Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness. Everyone should be validated and shown how important their feelings are. I have been through a lot of things in my life and alot of my friends have recently been going through a lot of similar situations. It seems easier to help people when you can empathize with people. Empathy is better than sympathy because you can put yourself in that person's shoes and it gives you real life experience on how to help another person. I treat others with the same respect that I would want people to treat me with. I try to put myself in that person shoes to make them feel less alone unless like they are the only ones going through this. Knowing you're not alone makes the situation feel much better because it makes you feel less isolated and less like you are the only person in the world who's been through this. Respect that's how you can help someone through a tough situation and empathy only makes the situation better because it helps them if you can give advice from a situation that you've also been in.

My goal is to be a performer and as I get older become a music instructor. I have been performing my whole life and have been part time teaching music for five years. The true path to success is hard work and persistence. That's how you succeed. I have been practicing my butt off my whole life to get where I am today. Through the hard work I put in I am positive I can become a successful performer and musician. Music is my life. I practice every day wherever I can. I am always on the piano doing voice training and I am just always singing. Music is on my soul and is not going anywhere. I want a career that I love and performance is that career. I work hard and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. I would eventually like to teach the next generation of musicians because then they can share their gift with the world just as I plan to do.

I grew up in a house full of music. Always playing on the radio and my parents always singing and dancing along. I grew up with an arts education and my creativity was always supported by the people around me. Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to be a performer. I have always been performing. My first performance was at age 5 and since then I loved it. I could see myself performing on the big stage and having that be my life. I have continued to study and work hard at my skills as a musician and it has paid off. I have done so many performances and every single one of them has gotten me closer to my goal of being on the big stage. While there was a lot of good that I had as a kid as I grew up life got a lot tougher. I started getting bullied and dealing with mental illness. I felt suicidal and full of hate of the world. But once I got the help I needed from people I trust and life stopped seeming so bad. I learned how to help myself and how to cope in a healthy way which of course led to more music because creating music helped me process my emotions in a healthy way. Life has taught me a lot. It has kicked me in the butt but it has also made me grateful for life. It has still shown me that I can live my dreams as long as I want it and work for it.

On my bucket list is to perform around the world, travel around the world,adopt three dogs, get married, decorate my home with flowers and crystals and plants and so much more. I have been lucky enough to travel to 17 states and 4 different countries and I'm only 17. Clearly some of these things will have to wait until I am a little older but while I may not have performed all over the world I have performed all over Massachusetts and I think that's a start. I want my life to be filled with adventure and excitement. I don’t want to live a plane life. I want to explore and be excited every day when I wake up for a new adventure. A bucket list is a guide but there's not much more to do that people have even thought of. I don't know everything I want to do yet but I sure hope I find out someday. I have taken small baby steps towards my goals. I currently perform at a professional level, I have traveled with my family and friends, I have dogs with my parents and I created my own space with how I wanted it to look. Lifes looks bright and I am excited to see how it turns out.

As a musician I crave creativity. Everything is an inspiration and can be used in a creative way. I create my own music and it lets me tell what I am feeling in a creative way. What comes to mind gets put on paper either in a painting or music or writing. Creativity always must come out and anyone who tries to stifle that creativity isn't worth the time.Creativity can be whatever you make it into. It’s all around us all the time. Applying creativity to my life is easy because I grew up with creativity around me. I went to an arts school since I was 4 and at home am constantly immersed in music and art. I take the world around me, the noises, the smells, the sights and make them part of my creative vision. That's how creatively flows through me. The world has creativity all around if you just look and take it in. Let creativity become a part of you and you will flourish in the world.

I grew up with a dog named Roger who was a basset hound. He was adopted as a puppy when I was two years old so we grew up together. As I got a little older making friends was a bit difficult but I always had my Roger to keep my company. He became one of my best friends and was there to play with, was there to cry with and just made me smile with his licks. I could always count on him. He was my first friend and he was a big segway to making my other friends that are still my best friends today. It’s so true when people say dogs are better than humans because dogs don't bully, or judge, hurt your feelings. You don't need to worry about drama with a dog, you just have to worry about how many treats you give them. I loved Roger and he loved me. Every night he would sleep next to me or in my bed when I got a little older. I can remember coming home in tears because of the bullies from school and Roger coming up and cuddling me trying to make me feel better. I had a best friend who was loyal and never strayed away from me. Dogs are powerful creatures. They are humans best friends and give nothing but kindness and joy if you give them the chance. Roger gave nothing but joy to not only me, but my whole family. He made my parents smile and he played with my little cousins. He was such a troublemaker too. He was smart enough to see food on the tablecloth and pull the tablecloth to him to get the food off the table. He was a smart dog for that and while in the moment it was terrible, in the end we laughed about it and still loved Roger. Roger was my best friend and when he died I cried for weeks. Losing him made me immensely sad because I knew no dog could ever compete with Roger or replace him. That dog made me feel loved, wanted and needed feelings that I was not feeling at the time. No dog will ever be better than Roger and I’m so happy I got to be not only his owner but his friend. I love pets and specifically Roger because there's only love when it comes to them. No drama and no hate only love and licks.When I was sad I could rely on Roger to make me feel all better. When I was in a pannick I could rely on him to calm me down. Really all the negative emotions I felt I knew he would be there by my side making me feel better. I have fond memories of me as a little kid howling just like Roger did and thinking I was a dog just like him. Dogs are creatures that are filled with love and I can’t say that enough. There's no negative energy when it comes to dogs that are treated with love. That love stays with you and makes you happy and joyful and all I can do is thank Roger for being my best pet I have ever had and only ever giving me love.

I think teaching about mental health, mental illness and coping skills in the classroom would be a great addition to the curriculum. Especially after the pandemic where the number of teens with depression and anxiety have risen so much it would be a positive change to help kids with severe mental illness. Teaching it to the whole class would help kids form being singled out and feeling alone with their mental illness. It could be taught by adjustment counselors and school psychologists every month to promote a healthy mind and healthy ways to cope with tough situations. As someone in the public school system who deals with mental illness this could have greatly helped me. Sometimes kids are too scared to come forward when they are in tough situations and help seems like something that doesn't exist. You feel alone and like no one can help you. But by teaching coping skills in small classrooms it can help those kids feel less alone and make the adjustment counselors feel more available to them. A lot of teenagers deal with mental illness and from personal experience it feels like schools overlook it and push it to the side. It feels like school becomes the top property above your mental health. Your mental health should be your top priority and schools should recognize that. Future genertaions could avoid such terrible things such a suicide if mental illness and helath was talked abiout a bit more and not pushed to the side. There also needs to be a better support system for kids that are out for long periods of time due to mental illness. Just shoving kids back into a regular school day can be overwhelming and can make a student regress. Mental illness is a serious topic that is so stigmatized that no one wants to talk about it. It makes those that struggle with mental illness feel like an outsider and not welcome. If it could be normalized in the place of education I think that would help a lot of kids.

I use food as an unhealthy coping mechanism and I learned this from my mom. Any negative emotion I rely on food because I always know it's going to be there. My history with food has been rough. I suffer from bulimia because I get so hungry I binge eat and then feel so terrible about myself for eating that I throw it up. Food has always kind of been a bad topic for me. It has made me feel so bad about myself at points in time that I just wouldn't eat at all because I thought I didn't deserve food. Being completely honest I still feel like that a lot of the time. I use food to make myself feel better but then that makes me feel fat and ugly so I choose to get rod of it in an unhealthy way. I am struggling to recover from bulimia and as a bigger person no one will believe you have an eating disorder because it's believed only really skinny people have eating disorders but that's not true. Food is a hard topic of conversation because it makes me feel weak and out of control. I want to be healthy and not be so scared and ashamed to eat food. I want to feel good and feel like I belong in my own skin. I have recently started meal prep so I don't feel so flustered with making food at meal times. It's hard for me to eat them still even though they are healthy because I still have a mindset that I don't deserve food. I am actively trying to change that mindset. As I prepare meals I try to make things I will actually enjoy so I want to eat them instead of feeling forced to eat certain foods to be healthy. II make healthy yummy meals that I know I will enjoy. Why is food so hard for me? I am still trying to figure it out. I personally think it's because of social media. I see all these beautiful skinny people and blame myself for not being that skinny and in my brain I think if I starve myself then I’ll look that pretty. That's the most unhealthy way to lose weight, so this is why I started meal prepping. It gave me an opportunity to eat portioned healthy meals that I knew I could enjoy. I have been doing this for about a month and it has been working for me. Now it's just a mindset thing to realize that I need and deserve food in my stomach. Food is life and energy and I need and deserve it.

Staying positive during tough times can be quite challenging. Sometimes the tough times get on top of you and you feel 6 ft under the ground and like you can't get out. I always just think to myself, there's always another day. If today is bad, think about how good tomorrow could be and the potential it has. Peroanslally getting through high school has been very tough but the whole time I thought about how great the future could be. All I have to focus on is how my future will be bright once I finish high school. I personally deal with a grand amount of depression and anxiety and to be honest I can't always be optimistic but I really try. I think of the good that I have in my life. How I have amazing friends and how my parents are so supportive of who I am. I think about the talents I have acquired over the years and how excited I am for college. Thinking about the good in a bad situation helps me alot when I am in a dark place. It lifts me up and makes me know that the world around me isn't all bad. All of this has taught me that I am stronger than I believe. I have more resilience than I think I do and am a strong human being. I never think I will be able to get through the tough situations that occur in my life but staying positive and reminding myself of what's good shows that I am strong and can get through anything. I am brave for fighting to stay positive in times of great darkness.Being optimistic is a very difficult challenge but I have never backed down from a challenge before so why start now.

I grew up with a dog named Roger who was a basset hound. He was adopted as a puppy when I was two years old so we grew up together. As I got a little older making friends was a bit difficult but I always had my Roger to keep my company. He became one of my best friends and was there to play with, was there to cry with and just made me smile with his licks. I could always count on him. He was my first friend and he was a big segway to making my other friends that are still my best friends today. It’s so true when people say dogs are better than humans because dogs don't bully, or judge, hurt your feelings. You don't need to worry about drama with a dog, you just have to worry about how many treats you give them. I loved Roger and he loved me. Every night he would sleep next to me or in my bed when I got a little older. I can remember coming home in tears because of the bullies from school and Roger coming up and cuddling me trying to make me feel better. I had a best friend who was loyal and never strayed away from me. Dogs are powerful creatures. They are humans best friends and give nothing but kindness and joy if you give them the chance. Roger gave nothing but joy to not only me, but my whole family. He made my parents smile and he played with my little cousins. He was such a troublemaker too. He was smart enough to see food on the tablecloth and pull the tablecloth to him to get the food off the table. He was a smart dog for that and while in the moment it was terrible, in the end we laughed about it and still loved Roger. Roger was my best friend and when he died I cried for weeks. Losing him made me immensely sad because I knew no dog could ever compete with Roger or replace him. That dog made me feel loved, wanted and needed feelings that I was not feeling at the time. No dog will ever be better than Roger and I’m so happy I got to be not only his owner but his friend. I love pets and specifically Roger because there's only love when it comes to them. No drama and no hate only love and licks.When I was sad I could rely on Roger to make me feel all better. When I was in a pannick I could rely on him to calm me down. Really all the negative emotions I felt I knew he would be there by my side making me feel better. I have fond memories of me as a little kid howling just like Roger did and thinking I was a dog just like him. Pets are creatures that are filled with love and I can’t say that enough. There's no negative energy when it comes to pets that are treated with love. That love stays with you and makes you happy and joyful and all I can do is thank Roger for being my best pet I have ever had and only ever giving me love.

I grew up with a dog named Roger who was a basset hound. He was adopted as a puppy when I was two years old so we grew up together. As I got a little older making friends was a bit difficult but I always had my Roger to keep my company. He became one of my best friends and was there to play with, was there to cry with and just made me smile with his licks. I could always count on him. He was my first friend and he was a big segway to making my other friends that are still my best friends today. It’s so true when people say dogs are better than humans because dogs don't bully, or judge, hurt your feelings. You don't need to worry about drama with a dog, you just have to worry about how many treats you give them. I loved Roger and he loved me. Every night he would sleep next to me or in my bed when I got a little older. I can remember coming home in tears because of the bullies from school and Roger coming up and cuddling me trying to make me feel better. I had a best friend who was loyal and never strayed away from me. Dogs are powerful creatures. They are humans best friends and give nothing but kindness and joy if you give them the chance. Roger gave nothing but joy to not only me, but my whole family. He made my parents smile and he played with my little cousins. He was such a troublemaker too. He was smart enough to see food on the tablecloth and pull the tablecloth to him to get the food off the table. He was a smart dog for that and while in the moment it was terrible, in the end we laughed about it and still loved Roger. Roger was my best friend and when he died I cried for weeks. Losing him made me immensely sad because I knew no dog could ever compete with Roger or replace him. That dog made me feel loved, wanted and needed feelings that I was not feeling at the time. No dog will ever be better than Roger and I’m so happy I got to be not only his owner but his friend.

Speaking your mind can be difficult especially if you're in a group where they are not as receiving as you might hope. I speak up on what I believe in, always have. I don't let people get aways with harassing others or using offensive language or slurs. I don't let other opinion affect my commitment to seeking my mind. I have a list of morals and I stick to them. Speaking out about LGBTQ+ rights and mental health are two things I am passionate about and I make sure my opinion and voice is heard about these issues. Sometimes people wont’ like you speaking your mind and supporting what you believe in but I stay strong and keep my morals set and don't stray from them. I stay committed by letting the world know what I think about the things I support. I also do not let others put me down for voicing my opinion, I speak out about what I am passionate about and don’t let others take my voice away.

Confidence to me means, you know who you are in your skin and you're proud of it. No one else's opinion changes you and you are firm in who you are and who you want to be. Confidence takes a long time to attain and does not come overnight. For a long time I had no confidence and was so scared to be who I was and was afraid of what people would think of me. As I grew into the person I am today I started to become my true self. Finally, it just occurred to me, why do I care what others think? Confidence is not worrying about what others think or say about you and still being uniquely you. That's when I began to realize I really don't care about others' opinions about me. My confidence took a while to surface and make itself known but now as a senior in high school I feel confident. That doesn't mean I feel confident all the time though. I am human and like everyone else I doubt myself and worry about how I look but even though that I can reassure myself that I am beautiful and I am worthy of love and I am talented and made out to do big things. Sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it and that's what I have learned to do. Faked my confidence until I finally believed it. I am confident most of the time and it has taken a lot of hard work to love myself but putting in the work pays off cause in the end you'll feel better about yourself if you're confident in yourself.

Self care is so important to a healthy lifestyle. Taking care of one's mental health is so important and I try to do some self care everyday as part of my routine. I like to first just breathe and do an exercise where I relax all my muscles in my body and focus on my breath while I still do recognize my thoughts , after I recognize I peacefully send them away. This relaxes my mind and my body and prepares me for my day. I also incorporate self care such as simply washing my face, brushing my hair and picking out a nice outfit for myself. The little things are how I take care of myself. Sometimes I will give myself a day when I have time and on that day. I focus on me and not the things and people around me. It's a day for me to find my inner peace. My mental health is so important to me and making sure it is taken care of is just as important. For a long time I ignored my mental health and let it rot but now I give myself moments to focus on myself and just relax.

Motivation is a tricky thing. As someone who deals with depression, motivation can be hard to find. After years of trying to find a motivation I finally found the one that keeps me ready to work. My future is what motivates me. The thought of getting to live a life after high school motivates me because I know I can do great things in my future. There's more than just high school, there's a whole world out there ready to be explored by me. My future for, periods of time in my life, was bleak but since I got the help I needed I finally found the future I want and it's a bright one. Filled with excitement and promise. Knowing there's so much more to see in the world motivates me and keeps me going. Motivation seemed like a made up thing for me for a while but now I know who I am and what I want from my future. It's going to a bright shining future that will be mine and no one else's.

My favorite hobby is to create music. I love the creative element and getting to express my feelings in a healthy way. For so long I was unable to express myself in a healthy way but now I have the option to put my emotions into song. Music for me is easy, and it flows nicely within me. I have created a few songs and have loved every second of the music making process. It calms me, excites me , and frustrates me all in a good way. Getting on the piano and singing my heart out to something I created, there's just no better feeling. Making music is not only a hobby of mine but a passion. It lets me be totally free and be who I am. No judgment, stress free and just a really good time. Music is one of my favorite things to do and gives me the creative freedom that I love. That freedom to be uniquely you is what I love most. There's no one yelling in your ear how you have to be when you create music. I choose to share some of my music but mostly I just make it for me. A bit of freedom from an otherwise very scheduled life.

1. I don't deserve it. This scholarship is a sham and in fact all scholarships are shams. I think that if I got this scholarship I’d waste it on bubble gum and candy and have no regrets at all. Scholarships are just terrible and won’t help me at all with college. 2. I think goals are for the weak and all I really want to do is live in my parents basement. I think that having a career is for people who care and I honestly don't care. I'm pretty happy working at McDonalds. It is a damn good gig. I have good hours and I get free chicken nuggets. Who wouldn't want a career at McDonalds? 3. I have never once in my life faced an obstacle. It has been all sunshine and roses and nothing has ever gone wrong. I could never understand people who have a problem in their life like come on, just be better.

I have found out that I am a carer. What I mean by that is I take care of everyone else and forget to take care of myself. Now this might seem like it is a negative thing to learn but I see it as a positive because I realized this and was able to change it. Not taking care of myself and putting all my energy in others exhausted me physically and mentally. I learned that I needed to start taking care of myself because no one else would. I learned about self care and self love and that in my own world I needed to come first. I learned that if my glass was empty I couldn’t help fill up anyone else's. I worked on boundaries with people and how much of myself I could give and how much I needed for me. Being the “parent friend” was really hard until I took a look at myself and realized I didn't have to be that friend, I could just have friends. I didn't need to take care of everyone, I was my first priority.

Joy is the small things in life that make me smile. Joy is laying on my floor and listening to music, closing my eyes and just experiencing the music around me. Joy is walking home listening to music in my earbuds and dancing all the way home. I don’t force joy to come to me, I let joy come to me. I try to deflect all negative energy in my life because if I can deflect the negative energy it can't hurt me. Saying that no material possessions can't bring happiness I personally think is a lie. I have a stuffed duck that I have had since I was a baby and that stuffed animal brings me joy because it reminds me of my childhood which for me was a very happy time. Joy is what you make of it. Anything can bring you joy if you let it. Joy is what you make of a situation. Life can be full of joy if you just let it. My friends bring me joy because I have chosen people that I enjoy and I know are good people. That joy was chosen and was one of the best choices I have ever made for myself. Putting yourself before others so you can be the best you you can be brings me joy. Self care, self love and self expression all bring me joy. The world is full of joy you st have to be willing to find it.

Saying I love you can be easy because it’s just a word but actions speak louder than words. Everyday I greet my friends and my parents with a good morning and ask them how they slept just so they know I am thinking about them. Feeling loved is feeling like people think about you and care and want to know how you're doing. I always check in with my friends if it's a good mental health day or not and no matter the answer I always reassure them that what they are feeling is valid and they are valid to their feelings. I also make sure to hang out with my friends as often as I can. While texting is good and all in person time is better. I love my friends and my family so much and sometimes I really feel like I can't show them enough of how much I love them. I do little things like finding funny pictures to show them to just make them laugh and smile. As a friend and my parents' child my goal is to make them happy and make sure I am there and validate them when they are in a crisis and need me. I am always just there for my friends and family, always no matter what has happened I am there.

My best skill is performing vocally. I have been doing so with a professional voice teacher for eight years. I have performed solo and in groups at many different venues such as: Mechanics Hall, The Russian Icon Museum, and The Chelmsford Center for the Arts along with many recitals at churches across Worcester. I have been working hard on my vocals for 8 years and each day I start off with a breathing exercise to strengthen my diaphragm which is incredibly important for a vocalist. Even though I am a full time student I make sure to fit practice into every nook and cranny of my schedule. Any free period or study hall I am in a practice room rehearsing. Music is my life but as a full time student in high school I still have class to deal with but if I could practice much more in a day I would. If I am free after school I always do ear training first then warm up my voice to get started on the problem areas in a piece. Any time I have free time best believe I am rehearsing for my next show or just warming up my voice to better myself as a musician and become the best I can be.

I am a musician and specialize in performance and music education. I have been playing violin for 11 years and singing for basically my whole life. Practice makes perfect, well not perfect but better! There's no such thing as perfection, however, you can always get better. Everyday I wake up and practice my breathing, which is a very important skill for a vocalist because it strengthens your diaphragm. Obviously I am a full time student so I can’t practice 24/7. In my free periods I practice whatever piece I am currently working on, especially the parts that I am struggling with. Sometimes it is useful to go over a whole piece, but when practicing it's better to get into the parts you struggle with to really iron them out. I have been performing my whole life and in my very first concert, in kindergarten, I fell in love performing. It lets you give a different spin on all different kinds of music and put a personal spin on it. It makes me feel free when I get on the stage and perform. I have been professionally singing and taking voice lessons for 8 years and have worked my tail off to get to the place I am today. I have performed at numerous halls and music centers and have been invited to sing on NPR. Practice doesn't make perfection but if you keep practicing you will get to such a high level that the general public will think you're perfect. Technique training is very important because it is the foundation of all music. Training your fingers with scales or training your diaphragm with breathing. These must be done everyday in order to be a successful musician and I have put in that work.

I think one of the biggest problems facing the world is lack of communication and ignorance. It is said that ignorance is bliss but all it causes is harm. It seems most people think staying in the dark is easier but the times are changing and it's time for people to take their head out of the ground. Being educated on the world and about what is happening is so important. As things change such as the evolution of gender, and sexuality it would be beneficial to talk about topics like that in schools instead of banning it and pretending it does not exist. Ignorance is not bliss at all, all it does is isolate people who are considered “strange” in society. Not educating yourself and letting yourself be ignorant or defending your ignorant thoughts with false news can cause a separation of people. It separates the people who are living their lives and the people who deny the reality of people living and being themselves. I think that if we educated our youth in the classroom then the new generation coming up could be an open minded entity. I would also suggest we have parent classes for parents who have children who are in the LGBTQ+ community and all parents to let parents along with their children be educated. This also is not limited to the LGBTQ+ community. It could go along with the Black Lives Matter movement or women's rights. Being educated about the world around you can open up your eyes and give you an enriching life.

I am pursuing music and in more detail I am pursuing music performance and education. Music has been in my life for as long as I can remember. My first performance was when I was 4 years old, in a winter concert and from that day on I new performance was my calling. Performing lets me give out my soul to the word. Giving a new meaning to an already performed piece is one of my favorite things to do because you can always put a new spin on an old story well in this case an old music. Music lets you express yourself and lets you have complete artistic freedom. A few years later I got an opportunity to teach music at an afterschool program for little kids. As soon as I started teaching I knew that this was my passion. Getting to educate young kids is so gratifying because you get to see their face when they finally understand the music or they play a piece perfectly and they are so excited. That moment of pure joy is what makes me want to be a music educator. To create music while teaching the next generation is a perfect job for me. Music has honestly saved my life. It let me express myself in a way that nothing else could. And when I was at my hardest times I knew that Music was there if I wanted to listen to it, it was there if I wanted to write it, it was there I always knew I could depend upon music. It's like it is my best friend that I could always depend on for anything. What music is giving me is creative freedom in the freedom to be myself without fear of judgment or consequences. Without Music there is a good chance that I would not be here today. For a very long time I felt alone in the world and like I couldn't express my feelings, but creating music gave me a chance to share what I was thinking in a healthy and positive way. There is no better feeling than performing an original piece of music that you created and are proud of that shows the true you. Music has been my life's passion for 17 years. I can't wait to take the next steps into my full career as a musician at Berkeley College of Music.

I hope to show the young kids I mentor that it is okay to be different from the crowd. That your differences are what make you special. Now I know it sounds cliche but its so true. It took me a very long time to figure out my own personal identity and I still am figuring it out but I think if someone had told me that it's okay not to fit in I would have been more proud of who I am. I want these kids to know that you don't have to follow the crowd. Most of the time it is better you stray away from the crowd so you can really find your true self. A lot of the kids I teach/mentor are young and still trying to fit in with everyone else but I am a strong believer that kids should follow their own path. Kids are creative and want to be who they are but we live in a world where it's very hard to be unique because the system tries to put everyone in a box and control you. Me working with kids gives me a chance to share with them about how scary being yourself can be but how rewarding it is. Kids should know how to love themselves for who they are and not let the world judge them for being their true selves. I also teach them that loving yourself and getting to know who you rae takes time but in the end you are left with the most beautiful thing. Yourself and who you want to be.

I value my bravery most in myself. Bravery has helped me get through many hardships in my life and at one point saved my life. Bravery has gotten me to where I am today because I was brave enough to take that first step. A few months back I was going through alot and my mental health was deteriorating. I attempted to take my own life and fortunately failed but I had to look at myself in the mirror and see that I needed help. I was brave enough to reach out for help with my mental illness and know it was time for me to get the help I needed. Bravery means standing up and doing what you need to do to succeed and not letting your fears get the best of you. Bravery is continuing to persevere even if you don't know the outcome. As a musician You never know the outcome of a performance. You just go up and perform and let the chips fall as they may. I have been brave enough to perform in front of others and share my talents with the world. I fear judgment just like the rest of us but I have decided to be brave and perform for others regardless of their judgment. Being brave has set me up for success. It has taught me that teaching is one of my passions. I have been brave enough to teach kids and even when I didn't know how to handle a situation I was brave enough to ask for help. Me being brave then teaches the kids to be brave because bravery it's contagious. Even this scholarship is me being brave. I am brave enough to share my life with whoever is reading this and put myself out there. Being brave is putting yourself out there for the world to see, knowing that you could get judged, knowing you that there will be haters and still putting myself out there. I have finally, after 17 years, found myself and have been brave enough to be myself in this world. As a nonbinary queer human I face a lot of judgement but I am still myself and have not let anyone take my bravery away. My life would have been so much less successful if I wasn't brave. I have been able to share my talents with the world because I am brave. I have been able to teach kids because I am brave and I have been able to be myself because I am brave.

One solution would be to talk about mental health and mental illness more in schools and to teach about healthy coping skills. It would make people with mental illness feel less alone. Teaching about mental health in schools would promote talking and being open about your feelings. By teaching healthy coping skills this could hopefully provide extra support to students who struggle with mental illness. I think also having multiple adjustment counselors at school would be helpful because it would give students a person to talk to. Making kids feel less alone and more prepared for what the world throws at them could help keep suicide rates down in teenager's. As someone who struggles with mental illness and has had a suicide attempt of their own I feel like that could have been avoided if someone just taught me how to cope with the feelings I was having. I feel like education youth about mental illness is so important because it could prevent kids from feeling alone, going down a path of suicide, and could help kids learn how to cope. Coping is how you deal with mental illness. There is no special pill or remedy that will just make your mental illness go away so coping is the best remedy to help you to deal with your mental health. Mental illness has always been a scary topic especially for schools. It seems it is easier to ignore the problem then fix it. By introducing a curriculum about mental health and mental illness it could honestly save a life. Being open to talking about mental illness is important because it makes kids feel less alone and like they aren't a freak. Talking about it in the classroom would normalize mental illness and let kids feel less alone in this world.

My biggest obstacles in life has been my suicide attempt back in 2021. After this attempt I went to the emergency room and after that went to a mental health hospital. At the hospital I was given treatment but alongside that I was taught life skills. I was taught how to cope in a healthy way, and how to see life in a positive light. In the hospital I learned one very important thing: I want to live. Let me say that again I WANT TO LIVE. I used persistence to get through this situation because I learned I wanted to live but not the way I was living. I wanted to have a better life and not feel terrible all the time. I fought for my will to live and came out on top. I worked hard to get where I am. A year ago I was in a terrible spot. I was self harming, drinking and overall was in a terrible place. I worked hard to get to where I am and get my mental health in a better place. Through the help of my family and friends I have gotten past my suicide attempt and began a new chapter of my life. A life where I am happy and when I'm not I know how to cope. I life that's worth living.

I am Jupiter Montalvo, a passionate student, an aspiring musician, and a motivated part-time teacher. I have been part-time teaching for 5 years at a program called Worcester Unites, where we bus kids in from all over Worcester and teach them music. Personally, I like to not only teach them how to play but also how to read music, understand music theory, and be overall well-rounded musicians. I am a huge supporter of the arts. Letting kids be creative alongside a standard education I think is important. An arts education gives kids a way to express themselves so their creativity flows without them worrying that it's wrong. Along with music I also feel that volunteering one's time is incredibly important. My schedule is crazy Monday-Friday but I give money to programs that help the homeless and work with my church youth group at missions for underprivileged people. I am also a very focused high school student. I have taken numerous APs and college courses. I never have taken an AP or college course for college credit, I do it because all of those opportunities were free at my high school and I wanted to take advantage of all I had access to in my high school career. I believe that I will make a positive impact in the education field. I care about the kids that I teach and not only about them learning music and everything surrounding it but I care about their well-being. In my time teaching, I have always made it clear that if you are struggling, talk to me. Mental health is super important to me. As someone who deals with mental illness, I can understand what they are going through most of the time. Being transgender/nonbinary and queer I can be a good person to talk to about identity and sexuality. I am accepting of everyone and would make sure my classroom would be a safe space for everyone. Music education is my passion and I would love nothing more than to teach underprivileged kids music. Teaching the next generation would be a privilege. I would make sure my students felt supported in my classroom. With music especially, mistakes don’t exist, just wrong timing. I would like to teach that lesson that music is whatever you want it to be, you are not confined in a box. There is not one right answer in music because everything and anything can be music. I want to teach my students about minority artists and the beauty behind different genres and styles of music. I want to expand young minds and teach them there is more than just pop music. I want to not just follow a curriculum but change the lives of kids and really impact them

My favorite technique is relaxing my body. Let me explain: you start at your head letting your eyes become relaxed and closing slowly then relaxing every muscle in your face. Then move down to your neck and just let your head bob on your relaxed neck. After your neck, move to your shoulders and let them sink down into your body. After your shoulders are fully relaxed, move to your chest and feel your breath and feel your stomach go in and out slowly. Take a moment to focus on your breath and feel it in your diaphragm. After this move to your arms and your hands and feel every muscle relax and sink down wherever you are sitting or laying down. Feel your breath going into your pelvic bone and feel it go in and out. After you're fully relaxed down to your pelvic bone, move your focus to your legs and feel every muscle in your legs relax and sink down. Relax your knees, your shins and every other bone and muscle in your legs. Finally, go down to your feet and feel each individual toe relax. At the end of this exercise, you are fully relaxed and clear in your mind, ready to continue your day. This has helped me many times and has gotten me out of a lot of negative situations. It's best used when you’re in a panic and feel overwhelmed or overstimulated. Relaxing and clearing your mind is a hard task to achieve but I have learned this technique with the help of my therapist. I practice this at least once a week to stay in touch with my inner self. I think when you feel very overwhelmed grounding yourself is very important, and while there are many different grounding techniques, this is my favorite. It grounds your whole body and connects your mind to your breath and to your chi energy. Your body's energy can be drained especially in very high stress situations. I like to compare energy to a glass of water. If you often give your energy to others your glass will become empty and there's not even enough for you to take from. Taking a moment for yourself and taking that time to focus on your own energy is important. Self care is one of the most important things to do daily to clear your mind and prepare yourself for your day or for whatever activities you have coming up. A clear mind leads to a positive day and by using this exercise you can focus on your breath and acknowledge your thoughts. But as you acknowledge each thought you can keep coming back to the central idea of your breath. Breathing is essential to any activities that help you clear your mind. Simply focusing on your breath can help make a bad day drastically better.

If I had $1000 right now it would go straight to my college fund. I am going to Berklee College of Music and it is a very expensive school. My family and I are trying to figure out a way to pay for college but it will be a struggle and this $1000 will be the first step in the right direction of attaining scholarships. I have been working hard to get as many scholarships as I can and doing my part to try to pay for my college. I'm going to Berklee because they have one of the best music programs in the country and my goals are to perform and teach music. Berklee is my dream school and I have been wanting to go there for my whole life to pursue my love of music. The $1000 would go straight into the books I need to buy or my overall tuition. Getting a bachelor's degree in music would set me on the right path to pursue my dreams and be the best musician and teacher I could be.

My mental illness is not who I am and does not control me. While my mental health has taken a lot from me it has also given me a lot. It has shown me I want more in my life than just to be stuck inside my head. My first suicide attempt showed me more than I could imagine. It showed me it was okay to talk to people about how you were feeling and not to keep everything inside. Most importantly it showed me that I wanna live. Let me say it one more time. I WANT TO LIVE. If I got nothing else out of my time at the hospital I got that. That whole experience made me see past my mental illness and to the future and the fact that I wanted a future. I no longer wanted everything to end. I have goals, I have dreams that I want to make come true. The world used to be a terrible place and I could only see the bad but now I can see the world has hope and it can be bad but that just gives me the motivation to make it better and safer for everyone living on it. My goal is to perform and by performing make people just smile. Giving them a fun night out to just sit and enjoy beautiful music. I also want a future career in teaching kids music. I would love to teach the next generation music and let kids have a creative outlet in their lives instead of being stuck with a classic curriculum. If I could give back to the next generation and teach not only music but about life that would be my dream. Life kicks you in the butt and I have experienced this but getting help was the best decision I ever made. I learned how to cope with what I was feeling and see more than darkness in the world. Getting help was the first step in my mental health journey and I am proud of myself for taking this step. I did not go through these steps alone. With the help of my parents, I was able to recover from my suicide attempt and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Through the years my parents and I have had a rocky relationship. There wasn't any communication and I never felt comfortable talking with them about what was going on in my head. During my time at the hospital, my parents and I agreed that we would now be a family of communication. Whether it was good news or bad it would be shared with the family. This has brought us closer together than ever and has helped us all become a healthier family. My mental illness is not who I am, it is a part of me but is not my entire personality. I am so much more than my mental health issues. I have learned, through my time at the hospital and my time in therapy, that communication is key to everything in life. The world is not all bad when you have people who love and support you, which I now know I am lucky enough to have. I have friends of mine who struggle with mental health and obviously, I tried to help but as I helped more and more they became dependent on me and it felt like I was putting my feelings second behind theirs. I learned a very hard lesson through that experience. I am not a therapist and can not put someone else's well-being above my own. When I was first told this it felt harsh and it didn't seem right but I have come to the realization that I need to be first in my own life and that I'm my own priority. This is not an easy lesson to learn and I am still working on this with all the relationships in my life. My beliefs have changed a lot through the years but now I know what I believe in. I believe in the power of the world and how each of us is connected spiritually. Through my mental health struggles, I have learned about how each of us is joined together and needs each other to survive. We have connections to people and that's what keeps us going. Mental health also connects us. Each and every one of us is going through something different and our differences are what connects us. Mental illness is something I will always struggle with but I now have the skills and the tools to help myself when I am in a crisis and have the support of people to help me when I need them. Mental illness as part of mental health is a struggle but it doesn't need to rule my life and I am so glad that it does not rule mine anymore.

I never knew I loved teaching until I started teaching at an after-school program, Worcester Unites. Getting to see every single kid get excited when they finally understand the piece of music they are working on is priceless. Kids are amazing and so creative and getting to see their creativity flourish at Worcester Unites makes me happier than anything else. I have been a volunteer teacher for three years and a part-time teacher at an afterschool program for two years. Through that time I have seen kids grow up and blossom into the next stages of their lives. I have seen them follow their passion for music and work hard to reach their goals. Being a teacher lets me teach kids and that by itself is magical. It has always been my goal to teach the next generation of kids music and teach them not just music, but about life. Kids want to be creative and not be stuck doing math all day. By becoming a music teacher I would allow kids to get in touch with their creative side and let them be who they are instead of what the school system needs them to be. I have always been a huge supporter of the arts education and letting kids do what they are passionate about that doesn’t fall into the regular curriculum. After part-time teaching for five years, I have learned a few things: kids are going to be kids, they are going to be loud and going to tell you what they think and what they want and I love that. I believe kids should be kids and we shouldn't force them to sit at a desk all day. I want to be a teacher to advocate for the kids. I am passionate about teaching because there is no better feeling than teaching a kid a piece of music and watching them struggle but then finally seeing them get it and seeing them be so excited about it and glowing with pride. Seeing a child succeed is such a heartwarming feeling and makes me feel so proud of not only myself but of the child I am teaching. Kids are magical creatures and in my experience, they are crazy, funny, loving and so so creative and ready to share their creativity with you at any point. I am passionate about being a teacher because I love kids, and how creative they can be. I want to foster their creativity and be a safe space for them. While I want to teach music to them I also want to be a helping hand when school and life becomes overwhelming. I love teaching and it's been my passion for five years now and I can't see myself doing anything but that in my future.

My mental illness is not who I am and does not control me. While my mental health has taken a lot from me it has also given me a lot. It has shown me I want more in my life than just to be stuck inside my head. My first suicide attempt showed me more than I could imagine. It showed me it was okay to talk to people about how you were feeling and not to keep everything inside. Most importantly it showed me that I wanna live. Let me say it one more time. I WANT TO LIVE. If I got nothing else out of my time at the hospital I got that. That whole experience made me see past my mental illness and to the future and the fact that I wanted a future. I no longer wanted everything to end. I have goals, I have dreams that I want to make come true. The world used to be a terrible place and I could only see the bad but now I can see the world has hope and it can be bad but that just gives me the motivation to make it better and safer for everyone living on it. My goal is to perform and by performing make people just smile. Giving them a fun night out to just sit and enjoy beautiful music. I also want a future career in teaching kids music. I would love to teach the next generation music and let kids have a creative outlet in their lives instead of being stuck with a classic curriculum. If I could give back to the next generation and teach not only music but about life that would be my dream. Life kicks you in the butt and I have experienced this but getting help was the best decision I ever made. I learned how to cope with what I was feeling and see more than darkness in the world. Getting help was the first step in my mental health journey and I am proud of myself for taking this step. I did not go through these steps alone. With the help of my parents, I was able to recover from my suicide attempt and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Through the years my parents and I have had a rocky relationship. There wasn't any communication and I never felt comfortable talking with them about what was going on in my head. During my time at the hospital, my parents and I agreed that we would now be a family of communication. Whether it was good news or bad it would be shared with the family. This has brought us closer together than ever and has helped us all become a healthier family. My mental illness is not who I am, it is a part of me but is not my entire personality. I am so much more than my mental health issues. I have learned, through my time at the hospital and my time in therapy, that communication is key to everything in life. The world is not all bad when you have people who love and support you, which I now know I am lucky enough to have. I have friends of mine who struggle with mental health and obviously, I tried to help but as I helped more and more they became dependent on me and it felt like I was putting my feelings second behind theirs. I learned a very hard lesson through that experience. I am not a therapist and can not put someone else's well-being above my own. When I was first told this it felt harsh and it didn't seem right but I have come to the realization that I need to be first in my own life and that I'm my own priority. This is not an easy lesson to learn and I am still working on this with all the relationships in my life. Mental illness is something I will always struggle with but I now have the skills and the tools to help myself when I am in a crisis and have the support of people to help me when I need them. Mental illness as part of mental health is a struggle but it doesn't need to rule my life and I am so glad that it does not rule mine anymore.

Music has made a huge impact on me through the years. It has given me a place to express my creativity and let me give out my emotions in healthy ways. My future music career includes becoming a music educator and a performer. I don't think I have ever been to a performance and was not impacted in one way or another. Music is such an important part of life. It can be calming, fuel us, entertain us and make us feel any emotion possible. I hope to inspire the next generation of musicians with my work. Creating music is truly a super power. For that two to three minutes you have everyone listening to you and enwrapped in what you wanted to share with the world. I want not only to perform and inspire but to teach. I am a huge supporter of the arts and getting an arts education. Letting kids be free and creative with the arts is huge and it gives them a moment to breathe and take a step back from math, english and the normal curriculum. I want to give to the next generation and inspire them and teach them so they can change the world with their music and their art. The arts are often overlooked and seen as an unsuitable career. I want to show kids that you can do so much more with music than they think. Flip the script and show that the arts are a suitable career to have. If I could impact one kid that would be good enough for me, obviously I want to impact many kid, adult and so forth but to see one kid impacted by me would touch my heart. Impacting the next generation is really the goal. To show kids to follow their passions and give them some outlet to let them be who they want to be that how I make a positive impact on the world. Not related to the essay in my link attached I use the name Bee that is my old deadname just so there is no confusion. Also since I am doing music I can not attach PDF only MP3 and the scholarship did not allow that