Resilience is something that I have developed throughout my whole life and I'm continuing to develop it today. When I was in the Fourth grade I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, this made it difficult for me to read and write, causing me to be far behind all of the other children in my grade. With this understanding of my learning disability, my parents were prepared to hold me back a grade so that I could get caught up. However, I did not want to be left behind, all my friends were going to advance without me if I was held back. With that in mind, I worked hard on my reading and writing skills with my mom, grandma and a tutor, and I did it, I passed the fourth grade! and went on to the fifth grade. Yes, I did continue to struggle with reading and writing and still do today, but this experience I had in the fourth grade, showed me that, yes you may get knocked down but you must get right back up and try even harder the next time. I am currently a first-year student at Ballstate University studying Architecture. On the surface level Architecture may seem like it has little to no effect on underrepresented communities. However, that could not be farther from the truth. Architects have a direct connection to underrepresented communities, this can be very good for the communities or very bad. From the way a town or city is set up to the accessibility of every place/building in the town can affect underrepresented communities. For example, one of the negative ways architecture has impacted underrepresented communities was the Urban Renewal Act of 1949. This Act gave federal, state, and local governments the ability to redevelop land in urban areas, in short, this allowed cities to redevelop the majority black and poor neighborhoods into factories and highways displacing hundreds of families. This was detrimental to families who had to take all they had and move, but they had no other choice. However fortunately today we understand the effects of architecture on the social aspect especially when it comes to underrepresented communities. Throughout my years here at Ballstate I will learn to effectively work one-on-one with different communities to assess the needs, wants and overall vision of the community. This will allow for everyone's voice to be heard and I will implement what i have learned to benefit underrepresented communities.

It is freshman year of high school and my family just got the new Nintendo Switch for Christmas the previous year. My whole family loved playing on it, especially me and my sister and we would play on it any chance we got. Anyway, high school finals are quickly approaching and in my Algebra One class, we would always get done a little early in class, with an extra ten to twenty minutes to spare. So the plan was to get the Nintendo Switch hide it and tell my sister that I couldn't find it anywhere. Then the next day right before I head off for school, I would slip it into my backpack and take it with me. I went to my English class then engineering then Gym and finally ending the school day with Algebra One. As normal we took notes, did some practice problems and then had an extra twenty minutes. So I pulled out the Nintendo Switch, got my friends together and we played Mario Cart right up until the bell rang. I would continue to take the Nintendo Switch to school up to the last day of that school year, and to this day me and my friends would sometimes say "Hey, do you remember when we used to play Mario Cart in the back of Mr. Lyon's class freshman year of high school? I miss those days".

Music has shaped the way I see the world in many different ways including self-expression, learning new skills, connecting with others and worshiping. Music is so much more than sounds put together to sound pretty, it's a science and a language, and to be honest for the longest time did not care a whole lot about music. Yes, it was always there and it was fun to listen to, but it wasn't something that I would look to for my day-to-day life. However, something changed since then, I got more involved in music, and I started to understand its language and how the human body reacts and understands music. Finding music to be fascinating, I explore new genres of music from rap to EDM, to find what music I truly like the most but it is not that simple, I discovered that I like all kinds of music, they all speak to me in different ways that are so different from one another, but I like them all because of their differences. When I'm studying something difficult I like to listen to calming instrumental music because it helps me think clearly but when I'm in the gym lifting I enjoy rap and rock because it gets me excited to move and express energy. Not much longer after I realized the world of music, I fell in love with my present-day boyfriend, and he gave me a love for music unlike any I ever had before. This is because he not only showed me that I could express myself through music, but that I could also worship with it, not in just singing but through instruments. He plays drums for the church during worship but he's not just doing it because he has to, but instead, it's how he worships and shows God's glory. So I asked him if he could someday teach me and now that we are together he's going to teach me how to play drums and I can not wait! Another important way music has shaped the way I view the world is that before my boyfriend I always thought love songs were so cheesy and honestly annoying. But now I can only see them as a wonderful part of our love story, You see my boyfriend has archived many love songs throughout his life that he was keeping for the day he would meet the one he truly loves. He waited a long time and then we found each other, and all of those songs he saved he sent to me as if they were love notes and promises that he would keep. I love him very much and can not wait till the day we can have our first dance to all of those love notes and promises.

A few months ago I was not into Taylor Swift a whole lot, yes I liked a couple of her songs but I was not actively looking for more of her content. However, I have a friend who loves Taylor and all of her songs, and one day she told me "Hannah, you are going to love this song it's so fun and upbeat!". She pulls out her phone and plays me the song "Paper Rings", just like she described it the song is very fun and upbeat, but what she did not know is the reason I now love the song so very much. The song has lyrics that go "I like shiny things but I would marry you with paper rings". Now every time I hear this song it reminds me of my boyfriend in how much I love him and how it doesn't matter if he can afford a fancy ring or anything, that I would marry him with a paper ring. He does not need to buy me a shiny ring, he is enough. There is also another story that I have to share, it may have nothing to do with discovering something new about myself other than the fact that I love my boyfriend so very much and that I can not wait till we get married (although that is a long was a way sadly, due to college and long distance). Anyway, my boyfriend and I are on our way back home after a long fun day that he planned out for us, we hiked, shopped, had a nice dinner and ended the day taking photos and watching the sunset. And on our way home the song "Love Story" by Taylor came on, on the shared playlist that we have, and we sang our hearts out to that song it was so much fun and we were so comfortable with one another. The song ends and he turns down the volume. He looks at me and says "You know this probably sounds weird, but a few nights ago I had a dream about this song" and he tells me about this dream he had and it's the sweetest thing ever. "I had a dream that I took you on a boat to the middle of the lake and in the background, this song was playing. The sun was setting and when the song got to the part where she sings 'pulled out a ring and said' I knelt down and pulled out a ring and proposed to you." Right then and there I gave him the biggest hug ever and said "I can't wait to spend my life with you". Thank you for reading my stories about how Taylor Swift's music has made an impact on my life, I know they may be a bit cheesy but they are both true and I would not have it any other way.