One anime that forever has a place in my heart is Fairy Tail. It was the first anime I watched and I quickly fell in love with all the characters and the magical world they were set in. The show is very action-packed and it seems as if anything is possible, from magic to dragons, time travel, and alternate universes. It sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions from laughing to crying, all while keeping me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what would happen next. It’s crazy how creative all the story arcs are and how attached I become to all the characters. But by far my favorite character is Natsu Dragneel because he shows fierce loyalty to his companions, is not afraid to be himself, and always helps those in need. I feel like some of his characteristics are what I aspire to be like. And I definitely see a bit of myself in him during his denser more comedic moments in the anime. I feel like this show has so many life lessons to draw on that are expressed in such a beautiful way. Lessons such as it's alright to be different, to fight for your dreams, to understand those different from you, and that everyone has a different story that’s made them who they are. Each character also seems very relatable with their various ideals and flaws. Even the villains are humanized and given redemption stories showing that your past actions don't have to define who you are. All in all, there are so many reasons why I could never tire of this anime. I’ve both enjoyed watching it and taken away many things from this show. So I’m thankful for my childhood friend who recommended it to me way back in 5th grade as my gateway to anime.

I like to think that one of my superpowers is never giving up. Since I was little I’ve always been athletic and loved competing. Soccer was my favorite. I’d spend hours training every day after school in my backyard. I’d even get an adrenaline rush from just thinking about playing against other tough opponents and testing my speed against them. So when I made the varsity soccer team my freshman year and became a starter I was ecstatic. But the summer going into my sophomore year I tore my ACL and meniscus. I remember the injury initially feeling unreal and trying to fight through the pain to get back onto the soccer field. I thought my dream of playing college soccer was slipping away but I worked hard to recover, doing physical therapy and running track & field to get back in shape. By junior year, I was back to playing like nothing had happened. I got recruited to play for a D3 university and it felt like all my hard work had paid off but I started to lose my love for soccer as playing time was a bigger factor on the college team. Then during the spring of my freshman year, I tore my ACL and meniscus again but this time the injury was much worse and left more permanent mental scars. I began to reaccess why I chose this university and found it no longer matched what I wanted so I transferred. At my new college, I joined the track & field team because I remembered enjoying it in high school and I thought it could help me recover from my injuries faster. I quickly realized that the track & field team was so much more than a way to get in shape, it was a family. Although I’ve only been on the team for 1 year, they have already given me so many lifelong friendships and memories. From the coaches to my teammates, and friends, they have shown me what it means to be a part of a team that is accepting of everyone. I overcame my mental barriers from my knee injuries and gained more confidence in my abilities. I no longer felt the pressure to compare myself to my peers because my coaches encouraged us that if we focused on improving ourselves, success would follow. Track & field has given me so much more than I could have ever asked for. I’m really thankful for all the support I have gotten thus far. This team has allowed me to realize that even though this is not the future I had imagined for myself as a kid, by being open to new opportunities and not giving up on myself through adversity, I’ve found this forever family. Even though I was challenged both mentally and physically with these injuries and some nights I just felt like giving up hope on playing any sport again, I wouldn’t change anything because I’ve become so much stronger and the person I am today by not letting my fears override my determination. With this experience, I want to show other athletes who have gone through debilitating injuries like mine that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. The process may not be what you expected but even the best plans can fall apart and learning how to face adversity is the most important part. I hope to create a space for open discussions on the mental health side of sports, especially when injured, to show other athletes that they are not alone.

From a young age, society ingrained in me that the accolades a person accumulated over time represented their success. I always felt that if I did not get validated, then I was failing. I desperately wanted to succeed at everything I did. My mental state came down to a number on a test or the number of compliments I got during a soccer game. It was not until high school that my perspective on this matter changed. You ask how I have taken steps to achieve my career aspirations, and it is through accepting failure that I have learned to succeed. I believe anyone can win awards if given the resources, but learning to fail gracefully is harder. It required me to acknowledge I don’t always need to strive for perfection and conform to society’s definition of success by comparing my achievements to others. Through failure, my high school taught me to seek help when needed. I remember, on the first day of high school, my freshmen english teacher, Ms. Ferguson, told us, “you all will struggle at some points in this class, and when you do, I’ll be there to throw you a life preserver, but it is your choice to use it.” Before high school, I found English easy, but what Ms. Ferguson said settled in after my first Socratic seminar on the story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. Safe to say I was a fish out of water, and it turns out the story was not about a girl and guy in love, but about abortion. After this mic drop, I started to go to Ms. Ferguson’s office hours; I learned to analyze information instead of taking it at face value and to go beyond the requirements for an assignment by, for example, doing background research. This development in dealing with adversity by seeking help when needed greatly helped my mental health. I allowed myself to be okay with not always knowing all the answers and I began to look at my failures as a chance to learn instead of being harder on myself. Theater was another class that taught me a great deal about successfully failing. Doing theater all four years of high school was a humbling experience since I was by no means a natural actor. I made up for my lack of acting skills by taking risks when I performed and focusing on aspects of theater I was better at, such as character development. This class helped me become more comfortable with myself because my theater teacher, Ms. Boxford, always emphasized that perfection was never the goal and to embrace failure. I often didn't know what I was doing in theater class so whenever I messed up, I reminded myself that since I never expected perfection from my peers, I therefore shouldn't demand it for myself. In conclusion, I believe my reaction to failure will allow me to be successful in the environmental field. I know I will face many ups and downs in the environmental field, but I think my positive mindset toward failure will motivate me not to let setbacks stop me from pursuing my career dreams.

I believe my ability to self-motivate is one of the best skills that I developed through playing soccer. When I was 10, my soccer coach told my team that if we wanted to be the greatest soccer player, we had to know how to juggle a soccer ball on our feet. I was an absolute wreck when I started juggling, always yelling “head up” to my teammates and sprinting across the field to grab my ball before it fell into the abyss in the woods. One of my teammates, Olivia, got a nasty concussion, but while recovering, she learned to juggle and do cool tricks like the rainbow and around the world. I was jealous of her skills since I had no control over where the ball went, so I decided I wanted to be like her. Every night I would go onto my porch and juggle for hours. Even through snow or rain, I would practice juggling. I started by setting small goals like getting to 10 juggles, which rose to 20, then 50, then 100, then 1000. Once I reached 1000, I finally felt satisfied because I turned my biggest weakness into my greatest strength. I believe the reason why I was able to hit over 1000 was that I was motivated enough to better myself. I set manageable goals over time and never gave up, no matter the number of times I had to walk through thorn bushes or if I accidentally broke a window during the process. I also used to be hard on myself after every soccer game, always commenting on all the mistakes I made, but that changed after tearing my ACL both my sophomore year of high school and while in college. I have become grateful every time I step onto the soccer field. I know few athletes recover from an ACL tear, let alone a second tear; because it is mentally and physically challenging. I learned being able to self-motivate myself and working on improving my mental state was critical to recovery. The ACL process is full of so many ups and downs that it is easy to succumb to self-doubt and spiral into depression if you don't have a strong mentality. I believe growing up as a student-athlete allowed me to learn to balance my schedule from a young age with all the time and travel requirements for sports and school. It is thanks to soccer that I am good at managing my time now that I am in college. Soccer also gave me a better work ethic and communication skills. I would not be the highly motivated and confident person I am today if not for soccer. I am forever grateful to all the coaches that I've had who taught me so many life lessons that can be applied outside of soccer too.

My earliest memory of traveling abroad was when I went on a family vacation to Jamaica for two weeks. I distinctly remember picking bananas off the trees, having fresh coconut milk, and learning about the native environment from the locals. Ever since I have had the travel bug. Even as a freshman in high school, I knew I wanted to study abroad. I was fascinated with all the extraordinary benefits studying in a new country could offer. I plan to take full advantage of the travel abroad experience my university offers. I believe becoming a global learner will teach me to be more open-minded, push me out of my comfort zone, and allow me to discover new things about myself. I strongly feel that growth only occurs when challenged in new and uncomfortable situations. Studying outside of one's home country offers students a chance to step outside of their comfort zone. I think it can be easy to go along with what friends and family tell you, but only when you are on your own and have to make decisions for yourself that you truly discover what you are capable of doing. Studying abroad will expose me to new ideas, cultures, and people I can learn and grow from. I will gain a global perspective on current issues that can inform me to be less biased and be a source of inspiration to implement the change I want to enact in my life. When I visited Madrid for a week on a school trip, I was fascinated by how affordable the cost of education was. I learned in Spain that college is virtually free because all citizens pay higher taxes. Rewarding social care programs like these make it easier to see where people's money is going. I think that if this idea was implemented in the US, higher education could be easier to attain for those in poverty. Even though I was in Madrid for a short time, I feel that I became more educated on the impact of different social constructions that can be both beneficial and detrimental to a community. The trip influenced me to think about the type of leaders and programs I want to support using my right to vote. Global exploration brings innovation, creativity, and knowledge that can be used to build a better life in the US. Since students represent the future of a country, I feel having exposure to different ways of thinking makes for more thoughtful and empathetic individuals. People with empathy are most likely to make choices that help others and improve society. For example, I want to go into the sustainability field and travel internationally after college. I think living and speaking to residents in countries like Sweden and Switzerland, who are well known for their environmentally friendly laws and way of life, could teach me a lot of things. The people of these countries live lifestyles that emphasize reducing consumer products and being eco-friendly. Bringing more awareness to ideas like how to be more eco-friendly in our day-to-day lives can benefit many people in the US. Sharing and learning from other cultures and countries allows for small changes that can make a big impact on what the US looks like in the future. In conclusion, I feel that studying abroad helps individuals and communities grow, be more accepting of alternative ideas, and be innovative. Learning about other cultures and nations helps give perspective to lives that differ from our own and impact future decisions.

Instagram Jkacz72 I am proud I can be unapologetically myself. There was a time I did not think that was possible because I was scared of what other people would think, but I am so happy I gained the courage to overcome my fears and be a part of such a loving community. Being LGBTQ+ has empowered me and given me a new family, and for that, I am so thankful.