Throughout my 18 years, I have looked up to many people and have had numerous role models. I admire my father: his dedication to family, outstanding work ethic, and selflessness inspire me every day to be a better son, friend, and person. Globally influential people like Bill Gates and Elon Musk display the qualities of tenacity and learning from failure while simultaneously living the American dream, inspiring millions like me to take their futures into their own hands. Others like Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi moved billions of people and shifted public opinion on social issues solely with their voices, epitomizing the idea of "making a difference." These men have been role models in my life for as long as I can remember, guiding my actions, decision-making and instilling in me the goal of building something bigger than myself. However, on some November day in 2016, I gained a new, less cliche role model. My family and I packed up the car with some candy and blankets and made our way to the movie theater. We bought our tickets, picked out our seats, and began watching the new release "Hacksaw Ridge,"; a movie about World War II, and the film that changed my life. If you have ever seen the movie, you know of the main character Desmond Doss and his incredible life story. Desmond was born in a small town in Virginia in 1919 and was raised as a strong Christian with a huge heart, walking miles weekly to donate blood and always finding ways to help others. In 1942, Desmond joined the army to serve his country in World War II and fought as an Army Corporal combat medic in the Battle of Okinawa. Desmond's strong Christian morals prevented him from holding a gun or killing in combat. Instead, he focused on saving people, saying, "With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together." Despite harassment, shamming, physical abuse, and legal efforts to keep him out of the army due to his lack of rifle training, Desmond finished basic training and was deployed to Okinawa. Here at Okinawa, Desmond's leadership, courage, and selflessness shined as he risked his life to help save American and Japanese soldiers on the battlefield. On the night the Japanese soldiers retook the ridge, Desmond remained and began finding and lowering injured soldiers into the arms of medics at the bottom where they were treated. During that single night, Desmond saved the lives of at least 75 men while on enemy lines while speaking the now-famous prayer, "Lord, help me get one more." Desmond's incredible acts of heroism earned him the Medal of Honor; the highest military decoration awarded to service members. My goal in life is to be more like Desmond Doss, and I hope one day I get the chance to meet him in heaven. His undying dedication to God and Christian morals even in the face of death epitomize the meaning of a "Christian," in my opinion. He had a perfect balance of mental/emotional strength and humility which pushed him to his limits while always asking for God's help and guidance. I can only hope to one day harness the patriotism he displayed, and his remarkable accomplishments on the battlefield are the most honorable of such. While others are praised for killing, Desmond made a difference by saving and piecing the world together, one person at a time. Desmond's life can only be characterized as one given to service, both for his country and his fellow neighbor. Desmond's life inspires me every day to trust in God, stay convicted to my morals, and find every opportunity possible to help others. I try to incorporate the morals Desmond stood for in all I do. His strong commitment to family pushed me to choose to spend my time with my family over all else and focus on being the best son and brother I can be. His faith in God inspires me to go to church every Sunday, pray regularly, and allow God's words to guide my decision-making. Finally, his extraordinary patriotism and huge heart motivate me to find the career in which I will most positively impact my country and as many people as possible. He alone caused me to shift my career goal from an ordinary professional investor to a high-quality, sustainability investor who focuses on changing the world for the better. It was these ideals Desmond instilled in me which enabled me to stay strong, keep my faith in God, and focus on restoring peace in my community when I lost my best friend to a drug overdose in 2019. When I was broken, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, the only way I could keep pushing to the next day was by doing what Desmond did, trusting in God. In doing so, I realized I could begin to help others heal just as I was. Through song, I could help guide others to a healed, better life. While my seemingly significant actions could never be compared to Desmond's, I hope my continued dedication to the morals he held could one day propel me to making an impact such as his. But in the end, It is not about what we do but about who we touch. Desmond's true impact lies in the millions of Americans he inspired to be better Christians, neighbors, servicemen, and people. If I could have only one wish, I would be to create something that will outlive me; a plan, an equation, a dream, a system, a principle, or anything in between which could bring good to this world long after I leave it. The only way to accomplish such a task is to live by the guiding principles great leaders like Desmond Doss have laid in front of me and to dedicate my life to service just as he did.

In the words of Savielly Tartakower, "Chess is a fairy tale of 1,001 blunders". Chess is all about making mistakes. Every single game I play, I make numerous mistakes that could have won me the game or lost me the match. As in anything else where failure is the most common outcome, it is crucial in Chess to learn from one's mistakes. Understanding how each piece, move, and tactic aligns with a strategy to win the game is essential to mastering this incredible game, and the only way to do so is to fail repeatedly. As someone who hates failure more than anything else, I did not think Chess would be a game for me. Having to compete in one-on-one matches online to fight for a higher Elo score to prove my ability did not seem like a task I would enjoy. After losing my first five to ten games, I got frustrated, sick of losing, and feeling like an idiot; I put down my phone and walked away. But day after day, for some unknown reason, I would open the chess.com app, tap on the random opponent button, and listen for the distinct click. I realized I was hooked. I hated losing with a passion, but I loved winning even more. As Chess built a competitive fighting spirit inside me, my love for the game grew, puzzle after puzzle, lesson after lesson, match after match. Chess taught me failure is inevitable; no one is perfect. Even Bobby Fisher and Magnus Carlson have made mistakes, blundered their queens, and lost countless games. Through playing Chess, I have learned how to accept failure, but more importantly, learn to grow from failure—altering mistakes into lessons, blunders into new ideas, and losses into knowledge. This change in thinking has also helped me in my career. Entrepreneurship is very similar to Chess; players make a million mistakes, the game seems almost impossible, and everywhere you look, there is someone bigger and better than you, ready to compete. Formulating the strategy for success in Chess, learning from failing has inspired me to continue my entrepreneurial pursuits even in the face of failure. While running my business Alpha Bears while being a full-time student, two-sport varsity athlete, and honor roll student often seems impossible, Chess taught me never to give up. The game taught me that no matter how lost it may look, no matter how many mistakes you make, you can always learn, and you always have a chance to succeed when you learn. However, while never giving up and constantly learning from mistakes is an important lesson, it can be learned from many different activities. The most unique and impactful lesson I've learned from Chess is to always think ahead. As Charles Buxton said, "In life, as in chess, forethought wins." I quickly realized it is impossible to win a Chess game without clearly developing a plan consisting of 3-10 well-thought-out moves. While I practiced forethinking during chess games, I began to do the same in ordinary life. Chess taught me the same principle applies to life; without a clear plan, success is impossible. No matter what I do, I always try to think of my plan, my next move, the "opponents" reaction. This practice has begun to make a significant impact in my life, particularly my relationships. Whether it's in my business, in school, or at sports practice, I constantly think about what I am doing and how I am impacting others. The importance of understanding how others may react to my actions cannot be overstated. Not only does it allow me to anticipate seemingly unpredictable responses, but It also allows me to be self-conscious in my decision-making and maximize the positive influence I have on others. By looking ahead, I can understand how others will react to my actions; therefore, I can make the best decisions possible. As I said before, this helps me at school and in my business significantly but is most beneficial in my relationships as I can minimize my poor actions and maximize the steps towards my plan. I have no doubt the critical lessons I've learned from Chess will significantly benefit my future career, life, and relationships. Chess is so much more than a simple game I play in my free time. It has become a tool to help form and strengthen relationships, diversify my learning, practice growing from failure, and develop a forethinking, self-conscious mind.

Finally, It was my turn. I grabbed the colorful infographic, opened my enchanting presentation, and began speaking. "The age of choking down disgusting powdered pre-workout in far in the past. I present to you Power Pills". The convincing words effortlessly flowed out of my mouth as I became increasingly energetic. When the roles switched, and I listened to my peers' presentations, I felt an enlightened new mindset wash over me as I began to think like an investor. It was during this fateful project that I pinpointed my undying love of business. Sales and Marketing was vastly different from any other class I've ever been in. While other classes listened to boring lectures, took hundreds of pages of notes, and spent hours doing mindless busy work, this class took an alternative route. My fantastic teacher Mrs.Gullikson understood authentic learning comes from developing interest and complementing it with constant trial and error. In this class, we focused on developing skills we will use daily in a business-related profession. We practiced giving daily classroom briefings to simulate being a manager, created financial statements for real-life companies, and watched The Apprentice every Friday as a fun yet informative diversification of education. Mrs. Gullikson did not assign these tasks because they were easy or took up loads of class time; she assigned them because they prepared us for the future better than anything else. She found a unique way to make classroom learning interesting by changing the scenery every day. We never knew what we might have to do that day in class; giving speeches, making presentations, or learning new topics were all on the table. She kept us on edge, and by doing so, she made me interested in the topics we were studying. Most notably, Mrs. Gullikson was the first teacher not to give instructions. When other teachers gave word counts, clear-cut commands, and easy-to-follow steps with examples, Mrs. Gullikson said, "find a way." She taught me to use creativity, intuition, and showmanship in all I do and never be scared to fail. She showed me how to embrace failure and always learn from it. Mrs. Gullikson, through all the aforementioned ways, taught me what higher education truly looks like and, by doing so, created my love for business and finance. As I've become closer with Mrs. Gullikson has taught me even more lessons about life. For example, she always encourages me never to be restricted by a career. She preaches about the millions of issues that need solving and the millions of people working jobs for 30-years that they hate. When I talked to her about attending Indiana University, she was ecstatic about my chance to develop perspective while receiving an extraordinary degree at a top-notch university. She was so happy; she even wrote me a letter of recommendation, reviewed my essays, and helped me apply. A single essay or even an entire lifetime cannot sufficiently explain the massive impact Mrs. Gullikson has made on my life. She completely changed my view on learning, created my love for business, introduced me to my future career, pushed me to pursue higher education to solve the world's more significant issues, and taught me never to fear failure. When I think back to the Power Pills presentation I made in her class; I realize the million small and large things Mrs. Gullikson did to influence my life and become the most impactful person I've met throughout my high school career. Thanks to her relentless dedication to my education and career, I have become who I am today, and I could not be more grateful.

“An investment in education always pays the highest returns” - Benjamin Franklin Sophomore year I enrolled in the epitome of an impactful class, the backbone of my high school career, a life-changer: Sales and Marketing. The combination of classroom learning, interactive projects, and practical education drove my interests in business while developing a base to grow future knowledge. Due to Sales and Marketing, I joined DECA and was exposed to my business family. The competitive facet of business captivated my ambitious mindset and hooked me immediately. While I learned about business in school, I was met with a real-life problem. My Aunt was in deep financial trouble, with over $19,000 in back taxes and no knowledge of saving or investing. With help from my grandfather, I stepped in and began budgeting for my Aunt, teaching her the habits of financial responsibility. Up until then, I did not understand the urgency nor the extent of the economic problems plaguing our society. $1.7 Trillion in student loan debt, 44% of Americans not invested in the stock market, $27 Trillion national debt, the list continues. I realized financial problems were not limited to my Aunt, they were everywhere, and they impacted everyone. Financial instability is a massive liability for the U.S and her people, not to mention the importance of strong finances in philanthropist counties to developing nations. The knowledge of these massive and worsening problems hit me like a truck, and given my proficiency in finance, I felt it was my duty to help. I began seizing every opportunity possible to learn about business and finance. I enrolled in IBCP with a career path in Business Management, exposing me to classes like IB business management and IB economics and doubled down on my academic pursuits. I continued posting over a 3.93 GPA but began showing up to every business teacher's office hours and asking more profound questions about the business material and the world’s financial problems. I created and currently lead a financial book club with 12 members to learn from the most intelligent people in the world from varied perspectives. I also founded my first ever business, Alpha Bears LLC. I led, and currently lead, the finance department to learn about economics, entrepreneurship, and finances on a larger scale with a different perspective. Solving the world’s most challenging problems takes more than just mere knowledge. I believe the many traits I have built through my years will greatly help me during my mission. The hard work and dedication I learned from four years of high school football push me to never give up, no matter how hard the problem or solution is to find. The Strong Christian and midwest values I was raised upon taught me tenacity, faith, and honesty which without, would make fixing complex problems impossible. Playing baseball for over a decade and growing up around sports has enriched me with a competitive spirit to always be the best while also teaching me how to utilize teamwork to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks by combining brainpower. These traits make me an excellent medium to help solve the significant financial problems plaguing our society, and mastering these qualities will be vital to my future success or failure during this journey. I have grown my knowledge of finances immensely throughout my high school career, but to tackle national financial issues, I need nationally ranked financial education. With the help from Indiana University’s top-notch finance program and global impact opportunities, it is only a matter of time before I can begin my journey of solving global financial struggles.

The dreaded day had arrived—an event I never expected or wanted, now only seconds before me. The music began, yet the room still felt silent. As I strummed my guitar and opened my mouth for my first lyric, the tear ducts in my eyes burst open like balloons that came too close to a knife. So, there I was, in front of more than 1000 people at my best friend’s funeral, crying, with no end in sight—a perfect chance to forfeit and run off the stage. Yet without thinking, the song’s words effortlessly found their way out of my mouth while the chords picked themselves on the strings. Line after line, chorus after chorus, the tears fell, but with them came the words of God in the form of song. As I scanned the room, my watery eyes were met with the watery eyes of my friends, family, classmates, and neighbors around me. I witnessed the same process in which I was experiencing in the souls of those around me. It is called healing. The words of those songs helped heal me from my brokenness, and through me, others began to heal as well. For the first time, I could see my impact in the eyes of others and feel the connection with those who I was both healing and being healed by. This experience has shifted from a memory into a mission. The same mission that drove the actions of MLK, Oskar Schindler, and Gandhi; helping others is not a goal; it is a role. This spirit embeds itself in my relationships, driving me to help my family. When my aunt was on pace to retire with no savings or ability to invest, I was entrusted with fixing her problems. By carefully crafting weekly budgets, contributing to a 401K, and slashing unnecessary expenses, I was able to use what I already knew to actively help someone who desperately needed it. Though many fields have provided me great opportunities and fulfillment, one trumps them all, Music. I have felt the life-changing effects of music firsthand and know the healing power stored between notes. While the church has provided me with several extraordinary leaders, friends, and experiences, its most significant impact on my life was the opportunity it gave me to perform for the Congregation. Through singing and playing guitar, I am able to act as a medium between God and those that need to hear his words the most. Through music, I am able to help those who are in the darkest parts of their lives see the light. Through music, I am able to heal, both myself and others alike. September 2019 is in the past, but its impact will stay with me forever—developing my mindset, guiding my actions, giving my life purpose. Whether it be in my family, classroom, or church, with words, actions, or song, I strive to Help. I strive to Heal. As my life continues, my opportunities to impact my community will grow. My strong Christian beliefs lead me to value philanthropy and financial donations. While I currently do not have the resources to make meaningful donations, as an adult, my financial contributions will make a massive difference in the lives of others. As an influential investor, I plan to focus on investing in innovative sustainable companies to better the world with clean energy and products. Finally, my dream is to create something that will outlive me and impact more people than I ever could. However, if I can change just one life in my adult career, I will consider my life a success.

The greatest support system I have are my business partners Isaac and Bryan. Like many other entrepreneurs, I do not have much help in my pursuit of success. I do not have a lot of money, I do not have a lot of experience, I do not have a wealthy family, I do not have access to a loan or financial services, and I cannot dedicate all my time to my business. While all this makes it sound like I am alone, I am far from deserted as I have my two best friends backing me up. We founded Alpha Bears, and they are the only absolute I have when it comes to running the business. At any moment, our suppliers could fall through, demand could drop off, equipment could break, we could get sued, and all else could fail, but not my friends. Whenever I call, they pick up and are ready to help. When our pre-workout supplier raised their prices 80% overnight, Bryan was the first to say he will find a new supplier. When our business bank account was being charged random fines, Isaac stepped up and told me he would handle it right away. I cannot even begin to name all the times I was at a loss, did not know what to do, and was losing all faith in myself and the business, and these two men helped me. As a teen entrepreneur, it is nearly impossible to keep straight A’s, earn an IBCP diploma, get into college, play two varsity sports, participate in DECA, and sing at church, all while running a business alone. This is why I am so thankful to have these two faithful men next to me in the journey that has been running Alpha Bears. They have provided me with their time, effort, dedication, financial resources, and advice every step of the way, and Alpha Bears would not still be here without them. Most importantly, Isaac and Bryan have supplied me with moral support. Running a business is hard, and making mistakes is essential to learning and growing as a business. Some say all great companies have come close to failure. But the mental damage caused by failing over and over again and watching the beautiful plan I created slip away is immaculate. I am the first to say failure is essential as it fosters learning and perspective, but I also hate failing more than anyone else. For every success I have had with Alpha Bears, I have made 1,000 mistakes. However, whenever I have thought I could not continue, that it was too much, that I did not have time, or I was risking too much, my friends were there to support me. They encouraged me to fight on, offered assistance, and ensured me that the grass is always greener on the other side. When I became depressed and almost gave up on the dream that is Alpha Bears, Isaac and Bryan stood by my side and told me we were in this together and that they had my back. They supported me through thick and thin, success and failure, and happiness and sadness. Today, Alpha Bears is as strong as ever before, and that is all thanks to the support Isaac Ramirez and Bryan Khoo have given to me and the business, and I am beyond thankful.

Benjamin Franklin has cost me thousands of dollars yet has given me more than anyone else. As someone who wants to study finance, I constantly think about investing. I think about different markets, strategies, types of investments, and how I can get the best return on investment. Naturally, this mindset has pushed me to read numerous investing and business books such as 10 Minute Millionaire, Built not Born, and Think and Grow Rich. While reading a book called Making 36%, I found the quote "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." by Benjamin Franklin. I thought about this quote very hard because it is somewhat contradictory to the goal of market investing. Despite the hundreds of times I've been told or read to invest in the stock market early and often and never sell a good stock, I trusted this quote in that the best use for my money was building my bank of knowledge. Immediately I bought 22 books on investing, business, entrepreneurship, and general success. I also knew college would significantly impact my knowledge bank of information, so I doubled down on college applications and was able to get direct admission into the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Most importantly, this quote inspired me to learn by doing. Knowledge is not just gained from reading or sitting through a 200-person lecture; knowledge is built by making mistakes. I continued investing in the stock market and focused on developing my own strategy instead of copying someone else. I felt I was not learning anything from copying other people’s strategies and only doing myself a disservice. A technique that worked 20 years ago may not work today and may not be the best way for me to invest. Therefore, I focused and am still focusing on developing my perfect strategy, and the only way to do such is to fail repeatedly. Finally, my pursuit of learning by failing pushed me to start my own company, Alpha Bears LLC. When I'm older, I want to start a business, become independent, work for myself, and have the freedom to pursue any industry I want. To help make this dream a reality, I created a real business, almost as a trial run. I started Alpha Bears to learn about the issues facing entrepreneurs and learn how to overcome these problems at a very young age. I have made 100 mistakes for every good decision I made while leading Alpha Bears and have cost myself a large amount of money in the process, but by making all these mistakes, I learned what not to do and added information to my basket of knowledge. This quote has caused me to make more mistakes and lose more money than any other sentence in history, and as a result, it has caused me to learn more than anything else in history. This is how Benjamin Franklin has cost me thousands of dollars yet has given me more than anyone else.

Football is a game of winning. Coaches put their strongest, fastest, and best players on the field at all times, hoping that it will be enough to take a slight edge over the opponent. But what about the players that are not as talented. The high school students who still want to be part of the team but cannot physically. The student-athletes who put their blood, sweat, and tears into the game, and the team but are just not as physically gifted as everyone else. What happens to them? Most never play, some see the field for a few plays a game, but the fortunate ones have coaches who show kindness to their players. I have been playing football since I was ten years old. I have always been undersized, but it never impacted my playing time when I was young. I loved the game and loved playing it with my teammates. In youth ball, it was easy; there was no fight for playing time because everyone played a fair amount, inner-team rivalries did not exist, and there was no reason not to like the coaches. When I got to high school, it was a different story; suddenly, winning became the only priority. Coaches picked starters by physical attributes like size, none of which I excelled in. At 5 foot 7 inches, 140 pounds, I was simply not big enough to play football. I saw the field once or twice a game, but I was far from a football player. As high school football continued through the years, my teammates kept getting bigger and taller while I took a much longer timeline to do so. Rivalries began forming as players were competing for starting spots, and I could see resentment for teammates developing as cheap shots, personal attacks, and trash-talking began taking place. Finally, I reached my senior year. I had been working my butt off for three years, going to every workout, practice, camp, and game. I wanted and expected to start at middle linebacker for my senior year. That was until an old friend decided to return to playing football. He was two inches taller, 50 pounds heavier, benched 100 pounds more, and faster than me. I had no chance to beat him out at the middle linebacker position. However, one day at workouts, my linebacker coach came to me and said, “Sam told me he is coming back to play football.” I said I had heard that too. He said, “I told him good, we have plenty of spots on the kickoff team to fill. He hasn't been here the last three years like you have Chase. You are my guy at middle linebacker”. This may seem like the most random and unrelated story for this prompt, but in reality, it is perfect. When we think of kindness, we think of picking up someone's books or giving compliments, but these are not the only ways to be kind. In the aforesaid moment, Coach Thorsen showed me extreme kindness. He showed me he cared more about his players, and me specifically, than he did about winning. He showed recognition for the hard work I put into the team. Most importantly, in my time of need, when I was stressed, emotional, sad, frustrated, and fearful of the future, he showed that he cared about me, valued me and that had my back. Coach Thorsen’s seemingly insignificant display of loyalty and kindness made a massive impact on me and is something I will never forget as long as I live.