It’s not just money. It’s an investment towards my future. $1,000 would be gift given to me, put in place to guarantee that I able to further pursue higher education. College is not just the next step in life for me. College is the next step to filling who I was created to be: a servant. In the future, I would like to be a social worker with emphasis in criminal justice and sociology. $1,000 would make my dream of helping others reach their full potential that much closer. I could save children from unsafe situations, assist people who are having trouble assisting themselves, and help solve problems with people feeling lost and forgotten. So many benefits could come from a simple $1,000 that I cannot even describe. Once I realized how valuable a college education is, I never would have imagined putting my money towards anything else. Being given the chance to help improve other people’s lives can be made possibly by a good college education. Change for the better can happen and will happen if I get the opportunity to encounter a different type of knowledge and academics. One that I am passionate about and care about and am created for. $1,000 can go a long way, especially if that money is used for the good of those who struggle and need a little extra support. Thank you!

Book is too general a word. More like a lifetime that has been bundled up by words. “All The Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr elevated the definition of the word “book.” Doerr’s story tells of a boy and a girl during the Nazi occupation of France and Germany. The boy is a German orphan whose great intelligence is discovered and used to promote the Nazi reign. Once he begins to understand what it is he is contributing to, he questions if it’s alright to do something just because everyone else is. I feel like many of us are like the boy. We have been living the same life for years, healthy or not. At some point, we get a glimpse of the rest of the world and dream about life on the outside. Question as to what would happen if we broke free and emerged a changed person on the other side of the wall. The girl is the blind French daughter of her father. She spent many of her days going to work with him, reading braille books, and learning the way of the town through a model her father built. One day, her father told her to leave everything she had ever known. They were abandoning Paris, her home, her life, her vision of the world. She blindly trusted her father to keep her safe from the impending Nazi invasion as they ran for their lives. I don’t know how many times I have felt that way. Lost, left out, hopeless, uncertain. However, knowing that a blind little girl made it through the Nazi invasion, I can have hope for the future, sure that I’m not going to fall. The relatability of Doerr’s story and the encouragement to finish my own makes his book my favorite.

Some people say that academic success is either something a person is born with or not; however, good study strategies can change that assumption. I believe that study strategies can make or break academics. I have narrowed down my strategies into three steps. One: organize your tasks on a calendar. The calendar can be electronic or paper, but get everything on there. Homework, tests, projects, errands, work, break time from studying. Whether it relates to school or not, put it down. I get stressed when I’m in the middle of studying and remember the errand I have to run for the thing that’s happening tomorrow. Two: find a room or a quiet place outside to gather all of your materials. If you are in a building, close the door to the room and put your phone under a blanket. If your outside, put AirPods in without music, unless it’s instrumental. Then get everything you need to study. Pencils, pens, notecards, sticky notes, etc. I try to not use technology as a form of studying. Writing notes down or drawing pictures has been proven to work more effectively. Try to grab everything you think you could need, even if you end up not using it. It’s less distracting to get everything from the beginning instead of making multiple trips. Three: don’t get in your head. If you have so much to do in only a short amount of time, worrying is not going to speed up the process. It will slow you down and fill your head with all kinds of stress. Focus on the first thing on your calendar, use different materials you have to get your ideas out there, and breathe and have fun while studying. There’s no sense in making it the most miserable part of your day.