From a young age, I can remember times when I was objectified because of women's societal implications. No spaghetti strap tank tops, no skirts or shirts that are distracting, and that if a girl bullies a boy, she's told to "act ladylike." But when applied to boys, the rules seem to bend. Should a boy wore a tank top or a sleeveless shirt, it's normal. If a boy wears shorts, he must be hot. And if a boy picks on a girl, any teacher or staff member will tell you that "boys will be boys" and justify his bullying. As you surpass elementary school and enter middle school, where everyone often feels weak emotionally, it's easier for a girl to understand social expectations placed on them. And it's even easier for them to break those traditions with the help of those close. For me, my role model for breaking these traditions was my mother. Throughout middle school, she taught me that I could be who I want to be and wear what I want to wear as long as others were out of harm's way. I dabbled in makeup and wearing clothing that was tight-fitting one day or baggy the next. Experimenting with my body type and my face was my way of discovering myself and figuring out what I'd stick with for the rest of my life. Yet, the comments from staff and the boys plagued me daily. "You wear too much makeup." "Your skirt is too short." "You look desperate." "Cover up. You're showing too much skin." "Your clothing will distract the boys from learning." "A lady should never act this way." The list went on and on with these remarks. Sentiments like this can leave a young woman figuring out herself feeling like she's never good enough to the point where she may try to fulfill herself in drastic ways. I was one of these millions of women who still fight against these standards. Often, I would think about what my mother said, and now I have more courage to wear and display myself in a way that pleases me. However, many young women are entering school without that type of guidance. Whether it comes from parents who were taught the same misogynistic mindset and teach it to their children or school staff following a sexist dress code, it's unfair subjectification and objectification of the women in our country. These women need a positive influence similar to my mother. As a future student of middle childhood education at Kent State University, I want to help my prospective students break this thinking. I want young women to challenge societal expectations and break them into their methods. I want young men to support these women by breaking misogynistic stereotypes and challenging their conceptions of defining rules based on their gender in the classroom.

When anyone asks me about mental illness, one person in my life comes to mind instantly. That would be my younger sister Emily, who suffers from social anxiety. From a young age, our family, including our extended relatives, realized that she was overly emotional in daily life. Many figured it was just a simple rite of passage for many young girls. We all figured it was a phase in Emily's life and that it would pass as quickly as it appeared. However, after years of being taught emotional control in school and at home, it didn't go away. It had faded but was still noticeable. Emily's anxiety had even gotten to a point where she would remain silent during family gatherings, even if a family member spoke to her. Everyone in our household knew she wasn't trying to be cold or rude. Emily was just overly nervous and chose not to speak due to her anxiety. Our family slowly realized that Emily wasn't undergoing a normal phase and helped and supported her throughout. Since then, she's grown to great heights and overcame many of her issues. However, many aren't lucky to have a support system to help show an endless amount of love as Emily had. Many are in families who desensitize those with mental health issues or possibly cause said problems. "You aren't depressed or anxious. You're just stressed." "You're overreacting." "I have it worse." Common phrases like these and more can make someone who already isn't doing well can make that person question themselves regarding a situation that many don't know much about from the beginning. Desensitization to mental health issues needs to end to foster healthy individuals. The most extensive way people can accomplish this through mental health education. Many adults desensitizing mental health were projecting it from their early lives when mental health wasn't an enormous problem among citizens. Mental health education can accomplish these in schools, workplaces, and other familiar places for adults.

Many are unaware of the benefits animals have on other species, including humans. Specifically, certain species can advance humanity through scientific experiments to possess similar aspects to their lives. For instance, the common opossum has traits that make it immune to Lyme disease or the parasites that cause Lyme disease. Through scientific discovery, humans may be able to harness similar abilities and be resistant to the creatures that pass Lyme disease, which cases have grown about 30 percent in the United States for the past 20 years. However, this may prove more difficult due to the common opossum's place on the endangered species list, that many turn a blind eye to and is under threat of extinction. The common opossum, however, isn't the only species that would prove humanity an immense benefit. Bees, poison dart frogs, and bears are also crucial to human society. Poison dart frogs could help humanity advance in the medical field also. If used for scientific study, poison dart frogs toxins can help medical fields cure more human diseases. Bears, which are also declining in population, have been shown to solve kidney disorders potentially using recycled blood toxins during hibernation. Losing either of these species due to extinction would prove a loss for human society's desire to advance in the medical field. Bees pollinate 80 percent of the Earth's crops. Experts have concluded that honey bees are responsible for maintaining $15 billion in U.S. crops per year. However, bees' population is declining at an alarming rate, and the consequences of failing to conserve this particular species would prove to be detrimental to humanity's survival. They may cause a severe decline in the economy should bees ever become extinct, and scientists would have to invent an alternative source for pollination would be needed. All of these species can save the human species if appropriately protected. Some efforts to protect endangered species rely on captive breeding and release programs. Wildlife professionals in these programs may capture an endangered species that may be kept in an appropriate facility to create a larger population and free them into their original environment. These are growing in popularity and have been proving to save many species. For instance, Corroboree frogs, which were nearly extinct due to a fungus disease, were placed into a captive breeding program in the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, and are now placed in specially designed, disease-free habitats. Humanity can appropriately protect endangered species by supporting local state parks or organizations that promote the conservation of endangered species. My home state, Ohio, is home to 83 state parks. Each has its resources for local conservation efforts, including advice on how to remain eco-friendly in daily life, what to do about an injured or orphaned animal, updated endangered species lists for the state, and other ways to become involved. As individuals, promoting a healthy environment in our own homes plays a vital role in rehabilitating endangered species. For instance, saving electricity, limiting water usage, discouraging littering, and buying animal cruelty-free products or substitutes for animal fur are all examples of remaining eco-friendly to promote environmental health and encourage saving endangered species. Other ways to save endangered species as individuals are to enact government officials on the local, state, and federal levels to place policies to make conserving endangered species a priority. People accomplish this through personal visits, letters or emails, or phone calls. Legislators are open to making society better, and as long as you have your case and present it in a calm, informed process, there is a chance that people can help to create new policies for conserving threatened species. It takes a collaborative effort to make the change. The most effective way to promote this good cause is to make it more public. Recommending these practices to friends, family, or even social media can have a significant impact and increase in environmental health that will, in turn, change the ongoing conservation efforts of endangered species.

All the weight tumbled off my shoulders when the judge had said those words. "I have decided to grant Anastasia Dunigan to adopt Jordan Dunigan legally," the severe judge decreed. I turned to my mother, crying tears of joy and letting out a long sigh of relief. The whole family knew she had been obsessing over the case of my adult adoption and my younger sister's adoption after that. My mother hugged me, and I saw the judge smile for the first time as she rose from her seat. Suddenly, I'm crying as well. I turn back to the judge, who is speaking only to me. "Do you want to come up and hit the gavel?" She asked, gesturing to her seat. I nod and sit in her chair, holding the giant gavel in my hand. I can hear the judge giving me more instructions, but I'm too focused on this moment. "Just hit it against the plaque and say "court is adjourned," she instructed. Upon those few moments, before I hit the gavel, I thought back on my life previous to the adult adoption. I was close to crying at all the suffering my sister and I endured with our biological mother—one of hatred and doubt for eighteen years that had plagued me for who knew how long. One that made me want to receive counseling from friends, family, and even professionals. One that blinded me to the woman who always loved me and sat next to me in that courtroom. One that was ever broken and meant to stay that way. That past was behind me now. I looked at my family and every family member who had shown for the trial. All were smiling and in tears, some that I never thought I would see crying. After that day, I knew to live life to the fullest, like that courtroom that day, people need to demonstrate overwhelming love for others. Without this, I believe, there is no meaning to life. That day forward, I learned how to communicate love better through words and actions with others besides family. I learned to show love to those who needed it most through charity and services to the needy. This lesson also led me to discover others with similar family dynamics, such as mine, before being adopted. I would help them in any way I could by giving them advice, and it changed some of their lives for the better. These experiences with others made me want to continue in a similar field and teach others essential lessons. Knowing this about myself led me to join a career technical program to become a teacher after high school. As an educator, I want to provide my future students with a support system for similar dynamics that are becoming more common. When children meet adults, specifically those who are supposed to protect and help them, who refuse to understand or further help the student, it can leave the student with a feeling of helplessness and fall behind academically and sometimes emotionally. Due to my perspective of life, I want to combat negative adult influences or troubled dynamics with a support system where the child understands that they will be cared for in my classroom. I want them to know that their needs physical and emotional, will always be met and that their grades, while important, aren't any match to how they are doing that day. By doing these things, teachers can revolutionize the educational system. Teachers can create students who are ready to learn based on a support system that fosters a love for learning early, focuses on needs to promote success, and creates positive achievement by believing in the student's progress rather than focusing their value on standardized testing.

For a long while, I had never known what I wanted to study in college. Fortunately, there was a wide array of career and technical programs for any student in high school for any student to select. Doing so would help any high school student excel in the field they choose. And there were so many options, from cosmetology to graphic design. The only problem was choosing one. I was never sure about what my passion in life would be following graduation for the longest time. After some guidance from family and other peers, I had finally decided. It was a choice in something I had been passionate about for several years prior. I chose a field that I could accel in and make a significant change in others around me through providing a public service. A profession that is often underestimated or doubted by others and observed as fit for those incapable. I chose a career that has underwent revolutionary changes but demands more respect from American society. For many attest that "those who cannot do, teach." However, I believe that education is for a particular type of person. If left to the incapable or those who "cannot do", education will lack more than it already has in the United States. Due to drastic reforms needed in American educational systems, it is why education is what I want to study at a university. By studying previous movements that shifted, reforms that experts expect in the future, and much more, I can fuel the world by developing American education that grants the youth more access to success. Teachers who promote this change and demonstrate so in their classrooms can also bring forth social reconstructionism. These ideas help create influential leaders, activists, and others who can be monumental to American history. Allowing more students to go into the teaching field can revolutionize the profession of education, ignite a love for learning in the American youth, and foster practical and powerful skills such as leadership, activism, and compassion in the classroom. These are several of my goals as a future educator and define my passion for passing my love for learning to prospective students.

I am currently enrolled in a Career and Technical program regarding Education at my high school. Throughout the two year program, I have decided to specify in middle and junior high school education. To better understand future students and perform as a remarkable educator, I would like to use any scholarship or grant money to finance a psychology course fixated on adolescents. Puberty is a confusing and uncomfortable time for many students. Being more accustomed to adolescent psychology, I can further understand future pupils' particular behaviors in and out of the classroom. A course like this would also help analyze mental health, as they are rising among adolescents in recent years. Being able to help with growth and mental health-related issues makes effective teachers who can show personal relation to a student by accomodating to their needs. By having access to more funds, I could also take classes specializing in test-taking or study methods. The courses would be beneficial to future students and me as well. Middle school students often struggle to find a new means of passing tests, as many had time in the classroom to prepare for any evaluation. It would also help further becoming a teacher due to state licensure exams that teachers take regularly. In summary, being able to afford courses in either adolescent psychology or test-taking methods would benefit the overall connection between myself and future students by creating an environment where student needs are met mentally and educationally.

From a young age, I remember severe social anxiety and depressive episodes affecting my personal life. At first, they were just small actions or words that caused them. In school, if I ever was confronted by a teacher or classmate, it felt like I was being closed into a tiny box. Every second that passed made me feel like the walls of that box were pushing in on me. I could barely breathe, and the tears would begin to well. My family assured me that it was normal for children to be emotional due to my young age. It helped a little, but as these moments continued, I was not so sure. The panic attacks, or the "closing box," as I called it, continued for years and especially got worse when I was around eight. My biological parents went to court over the custody of myself and my younger sister. I remember feeling like my parents going to court was my fault and that I was inconveniencing them. Every night when my father came home, he looked more frazzled than the day before, his eyes wearier. He always grinned through it around my sister and me and always told us that everything would be okay and that we were never to blame. But something still nagged at me from inside, and my "closing box" came back more frequently. I remember that soon after, each day I woke up, there was dread and overall misery. I would watch my father get ready for court with a sinking heart, and my box was closing tighter than before. The days dragged on, and I found myself wanting to sleep much longer. I found solace in consuming more food at mealtimes, but it was seen as me developing and only requiring more to sustain myself. Experiences like this happened on and off for my whole life. They got better during some moments but still hung over my head like a looming storm cloud. It was a switch that I could never move. Due to these incidents, I became more aware of mental health over the years. I would do hours of research on mental disorders like anxiety, depression, and even ADHD. It helped open me to a community of several others who went through similar experiences. I was able to learn that I suffered from social anxiety and occasional depressive episodes. Many of the other stories inspired me to help any suffering from mental health in any way possible. Whether it was a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to, or help them find suitable therapy, I wanted to be there for others who felt like no one understood. My experiences with others led to wanting to help others' well-being, especially children who are unsure of what may be happening to them like I was. Helping those with mental health issues led to me wanting to become a teacher and care for all students' welfare and quality education. With this career, I can be an effective teacher by prioritizing students' mental health needs and ending the destigmatization of mental health issues on an educational level.

Former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza "Condi" Rice said, "It's good to have female or minority role models. But the important thing is to have mentors who care about you..." This doctrine from Condoleezza Rice effectively describes my role model, who drives those around her to be their best selves and creating the most worthwhile experience and profession for herself while demonstrating everlasting kindness to those around her, even if the other person may not deserve that compassion. This role model is from my life, my mother. Along with establishing herself as a defense attorney, my role model motivated my future career decision in my second year of high school. In my sophomore year of high school, the staff recommended students enroll in career and technical programs to close the final years of high school. There were so many possibilities to determine from, and I was beside myself. Up until then, my career had never been a previous thought. I consoled my mother, and she overlooked the case with a furrowed brow, hidden with never-ending reason and comfort, and skimmed the list of options. "Why not teaching?" She suggested. I stared for a moment, waiting for her to elaborate. "You've always been better at explaining things to others when they don't understand. You do it all the time with your siblings." Then I realized the potential in teaching for a career goal. It reminded me of playing "the teacher" in kindergarten or helping another student and watching their faces when they had a "lightbulb" moment. I had developed a love for learning and wanted to distribute that to others from the start. My journey of discovering that teaching is my ideal profession would be much more complicated by wanting to attempt seventeen other career and technical programs without my mother guiding me. My mother also taught me the importance of several real-world etiquette techniques that significantly impact any career. I made my articulacy more fantastic for communicating in groups, which is especially common with education. I learned to be able to handle criticism with a level head and apply it to future practice. Teachers should always be assessing themselves to sharpen their ability as instructors. I managed problems differently rather than one solution, which helps teachers when lessons or plans go awry. Without my mother's guidance, these accomplishments would have never allowed me to achieve a better career rather than be a hindrance. My role model also taught me that family should never rely on blood relations. Instead, relatives' titles should belong to those who devote time and love to those closest to them every day. My mother's influence helped me understand that many relatives are not worth keeping in your life if they tend to cause you distress or a sense of overall defeat to maintain a healthy relationship. While it may not have seemed fair, letting go may be the most suitable choice for both sides of a declining relationship. My mother taught me that people deserve comfortable, robust relationships in their life to achieve more. My role model shaped who I am today, and as Condoleezza Rice said, it takes those who care about you to be a role model, and my mother does all of these things and more. She altered the entire direction of my life.

Upon coming home, I could feel a lump in my throat that urged me to cry. I could hear my parents asking me how the visit went, their faces elated to see my sister and me. It only made me want to cry harder, my throat became tighter, and the tears were already beginning to well in the corners of my eyes. They were boiling, threatening to spill over in front of the people who wanted everything to be okay. I knew that because I wanted it to be okay too. "It went great," I said with a false grin. They smiled back, and we talked for a few minutes. After that, I rushed to my room and sulked for what seemed like hours. The tears seemed extinct up until now and only seemed to flow when I realized that the relationship with my biological mother was worth it. But I wanted it to be worth it. I wanted not to feel as powerless as I did then, knowing she was never going to change. Self-love was a difficult thing to obtain for me from a young age. Due to a toxic relationship with my biological mother, the powerlessness I felt in repairing that relationship left me feeling as though I could accomplish nothing. It took years to regain acceptance in a broken relationship and self-love after that. Only by fostering healthy relationships in those who truly cared for me was I able to begin to love and accept me for who I am rather than someone I could not fix. My self-acceptance journey helped me discover the distinction between relationships and my belief that people shouldn't measure their self-worth through what they cannot do. Instead, people should measure their accomplishments and self-worth through their ability to grow from situations that cannot be solved immediately. I could never wholly fix the relationship between my biological mother and me. For a long time, the thought of this alone defeated me. Only when I was able to break off the relationship over time rather than spending so much time and exhaustion into trying to repair it was I able to understand where my self-worth indeed lay. This journey also inspired me to want the best for other children in similar situations, which led me to choose teaching as my future career. By being an educator, I can teach the youth what self-acceptance and worth mean to each child. Whether it is struggling in content or reporting an abusive family, being a teacher will directly impact a child's life and ideologies for life.

My mother has told me stories of a younger me babbling on about what I learned in school that day. Circle time as a kindergartener left me aspiring to go to school the next day and do even more. Reading a Junie B. Jones book in the second grade made me ask for more at the library. Doing well on a times table test in the 3rd grade made me want to try even harder the next day. Launching my rocket into the sky for my 8th-grade science class made me want to soar. Acing a project for a teaching career technical program made me hopeful to teach others. Education has always been a beloved part of my life since I was in pre-k. Going to school every day to push my limits for something I was passionate about was something I had always looked forward to the next morning. However, as I've grown up, I realized that not all people love learning. And due to this, I've dedicated my future career to fulfilling other children's educational needs by fostering a love for learning early in life. For instance, instead of assigning notes and a quiz, it's more beneficial to do an interactive lesson engaging the students. More engaging material is more appealing to student memory as the student has a positive experience that is more associated with a student than a negative one. When children are taught the ability to apply creativity early through an engaging and exciting curriculum, it will affect their education for the remainder of their lives, as education should never stop after graduation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to the entire world of the best and the worst in humanity. From relief programs for laid-off workers or government officials refusing to believe that a disease is harmful, the year 2020 is one that people will remember for its' history. Throughout the pandemic, one can learn that in order for society to function correctly in times of a crisis, the people must display want for togetherness rather than hate. Some advocacy groups and lower-level government officials have already promoted this idea. For instance, in the state I live in, the governor has issued mandates for facial coverings and limited physical interaction. Other programs, such as the American Psychiatric Association, or APA, raise money and awareness for health care awareness during the pandemic. Others have found these regulations and ideas from other associations to be underserved in terms of human rights and have been the cause of many protests worldwide. However, it is difficult not to see that mandates and awareness raised help lower thousands of cases and improve the lives of many more. Society can also learn that all businesses are worth aiding due to the pandemic, even if it is a small donation or purchase. Before cases began to rise globally, small businesses were already severely underappreciated and lacking in funds. However, it became worse when citizens had to quarantine. Shops closed for months, and some loyal customers were not comfortable purchasing goods shipped directly from one person out of fear of contracting COVID-19. However, these businesses are cautious and wear protective equipment and sanitize all products before, during, and after use. Small business owners are struggling as much as a recently laid-off employee and should be given the same financial aid as the recently unemployed. A final lesson the people can learn from the pandemic is to treasure your friends and loved ones. On the day of writing this essay, a total of 1,391,565 people had already died from COVID-19. Millions have lost those who can never be brought back to them, and the best way to help this is to safely keep those you love close. Isolated interaction, like a video call or a socially distanced gathering, while it is not ideal, is better than no interaction at all. It is also essential to keep other people's families in mind when one finds it unnecessary to wear protective equipment or break social distancing regulations. Due to one's actions, a loved one at high risk can be hospitalized or killed due to someone else's negligence. While these times may be difficult or not as others plan, it is still important to follow local, state, and federal governments' regulations. Society needs to stand united as it has in the past and support those in need, such as the newly unemployed or small businesses, to function correctly. Those in doubt of COVID-19 regulations should still consider their own family's risk and others need to keep in mind that their negligence may result in the critical condition or death of a loved one, which is irreversible.

In a suburban neighborhood where the society constricts the general populous to be an exact print of the other, it can be easy to earn a misfit's label—merely partaking in a hobby unlike others or how your body looks can instantly alienate you from everyone else. From a young age, my family taught me to stay true to myself no matter who told me otherwise. But the people who told me I was the wrong kind of person to be were the ones that society told children like myself to look up to most. These were family members who instilled the idea to stay true to me but used it to create someone precisely like them. The subtle manipulation and the constant leading of warmth in their presence kept me hopeful. Since I lived with my biological father full time and only saw this particular side on a few occasions, the experiences I had with them were usually overwhelming. I wanted these people in my life so severely that I was willing to change who I was entirely for them. From encouraging drug use to a deep hatred for my real family, their influence shaped me into someone I wasn't. It took rediscovering things that made me passionate and talking about them with my biological mother's side of the family to realize just how toxic they were. They targeted how I felt towards addiction, human rights, and healthy relationships. All the ideals that shaped who I am today were wrong. Upon being adopted by my biological father's wife, who had raised me for over ten years and shutting my biological mother from my life permanently, I was able to reinvent myself to who I am rather than what she had wanted. This chapter of my life inspired me to help other children rewrite theirs by choosing the career path of education. It would allow me to fuel the young minds of the most valuable resource the world has to offer, the youth. As an educator, I can encourage children to be themselves no matter what, which can be the end of labels like "misfit."

While it may be challenging for some readers to believe, an eighteen-year-old student at a local public school with a loving family and every opportunity possible is still experiencing mental health issues in a way that most should not. Several of my family members are diagnosed with mental health disorders, including my father, who suffers from depression, social anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. My mother also suffers from anxiety and a long battle with depression after her father's death. Emily, Lucas, and Dillon, my younger siblings, are afflicted with mental health early in life. Both Dillon and Lucas have been diagnosed with ADHD and struggle in different aspects of their lives as young children. With Dillon, he cannot take the time to decide what decision is the best for a given situation. In Dillon's brain, the young boy acts rather than use his massive intellect to solve his problems effectively when provided with a case that requires so. Therefore, he has difficulty making friends and cannot flourish socially as quickly as his peers. With Lucas, his dilemma lies in his attention span. He tends to fall behind in school due to his inability to focus. When Lucas is engaged in school, however, he succeeds tremendously, and several of his teachers know that he loves to learn and is also incredibly bright. Because of these experiences in my life, I have grown closer to my family despite their hardships. While a mental health disorder does not afflict me, I know that people in my family need unconditional support from friends or loved ones to succeed. Even though she has never had a diagnosis, Emily has shown signs of being afflicted by social anxiety at a young age. She has usually had a difficult time saying what she thinks when asked and often experiences breakdowns. Due to this, she has had a difficult time making friends and decisions. Due to the support received from family, friends, school faculty, and others, they live the best lives they can. Despite his mental health challenges, my father is a dedicated husband and began his own company dedicated to interior and exterior painting for those in need. My mother is a loving, caring woman who gives back to her community as a defense attorney for Stark County, helping those unable to obtain justice on their own. Emily has been getting better due to our family giving her solutions to cope with her issues and can make friends and make choices easier than previously. My relationships with my family have made me foster a belief in giving every person with a mental illness every opportunity possible to succeed in life. Providing those in need with a support system, whether it be a tolerant therapist or a loving group of friends or family, can go a long way in aiding those who want to the best they can in life regardless of their mental health issues. My mental health experience has also made me aware of what I can do to accommodate those needs in my students as a future teacher. Creating a warm and understanding environment for students who suffer from poor mental health is essential to a child's success and should be a priority of all teachers and staff in schools. This belief is especially true in junior high, middle, and high schools. This period is when puberty changes a child's emotional and mental health. Due to this sudden change, students' resources would help display a support system within the school. Teachers can accomplish this by decorating the classroom with resources for local mental health providers or identifying mental health issues through child behavior or assignments submitted by a student. Mental health awareness needs to become essential to schools across the world to create healthy and prosperous individuals. Schools should be one of the first resources for this belief as they are a large component of a child's life. As a future teacher, I want to make my prospective students' mental health a priority by creating a stable and encouraging environment where those afflicted by mental health issues can succeed.