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own." - Audre Lorde This is the quote that means a lot to me. It's one that runs through my head every day and every night. It's one that sticks with me whenever I am struggling or I see others struggling. It's one that I am reminded of whenever I face a problem because I am a woman. I am one woman. I experience struggles and difficulties and inequality, even as a high school student. We are one women. Together we feel this pain that has been building up for generations. I, like Audre Lorde, have decided that I am not free. I am not free because there are women that are unfree. Women face issues, even if we are in a free country. Our country may claim to be free, but we are not. We are not free while any woman is unfree. Freedom isn't always physical. It isn't always something that is tangible and visible. Freedom can be verbal, it can be emotional, and it can be invisible. Freedom isn't always waving a red, white, and blue flag while listening to the national anthem. Sometimes, it's breaking up from an abusive relationship or moving away from a town that has caused you harm. It could be that men are no longer withholding the right to vote from women in your country. Everyone's shackles are their own. Everyone is breaking these shackles differently. As a white citizen of the United States, I have to understand that I don't go through the same struggles that a black women of the same country might. We all have different battles, and we don't always get to pick our battles. What we do get to pick is which ones we fight. And, you are never contained to fighting only your own. I can fight for people that I am not. I can fight for black freedom in America and in the world. I can push for equality and never give up until we succeed. We can all stand up and demand that we are never free until every woman is free. "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. And I am not free as long as one person of Color remains chained. Nor is anyone of you. I speak here as a woman of Color who is not bent upon destruction, but upon survival." - Audre Lorde

The world is broken. Every once in a while, we are able to pick up a few pieces and put them back in place. Those pieces are never there for good, or even broken forever. The world has problems and always will have problems, but that doesn't stop people from choosing to fight for what's right. There will always be those that fight, and those that stand by and wait for the world to change. My answer for this essay question: most people don't want to acknowledge that there's a problem. Admitting that there's something wrong with the world means we have to admit that we've been doing a few (or many) things wrong. Self-incrimination is hard, but it's what we have to do in order to implement change. Change isn't possible without participation. We've all been able to learn this through a pandemic. Everyone has to wear a mask to stop the spread of this virus. Everyone has to get the vaccine in order to stop wearing masks. The problem in this situation is that not everyone wants to do those things. I've sat back and I've observed. I've seen the events of the women's rights movement, Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQIA+ community, and so many other minority groups. I've seen them fight for their lives and their freedoms and their rights. Nothing seems to change without everyone getting involved. Social injustice. Poverty. Climate change. Religious conflict. Rising crime rates. War. Violence. Hate. None of these things will ever stop, unless we stand up together and we fight. We need to admit our mistakes and learn from them. The biggest problem facing the world right now can be simplified to one word: disregard. Disregard for our Earth and for human life.

Bossy, controlling, annoying. All adjectives I have been described with in my lifetime. My name is Hannah, I'm a female, a junior, and an artist. I'm loud, talkative, and demanding. Or in other words, I'm a natural leader. In a situation where someone needs to step up, I give myself this role. I'm always looking to help other people and to make things better for everyone. I support Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, and the feminist movement. I can easily get myself into trouble with petty arguments over the dinner table or on the internet. I'm also confident, persuasive, and creative. My leadership is apart of who I am. People may not like it, or they may think I should 'dial it down', but I never will. I'm a woman, I'm expected to be submissive and quiet, but I simply won't. We all know that 2020 was quite the disaster. Everything fell apart all at once, ending all of our extra curricular activities. Of course COVID-19 is a serious issue that we all need to be worried about, but we still need to find a way to have fun through it all. I've been in our school's drama club since junior high. I've had many roles, including technological work. In the end, the stage is my favorite place to be. Coronavirus came around, and it ended all of our hopes of returning to that stage in the next year. Of course, this was upsetting and depressing to all of us. My natural leadership kicked in once I realized that we could still have Drama Club, even if it's not in person. A friend and I stepped up and created our very own virtual acting group. We would meet up once a week, sometimes on Google Meet - other times in person. We would all stay socially distanced, wear masks, and someone of would wear shields as well. We would play games and have theatre fun once a week. We were back doing what we loved, but it was missing something. The experience was there, but I felt that we could be making more out of this group. After a few weeks, I started a new part of the club. After a few games, we would now be having some educational lessons about acting, the stage, and shows in general. I showed the new junior high kids how to clean the stage, turn on and change the lights, move the curtains, apply stage makeup, and turn on stage microphones. I know, this all sounds so boring. Who wants to learn for fun? You'd be surprised. These kids hadn't learned much in the past few months because of remote learning. They didn't have contact with teachers, students, or anyone. They all loved learning the basics of stage management and tech crew. I also enjoyed being able to provide this opportunity for an amazing group of kids. After that, our school hired us a director. We are two weeks out from our performance of "Anne of Green Gables". Our new director couldn't believe how much everyone knew. We were able to jump right into working on this new show. I love being a leader. It's a part of me. Sometimes I might drive myself and others crazy, but being a leader will always be who I am. I love helping and interacting with people. I hope to pursue teaching and activism in my future and high school has prepared me for these future experiences.

A woman in my life that I admire would have to be my mother-in-law: Mellisa. Most people say that their mother-in-law scares them or they hate being in their presence, but for me it's completely different. I met her years ago when I was only in high school. From the beginning, she created an environment where I felt safe and cared for. She's a busy woman, always traveling and working on some new project. She works as a professor, but she's also a sexual assault prevention expert. She hosts events to teach college students (or anyone interested) how to non-violently protect themselves from a predator. From the moment I met her, I was intrigued with her work. She inspires me everyday, whether through her love for hiking or her amazing communication with her family and others. I've gone through a lot of hard times through my life experiences and she is there to help me through it all. My mother-in-law has greatly impacted who I am today. She came into my life because of my relationship with her son, but I would never want anyone else to be my mother-in-law. She's taught me how to be independent and strong while also being there for other people. She's encouraged me to be my own person and always speak out for what I believe in. She has supported my activism and my education. She has taught me how to be organized and ultimately happy in later life. Mellisa teaches Sociology, a subject that has greatly caught my interest. I plan to work with people all of my life. I want to be able to educate the next generation through teaching and I hope to have experience in social work so I can purse my activism. My mother-in-law is a huge part of that experience. I have learned so much from her that I plan to use in my future career.

Society can most effectively empower women by guaranteeing us safety and an effective platform to voice our opinions. Most women do want to speak up and say something about our personal rights, but we don't feel that we have a good way to do that. If we say what is really on our minds, like men do constantly, we are told that we are being bossy or controlling. Women in business and in any workforce are told that they have to be inferior to the men in charge, whether it's said blatantly or not. Women have so many obstacles to jump around and even when they finally gain a place of power, they are torn down by society. We deserve to be treated as equal to men in the household, in business, in politics, and - well - everywhere. There are so many women that feel like they are not empowered because of the gender, race, or sexuality that they were born as. One day I am going to apply for a job and there's a good chance that a man with the same qualifications as me is going to be paid more just because he is a man. We've lived in an established country for over 200 years and women are still settling with being inferior. Our generation is the one that has to fight this and gain women's safety and voice. Guaranteeing these ideas is going to take administrative command, but we also know that no laws will stop all discrimination. Activism needs to become a necessity in the United States. It needs to be supported everywhere so that strong women that want to take the charge can do it. We need to change the hearts of not only powerful individuals, but society as a whole. We need allies of other genders that are willing to step up and defend us. We all need to come together as one. We are women of the world, we do not separate by race or sexuality. We all have to fight together for our rights and leave no woman behind. Women are the backbone of this country and this world. This pandemic has made our movement shrivel but we can't let it end the fight. We need to continue to fight for equal pay, the end of domestic abuse, and basic human rights. The patriarchy rules over all of us until we can unite and change society. "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own." - Audre Lorde

I have had many teachers in my life that have helped me pursue higher education. There have been lots of people that help me explore different options for my future. As a high schooler, I have been looking into different careers that I might be interested in. Teaching has attracted me, but not without the influence of my current teachers. I have been cadet teaching in a Social Studies class in middle school. At first I wasn't sure it was for me, but the more I get to know the students and the teacher I am helping, Mr. Benken, the more interested I become. Mr. Benken has been honest with me about what teaching is like. There are bad days and there are frustrating, stressful parts of the job - but in the end you get to see students learn from you and improve because of your impact. When I started cadet teaching, I wasn't sure if I even enjoyed. With the help of Mr. Benken, I have been able to realize that I love teaching. I love interacting with the students, helping them with their assignments, and seeing them improve. I didn't know if I wanted to be a teacher, but now I understand that it's my passion. I haven't always wanted to go to college, but with the help of Mr. Benken, my other teachers, and my school guidance counselor, I have realized that I want to go to a 4-year public university. A new problem that has arisen for me after deciding that I want to go to college is how I'm going to pay for it. The cost of college is frustrating, stressful, and all together depressing. With the help of the staff at my school, I have been able to find ways that I can save money and stay away from debt for as long as possible. Mr. Benken and many other teachers at my school influence their students with great passion. I hope to one day apply this same passion in my classroom. I wouldn't be where I am today without my teachers. The ability to influence a whole generation of students is something that only a few people in the world can do - teachers being a large percentage of those people. My desire to educate in the future allows me to appreciate everything that my teachers do for me now. Despite being one of the most important parts of everyone's life, teaching is not as appreciated as it should be. We all need to take a moment to thank our teachers, and every day we need to strive to be more like the superheros that taught us everything we know.

Worrying about events that haven't or might not happen. Thinking about things that have nothing to do with your day or even your life. Intrusive thoughts, excessive sweating, tapping your foot until it goes numb. I live with undiagnosed anxiety. I am stuck in my own head, without treatment and without help. This has strained so many of my relationships. My boyfriend struggles to understand how to help me. My mom doesn't think that my mental illness is a problem. This has caused me more pain than my actual anxiety. In result, I have had to deal with my untamed mental illness everyday. I can feel it getting worse, but I know I have to keep braving the fight until I can get myself help. Some days, intrusive thoughts are quiet. Other days, they are screaming in my head and I can't avoid them. This brings my focus away from my school work, my relationships, and everything else. The thoughts tell me that I'll never be able to be anything. I've had to learn how to control these thoughts without medication or therapy. When I'm in school I need to put in my earbuds, play calming music, and do my work before I never touch it again. I have to ignore the comments and actions of other people and I have to continuously remind myself that not everyone hates me. No one is staring at me, no one cares what I'm doing. I have to repeat these phrases until it's all I think about. No one is staring, no one cares what I'm doing. Still, I feel that everyone's eyes are stinging into me. I worry about what they're thinking. Are they staring at a stain on my shirt? Is my hair messy? Is my makeup smeared? These intrusive thoughts take over and I can no longer understand the assignment in front of me. I can't remember what I was working on or how to solve the math equation. I can't trust anyone around me, not my family, my friends, my partner. Mental health has not only affected my relationships, it has caused them to deteriorate. I also need relationships in my life. There are some people that have stuck around and done everything they can to reassure me that I'm loved. When I turn away from my friends, they pull me right back. In the end, my mental illness has helped me realize who is really there for me. My friends are there for me and I'm there for them. Everyone deserves treatment for their mental health. No one should have to suffer everyday with thoughts of depression, worry, and intrusive thoughts because they can't afford a tiny white pill to take every morning. I shouldn't have to worry that I'll be living my whole life undiagnosed and untreated because I can't pay the doctor bills. Experiencing mental health has helped me realize that I believe in free healthcare. I believe that everyone deserves the right to life happy, healthy, and without debt. It shouldn't be an argument of money or politics, it should be a discussion of human life. We live in a country where it brings people into debt to ride in an ambulance to the hospital. It's more expensive to give birth in a hospital than it does to pay for a funeral. Do we really live somewhere where life is valued less than death? Mental health has helped me understand my beliefs when it comes to free healthcare. When I graduate high school, I hope to go to college - if I can find the money or get the loans - and I want to study education. When I graduate college, I want to be a teacher. I used to think that I would be able to get help for my anxiety during college. Then, I realized that would be impossible. I'll be broke and straying further and further into debt. If I won't be able to afford my meals, forget doctor bills. I'll again be struggling with undiagnosed, untreated anxiety and depression in my college education. In about 5 or 6 years, I'll be looking for a teaching job. I'll be google-searching for a middle school Social Studies job near me. I'll be wondering if I can possibly offer a decent education to students. The more I think about it, there might be students in my classroom struggling with their mental health, too. They might be just like me and they might be sitting there wondering if they'll ever make it in the world. Maybe they've decided that they won't. Maybe they have decided that they aren't worth living. There could be a student sitting in my class that is debating suicide. They think that no one understands them and no one is there for them. They think that they are alone in the world and no one is feeling what they are feeling. Students need teachers that understand mental health, whether they have personally gone through it or if they have seen people go through it. I could help those students that are struggling with their self worth. Eventually, I'll be able to afford that little white pill that I'll take every morning. I'll be able to afford the doctor visits and the diagnosis that they give me. One day I'll be able to handle my thoughts and feelings, and when I stand in front of a classroom I'll be able to tell those students that they can do it. Things will get better. There are people that are there for you. Your parents, your friends, your loved ones - they all love you. And if nothing else, I love you. My job is to teach and mentor, but really my job is to make a difference in every student. Yes, having mental health problems is terrible, but in the end - I can be the change.

My vision for my future in the arts and personal development includes continuing my work in painting, and also becoming a middle school Social Studies teacher. Social Studies might not seem like a 'creative' job, but I plan to incorporate arts into history and sociology. Society is a beautiful thing that should be explored in order to understand history. I believe that art is many times overlooked when it comes to studying society and history, but it's really a large part of it's understanding. Discovering my own sexuality has changed my view of art, and history. I've struggled to know who I am my entire life. Coming out as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community has been the first step in understanding myself. Last year I came to the realization that I am bisexual, and this has changed my life entirely. I can understand the carefree flow of what sexuality really is. Through art and education I have been able to express this understanding. Through teaching, I want to help my students understand individuality and uniqueness. I want my students to become active participants in politics, science, and in the world. Understanding sexuality and personal expression has lead to a greater love for art, and a greater love for teaching. I believe that teaching is an art of its own. I see students every day that are struggling with topics and ideas. There are some teachers that have mastered the art of helping students understand different subjects. I work in a cadet teaching classroom and everyday I see how important it is that teachers understand art and individuality. Students, especially middle school students, are going through a lot when it comes to understanding themselves. Expression is extremely important for a new teenager. Teachers provide guidance to these students, and they cannot guide effectively if they can't sympathize. Teachers have to be able to feel what their students feel, and that's where art plays a role. Art's definition is expression. Art is needed because there is a great amount of creativity when it comes teaching. To become a teacher, education is necessary. This provides as a challenge in itself. I love to learn and get the most out of education, but paying for college is an issue for me. Every penny of this scholarship would be going to my education to become a teacher. Teaching isn't promoted as an art as much as it should be in my opinion. With this scholarship, I would be able to promote the idea that art is used in all kinds of different careers, even if they don't create art directly. I know I'm not planning on becoming a painter or a graphic designer, but art will still be one of the most important component of my future career. I want to create a classroom that provides opportunities for my students and a place that they feel safe to express who they are - not matter what that expression is. I want my understanding of history and art to have an impact on students for years to come. I have a passion for art, and my form of expression is through educating the next generation.

I am proud to be a woman because I can fight first hand for my rights. I am proud to be a woman because I can do anything I set my mind to, even if I have to work harder than a man. I am proud to be a woman because I have the power to change the world. Instagram: hannahlc22 Twitter: hannahlauray Facebook: hannah.coe.718

When I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to tell my story. Over the year, I found that it was difficult to balance school and writing - so I joined a competition called National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write 50,000 words by the end of the month. That's 1,667 words per day for 30 days. It took three years to master NaNoWriMo but, in November of 2020, I did it. I wrote 50,000 words in 30 days and I now have a good start to publishing my writing. This is my greatest accomplishment.