Ever since I started my online business at 14, my love for business has grown to a level I never expected. Although the initial purpose of creating this business was to earn some extra money, it made me realize that this could be my desired career. Now, with experience in money management, client communication, and some baseline business knowledge gained through my first semesters of college, I’m confident that I want to turn this once-small side hustle into something bigger. With a finance degree, I see myself working in a field where I can collaborate with others who share similar interests in finance, while also helping people burdened with healthcare costs. It amazes me how a wealthy country like the United States doesn’t provide enough assistance to those who can’t afford visits to the doctor or hospital. The assumption is that insurance companies will cover everything, but the reality is much different. This was made clear to me by a professor last semester, who dedicated an entire class to discussing various statistics about U.S. healthcare. We learned that many other countries provide immediate assistance to those in need, whereas here, people can be faced with hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in medical expenses. Over the next ten years, my goal is to graduate with a finance degree and apply myself in a non-profit organization aimed at ensuring no one has to worry about medical bills. It’s disheartening to know that many households in the U.S. are in healthcare debt, while the country isn’t doing enough to solve this problem.

Ever since the day I started high school, my whole thought process on what my true values were really paved the way to what I think about all the time: my skills. Before high school, I was someone who would really be involved in whatever the class was talking about, so I knew that not only was I learning but I was practicing my skill of listening when others were talking. With other basic skills I learned in school, I learned many other real- life skills, like working a job that I started the moment I turned 15. These responsibilities along with the stressful life of being a student athlete really shifted my perspective on becoming this young adult who needs to leave his childhood in the past. Going back to what I said at the beginning, this was the time I changed. I have changed from a child into an adult. The effects of my transition made me think a lot about my future plans and desires of going to college and pursuing a degree in the business field as I created my own at 16, generating a passive income along with my 10-15 hours a week job. To the people I was really close with when I was younger really haven't changed, however it's starting to set in that I won't be seeing the people I've been seeing my whole life in a matter of months. Anyways, the term creativity can be defined in my perspective as goals which you strive to achieve through the hard work you complete in the present, as it is only a step closer to where you wanna be when you are older. Business is the center of my creativity, it always has been from the moment I became an adult at 15. Bringing my ideas to the surface, I'm hopeful that my confidence and success can be talked about and preached to the people who need someone to assist them in their journey to being what they wanna be throughout the world. Moving to the current conditions of my high school, I feel we lack this creativity to give students the confidence and the opportunity to make themselves successful. Something I think that could solve this problem would be to really meet and talk with the students who have demonstrated academic success and have shown community support with awards they deserve to give them confidence to perform well in college. All in all, this ideology that if you receive good grades and take time out of your day to volunteer for your community for this award you get from your school will better help engagement within each classroom at my high school.