What has/is education done/doing for me? That is what some people think about on a daily basis, whether they are sitting at their job or working in math class. They wonder about why they learned about things they don’t even use currently, or things that they believe they never will use. I used to think this way until I graduated high school. Then, as I began progressing and understanding my goals I learned that a lot of the things I use in the real world were ones I learned in public school. Equations I took for granted, things in science I’d never thought to truly need to think about, even just typing this essay. Without the education I have received, I feel that I would not be able to function in this society properly. Education has been a key part of understanding my goals, motives, and differences as well as my strengths and places that I need to improve on. There has been some barriers due to not just mental health, but also my ADHD that was at the time throughout public school ignored and not helped. In the end, though, I made it through, and I don't want others to have to face the same challenges inside school like I did. Challenges and barriers stressed me out back in my days of elementary, middle, and high school. In elementary and middle school, I was always poked fun at for not being able to focus, being sporadic and talkative, and just... Being me. No one truly tried to help me, it was "just hormones" and "part of growing up" to them. One of the biggest challenges I can remember though was my hyper fixations I had. I would only excel in the classes I loved most, I would stay up working on projects for video production in high school or art in middle school. I put off all the other work I had in every other class, not because I wanted to, but because when I tried to start them I couldn't seem to get going. I would get angry with myself for not being able to think, I would lose focus only moments later and go back to doing something I enjoyed at the time. Education-wise, I was really smart. Once things clicked in my brain, I was able to ace anything easily. The biggest issue from that time though is that I got distracted so often that nothing really ever clicked, at least in those classes I was less interested in. My mind was somewhere out of my body, sometimes it felt like I was watching myself through virtual goggles, and that I was not actually in control of what I was working on or trying to learn. This only happened in classes that I felt at the time wouldn't benefit me in the long run. I never thought I would major in pharmacy, I was set on video production entirely at the time. How did I overcome this, though, if it seemed like it was consistently a problem I faced? Though I began medicine for it, it never helped me. I tried guanfacine which made me sick, and then Qelbree which only gave me side effects the first few weeks, and then migraines whenever I tried to stop taking it. Only after I started working in a pharmacy post-graduation did I begin a medication that actually helped me. What did I do to graduate Magna Cum Laude with a weighted GPA of 3.8 is a question I frequently ask myself. It doesn't feel like I worked hard when I just think about it, but when I truly look into it, I broke myself. I healed, then I did it again. I burnt myself out over and over just to be able to say I graduated. It was really, really difficult, but I made it work. Through education, I have gained the ability to create goals I can finally stick to. I have been shaped in ways I never even realized even still. You see, education has shown me that if I'm good at something, I get put into harder classes or positions. If I'm really good at it, though, I can be a leader inside of those classes or positions. I've learned through depleting myself over and over again that each time I do so, I am able to go a little longer than the last before becoming burnt out again. The biggest classes to me were science-related, and as I am looking back on them then relate to what I want to do now (pharmacy), they have inspired me and excited me more than any other class. Even with my poor mental health during those four years, that was the only set of core classes I truly looked forward to. My education I have received in the years I have been alive and even the education I receive now has inspired me to try to inspire others to pursue what they think is impossible. Though my goal in education has the opportunity to save lives, it all comes down to helping others want to achieve a better future through educating them from little things to big things. Anything and everything that someone learns serves a purpose, big or small, and I want to use what I learned to prove that. I want to inspire others and encourage them enough to take action so that in the end, they have control in the entirety of their life. I want to be able to give someone control over not just that though, but their soul, their mind, and finally, their destiny.

Struggling with mental health has been a big block in my life, as it has shaped me and changed my outlook on everything I do. The biggest part is, everything changes in an instant. One moment I will be happy and motivated, I will feel joyous, I will feel alive. The next? I am spaced out, down, angry and sad for no reason at all that I can find. I’ve struggled with Major Depressive Disorder (Reoccurring, Moderate/Severe) and PTSD (Chronic) ever since I was 13, and it has been some of the hardest yet most powerful years of my life, full of challenges I had to overcome, lessons that I had to learn, and many mistakes along the way. I have been broken and mended back together, over and over again. Back when I was 11, I began getting groomed online. Every single day I would be talking to people who only wanted to harm me, and I thought nothing of it. I thought it was normal, it was right, and that it was common. When I was 13, I met someone on a social platform that changed the course of my life forever. What had happened was horrible, and after I was already deep into conversations with this individual my mom found the chat logs. On that day, I lost those who I was manipulated into thinking they were my friends, I lost actual friends who did no harm at all and in fact tried to help me out of the situation, and I had my first taste as to what the real world really was. Keep in mind, I used to always be seen as a strange individual, constantly hyper and what appeared to be an annoyance to people. I was constantly bullied for how skinny I was back in middle school, then for carrying around a suitcase full of art supplies, and then finally for just being me. I was never truly liked by large groups, but instead individuals. I became jealous of others, I buried myself deep inside a hole, and I thought that I’d never escape. Around the middle of 9th grade, I began self-harming with an eyebrow razor. I thought I couldn’t trust anyone, even my own family. I hated my mom because of how she took away everyone I “knew”. Everyone I “trusted” and “loved”. This habit of harming myself continued for years after. On top of all this, my father abused opiates and benzodiazepines beginning around the start of 7th grade, and continuing even sometimes into today, though he has gotten better about it. I thought everything was right, I thought everything was still normal. Even though I take 150mg of sertraline and 10mg of aripiprazole just to keep my mood somewhat contained as of recently as well as buspirone bi-daily for panic disorder, even though I know now what I went through was not right, I thought everything was normal. It was normal. until around 11th grade. 11th grade is when everything took a turn, a huge turn. I realized that it is not good for my mental health to be living with someone who is addicted to narcotics and benzos, never kept up with his house, and allowed roaches and flies to live rent free under his roof. So I moved in with my mom. I became close to my mom, and I have now realized in the last three years that she has done more for me in that timespan than my dad had ever done. Even though I dealt with hell through growing up, I understand now that nothing is normal in this world. There is havoc and chaos, discord and foul-play everywhere you go. The world is what you make of it, and though my world has turned inside-out numerous times, I still strive to make it the best world I can for me. After a long, long while of struggling, people I’ve hurt because of things I just thought were the norm or from heavy mood swings out of my control, I have created goals I have tried my best to stick to through the good days as well as the bad days. First and foremost, I want to improve every day. Every single day, even if it's by a decimal, of a decimal, of a decimal of a percent. This is because every number adds up over time, and if I can become even a fraction of a part better at coping strategies, work, focus, temper, or anything else that needs improvement every single day, then I feel as if I did something right. I feel as if I accomplished something greater than my understanding currently. On top of this, my goal is to be the first “doctor” of the family. It’s funny to think about, knowing my past with my father, but I strive to become a pharmacist one day. I am currently a Certified Pharmacy Technician at Publix Pharmacies, I've always loved science, and I want my past to be a lesson to myself as what not to allow people to grow up in. Those are by far my most prominent goals. The struggles I’ve faced in my life mean nothing compared to the difference that I want to make for others so they don't have to go through an endless battle like I do every single day. My mood swings have become uncontained once more and I am starting to show signs of possible bipolar, but I don't want to let that slow me down one bit. The world doesn’t wait for anyone, no matter how much we need it to pause it accelerates faster and faster. I have learned that I just have to move with it, go with the flow, and better myself one foot after the other, even if I trip and fall, I have to move forward. Even if I get tired, I have to move forward. Thank you.

My “why” is something that can change the world. Whether it is the world here on Earth, the world of film, or the world of oneself, my goal is to change it for good through creativity and storytelling in film and photography. My motive is simple; the inevitable change for good. With this motive I have two goals; the first being to grasp the viewer of my work’s heartstrings and emotionally move them. The second, to have them see the sort of flame I have, and maybe even feel it for themself. I want them to feel the burning sensation of the love I have for this world. I want my art to promote change upon the world, I want it to bring a sensation into people unlike no other work has before. With the films I create, with the moments I capture, with the photos I take, I want to promote change; change for the better. Starting in college, maybe even over this summer, I would love to create films with stories highlighting in detail problems with the world. Whether it would be the diffusion of false ideas, the brutality of war, the dismay, disarray, and discord that wreaks havoc upon this world, I want to turn them into stories people can understand through visual storytelling. I want to create things people can see, hear, and connect with. I want people to see the suffering others inflict, to understand depression, to fight oppression—wether that be racism, sexism, or just general noninclusive behaviors. I have a desire—a need—to right the wrongs in this world with my life’s work, even though it isn't political. Even though some stories may be created or even slightly exaggerated. Even though people may ignore it. My concluding thought is one and one only, and it is to turn not just my degree, but my passion into something greater.

Hello! My name is Hunter. As I finish my last year in high school, I have many goals in mind. One goal, though, is my primary passion: Teaching. Through my career path I have chosen at Seminole State College—the ELA Education pathway—I plan on taking what I will learn and adding my own spin to it. This spin is not only to help my students in the future succeed in school, but succeed in their life, too. I don’t see myself as a teacher to them, but a friend. A figure they can look up to and go to for advice. My goal with teaching English is to show my students how to be imaginative. Creative, even! I’d want my students to leave my class each day understanding something they had not learned before. I’d want my students to become successful young adults post-graduation, able to take on the world one step at a time without stress or fear of the worst. Most importantly, though, I want my students to have an impact from me made onto them, so in the future they can use that impact to make their own impact, their own difference, and i want that difference to diffuse into more differences. Good, needed differences. An adversity that I’ve overcame over the last four years of High School is an “I can never do this” mentality. Mental block is a thing that occurs to me whenever I am tasked with something either unexpected or challenging, something difficult or intensive. To overcome these issues, I have to put my mind behind me. I have to think without thinking. I have to force myself even when I succumb to stress and anxiety. It is really difficult at times to find motivation, and thats where the next step comes in. Work, break, repeat. I work out the problems and tasks one at a time, and if it is a bigger task I divide it into smaller tasks. I section them into something that just makes sense to me, and allows the outcome to be extraordinary. Then, while doing the “Work, Break, Repeat.” method, I push myself. I push myself past my limits, because going beyond my mental limit is finding my actual limit at that time. It allows me to grow not only my mental limit, but my true limit as well. In the end, for me to succeed in what I deem impossible, I shatter my mind. I pick up the pieces and reform them into something new, something great, something extraordinary.

I love camera work and post-production. Straight forward and to the point, I love it. I adore what such an amazing tool a camera is. I am amazed by what I can do in post with Adobe’s software. My art medium is TV Production and Photography, and it has enhanced my life greatly. It has given me something to look forward to day by day. TV Production is my main goal in life. All of the behind the scenes stuff that goes into it absolutely amazes me and I love doing it myself. I love creating my own short films, it gives me something to do. With these films I tell fictional stories on the life of people, and how a major event changes their “norm”. Video Script writing grabs me, as it allows me to tell a story I made. It allows me to break down how I am going to tell this story, and it allows me to sketch out how each frame will look. In production, I’m usually solo, working hard to make each camera angle perfect with a tripod, and shooting each shot until it is just right in my mind. Post-Production is a lot of fun, as I can color grade and change the feel of each scene. It allows me to dig deep into the details of how I’d tell the story, from making a clean room dusty, to enhancing the colors and adding sound effects and audio enhancements. Photography caught me just last year, and I’ve progressed greatly in it. With photography, I have been able to capture moments in time that are beautiful, sad, or interesting. I’ve worked hard to start up a small business in which I had been given many opportunities with to build my portfolio. I have done free shoots, I have done paid shoots. With free shoots I’ve built my portfolio, and with paid my free shoots have paid off. The ability to get my own clients has truly changed my life, as it taught me coordinating skills and responsibility. Editing photos is a lot of fun as well, as it teaches me techniques for color grading that I can then transfer over to video production. In the end, both of these mediums have enhanced my life greatly, as the way I look at the world has changed ten fold. I love what I am doing, and couldn’t ask to do anything better.

As a percussionist and photographer, I see art in everything. History, the future, even what you are holding or looking at can be considered art. From an apple to a building, everything is its own form of art. I am a 17-year-old who is passionate about the “now”, the “moment”. Capturing memories is something I love doing, which is why I pursue a career in photography. Every moment is unique and especially valuable, as it is a memory for someone somewhere. I’ve loved music since I was little, first being introduced to KISS and rock n’ roll. Soon I found myself listening to instrumental pieces, and I started to find meaning in lyrics. I joined my high school band and progressed heavily, marching the snare drum for the national memorial day parade in D.C. the same school year I picked up a drumstick and played my first note. The connection to music that I have is one I find unique to me, as each individual note has a meaning on the canvas that is the sheet of music I am reading. Holst, Mozart, Stravinsky, all of these classical artists share in their pieces emotion and feeling. Every musical piece has a meaning to someone, whether it’s a love song, a tragedy, or even an instrumental! No matter what it may be, someone will find a way to jam out to it. I found myself caught in digital design and drawing from a young age. I loved to draw on anything, the limit to my canvas being the sky. I took art all the way until 9th grade, until in my art class they showed us a camera. I began learning about photography in a class I thought would just be drawing. It was different, and it gave me a different feeling than what I am used to. It gave me a whole new perspective and outlook on the world. Thats when I stopped drawing. No matter what though, my love for the arts will never waver. As stated, I am a photographer. I love photographing people on the streets, animals, and families. No matter what it is that I shoot, it is a memory to be cherished by someone. Canon and Sony cameras are what I love using, especially sony. There is just something about a good camera, but some thing even better about a good lens. A lens like a Sigma, Tamron, or Sony/Sony G-Master. They just hit different, they are sharp, sturdy, and made to capture moments the clearest. My goal after high school is to start a photography business. I would love to continue my path of the art form in college, one day getting a masters or even a doctorate if possible in my study. Photography speaks to me in a language I do not know, yet understand as if I’ve spoken it from the time I was born. The arts speak to me in the same language, and I could never be happier with what I choose to do with my life, because I know it will just take me back to square one, art.

Street photography. It is such a beautiful thing, to capture the daily life of people just walking around. To capture moments, smiles, frowns, blank faces even. The biggest thing, though, is what is captured in the end. The first photo shown is a couple in love, holding hands while walking down a boat ramp. The second, a man walking as if downtown Mount Dora was his life style. The third, a woman looking into a shop curious as to what they have to offer as she walks by. The fourth would be a woman walking her dog down the sidewalk of downtown DeLand, and the fifth a couple sitting on a bench. Each moment depicted, from someone just simply walking and minding their own, to couples enjoying life is unique in their own ways. It's beautiful in it's own way. Each moment in my eyes will never happen again, no matter how minor they may be. Nothing will ever align perfectly as it had once. That is my inspiration to take these photos. Capturing "the moment", "the place", "the action", is something truly fascinating. The art of street photography is something truly fascinating. Each photo is a moment in time of people enjoying daily life, and that is fascinating.