Community service was a huge part of my life as a child. My dad made (and still currently makes) movie-quality Star Wars costumes, and we would spend several weekends out of a year volunteering for the 501st and Rebel Legion communities. We worked with Wings Over the Rockies (In Colorado) many times as well as commandeering booths at Denver Comic Con. While doing this, we would raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This was very formative for me as I met all different kinds of people, who all had a passion for helping others and Star Wars. Also getting to hear stories about the wishes we were able to help fulfill was a feeling I will never forget. Currently, I'm in school for American Sign Language. When I get to a place of being more fluent, I want to volunteer at my church and other events in my community that don't have anyone or maybe don't have the funds for an interpreter. When I am fully certified and able to interpret professionally, I want to volunteer with individuals who can't pay for interpreting services themselves or people who want to learn ASL and become more fluent. I think learning even a little bit of ASL would be very helpful for anyone and everyone. Another way I experienced community service when I was younger was through youth group. The adults that worked with me were very influential and helped me become a more aware and kinder person. These mentors worked with all different types of kids from all backgrounds and also had to work through many painful things like abuse or mental illness with these children and teenagers. My mentor in particular helped me deal with something very painful that had happened to me as a child. Because of my mentor, I am able to hold my head up high and support other people who went through the same thing as I did. Once I finish with ASL, I want to work with my church to open up our youth group to the Deaf community so that it could be another place to meet. Hopefully, this could be a place where anyone would feel comfortable coming to. I hope to be able to encourage and support kids and teenagers through what is arguably one of the most difficult times in our lives- adolescence. All in all, I hope to be able to use my degree to support and encourage anyone no matter if they speak English or ASL.

I love Demon Slayer! This show has it all: action, comedy, romance, drama, you name it! My husband was the one who watched it first, he kept asking me to watch it with him and when he was near the end of the first season I started to watch it with him. The plot immediately pulled me in, and I just had to find out how things would end for Tanjiro and Nezuko. We restarted the series together, and now we have watch parties with our friends for each new episode, and my husband and I have matching Inosuke tattoos together! What makes it so captivating for me is that I appreciate the villains in this show. They are easy to hate and seem like terrible creatures. Once they are defeated though, the backstory comes out and you realize how awful of a life they had leading up to becoming a demon and you begin to feel sorry for them. Well, for most of them anyway. I think this is a really interesting way to show your bad guys because it relates to real life. Someone who is awful and mean didn't start out that way, but the conditions and context of their life are what shaped them into what they are now. This doesn't excuse the actions of the demon (or person) in question, but it explains why they are the way they are.