Many people when asked the question of "what is the most impactful movie to your life," might say, Citizen Kane or The Godfather, but I went a different route. The movie that has had the greatest impact on my life is Back to the Future. Watching this movie for the first time as a 5-year-old, although I did not understand the intelligence it took to write the script and to make the movie, I knew there was something special to it. Back to the Future is what got me hooked on film and the sometimes lifelong process it takes to make a movie. Since the first time I watched Back to the Future, I have revisited this movie no less than one hundred times, enjoying it more and more each time. With this movie and its franchise, the amount of easter eggs and hidden clues sprinkled throughout surprise me every time I watch it. Each time I watch this movie, I notice something new that just makes me love this film so much more. This movie has impacted my life further by its intricate plot and script. Because of Back to the Future's depth it holds, I have learned to look at life similarly to this movie. When a difficult or complicated situation arises in my life, I make sure to look at the problem from different perspectives and allow myself to step back and reanalyze what is occurring in order to ensure I am not leaving anybody's feeling out of the conclusion or accidently prioritizing myself over others. With the knowledge that something such as a movie can continue to surprise me and make me notice new things about it, I have been more aware of how others can still surprise me as well, knowing to not judge a book by its cover, or in this case, a movie by its' poster. Aside from this life skill, Back to the Future has taught me to respect history and our past more than I could have imagined. After watching this movie, I fell in love with the 80's. For a couple of years, I only listened to 80's music, I was only interested in 80's movies, and even the politics was more interesting to me compared to any other era. Although this is just one example of how this movie changed my view on history, between the three movies, it covers four time periods in depth, teaching all of its viewers how beautiful our past and future is, despite there being some faults to all decades.

I am a senior at Macomb High School in Illinois where I will go to the University of Illinois to get my bachelor's degree in social work. In school I am involved in many different clubs, arts, and sports. Becoming a student athlete my freshman year playing two sports, golf and softball, shaped my future in more ways than what I would have originally thought. The biggest effect that I am seeing every day is how much each sport proved to me level of love I have for being around people and on a team. Each player on both teams I was on could always count on me to have their back and help them in their tough times and I knew that bond could flip right around and be just as strong for me. Each one of those players would have my back in and out of that season, whether we were close friends or not. That bond and tight knit community is something you cannot find outside of athletics, especially in high school sports. Seeing how close my teammates and I were, left me to desire that feeling out of high school as well. This fall I am going to a school with over 40,000 students offering countless groups and activities for me to join that I can hopefully gain that feeling of a team again. When I am not in a sport, I am a part of my other team, the Macomb high school thespian troupe. I was inducted in the National Thespian Society in 2021 and because of that opportunity I have been in eight plays and musicals during my high school career. Being in theatre is similar to being on a sports team in the way that you are surrounded by your closest friends in some of the most nerve racking, exciting yet emotional times of your life. Although being in both theatre and different sports throughout my life has been an amazing experience that I would not trade for the world, those same experiences come with many difficulties. Whether that is learning "no hesitation" when stealing second on a passed ball or having someone else's life in your hands during the flying monkey scene of "The Wizard of Oz." Both of these situations have taught me hard work and dedication to whatever activity I may be doing. Over the years of getting better at this practice, I have learned to love every moment of what I am doing. Overall, being an athlete has shaped my future because of what I have learned and developed throughout my high school athletics career that I would not change for the world.

I am a senior at Macomb High School in a small town from west central Illinois. I love being involved with my school and my community. Currently I am an intern at a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit that focuses on housing the homeless and their physical, mental, and emotional health. My values of helping each other and always being kind to everyone has come from my small-town roots where everyone knows everyone. Seeing others put hours of work and labor into their community to improve the lives of others has inspired me to make it my career. Because of this and my love for helping people, my primary career goals are to get my bachelor's degree in social work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After I receive my bachelor's degree, I plan to get my master's degree in social work as well to ensure I am able to help everyone in all situations. I believe that I deserve this scholarship because my education is incredibly important to me. Each day I am able to help individuals with small, everyday tasks that are more of a convenience to them. With this scholarship I will be able to largely impact each client's life and hopefully change it completely, putting them into a better and healthier situation that will turn their life around. This scholarship will benefit me in many different aspects. A partial amount of this scholarship will go directly to my class fee while the other part will go to living. With this fund I will be able to be a part-time intern for a semester at a non-profit in Champaign-Urbana because of the resources this scholarship will provide me and my goals. This scholarship will also allow me to put all of my focus into my internship and my schooling without having to worry about my financials while I am not working. I chose this career field because I love making a difference in people's lives. As a young kid, philanthropy was always an interest and passion of mine. Seeing people from all different backgrounds, ethnicities, races, sexes, and experiences come together to help one another and put themselves forward is an incredibly brave and aspirational task that many people struggle to do. Allowing oneself to be vulnerable to strangers to improve their lives and other's is such a rewarding aspect to this life. I cannot see myself doing any other career aside from social work with how rewarding and life changing it is.

I am passionate about golf because of how it makes me feel, physically and emotionally. Being outside for hours on end each day, walking the beautiful course, has made me fall in love with the sport. I love the game itself. The strategy of lining up your ball, finding the right angle of your body and the club head, and imagining the ball's trajectory and outcome was always fascinating to me. My coach always used to say, "where do you see the ball going." By seeing the line of the ball, going just left of the hole with a downwards slant right would help me line up to the ball and strike it perfectly to where I was aiming. Outside of the game play, I love the people that play golf. Many of them are relaxed and are not willing to have a competitive brawl like other sports. With this noncompetitive outlook on the sport, each player is more likely to have a more enjoyable round, often times lowering the final score as well with their calm attitudes. Because of golf, I have been able to meet so many people from around the state as well. With tournaments happening almost every day of the week and on the weekends, I am bound to meet other high school golfers. Golf has played an important role in my life because of the time I put into it. Although this is a more physical answer to the question, it is true. Playing a sport, hours on end, each day, is an emotional and physical toll on the body. Throughout my high school golf career, I had at least three injuries that affected my playing ability. That being said, I learned to persevere for me and my team. All of the time I spent practicing golf has also played an important part in my life because it took me away from other activities I enjoy, such as Theatre and the National Thespian Society, however, I wouldn't change my involvement in golf because of the knowledge I gained about myself and others. Golf has taught me to set goals, to "see the ball." Because of this, I now can set a goal, see and fully understand what it takes to get there and accomplish it, and then act on my vision. Golf has also taught me leadership is key to being successful. Being one of the most experienced golfers on the team, put me in a leadership role aside from being one of only two seniors. My teammates would often come to me for help with their golf game and life outside of the sport, ultimately bringing us all closer together. With each member feeling comfortable and supported by a leader, we were able to make it the sectional championship in 2023.

When I continue into higher education, I plan to major in social work. For as long as I can remember, I have been taught the importance of helping others and the benefits it offers. Because of this lifelong lesson, philanthropy has always been a passion of mine, whether that is simply donating to the salvation army or working hours on end collecting, donating, and then sorting nonperishable food items to a local food pantry, I have wanted to step up and help the less fortunate since I was a kid. Coming from a small city with a poverty rate of over 27%, social services have always been present for those who take advantage of them and for those who do not. Mental health is a huge problem in my hometown because of the lack of social services that are offered for people who struggle with their mental health. Because of this, the importance of mental health has been shown to me through our citizens and their difficulties. Not only do the people from the city remind me of this but I have also grown up on a farm. Farmers have the highest suicide rate among any other career. With this statistic always sitting in the back of my head, I have wanted to help educate people associated with farmers whether that be their family or agriculturists, on noticing signs of suicide and what to do in a situation that deals with a suicidal person. The sacrifices I have made to accomplish my personal and educational goals are broad because of the lack of resources in my community. Instead of taking more classes at my high school, I started an internship at the University of Illinois Extension office. This made me sacrifice time after school, often making me late to my athletics and extracurricular meetings and events as well as events going on during school that take place during the last two hours of the day. Currently I am working at Genesis Garden, a social service that provides mental health support, rapid re-housing, and help finding jobs for the unemployed. This has led me to sacrifice some of my own mental health to support the other people who work there and the people we help. This internship has also made me sacrifice a lot of my time outside of my scheduled work time because of how over worked and understaffed each employee is. Overall, the sacrifices I have made to get to the point I am at now has been worth it because of how much I have learned as well as proving my passion for social work and helping others.

The crossover episode that I would make involving my two favorite Disney Channel Shows would be titled "Hit Me with Your Best Shot." The crossover episode would be a mix of the show Disney show Liv and Maddie and Austin and Ally. The episode would take place in Liv and Maddie's senior year of high school in Wisconsin. Both Liv and Maddie are looking for a college that they could both go together, however, finding a school that fits both of their interests, basketball, and performing, is very difficult. The episode starts off by having Maddie tour the University of Miami, Florida. While in Miami, she runs across the pop star Austin Moon and his partner and song writer Ally Dawson. Maddie impressed with their music studio and store, excitedly calls Liv. Liv and Austin talk over the phone to discuss a potential music deal and tour that they could do together. After discussing Liv and Maddie's college options, they decide the best choice for them is the University of Miami, Florida. "Liv, we have to go here, it's perfect." "Let's do it." August comes around and the twins pack up and fly to Florida from their Wisconsin home for their first day of school. Maddie starts basketball practice the first day they move in, and Liv starts writing songs about how she met Austin. Throughout the next week they plan a Florida wide tour where they preform duets and each of their hits from their career called "Living with Austin. After that, Liv, Austin, and Ally start writing their songs and practicing them to prepare for their tour. They start going on talk shows and they do a commercial for Austin's parents bed store in Miami to market their tour and get the word out. At this rate, the Rooney family is planning a trip to Florida to watch Maddie's first game as a college basketball. After buying the tickets, they realized that the first day of Liv and Austin's tour is the same day as Maddie's basketball game. The Rooney family are pressed at which event they are going to see and wondering how they are going to tell Liv and Maddie that their lifelong dreams are occurring on the same night and won't be able to support each other. After Karen Rooney panics about missing one of her daughters' events, she talks to both Liv and Maddie. When Maddie realized that her game could take away from Liv's success on her first night touring, she tells Coach Johnson, "You can bench me, you can kick me off the team, but I am going to watch my sister perform, and you are not going to stop me." After the five of them meet up in Miami, they head off to Liv and Austins tour where they meet Trish, Dez, and Ally. At the end of the episode, the two families share a nice meal with each other, all becoming friends and allowing both groups to become closer with each other as well.

I admire her activism career the most because of how much she has been able to accomplish in such a short life. Many celebrities or people who are always in the limelight seem to get punished or shunned for speaking for and protesting for what they believe in. In Zendaya's incredibly successful career, she has managed to stand up for LGBTQIA+ rights, racial equality, feminism, and mental health awareness while maintaining her largely popular and admirable career. I believe that her acting career is the most impressive, however, being that successful in her singing, acting, and fashion career while sticking to her priorities when it comes to social issues and not letting fame manipulate her beliefs is incredibly admirable. Zendaya is an activist through art as well where she can incorporate some of her biggest talents into a worldwide contribution to social issues. According to USA Today, Zendaya does not consider herself an activist, saying "I'm just an actress." Her down to earth view on the world is refreshing and admirable. In the USA Today article by Jenna Ryu, Zendaya opens up about her anxiety when performing live because of the "pressure I [Zendaya] put on myself." Hearing this from a huge star such as Zendaya is incredibly comforting and admirable to me because of my involvement in school plays, band, and choir. Overall, Zendaya is a huge inspiration to us all because of her amazing career in so many different aspects of culture, teaching us all how to better our lives and the lives of others.

My favorite game to play in co-op mode is the 2009 Wii version of Mario bros. Although I am not a huge gamer like some people today that have a X-box or a PlayStation, I have always loved the original Wii and all of the games that provided me with hours and hours of free entertainment. Mario Bros. is my favorite game to play because of how timeless it is. With my dad playing Mario Bros. on the 64 Nintendo, we can relate by playing together on our Wii or on our Nintendo. I also really enjoy Mario Bros. because of the levels and their themes. Because each level is different, the motivation to move forward, to beat bowser, and to level up to the next world was always present when I played. The loud and creative style that Mario has makes it pleasurable just to look at. On level five of the Wii Mario Bros. the creators and coders made up a whole new animal that was a huge yellow caterpillar who wore purple boots. As a kid, I loved these "predators," even though they could squish you in the actual levels. Mario Bros. is my top choice as a multiplayer game because it brought me and my step-sister much closer. When our families moved in together in 2011, I was only 5 and had very little to relate to my sister with. Before I had started kindergarten, I remember playing Mario Bros. and Mario Kart with her in our cold, semi-finished basement. We spent hours each day playing Mario Bros. just trying to beat the level 1 halfway castle and the final castle with Bowser. Before I was older and was able to improve my Wii skills, I would typically just click "A" to "bubble" and stay out of my sister's during each castle level. Without our Wii and Mario, I do not think I would be as close with my sister. After our countless hours playing with each other, I grew to enjoy each and every moment with her.

My favorite aspect of the game is how free it allows its' players to be. The opportunities are endless for the creative mind, providing a safe way for each user to express themselves and their creativity. Minecraft has also taught me different materials, animals, weapons, plants, and more, all while helping me release my creativity. Another great resource that comes from Minecraft is the architecture skills it teaches. Whether that is building a skyscraper or a rollercoaster, being able to have a picture of what you want your project to look like and then being able to create it is something that cannot be accomplished in any other game. Minecraft resonates with me because of how long I've been playing this video game. Ever since I was 8 and the game had been released for a few years, I've been playing Minecraft. Since then, I have been able to meet new people, get closer to my sister, and improve my creating skills. When I first started playing, I would stick to the typical square house or find a cave to explore. Today, I will make mansions with pools and murals or go in survival mode for hours on end being able to create houses with the supplies I have gained.

If I had to watch only one movie for the rest of my life, I think I would choose "The Godfather Part I." Limiting my decision down to "The Godfather part I" was a very difficult choice because of how many amazing movies have been produced in the last one hundred years. Although this masterpiece from Francis Ford Coppola is not on my list of top 50 of my favorite movies of all time, let alone in my top five or ten like many film critics believe, I still agree that "The Godfather" is a wonderful film that deserves the high rating it has received. I chose this movie in part because of the length coming in at just under three hours. With the non-typical run time of this movie, there is more to understand and analyze than the common 90-minute film. That being said, I did not understand what made "The Godfather" such a large sensation, aside from the new techniques and film styles that came from Coppola's directing choices that were revolutionary to the movies that came after it. With the rest of my life to watch this 1972 cinematic masterpiece, I plan to use that time to fully understand the beauty of this film. Although this movie is three hours long, the time flies by with little down time to even consider the movie having any downfalls. Because of this, watching the same movie over and over again will be more tolerable. My favorite part of "The Godfather" is the cinematography. The almost green, beige tint that is added to each scene enhances the quality of each picture, making the whole movie aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The cinematography alone is what makes "The Godfather" a contender for the question of "if you had to watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be?" The finalizing decision to the question of why I chose The Godfather is the directing and acting, specifically by Coppola, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and James Caan. All four of these film aficionados have plenty of other great works in their film catalog, however, "The Godfather" gave performances that no other film seems to come close too, even after 50 years. The acting and directing abilities of everyone involved allowed for this movie to hold up decades later, still being considered one of the best movies ever made, making this film an obvious choice to watch for the rest of my live.

Although many of the characters in "The Office" are over the top and somewhat unrealistic, I find myself relating to Daryll and Pam most frequently. I can relate to Daryll because of his desire and willpower he has to improve his life, work his way up in the company, and to physically improve Dunder Mifflin. In my experience in athletics and extracurriculars, it takes time and effort to become the best. Although Daryll doesn't necessarily want to be the best, he was a warehouse worker and manager who was often looked down upon by the upstairs office workers. Daryll eventually worked his way up to the assistant regional manager position in the upstairs of Dunder Mifflin. I resonate with Pam as well because of her polite personality while having the ability to stand up for herself whether that is against Michael Scott or her ex-boyfriend Roy who don't treat her with respect. Although I have always found it difficult to stand up for myself and what I believe in, the courage that Pam has to stand up for herself is an honorable trait that I now look to her for support. This show has shaped my perspective on workplace dynamics because of the limitless fun each character has and the way they are all very comfortable with each other. In my current workplace, the chance to let loose and have fun is rare, making many of my coworkers uptight and nervous when they are working. I believe that getting work done and being a good employee is important, however, being able to let loose and relax can often help people get along better and be more productive in the workplace. Although the employees at Dunder Mifflin are not always the most productive, they can always count on having an entertaining day at the office to look forward too.

I enjoy playing golf for the interaction I can get with others involved whether that is people I am playing with or people working at the course. Golfers are good people who want to have fun and play their sport. This has showed me the importance of leaving time in my busy schedule to have fun and do what I love. Growing up, I played competitive softball and volleyball where it was your team trying to win. In golf, it is a solo sport where players can improve at their own pace. Although this is a huge pro to playing golf, my favorite part of the sport is the environment. Being outside for hours a day on a beautiful, landscaped area with lakes, trees, and fescue blowing in the wind makes for a great life. It is scientifically proven that being outside in the sun can improve mental health. I quickly felt these affects and became hooked on the sport and what it stood for, always trying to convince my friends to join the team. Not only did I try to convince my friends to join the high school team, but I also made friends from playing golf. I made new friends from my school that I would have never talked to without the sport along with golfers from other school's hours away. A challenge that I was able to overcome was my sister being a senior while I was a freshman on the team. With her watching me, seeing if I was improving was pressuring for me at the time. This made me nervous to play and go to practice with her being there. Looking back, I now know that she was a great resource that I did not take advantage of when I was trying to improve and get to her level. Another challenge I have faced within the sport is the sexism that is prominent, especially in my rural community. Just within our school, the boys golf team got more funds, better golf bags and other materials, as well as multiple sponsors and well-made shirts that the sponsors were able to pay for. The girls' team had to pay for our shirts with fundraised money and each person had to personally buy their own skirts and pants. Not only did we have less money and more to buy, but we also had no sponsors to help us with the expenses that comes with golf. The sexism I faced outside of high school came from golfers that were at the course with me, sometimes verbally assaulting the team, our coach and me. Although this was more common when the assaulters were not sober, this "excuse" for discrimination in such a commonly loved sport is unexpectable. Even with the misogyny that me and my team faced, I was still able to fall in love with the sport that I hope to play for the rest of my life.

After receiving my degree in social work, my ideal career would be educating agriculturists as well as those associated with on the subject of suicide. Being raised on a farm and in a small midwestern town, farming and its high suicide rates have been brought to my attention for as long as I can remember. By working for a program such as this, I would not only be educating the agriculture world about suicide but also how to notice signs of suicide and what to do if signs are made aware. Although this career path would be my first choice, the need for social workers in the agriculture world are not as prominent compared to other areas often related to social work. My next choice would be helping the homeless and making homeless shelters a much safer and clean environment. I believe that your past should not determine your future. With this being said, I hope to turn the less fortunate's world around by getting them into therapy, mental hospitals, or programs for addicts, veterans, or the mentally, physically, or sexually abused. By acquiring a bachelor's in social work, the opportunities are endless, however, I plan to get my master's in social work in order to further my influence on the community. It has been brought to my attention that many schools have one or more social workers on sight. Although I have not had enough experience with kids to have a well-rounded opinion on the matter of helping them and what it entails, I feel this could be a potential career that I am willing to take on. In my current community, the population of homeless people tends to increase each year. Many of the homeless people in my town are affected with a mental illness. This brought the mental health crisis into the light for me as I experience the issue firsthand. This career path would be difficult for me because of the conditions people are forced to live in when they need medical assistance. However, mental health has been a struggle of mine in the past, reminding me of what people are going through. My previous experiences in dealing with mental illness has given me an advantage to understanding what people are going through and how to best deal with the situation, whether that is knowing when and where to address the problem or just knowing what words feel harsher and more condescending to the mentally ill. All this being said, just helping who I can is the best career I could ask for.