Leadership is a quality that allows you to grow alongside others, furthering your community as each member becomes a better version of themselves through the guidance of others. The community I’ve found in my school and within Collier County has led to many valuable experiences. Within my school, I entered freshman year and was instantly drawn to the numerous club options available. The extracurriculars ranged from sports to literary magazines, and I was soon elected as a class representative for Student Government. As one of my first positions in student leadership, I was struck by the maturity of the older students. The senior executive board seemed to handle all the school’s events with ease and success. Eager to become like them, I painted curbs, managed football game parking lots, sold candy bars, planted flowerbeds, and designed games for pep rallies. Slowly, I began to feel more confident in my abilities as a leader. My junior year, I took a large role in planning my school's prom. The chance to help execute such a monumental school event seemed like an impossible task. For months I pushed through my self doubt and worked hard everyday to organize the event. Looking back, I see that this was a formative time for my leadership. I urged other students to volunteer not only for their own good, but for the happiness of the entire student body. Taking initiative as the student to lead the planning and execution of such a daunting task led to an increased confidence in myself and my ability to lead others. Now, I am the Student Government’s Executive Treasurer. I became one of the students that my younger self had admired so much for their impressive work ethic. These responsibilities have helped me develop leadership skills for assisting my peers and pushing people to succeed for the improvement of a group. Another valuable leadership position I have is as my school orchestra’s recruitment director. As someone who has been in a school orchestra since sixth grade, I recognize the immense impact it can have on a student. The strong community of players and educators around me created a space that allowed me to pursue my passion the way I did. Becoming recruitment manager of Naples High music gave me insight to younger students’ perspective on music, changing my own. I’ve spoken to peers, grades 6-12, who say that they can’t continue because they’re not good enough, not talented enough, or not social enough to succeed musically. Some students never continued orchestra because they couldn’t afford an instrument, or the school couldn’t afford to continue the program. Speaking to them, I re-evaluated my own perspective. I realized that some students don’t only need a leader who pushes them to work hard; they need someone who can support them in all areas of success, including speaking up for them. Now, through the contributions of teachers and students, the Naples High orchestra program is the largest in Collier County. I’ve seen students who couldn’t read music transform into confident players during concerts; beginning orchestra students go from choosing an instrument to choosing a solo performance. Watching the people under your guidance grow can be even more rewarding than personal growth. Cultivating success for those around you will reflect on your environment and therefore your own quality of life. Giving back to the community that hosts me is something I care deeply about. In my life, leadership opportunities have helped me assist with the growth of myself and others that shape how I see the world today.

My education has always been my top priority. I believe that with a strong education, my career will reach greater heights than could ever be achieved without a college degree. Beyond the diploma, college will teach me things about growth, discipline, and work ethic that will make me not only a better student, but a better person overall. Civil engineering combines my love for math, creativity, and architecture into one education. I want to learn more about how to supply society with functional, efficient infrastructure that works in a way that helps both our lives and our creativity, combining natural and manmade visions for how to build our future. Despite my admiration for civil engineering, I despise one of the most common types of housing- suburbia. I find the idyllic rows of single-family homes, perfectly paved asphalt roads, and flat sidewalks lined with bright green grass that characterize the suburbs deeply uninspiring. Contrarily, I adore cities. Growing up in Chicago, I loved hailing taxis and riding my pink bike to dinner in the hustle of downtown. I am infatuated with the chaotic flow in large cities like Chicago and New York. To me, suburbs represent limitations we place on creativity. With all the limitless possibilities of engineering, why do we choose the simple, lazy layout of half the towns in America? It limits our society, our homes, our neighborhoods, our businesses. For my fifteenth birthday, my parents fulfilled my dream of traveling to New York City. While my family crinkled their noses at the smell of the streets, I gazed upwards at the buildings that seemed like they would never end. Each building was unique, strong, and stunningly beautiful. I want to bring this indescribable virtue to the world while improving the quality of life for millions of Americans limited by inefficient infrastructure and building. To ensure that I have the skills available to reach my career goals, I need the foundation of a strong education. After pursuing undergraduate school, I plan to pursue a graduate degree in civil engineering and begin my work in the field. Eventually, I would be open to pursuing a doctorate degree or another advanced degree in my field in order to become a professor after achieving my initial career goals. The places I attend for my education will strongly affect my future, especially in a highly specialized and competitive field such as civil engineering. Therefore, I chose the University of Tennessee Knoxville, University of Georgia, and University of Florida as my top three choices for college. I was admitted in Honors as a Fellowship scholar at UTK with the Volunteer scholarship. I was also accepted into University of Georgia Honors with the Classic scholarship. Recently, I was accepted into the University of Florida with a full coverage by bright futures and committed there. Go Gators! This institution will provide me with a strong education that will assist me in pursuing a career as a civil engineer. In addition, UF has a strong culture and many opportunities to continue being well rounded through music, the arts, and other interests. A degree in civil engineering will arm me with the tools I need to bring functional and thoughtful design solutions into the world, providing a uniquely artificial beauty found only in the minds of engineers.

One of my first memories of witnessing poor mental health was going to the bathroom and trying not to cry when I looked in the mirror; then seeing three other girls doing the same thing. None of us even thought to consider our mental states. When your mental illness begins to fail, it seems like your entire world is crashing down around you. We’ve all heard the quotes and advice- that only you matter to yourself, to focus on yourself, love yourself, and trust yourself because you are the only thing ensured to stay with you. However, as soon as your mind begins to battle you, this entire philosophy changes. I didn’t realize how bad my mental health was until this year when I finally began to heal at the ripe age of 14. I was in sixth grade when schools were shut down due to a pandemic. I called my first suicide hotline at 11. In seventh grade, I went back to school separated from my friends not only by plexiglass, but by my mind. My aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer that same year. In eighth grade, I started caring about my looks and popularity as soon as I had a solid group of friends. Once you have those friends, your mind will make you want more. Eventually, I stopped going out on weekends. I didn’t want to go to clubs or sports. I was burning out in middle school, when every day at lunch I would step away from the friends who loved me and try not to cry in the bathroom because what was so wrong with me that I couldn’t love me as they did? Over the summer, I decided I was done. This was not right. I am not destined to be a depressed teenager crying in the bathroom because her jeans are a little tighter than last week. I stopped hanging out with people I didn’t like and went out with my closest friends or my family, learned to accept myself and my body. I joined a competitive sport, swimming, for the first time and didn’t hate it. I went into high school without hating myself. I’m now in the middle of midterms as a freshman, and I might’ve found where I belong. Healing takes time. I have cried a few times, but not over whether my jeans are tight. The realization hit me- that was not normal. The reason I thought it was? The two other girls in the bathroom holding their tears so their mascara wouldn’t smudge, and the 11-year-old girls stuffing their bras with itchy paper towels. No one, boy or girl or in between, should have to cry alone. They shouldn’t be calling hotlines twice a week like I did because I was too embarrassed to ask for therapy. I don’t want anyone to have to feel like that again. When there’s a mean comment, I try to smile through it (it really does help.) Teenagers are not volatile cannons of eyeliner and disrespect- we are people, with emotions that can destroy us from the inside out. That is why I want to go into physiatry. Being able to help people, no matter how “perfect” their lives are or how ‘broken” they seem. I don’t want anyone to cry in the bathroom.