Growing up I never really needed to focus on or worry about money. I would always leave that responsibility to my parents because they were the grown-ups and I was just a kid. But over time people get older and mature more. I'm 17 now and I have a job of my own and money of my own now. Meaning I can spend it how I want or manage it how I want, I've learned that you can spend money quicker than you can earn it. Meaning you have to be careful with how you spend it and use it for things that will last longer and help you in the long run instead of spending short-term things like fast food when you have food at home. This leads me to think about American youth. Have you ever stopped to think about whether or not America's youth cared about their future or where they see themselves ending up years from now? Well, my vision for America's youth consists of them making a change in their community, becoming an active voice for their community, and doing things to help better not only their future but also others. First and foremost, being an active individual in the community is very crucial in today's society. Although some may wonder how much of a change a teen can make in their community. Teens can be incredibly impactful by partnering with local community leaders to recognize some communities' challenges. For instance, in many cities, there is a lack of support academically. I believe that peer tutoring the youth would be beneficial to all communities across America. Each person has their strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, if a high school student is exceptionally good at math and another high schooler or middle schooler struggles in math, that high school student will sharpen his and the person's math skills. By assisting their peers, they can impact an individual, which in turn supports the community's academics. Furthermore, I envision that by becoming involved in the community, there comes a time when an individual becomes the voice of the community. Initially, it is accomplished by standing up for those in need and actively volunteering. If you take a second to look at any city, you'll find many people who could use your help. For instance, it can be those who cannot speak up for themselves because of their disabilities. I believe that they are the most vulnerable and could receive assistance from America's youth's active voice in the community. Although this may seem like a lot, peer and community influences in today's society are very much needed. As a youth myself, I want to bring awareness that being involved and being a voice for others is worthwhile because we are working towards a better future for the next generation.

My plan when going to college is to succeed, how I am going to get to this final goal is the critical question. One thing I will do to get close to achieving this goal is a tip I got from one of my teachers. When he was in college he would schedule all his classes to be early in the morning, most college students wouldn't do this and would instead schedule their courses for the afternoon. You see there is an advantage to when you have all your classes early in the morning is that your whole afternoon would be free and you'd have time to do whatever you need. Whether that's running errands, catching up on missing work, or just spending time with your friends. The only downside about this is that you can't go partying epically when you have a class at 9:00 in the morning, so you'll have to discipline yourself and stick to a curfew. While on the other hand people who have classes in the afternoon will probably be partying all night because they don't have any classes in the morning. But by the time they wake they already have missed half of the day and don't have much free time because they have classes to attend to. That's one way I will stay focused on my goal, by using methods such as these to keep me on track

1. At first I didn't find computer science interesting until I began to figure out more about it while taking a class on it. I was intrigued by computers and how they worked and I want to learn more about them. 2. My goal after receiving my degree is to become a software engineer 3. I will take advantage of the opportunity and use it to help better my future in the field of computer science

One thing I always found interesting as a kid was the buildings around me, I always found them interesting and beautiful. I use to always wonder how did they build that, how long did it take them to build it, or why would they build it the way they did. My curiosity was endless when it came to buildings and how they were made. I think this is what inspired me to become a civil engineer, I wanted to know all the answers to the questions that would run through my mind as a kid. And I knew becoming a civil engineer would answer them. I also wanted to be able to be to recreate things as beautiful as the buildings I saw. To me, it is just inspiring to be part of making something great that makes people look in awe at majestic it may be. I also want to be able to make an impact on many people's lives by making better housing for people that live in low-income communities. I come from a place where people pay more for their housing than what it is really worth. Some people will live in run-down houses and apartments for years and never end up paying it off or renovating it to their liking because of how expensive their rent or mortgage is. And I want to give those people a fair chance at earning the comfortable living situation they deserve.

Drinking while driving is an an important problem that is spoken on a lot but yet hundreds people still get Duis every year, why is that you may think? Well probably because people aren't well educated on how to prevent it . The most basic and simple way to prevent being pulled over and given a DUI is to not drink at all if you know you will be driving. Stay sober for just one night, its better then risking your record and even your life. If your drinking to have fun and loosen up it been proven that you don't need alcohol to have a good time, having fun is really just a mental aspect of life. If still want to drink and have fun at least take a uber or a cab. Or have a designated driver for the night if you the trust people you don't know.

Ever since I was young I tried to always get good grades, mainly because my parents. And that worked for a couple of years, but near the end of elementary I noticed that school was getting harder and that I was losing motivation. At first I began to think that I just wasn't smart enough but really it was just a lack of motivation and purpose. So it was the last trimester of elementary and the first two trimesters I didn't do so good. So I sat there and thought to myself I need to actually try and not just because my parents but for me because this is my life and every thing I do effects it. So I started paying attention in class and did all the homework and by the end of the trimesters I was proficient in every subject except math which I needed development in but it was a great start for me and I was proud of myself. That wasn't the only time I had to face an obstacle when it came to my education. Let's take a trip back to around March of 2020; this was around the time the COVID-19 had put everyone in quarantine and shut down all schools across the nation. This forced us to do all of our school work online; at the time, I felt as if I was still on spring break. I was not taking any of the work seriously cause I thought we would be back in class soon. For the first three weeks, I was slacking and just doing whatever I felt like, and that's where I made my first mistake. This is where my morals and values came into play. You see, most people would've given up when things started to get tough and would have accepted a D or an F on their report card, but that's where I differ from others. It wasn't easy, but I made up for all my missing work and ended up with only three c's, three b's, and one a. Not my best performance, but a lot better than where I started, and that is another one of the few things that I have had to overcome when it comes to my education.

Over the years I have volunteered a lot in the community, as of this moment I have over 160 community service hours. I obtained most of them by volunteering at a basketball camp that one of my coaches were hosting over the summer. And this personally for me was a great opportunity for me because chance of work experience I had ever got in my life. I was volunteering under the staff position so I had the responsibility of watching the kids, putting away or organizing equipment, and overall cleaning. While volunteering there I got to meet new people that I still have a bond with to this day, more importantly i made bonds with the kids going there that I didn't expect to make. Some of those kids looked up to me as if I were a role model to them. I was able to make an impact and make connects with these kids on a day to day bases and it pushed me to become a better person so that they could. My experience volunteering in the community pushed me to give back to others in ways i could never imagine.

My main goal in life right now is to earn enough scholarships for me to go to the college I want. I come from a town where if you stay complacent you wont become anything. In order to make something happen you must first have a goal or a aspiration then you have to come up with a plan and then execute it and getting scholarships is a part of my plan. Once I get the scholarships I need I will then go to college to become a mechanical engineer and strive to become the best in my field.

Both of my parents are immigrants from Haiti, first i will talk about my moms journey in coming to the US. Before my mom could come to America they first needed money for a family of 6 to be able to fly out to and successfully live in America. So what my grandpa had to do was go to America by himself leaving his family behind and work in America and send whatever he had made back to Haiti so my grandma could save it up and use it to America. See in Haiti there isn't as many opportunities as there is America for example access to sustainable job that's why my grandpa had left in first so my mom ,aunts, and uncle could live a better life where they could be whatever they decided. In the end my grandpa was able to get it done and oved his family to America. Even though my mom and her siblings had to adjust to a whole new environment they were able to live comfortable lifestyles that my grandpa had worked so hard for them to live. Now for my dad's story, his was much harder then my moms. See my dad didn't have as much help my mom, the only person who he had in America was his brother my uncle. My uncle was the first one in my dad side of the family to go to America when he got there he worked just like my mom's dad did. He sent most of his money back to Haiti for my dad and his brothers and my grandpa to use. He sent enough money for them to buy a pick up truck for transportation instead of having to walk long hours to get from place to place. After a while my grandpa sent my dad to America when he was about 16 to live with my uncle because they didn't have enough money to send them all to America. While my dad was there he had to learn a new language work a job go to school and play sports when he was my age. And he had to stay on the right side of the law because he wasn't completely naturalized yet. In the end my dad completed high school. He ended up getting a job at the prison and climbed the ranks and ended up becoming a commander. In the end both of my parents had to face hardships when coming to America and becoming the people they are today.

Well for me higher education is important to me because it is necessary for me to be successful. See I want to be an automotive/mechanical engineer and for me to do that I have to obtain a higher level of education in order to do that. And that's how it is with most things that people want to be successful in. If you really think about it there is always a next level or higher education you have to reach and surpass in order to be the best at whatever you want to do. For example a high school basketball player that one day wants to paly in the NBA they have to first make it to the next level which is college basketball or some other alternative and once they met the maximize their skills at that level then they can enter the draft and then be picked on the team that scouts see that you are best adequate based on your skill level. So the idea is you have to have the mindset of always achieving and moving onto bigger and better to become the best at what ever you choose to do in life. And for me that thing is engineering I don't know exactly which type exactly I enjoy the most but i want to keep working and learning to see which one my skills are most adequate for. And that's why higher education is important to because in order to become better as a person you always have to keep learning and to never stay stagnant.