These 5 traits are attributes that are seemingly becoming more rare in today's society. The world is painted as corrupt and evil by the news and people, and that's not to say there aren't problems like that persisting in today's world, but the good in people is often overlooked. We fixate on the bad. My uncle Scott Trulson was in the army for 5 years and went overseas to Germany. While he may not have faced any combat, his stories and wisdom were something that he made sure to bestow on to me since he didn't have any children. Communication is key in any human relationship. Romantic, work, and family, without communication the world breaks down. Ever since I was 16, I started to work in the customer service industry. Fast food, retail, all of it prepared me for the person I am becoming today. The ability to communicate strongly is one of the top things that employers look for in future careers. I'm in the University of Portland Honors program, the students of the campus community, and it's something that I am very passionate about. Connecting with the community on another level and helping to plan events for the whole campus showcases that I want to be a leader. I want to advocate for others. Resilience is something I used to struggle with. I never had any patience to be able to practice resilience. That was until I started volunteering at the local hospital in the OT/PT departments and I learned to be patient with the patients. I learned through this experience that If I wanted to be the top person in this program, I had to keep going. It's ok to have doubts, but you need to look past those doubts and think about the bigger picture. After getting my undergraduate degree at UP I want to become an Occupational Therapist and help as many people as possible. Because that's my unselfishness. I love volunteering, whether it be at my church for vacation bible school, fundraisers for my old high school, the child therapy unit at the Good Samaritan Hospital, or my OT/PT clinic. My unselfishness led me to choose this career path. To leave a positive mark on the earth when I'm gone. A footprint. A ripple. This keeps me focused. Focused on my schoolwork. To pass the classes with good grades, reflecting on my past experiences and focusing on the future. Focusing on healthy relationships. I'm stubborn, but that leads to a deterrent mindset and values. That's why I started to get my shadowing hours for grad school early so that I could stand out on other applications. I focus on my music, whenever I'm playing my guitar, the gym, whatever I am doing I focus on that subject. It wasn't always easy, as I suffer from ADHD so it has not been always easy to pay attention, but I do NOT let that excuse rule who I am or how I act. My work ethic is strong. Sure, there are classes I don't enjoy. That I may struggle with. Not being able to get focus. But do I let that stop me? No. I look towards the bigger picture once more. If it's a daily assignment given to me by my professor, then I just do it. But not fast. I make sure it's done well. On top of my school, I keep an on-campus job as well, and I don't let that stop me from succeeding. My uncle taught me well, I owe all of this to him. Thank you, uncle.

I know this is something very common, and that's alright, but ever since I was little, my grandfather has always been my hero. The person that I look to for advice on anything life throws at me. My grandfather has always told me that even the smallest ripple can make the biggest difference. My goal in my lifetime is to leave a footprint, something for the world to remember me by. I've always been passionate about helping others. The golden rule, treat others the way you want to be treated, is something that I've always made sure to incorporate not just into my daily life, but my professional life as well. This scholarship would help tremendously. I'm attending the University of Portland in the fall to study human biology and hope to obtain a minor in psychology as well! This scholarship would go a long way in helping me pay for my tuition as it is a small private college. In coordination with my drive to help others and my community, I plan on going on after college to obtain my master's in Occupational Therapy! I know that I'm not exactly a low-income student, but, I'm passionate about my path. About what I want to achieve in my life, and any small amount will get me closer to my dream. The dream of improving the lives of people every day. Currently, I am volunteering at the Good Samaritan Hospital in my town in the child therapy clinic for PT/OT and the rehabilitation inpatient PT/OT clinics as well. Being able to shadow professionals in their environment, work with children and patients who have had life-altering injuries, and learn how they cope with them, really has made me excited about the career that I want. It has made me realize that I can make a difference. I know that this scholarship would help me tremendously whether I can afford books for classes, fees for my biology labs, or paying tuition. I know that life won't always go the way I plan it. There will be obstacles in the way of my success. But this scholarship would make it just a little bit easier to overcome those obstacles. Every dollar counts. I will not back down from my dreams. I will make a difference in the world, and I am just getting started.

Hello everyone! My name is Jackson Muench and I attended Governor John R. Rogers High School in Puyallup Washington (about an hour from Seattle). I'm currently going to attend the University of Portland in the fall and I intend to major in Human Biology in the health and human sciences department. To be as blunt as possible, my high school experience sucked. Sure, I kept my grades up, and I enjoyed learning and improving my skills in different subjects, but the social aspect of high school was nothing short of miserable for me. As many kids in high school do, I felt alone. I felt like me being different wasn’t ok. I tried to suppress myself around others. I had a craving, an urge to please others, and I didn't think how this was affecting me. Nothing worked. Then one day the rumors started. Things were spread over the internet. Snap chat. Instagram. It was being shared, reposted, you name it. I felt helpless. People who I thought were true friends abandoned me. I felt even more alienated than I did before. I felt I had lost my way. Bullying is something that is all too common in high school. My parents always tell me that it's free to be nice, and there's no better price than free. I made the biggest mistake of my life. I kept it in. I didn't tell anyone. I didn't tell my parents what was going on, or how I was feeling. I let it build inside of me and just sit there. I felt like harming myself. I didn’t know what to do. One day at lunch, a teacher saw me with my head in my hands. That teacher was Mr. Pickard, my band director. He told me to come with him. I had nothing else to lose so I followed. That conversation changed me. It changed my whole attitude towards my situation. He asked what was wrong and I explained to him I felt alone. Everyone thought these horrible things about me. And he said, “Who cares?”. I just stared at him blankly and told him that I did. And he asked me “Why?”. I pondered and realized, why did I care. You cannot let what others say influence your decisions on how to live your life. I know feelings of self-doubt are hard. Feeling like you aren’t good enough. Feeling afraid to show who you are. It’s something that everyone is terrified of. But what I learned from my high school experience is to just talk. Don’t keep it all inside of you. Be yourself. I know it can feel scary to be yourself, but if you let others' opinions affect how you live your life, you’re letting them win. You are giving them what they want. Don’t let them win. There is always someone willing to listen to you. I know it can be scary. It can feel impossible to talk about whatever situation is going on that is affecting your mental health. But there will be someone there to listen and to make sure that you feel safe. Going into college I’m not going to let others opinions of me determine my 4 years of college. I’m going to be myself. I’m going to seize every day and be thankful that I am who I am. This is a message I will use for my whole life. My future career. My future friendships. live life how YOU, want to live it.

Hello all. My name is Jackson Muench and I am a current senior at Roger’s High School In Puyallup Washington. I know you might not know where that is, so for most people, let’s just say it’s close enough to Seattle I’ve always had a passion for helping others. My grandfather always told me that I had the power to create ripples in others' lives. To create a positive impact on not just my community, but the world. A footprint. That's what I want to leave behind when my time here on Earth is up. I had always struggled to figure out how I was going to help people. To better my community. My first real experience with community service is something I will never forget. It has always been and always will be one of my core memories. In 8th grade, I had the opportunity to take a mission trip with my church to New York City and volunteer at local food banks and homeless shelters. I was nervous. This whole experience was new to me. But the moment that the first person I served at the food bank, a mother and her two kids, told me thank you. This was the first meal that they’d had in a couple of days. Everything changed. Knowing that something so small, such as smiling at someone or giving them a warm, hot meal, could improve someone’s life and their mental being. After getting back home from my trip, I knew my calling. I knew that whatever I chose as my future career would have to involve bettering the lives of others. Let’s jump forward. Like many high school students, I didn’t know what I wanted. I was struggling to find my calling. I’d just been told to go to college and I’ll figure it out. But now as I graduate I am proud to say I’ve found my calling. Occupational therapy. At the beginning of 2024, I started to volunteer at Good Samaritan Hospital near my house in the child’s therapy clinic and the OT/PT rehabilitation clinics. It’s been life-changing. To experience two completely different sides of the profession has given me hope for the career I have chosen. Just the other day, in the child therapy clinic, a little girl, who was a relatively new patient at the clinic, asked me for a toy during one of her sessions. When I grabbed her one and handed it to her, she started to cry. I asked her what was wrong. She looked at me and told me thank you. Then went right on to plating with her new toy. I was puzzled. My OT shadow told me that she had been having behavioral problems and this was the first time she had asked a volunteer for something other than the OT working with her. Even something as small as handing a toy to a child can create a positive ripple. That ripple can be as large as you want it to be, so you must strive to create as big of an impact on the world as possible Like many other people, not just students, through community service I found my passion. My calling. Step out of your comfort zone and just experience it. You'll feel when it's right. Trust your gut and don't give up on acts of kindness. The world needs more people like you.

Everyone has their own preferences. Books open up a world of imagination, a distraction from reality. One person may love a book, while another does not. But if I had to have everyone read just one book, I would have to choose pet cemetery by Stephen king. Now I know what you are thinking. Why would I choose such a scary, some might say disturbing, book? For starters, the characters. King is a master of characters. Every book I have read by him has me captivated in the characters just as much as the story being told. Characters are one of the most important roles in bringing a story to life. To bring color and depth to the setting of the novel. The Creed family in the novel supports the rural Maine setting tremendously, with Jud, their neighbor, serving as the wisdom and guidance of the novel. But characters are not just everything. The story, the setting, the entire novel symbolizes one of the deepest darkest human emotions. Loss. It’s something that we all must deal with, something that is hard to talk about. The cemetery it self symbolizes the idea that a person would do anything to see their loved ones again, even questioning their own morality to get it done. Loss is a difficult emotion to deal with and to fathom, but the supernatural element of pet cemetery creates a cohesive environment that although is a horrifying novel, people can relate and be sympathetic towards Luis Creed and his family. The novel compels the used to really think about loss, how it’s something that must be dealt with but with the help of your loved ones it can be overcame. Through Kings writing, a horror story turns into much more than just a terrifying novel. It bring a whole new layer to the emotional impact of loss, and I believe that this is something everyone can benefit from reading. To have a deeper understanding of why people might feel this way after a devastating loss. This is why I would have everyone read pet cemetery.

Mental health isn’t something easy to talk to about, as it isn’t for many people. But I truly believe that talking about it can open the first doors to healing. Ever since I was little I didn’t really feel like I belonged. I wasn’t into the same things as other kids. I was more quiet and kept to myself. Once I got to high school, I started to come out of my shell and fell in love with music and the band program at my high school. As for many people in high school, bullying is something that almost everyone experiences. But in this day and age, cyber bullying affects more people than confrontational bullying and social media has brought upon and new platform for people to harass and ridicule others. For me my junior year was the hardest. People decided to start rumors. Spread hate on the internet. Post my face all over social media and just like many in my generation, we’re influenced by the information on the internet. People who I thought cared for me turned against me, my closest friends. Everything fell apart. I thought that suicide was the only option. And not even thinking about how my family would react, I tried to end it. But I’m glad it failed. I’m glad that I got the opportunity to learn that no one opinion about you matters. That there is always someone there that loves you and cares. It could be a teacher. Your boss. Your family. It could even be someone’s you just met while out getting coffee. It made me understand that life is precious. You cannot pass over the little moments, because the smallest moments and gestures can have the biggest impact. My journey through depression shaped me into who I am. It made me realize that I could have an impact on the world. I could be an advocate for change. My mental health journey made me closer with not just my family, but my emotions. It taught me to talk about my emotions rather than hiding them. To be able to express myself with my peers and not put away emotions that might be harmful if did suppress them. Everyone's mental health journey is different. No one’s can be compared to another persons personal life experiences. But what everyone does have in common is strength. Everyone is strong enough to beat depression, anxiety, or any mental health disorder. Everyone is capable of over coming life’s obstacles. Life has a meaning, but that meaning is different for everyone. For me, I had a new understanding of the little things. Helping others, making sure I can impact people’s lives through volunteering and creating a strong community with the people I care about. For anyone out there, you can do it. You will beat this. You can do it. One day you’ll look back and say to yourself, “I did it.”

My whole philosophy is to leave a footprint behind when I’m gone. To leave something behind that people will remember me by. To make sure I can better as many people lives as possible, because helping others is what makes me happiest. My grandfather used to say a small ripple from a good deed can go a long way, and I’ve stuck by that saying my whole life. I’ve always been fascinated with science since I was a child, as many children always ask “why does this work the way it does?”. Science is what explains the universe. It explains every detail of every little thing on our planet. Curiosity led me to choose the scientific path I am going down today, to prepare myself for the impact and footprint I want to have on the world. I plan on majoring in human biology at the university of Portland and continue my educational career as an Occupational Therapist. It combines every thing I love about science. The physical aspect of being able to work with a patient, to help them relearn critical motor skills, like walking. Helping someone learn to write their name again, helping somebody with their memory after a stroke. To be able to turn on the tv by themselves again to watch their favorite show. But also the mental aspect. Psychology is a huge factor of being an occupational therapist and it combines my love of the mental sciences. How your brain works, why do we respond certain ways, everything about it captured my attention . Being able to combine all the aspects of science that originally sparked my curiosity for the field into one career is truly amazing. I have no words for it. Through community service, such as working in New York in 2019 on a church mission to help feed the homeless communities within the suburbs of the city, I found my call of helping people. I knew from then on that my purpose was to help others. But I didn’t know how yet. Like many kids in high school I struggled to find what really interested me. But after talking pre-AP Biology and chemistry, building my excitement towards the physical sciences, to studying the brain in psychology, to implementing math into the scientific world, I knew my future would be surrounded by science, I just didn’t know how yet. That’s when I discovered occupational therapy. A combination of everything I had been looking for. My love of health and wellness has definitely played a role in what field of science I plan on going into. As an occupational therapist, I hope I can make a ripple. Even if it’s just one persons life who is made better by my job, that’s one more person who gets to live happily. Who has felt the impact that science can have on you, without even realizing it. Science is my tool in my plan to make the world a better place, and I’m just getting started.