It really just starts with seeing your mother, your father, and your brother all come from work and exhausted. Whether it’s the workload, the co-workers you work with, or the customers you have to deal with five days a week, it really hits you hard that you don’t want to follow the same exhaustion and want something better for the future. My mother tells stories of how she came from Haiti and the first thing she did was get an education. With that education, she was able to find a good job, buy a house, and raise my siblings and I. My mother tells me every day “Go to school, learn something, find something out there”. She doesn’t just tell me that because she’s my mother, but tells me this because there’s something out there for me to do. That’s why I’m proud to be attending college while I still have the chance to do something for myself and my family. My mother and my brother are both striving for something better than the current jobs they have now and I want to do the same. I want to be finished with college with an Associate’s in I.T Project Management, work for a nice technology company, and one day work alongside with my mother and my brother.

My name is Jasmine, and I am a Haitian born in America, living in Florida. I’m 21 and go to Hillsborough Community College to have an Associate's in IT Project Management. I live with my mother and I have two brothers. Both of my parents are from Haiti. I like to sing, play violin, and write poetry. I was also raised in the truth as a Jehovah’s Witness. The goals I have planned are that after I graduate from college, I work for Microsoft part-time and help my mother out with her real estate job. I would like to study and be a Mortgage Loan Originator. I chose Microsoft because in high school I was certified in Word and PowerPoint in 2019. I took economics, financial services, accounting, and a business ownership class in high school. This year I have earned my McGraw-Hill credential in Word and Excel. I say part-time because of my medical condition. I have sickle cell anemia since I was about 3 days old. From what I discovered, Anemia runs in my father’s blood. I go to a lot of appointments to make sure my blood count is up and not low to the point I have a crisis. My brother also has sickle cell and he was hospitalized quite a lot. It has taken a toll on us because it affects work and school. I have missed school quite a lot. In late 2019 I was hospitalized for my anemia. The one thing I know the hospital will ask me is if I will accept a blood transfusion. Being a Jehovah’s Witness my answer will always be no. It taught me that when trials arrive I stay strong to keep my faith. The Sickle Cell has taken a toll on me physically, mentally, and emotionally and I can’t do as much as many people can. I can’t do simple activities, I get tired easily, and it gets hard to sleep on some nights. Because of the recent passing of my father in May of 2025 and recently my aunt's recent passing, the anxiety has started to make my health decline. Even with this trial I still push through. I make sure not take objects too heavy for me so I don’t strain my back. I’m also working on getting my blood up. Recently I have seen that Sickle Cell Disease has affected my bone marrow with me having a high reticulocyte so I’m trying to get my health back up now by going on walks to get my blood flowing and take the stress away. I believe I will improve this disease so I can live life pain-free and be back to the way I used to.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Now if anyone were to read this, they would know that it’s a very common verse from the Bible book of Genesis. I was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and honestly, it takes a while to understand Jehovah’s creation to strengthen my belief in him. For me, I love creation and everything about it. I’ve always had questions and a fascination with the complexity of it. As one of Jehovah's Witnesses, we have a website called JW.ORG and there’s a place in our publications that has articles and videos about creation and how they tie into the Bible. We have a small video series called ‘Was It Designed?’ discussing certain aspects of nature, whether it be an animal or a plant or even a phenomenon from space, if it evolved down the line, or if was it designed for a purpose here for our earth. There’s another small series called “What Your Peers Says” and there’s a video called “What Your Peers Says— Belief in God” on how kids and teens came to believe there is a creator. One used an example of a glass bottle on a sandy beach. Glass is made of sand particles but the sand didn’t just come together and formed a bottle by itself. Someone had to make the bottle themselves. Same thing as a car. Car parts are typically made of materials that are from the ground such as glass, steel, and aluminum. A car doesn’t just form itself from the ground. It takes an intellectual person to find all these materials and put them together just to make a vehicle of transportation safely. A teen used an example of a bird and how it’s able to dive into the water to catch food without having to lose or gain speed. They compared how infrastructures were used to create Japan’s bullet train by using the bird’s shape of the beak and speed making the bullet train have an eco-friendly effect on the environment. All of this shows that there had to be someone behind the scenes while we took the inspiration and created something else. The Bible says we are created in God’s image because he wants us to enjoy all the things he has created and done for us. Even things in the sky. We were taught that Benjamin Franklin was the one who discovered electricity. But he wasn’t the one who invented electricity. Electricity was always there. It just had to be discovered. No one can take something from nature and claim it as their own. Same thing with our earth. Our planet is set at the right standard for us to live on. If our planet was at least 10 percent closer to the sun, we would have scorching weather. All life would be unsustainable. Same thing if it was 15 percent farther. We would have unsurvivable frigid temperatures. It even explains why our earth is at the right size. Any smaller and the earth would be just a deluge of water. Any smaller and our planet would be very dry with nothing on it. No can do something that great for over 9 billion people on earth. To me, I always think that I’m never alone and the more I think about the creation, the more I see Jehovah’s love for us and that he wants us to know how much has done for us. It doesn’t always come quickly, but over time our appreciation comes and gives me a better understanding, appreciation, and a better relationship towards him.

On March 10, 2022, a group called Stray Kids had a comeback with a new album called Oddinary. The message of the album in my point of view is “Why try to fit in like everyone else?” The music and lyrics have an effect so I became invested in this group and began stanning in April of 2022. It wasn't just their music that had an effect on me, but how the 8 members treated everyone and each other. For example, I.N is the youngest of the group, and the members are always looking out for him. He's very kind-hearted, sweet, and really loves being in the group. He has amazing vocals and dance moves, and the members give him so much praise and he truly deserves it. Another member is Seungmin who is very playful, very energetic, very funny, and just an amazing person to be around. He also has outstanding vocals and the confidence is just amazing with every song he sing whether it’s from his group or others. Felix is one member that makes me smile a lot. He has that affect on his members every time he enters a room. He likes to bake, likes to play video games, is very skilled at taekwondo, has amazing dancing and pretty vocals. He's very well known for having the deep voice which I think is amazing in a lot of the songs. Han is another person that makes me smile a lot and amazes me with his skills. I believe it's his ability to make music with a passion, since he has been credited to writing over 100 songs. I love how even with the challenges he faced with anxiety he still pushed forth and worked hard to produce music for Stray Kids. Hyunjin is a member that is quite inspiring to me. He is a very creative and artistic person and with every post of his artwork he does I drop my jaw in awe. His dance technique is so precise, full of expression, and overall just so skillful in what he does. One member that really sticks out to me is Changbin. It's probably every smile he shows or every comforting word he gives. He really shows love to everything and everyone. He's just so comforting, soft, and a person who just makes my day even better. The second oldest of the group is Leeknow and he's a very soft person. Some people may perceive him as cold and mean, but he cares deeply about his members and has a passion to care for them. He has 3 cats so I know he treats his members well like he does his pets Last, but very least we have the dearest leader Bangchan. I love how he takes cares of his members like his own family. He always checks on them, he like to do lives with the us fans, and overall just an amazing leader in the end. The whole group has taught me how to work on myself, don't push myself to hard with what I do, and always love everything and everyone around me. I will always support them because they're supporting me no matter what I do.

My name is Jasmine and I am a Haitian American living in Florida. I’m 18 and go to Hillsborough Community College to have an Associates in IT Project Management. I live with my mother, father, and brother. I have two brothers. Both of my parents are from Haiti. I like to sing, play violin and write poetry. I am also raised in the truth as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The goals I have planned is after I graduate college, I work for Microsoft part time and help my mother out with her real estate job. I also would like to study and be a Mortgage Loan Originator. I choose Microsoft because in high school I was certified in Word and PowerPoint in 2019. I took, economics and financial services, accounting, and business ownership class in high school. This year I have earned my McGraw Hill credential in Word and Excel. I say part time because of my medical condition. I have sickle cell anemia since I was about 3 days old. I go to a lot of appointments to make sure my blood count is up and not low to the point I have a crisis. My brother also has sickle cell and he was hospitalized quite a lot. It has took a toll on us because it affects work and school. I have missed school quite a lot. In late 2019 I was hospitalized for my anemia. The one thing I know the hospital will ask me is if I will accept a blood transfusion. Being a Jehovah’s Witness my answer will always be no. It taught me that when trials arrive I stay strong to keep my faith I’m also dealing with a lot of breast pain now and hoping to get a reduction. They have took a toll on me physically, mentally, and emotionally and I can’t do as much as I use to when I was about 12 years old. I can’t wear clothes like I used to, do simple activities, and it gets hard to sleep on some nights. Even with this trial I still push through. Even with this though I’m still able to wear a few pieces of clothing I like. I make sure to not take objects to heavy for me so I don’t strain my back. I’m also working on getting my blood up so I can prepare for the reduction. The insurance denied it the first time but my mother and I keep praying the insurance will approve it so can I live life pain free and be back to the way I use to.

My Days It’s filled with Saturday morning Full of work on Wednesdays With nice rainy days you don’t want to move Thinking am I ok with the shoes I wear It days when you feel ready when you’re not Feeling like crying when no is there for you Arguing, shouting, screaming The need to escape the dark mind Dig out the hole; escape the lions den Needing to break the silence in moments Asking “why I am I still around? I’m needed right?” Unable to speak, think, breath I can’t hear, feel, see The dark is enclosing in me But a crack of light appears and I follow it It leads me too warm food made by mom Stupid jokes I laugh at with friends Singing and dancing with family Giving comfort to someone in need The thought you helped someone without evening knowing keeping you going Not having what you want, but glad with you have The days will give scars and bruises from inside out and they might stay But I push through the test Making sure I’ll get through the day