Who am I? The oldest of six natural siblings, the younger brother to two older foster sisters, the only boy on my highschool cheer squad, a person with ADHD, a cashier at our small town grocery store, a top singles player on the tennis team I almost quit, a gay man, a student body officer, an Honor Choir member, the lead in the school musical and a good friend to others. I’m passionate about connecting with others. Connection automatically leads to service. I live in a small town in central Utah and there is a food bank here. As a community, we are very focused on eliminating food scarcity for each other. Every year, we have a competition at our highschool for which grade can bring the most canned food in to donate to the local food bank. Twice a year, our neighborhood puts out flyers and the youth walk door to door to pick up and food donations people want delivered to the local food bank. Both elementary schools petition for donations for bags of snacks and meals to send home with kids on Fridays so that they can have a dependable food supply when they’re away from school. I’ve participated in all these efforts but I learned something this year that I never knew. My family was close to food scarcity when I was five years old and I never knew it. But it impacted the way that our family donates to food banks. When we pick up food from porches, we see crazy things. I’m sure people run to their pantries and snatch anything they see. But our family goes shopping with recipes. My mom said it’s to take the mental load out of planning a meal. My mom explained to me that it was because of the stress she felt getting food donations on our porch that had nothing to do with eachother. How do you make a meal out of crazy ingredients? You educate donors so they donate organized meals instead of haphazard, whatever’s leftover from a shelf that didn’t get eaten. So we divide up at the grocery store with a recipe card and purchase ingredients for the meal. For example, we can put a box of chicken broth, oyster crackers, egg noodles, canned carrots, canned peas, canned chicken and a seasoning packet in a brown paper bag with the instructions to make the soup. My favorite donated recipe is Chicken Corn chowder, where we put corn, creamed corn, green chilis, canned chicken, evaporated milk and a box of corn bread mix into those brown paper bags. If people are hungry, they’re thinking about surviving. And getting a meal donation instead of just a crazy mix of canned food can help lighten someone’s mental load while they’re already stressed out. This is important to me to feel connected to my neighbors in my small town. It is important to me moving forward in my life because it helps me see that you never know what someone is going through. I'm stressed about how to pay for college. I want to become a therapist. I'm grateful for any relief in the form of a scholarship and I'm going to educate myself to try to alleviate stress as a professional therapist. When we get a break from our stress, we’re able to problem-solve and hopefully get out of whatever temporary problem we’re having. Thanks for considering me to solve my problem!

I come from a long line of theater performers. My great grandpa was in high school drama. My grandparents competed in debate against each other in high school. My dad did Pirates of Penzance in middle school. Every summer of my life, we go to the same playhouse in West Yellowstone and watch all three productions they perform. Singing and acting is in my blood. In my small town, I’ve been able to perform on stage often. It’s a normal part of my life. I was Kristoff in Frozen. I was Grandpa in Freaky Friday. And just this past fall, I got to bring Nathan Detroit to life in Guys & Dolls. I am very social, but people don’t realize how scary it is to put yourself out there to perform. Theater can be such a mind game versus yourself. Theater has taught me to relax and honor my own effort on the stage as well as provide a safe place for others to perform. Theater has helped me to strengthen friendships, no matter where my name is on the call back sheet and to have respect for the directors choosing where every personality should contribute. I’m not the most talented on the stage - I actually have to work really hard to memorize my lines. But I know how to be a consistent and steady cast member. I work hard to be able to show up and contribute. Directors appreciate how I can improve over the course of a production. I’ve gained confidence in who I am and what my strengths are because of what I’ve learned from theater. I’m able to express myself and entertain with my talents. In my early years, I was a reliable character addition. I added animation and energy to a scene. Now, I have grown to have a reliable voice with articulation and the ability to ad-lib when lines get off course. Who am I? The oldest of six natural siblings, the younger brother to two older foster sisters, the only boy on my highschool cheer squad, a person with ADHD, a cashier at our small town grocery store, a top singles player on the tennis team I almost quit, a gay man, an Honor Choir member, a student body officer, an FBLA member, the lead in the school musical and a good friend to others. During my time in theater, I’m constantly juggling commitments. At our small school, I’m able to be part of a lot of organizations and activities. I have gotten so much practice being comfortable with managing my time, learning when to sacrifice sleep and when to just go to bed and get my school work done during lunch. Being time blind means that it’s really difficult for me to know when to move forward on certain priorities. Theater has taught me to prioritize and organize so I made sure I was getting what I want. I’m not going to get overwhelmed by what I have to sacrifice when juggling different things because I’m choosing what I want. Theater has taught me that I get to choose, no matter how many good options there are. Theater has a lifetime impact. I was introduced by my parents. And I’ll encourage my children to perform and attend theater. Theater has taught me to be a better person and that has been priceless as I’m developing into who I want to be for the rest of my life. I’ll use everything I learned in theater to study to become a therapist in college. Thank you for your consideration in supporting that path.

Who am I? The oldest of six natural siblings, the younger brother to two older foster sisters, the only boy on my highschool cheer squad, a person with ADHD, a cashier at our small town grocery store, a top singles player on the tennis team I almost quit, a gay man, a student body officer, an Honor Choir member, the lead in the school musical and a good friend to others. I’m passionate about connecting with others. I live in a small town in central Utah and there is a food bank here. As a community, we are very focused on eliminating food scarcity for each other. Every year, we have a competition at our highschool for which grade can bring the most canned food in to donate to the local food bank. Twice a year, our neighborhood puts out flyers and the youth walk door to door to pick up and food donations people want delivered to the local food bank. Both elementary schools petition for donations for bags of snacks and meals to send home with kids on Fridays so that they can have a dependable food supply when they’re away from school. I’ve participated in all these efforts but I learned something this year that I never knew. My family was close to food scarcity when I was five years old and I never knew it. But it impacted the way that our family donates to food banks. When we pick up food from porches, we see crazy things. I’m sure people run to their pantries and snatch anything they see. But our family goes shopping with recipes. My mom said it’s to take the mental load out of planning a meal. My mom explained to me that it was because of the stress she felt getting food donations on our porch that had nothing to do with eachother. How do you make a meal out of crazy ingredients? You educate donors so they donate organized meals instead of haphazard, whatever’s leftover from a shelf that didn’t get eaten. So we divide up at the grocery store with a recipe card and purchase ingredients for the meal. For example, we can put a box of chicken broth, oyster crackers, egg noodles, canned carrots, canned peas, canned chicken and a seasoning packet in a brown paper bag with the instructions to make the soup. My favorite donated recipe is Chicken Corn chowder, where we put corn, creamed corn, green chilis, canned chicken, evaporated milk and a box of corn bread mix into those brown paper bags. I’ve always been committed to making quality donations but this year, my mom explained why we were so detailed in what we donate. If people are hungry, they’re thinking about surviving. And getting a meal donation instead of just a crazy mix of canned food can help lighten someone’s mental load while they’re already stressed out. This is important to me to feel connected to my neighbors in my small town. It is important to me moving forward in my life because it helps me see that you never know what someone is going through. If I’m going to help someone, I’m not going to bring a solution to them that actually causes stress. I’m going to try to simplify the way I support people so it provides real relief. When we get a break from our stress, we’re able to problem-solve and hopefully get out of whatever temporary probelm we’re having.

I come from a long line of tennis players. Not scholarship level, but we play for fun. I’m the first born of a collegiate volleyball player and a highschool football star. We’re active as a family. And very competitive. But nobody’s trying to get to Wimbledon. So when I moved to a small town, with a small highschool, I had the chance to play varsity as a freshman. I know it’s not because of my skill level, but tennis has taught me so much. I’ve grown my skills on the court to be chosen as captain my senior year. I am very social, but people don’t realize how scary it is to put yourself out there to connect on the tennis court. Tennis can be such a mind game versus your opponent, but tennis has taught me to reach across the net and shake hands, to make a friend no matter the score, and to have respect for different playing strategies. I’m not the hardest hitter at a tournament. But I know how to be a consistent and steady backboard. Opponents hate me because I can outlast a more talented player in a rally simply by keeping the ball in play. Life is all about being steady. I have an ADHD diagnosis. I get distracted with a list of things to do. But on the tennis court, I can lock in and push through points. My matches aren’t over until someone’s up 2 games. I was famous for taking matches to the third set and winning versus people who should have beat me in two. I’ve gained confidence in who I am and what my strengths are because of what I’ve learned as a tennis player. In my early years, I was a reliable ad-side player who could dig out of opponent advantage points with my return of serve. I took that weight seriously so that I could give us another chance to play it out and close a game, set or match. Who am I? The oldest of six natural siblings, the younger brother to two older foster sisters, the only boy on my highschool cheer squad, a person with ADHD, a cashier at our small town grocery store, a top singles player on the tennis team I almost quit, a gay man, an Honor Choir member, the lead in the school musical and a good friend to others. During the tennis season, I have gotten so much practice being comfortable with myself playing against boys who are having a different experience than me. I don’t have to try to be like them or hide parts of myself. I don’t hold back. I try to connect with opponents and chat between changeovers. And some opponents do not want to connect. That’s fine. It doesn’t change my game. I want to be friendly and kind and competitive. Tennis has taught me that I get to choose, no matter how other people show up. Tennis is a lifetime sport. I was introduced by my grandparents. And I’ll teach my children to play tennis. Tennis has taught me to be a better person and that has been priceless as I’m developing into who I want to be for the rest of my life. I really feel like I’m making a difference and changing people’s minds in the small town I live. I’ll use everything I learned in tennis to study to become a therapist in college. Thank you for your consideration in supporting that path.