The person who was most influential in my life is none other than my mom, Vornh Vicky Vilaysouk. From the moment I was born, my mom has always been the one who always supported me in the things I did and wanted to achieve. In high school, I participate in many extracurriculars that the rest of my family don't see the value of them. I am part of my school's marching band, debate team, and robotics, team, and in many other clubs that my two older sisters and father don't understand to see why they're important and why I'm doing them. They sometimes discourage me to continue my extracurriculars because to them, their useless and a waste of time, but my mom saw great value in my extracurriculars and insists to continue working in them and many other clubs or programs to improve my social and real-world skills. She's the main reason why I'm still loyal to my extracurriculars. My mom would also encourage me to do my best in school because she saw the potential I have to be a successful person, where I go to college and support our family one day. In fact, she would constantly lecture me about this every morning I go to school which helped me stay motivated. I wish I could say the same for my family, especially for my dad. Out of my parents, my dad has been the parent who doesn't see any future for me. He questions me about becoming successful and breaks my self-esteem by comparing me to my older sisters and cousins. My mom would defend me from my dad's doubts, which I would forever appreciate. It's not only my mom's support that made her influential, it's her way of she raised me and what she went through. My mom like most moms, does their best in trying to help their kids. She works in child care and had to apply for new childcare jobs during Covid-19 since she lost one due to being positive. And in the midst of applying for new jobs, my mom lost her parents in the same year. First, my grandfather passed away due to old age, then my grandmother due to grief. The moment they passed away, was the moment I saw my mom in their most vulnerable moments. My mom is a tough mom who usually never cries, but she did during her parents' passing. I could see the stress and hopelessness in her face, yet she fought like a champion and continue working hard for her family and visit my grandparents in the cemetery every Sunday. Her resilience and strength showed me the importance of moving on in life whenever something bad happens and is what keeps me doing my all in life and moving on as well. I never thought that stress would take on a toll on her though. During my junior year, my mom felt ill one day and my dad and sisters had to take her to the ICU. It was discovered that she had a brain tumor developing in her brain that no one knew she had and saving her was already too late. Even though my mom isn't here more, the experiences she gave me are life-learning experiences. I must always fight against any unfortunate events life throws at me, any doubters in life, and remain faithful to myself so that I can achieve our dream fo me giving back to my family. My mom was a testament to the love and hard work, that'll forever be my inspiration to triumph in life.

I am heavily interested in becoming an accountant due to numerous amount of reasons. First off, and most importantly, I want to break free from this vicious cycle of poverty my family and I have been facing, even to this day. Secondly, I want to do the same and educate people on making better financial decisions, especially in these extremely difficult times, where inflation is high, salaries are stagnating, and the poverty rate is increasing. To me, being an accountant is a key to opening a new, better life, lifting my and my family's financial burdens off our backs, and running to financial freedom. My parents are Laotian refugees, who escaped the destruction of the Vietnam War and settled a life in America, specifically in the Bay Area of California so that their family could enjoy its opportunities and offers. But this decision was never easy for them. Like most refugees and immigrants, they worked hard and endlessly to provide food on the table through hard labor. Still, no matter how hard they work, it's still not enough to sustain a healthy financial life for us. I have two older sisters who're trying their best to support us as well. However, my parents continue to constantly struggle with bills and we had to move everywhere around the Bay Area due to multiple expensive housing. We miraculously found a permanent home that they decided to own in the small, low-income city of San Pablo. Yet, our struggle continues. My family finally had the biggest struggle recently. During my junior year of high school, my mom wasn't becoming normal so my family took her to the ICU. It was then noted by the doctor that my mom have been dealing with a brain tumor for months that no one knew and that there was nothing the doctor could do since it severely damaged her brain. The moment I lost my mother, is the moment, my family and I enter a life we never thought we would be expecting. Now my family has to work harder to support us without the help of my mom. I want to do my part and become an accountant to improve our financial situation and our surrounding community. Speaking of our surrounding community, being an account is very significant to the business and the broader public because it keeps people and the business world in check of their expenses and income, which makes it easier to stay on top of any financial issues. Accountants basically maintain an accurate record of all financial decisions of businesses and the public that help them make good financial transactions. Accounting is also the language of business; a way that the business world could remain informed of their financial actions and status. Without accountants, the world would've made bad financial decisions without people noticing them. Many businesses could collapse, while many communities' livelihoods can be ruined. Accouantns have a big responsibility in being the backbone of businesses and the public's finances, and is a profession I would be honored to work in to improve the world's financial progression.

I plan to positively impact the world by doing everything I can to help support the oppressed, underrepresented, and unfortunate communities across the globe. I'm currently a high school senior with a love of hard work and hope to become an accountant and educate myself about better money management and financial literacy. Throughout my entire life and to this day, my family has been working endlessly to help us survive. We live in the low-income and POC-dominated community of San Pablo next to the low-income and big city of Richmond, with neighbors who are also trying their best to provide for themselves and their families. I want to start helping myself, my family, and my community first then to the world. I want to use my financial knowledge and my money managing skills to guide us in a better way to deal with our finances and improve our livelihoods. I understand the struggle of being improvised, ignored, and surviving a life where you are supposed to live. It's even more difficult to break out of this vicious cycle, especially in these times of crisis. I may be a high school student, but I'm determined to better my community whatever the obstacles are. In fact, I've done numerous activities where I was involved in spreading awareness and providing solutions to my communities. For example, during my sophomore summer year, I participated in an English research project where I get to interact with Richmond business owners and have their voices heard on the city council on what they should do with the leftover $17 million Covid relief fund. I got to meet new faces in Richmond, interview them, and presented the interviews to the city council, which would consider creating laws that would meet the business owners' opinions with the relief fund. I did a similar project where I had the chance to present slides to the public such as friends, families, school admins, and many other community members about how disciplines are actually hurting students especially POC students at my high school. I provided solutions like counseling at my school, clubs, and other answers that my school officials are considering. After doing many community-engaging activities, I aim to impact other unprivileged communities on a global scale. I hope to use my previous community experience and future account expertise to spread awareness of poverty and oppression in the world to the public and work with organizations that'll finally give a helping hand to those without any privileges.

Out of all the three following subjects I've endured, I have been affected by my mental health the most. I am a high schooler and current senior and I have been busy with my academics and outside life. I was born to Laotian refugees who escaped the Vietnam War and settled here in California, in America, the land of opportunities. I have two older sisters which leaves me the only boy and the youngest of my family. Since Califronia is known for having expensive houses, my parents had to search everywhere for a house affordable for them. And they did. They ended up buying a house in the small low-income city of San Pablo. Even though my parents tried their best in providing a better life for their family and worked so hard, it's still not enough. So they put their extreme expectations on their children to go to the natural route to success. To graduate high school, go to college, get a degree, and a professional job. My oldest sister tried doing this route, but it was hard for her and she decided to just go straight to work. My parents were upset at this, especially my dad. SInce then, he's been constantly lecturing my older sister and I to go to college and do not repeat the same "mistake" our oldest sister did. This put a lot of pressure on me because my older sister manage to got o college is is going to graduate the year I'm graduating high school. It's even worse since my dad, although he wants me to go to college, have no faith in me. He favors his middle child the most as she was the first child to go to college. I have been dealing a lot of insecruties because of this and keep stressing about not fulfilling my parents' American dream. Still, there was my mom. She was the only parent who had faith in me and encourage to do my absolute best. She may have high expectations of me, but she is my biggest motivator. Her soft lectures and support help comfort my mental health. Until she passed away. During my junior year of high school, my dad and sisters had to take my mom to the ICU when our aunt called us about her. She said that she was talking to our mom on the phone and feel she isn't feeling well. Few days past, and when I finally visited her on the hospital bed, with hospital tools all over, weak, I couldn't help but feel my mind deteriorate. My anxiety was increasing, hoping that my mom would get better. All of my hopes were crushed when the doctor told my family and I that she had a brain tumor in her brain that caused so much damage, that they couldn't help her anymore. With in an instant, I lost my biggest supporter in life and my beloved mother. My family and I were emotionally damaged. My mind was just going all over the place. It took weeks for me to recover from this. And still can't belive this is real. For a while, I had to swallow the harsh truth and did my best to move on. My mental health was bruised by mother's passing. However, I know my mom. I know that she still wants me to continue work hard and ahcieve our American dream. I know that she's up in the clouds waiting for me to succeed in life and that is what I continue to thrive and to support my mental health.

My name is Justin Tieng Vilaysouk. I'm currently a rising senior at Richmond High School, and I working on my first internship remotely. I was born on March 31st, 2005 to hardworking Laotian refugees who miraculously fled the Vietnam War with their families and sought refuge in the United States of America, the land of opportunity. My parents met in school in California and had three kids. They had two daughters who are now young, strong-minded women, and then me, the only boy in the family and the youngest. I was born in Berkeley but grew up in many different cities. Due to financial issues, my family and I had to constantly move to multiple different areas. We first started to live in Richmond with my mom's family's apartment, since it's cheaper, but then my parents decided to live by ourselves. So they rent a house in another neighborhood but were robbed. While no one was there during the robbery, many of our valuables and money were stolen, so we had insufficient money to pay our rent and had the fear of getting robbed again. So my parents decided to live in an apartment in El Cerrito, then rent a house, where we nearly got evicted by our landlord. So we had to live with our relatives for a while and finally had enough money to buy a house in Richmond's tiny city sister of San Pablo. Since then, we get adapted to the city. Although we finally own a home, my family still struggled financially. My parents including my oldest sister have low-paying jobs and have to pay bill after bill and apply for new jobs during Covid. My job in the family is to only do my absolute best in school and stay out of trouble. The biggest financial struggle and challenge my family and I ever faced though, was the passing of my mom. She passed away during my junior year due to a brain tumor. Without my mom, my family and I are filled with grief and have the entire financial burden be put on my dad and oldest sister. We work harder even more than ever, and it's still not enough to pay our bills. Even in the midst of pain and shock, there were people in our community who were generous to help with our grief and financial issues. We had relatives of course, but we also had our dear neighbors that supported us during my mom's passing. Our next-door neighbors and neighbors who lived across us sent their condolences and comforted us. Some offered flowers to my mom, chairs for relatives sleeping over, allowed our relatives to part at their houses, and so much more. Their concern for us opened my eyes to my community. When we first moved to San Pablo, I was very angry with the idea, because San Pablo was a low-income community with an entirely different demographic than our family. My dream is to get out of San Pablo and moved to a "better" city. Now, I want to give back what my neighbors give to me and my family and the rest of San Pablo's community. In the future, I'm planning to become an accountant and earn good money and educate myself on money management. I could use my skills, knowledge, and wealth to educate my community on managing money better and lift us out of poverty. I'm hoping to make a positive impact on my community by providing internships available for our youth and organizations to help our most vulnerable.

A unique contribution I would make to the world to make mental health care affordable and accessible to those who need support is by contacting anyone around the world through phone or any type of communication and being there for assistance or even as a friend for free. This may seem a daunting task to many. Socializing with strangers around the world and connecting with them because of their mental health and unaffordability to pay for any mental health care can be intimidating. However, it's a contribution I'm willing to do. I was once a very shy person, but as I soon grew older I matured and broke out of my shell. I'm very social and do my best to turn strangers into friends by being there for them. This may also seem that such a big impact. In reality, though, it definitely is. Many low-income people around the world dealing with their poor mental health may have trouble keeping in contact with other people and have no one, whether it is professionals or close ones to comfort with. So talking to strangers that can't afford mental health care could depend on me for that support. A little social interaction can reduce the pain of loneliness and brighten up any people's mood. A happy and comforted person equals a healthy mind.

I'm determined that no matter what life continues to throw at me, I will never give up on my dreams and stop working. The biggest challenge I faced so far throughout my entire life was the passing of my mother. My mom who has always been my biggest supporter in education, passed away during my junior year of high school due to a brain tumor in her head. Without her, my dad has to retire later on in the future and have to pay the bills without his partner. My family is struggling financially and emotionally. We still can't comprehend that she's gone and have to do jobs that she used to do such as paying our insurance, laundry, etc. But, I still have determination within myself. I knew that my mom want me to improve and do my best to help my family and move on. Her passing was the biggest challenge, but now it is my biggest motivation to continue on working and succeed in life. Respect comes in many ways. My dad has always had the mindset that the youth must respect the elders, while the elders don't have to. My two older sisters and I grew up usually arguing with my dad because of this fixed, stubborn mindset. We always respect our dad since like most immigrant parents, he came to America, to work for a better life for his family. Still, he thinks that we are lazy since we lived in a privileged country already, and always damages our self-esteem. With my mom gone though, my dad started to have an open mind and began respecting me and my sisters and vice versa, since we only have each other now. Now, respect is given both ways in our household. I used to think that innovating my school's city, Richmond is impossible due to poverty. But by joining community organizations given in the city, I have gained faith in the future and come up with ideas to improve this city. My ideas include ideas for opportunities and major changes that would further better this city. Since I have the power to make a change, I planned to make Richmond a better place so that residents would still have a love for their city. When it comes to versatility, an event that comes to my mind was moving to San Pablo. I used to live in affluent cities such as El Cerrito, so moving to a low-income city like San Pablo was a culture shock. I developed a feeling inside myself; a feeling of inferiority. I eventually adapt to it, knowing that it is the only option my family can afford a home. Their sacrifices are enough to help me adjust to the city. Coming from an underfunded school with a district in debt, I had to deal with multiple changes in my high school year. I had many of my teachers get fired, limited access to AP classes, etc. It's a struggle that my school faced way before I arrived. I know I could still succeed in a poor environment. When I do, I hope to make future changes in my organizations to help my community get better education equality. My mom was the main person who nurtured me in this world. My values on education, life, and success have aligned with my mom thanks to her caring love. As a young adult with no mother, my sisters have to nurture me now even though I'm older. I will forever appreciate the matriarchs in my life and I would continue in achieving my goals even faster.

My biggest supporter that has helped me the most in reaching my educational goals is my matriarch in my life, my mom. From the beginning of my academic career in first grade to my junior year in high school, my mom has consistently been the backbone of my academic achievements. She has aided and supported me by always encouraging me to do my best and overcome any challenges I face in school or life in general. My mom has consistently reminded me that I must never stop doing the good work I did in school and keep it up. Her lectures, lessons, and tough love have motivated me to do things I didn't think of in school like joining clubs, doing outside school stuff, getting good grades, and more. A major example of this was back in second grade. Second grade to me, was the most difficult and I might say embarrassing school year of my entire life. I say this because before I started elementary school, I wasn't that disciplined. I didn't about education or respecting my class environment including classmates and teachers and was overall a mischievous child. Back then, I thought I could get away with this behavior. But I surely was proven totally wrong. In second grade, I had a very strict teacher with strict rules. My behavior didn't please her and I failed second grade and had to repeat it. This was a huge shock for me and I didn't how to cope with this. My attitude towards education changed but my motivation to do good was crushed by this result. Thankfully, there was my mom. When my mom heard of this news, she was of course frustrated with me but still had faith in me that I can make amends for my mistakes and be a better student. She still motivated me that I have the potential to succeed and that is what helped boost my confidence in myself and made my fixed mind blossom. I started making changes with myself and exceed elementary school, middle school, and eventually high school. I have good relationships with my teachers, and classmates, earning good grades, and doing numerous activities. My mom was not only a supporter, but also an inspiration to me as well. She being my mom made me continue working hard and having high hopes for the future. I wish I could the same with my dad, who doesn't see me succeed in life. My mom however never doubted me and always defend me against my father's doubts about me. I will forever appreciate her for that. Now, I'm a rising senior in high school and preparing for college. I still have high hopes for myself in succeeding in higher education. I'm prepared for finally graduating high school going to college, and earning my degree. Unfortunately, my mom, the biggest supporter in reaching my educational goals, isn't going to be there to see it. She passed away in my junior year due to having an untreated brain tumor. I didn't know what to do during her passing. I would've never gotten so far in life without my mom. Still, I know that she would've wanted me to move on. Her passing is probably the biggest obstacle in reaching my educational goals, but I will use it as my biggest inspiration. My memories of her and her words would further carry me in achieving my goals. I will not let my mom down and I will help support myself and reach my educational dreams. I will do this for myself, my family, and for her.

The movie that had the greatest impact on my life has to be the well-deserved award-winning, unforgettable, and heartwarming Pixar film; Coco. To give context, Coco is a Pixar film; the first Pixar film I believe, that shows Mexican representation, about a young boy named Miguel in Mexico who has a passion for music, but his family doesn't as they want him to join their family business of shoe making and that music had a bad history in their family. But Miguel being rebellious and passionate wanted to pursue his dream and follow in the footsteps of a famous Mexcian singer that died a while ago named Ernesto De la Cruz who he found out that is his ancestor. He then magically went to the land of the dead where he meets his other ancestors. They wanted him gone since he's a living human, but Miguel refuses and goes in pursuit of finding Enresto with his pet dog named Dante who also went into the land of the dead, and a stranger who later became friends with him named Hector. When Miguel finally did, he soon discovered that Ernesto was a fraud and not his ancestor but Hector was and that Ernesto killed Hector for fame. Knowing this, Miegeul reunited with his ancestors as well with Hector and showed Ernesto's true colors to the people of the land of the dead Miguel was sent back to the land of the living to help his Great grandmother, Coco remember Hector her father by singing her favorite song of him. In the end, she remembered and joined her parents as well as her other ancestors when time passed and all of Migeul's family celebrate Dia de la Muertos both living and dead. This story in Coco was just mind-blowing. I admit however, I had a hard time that there was any good movie left in the theaters to watch and I thought Coco would be a generic boring cartoon film with cheesy scenes, so I didn't bother to watch the film. But after the great reviews it had and recommendations from friends, I decided to watch on on DVD and I was indeed blown away. The film's plot, visuals, music, and theme just moved me. I think it was the first Pixar film that had the greatest impact on my life because this film just taught me so many important things in life. That family is the most sacred and important thing in life so we should never forget any of them. That people should not really follow their idols as they can be different person than what their fans view them. And that life is extremely precious and we should enjoy it while we can and in the afterlife. I know that there are common themes in this film but it showed it in many emotional ways. Since then, my views on my family and life changed. I used to think that life is too long and since I usually argue with my family, I don't feel the need to have any love for them or value them. Now I absolutely value life and it's obstacles. As for my family, I know they tend to give me a hard time, like many families. However, I'll do anything I can to support them and love them as they're the best gifts in my life. This movie absolutely changed me into a better person with precious values and I want to continue enjoying life and succeeding. Coco will always be a classic family film in my heart and I'll always put family first.

There are not some, but multiple obstacles that I've overcome in my pursuit of higher education. To start, an obstacle I had to overcome in high school was my Freshman year being on Zoom. In my first year of high school, I didn't have the chance to experience what it's actually like to be in high school. This was when COVID hit and I and many other Freshmen had to deal with it. On Zoom, I didn't know what to do. It was a hard transition from traditional physical school to online. I was confused and worried that I won't be able to do good in my classes. But with hope and practice, I get used to my online classes over time and did my best to always work on my assignments and get help from my teachers. In my Sophomore year, it was also difficult since I transitioned back to physical school from an online school with more health protocols. I had to wear masks, can't be in groups with my friends, and still COVID cases were rapid during this year. I was anxious, but I had my family to support me with my fears. They also had to deal with a lot of obstacles themselves which affected my education. My mom lost her job due to being COVID-positive and had to find another one drastically. She got one, but her being jobless for a while lowered my family's income and we didn't have enough money for ourselves when we had to pay for my school supplies. Out of all the biggest obstacles I face, however, is the passing of my mom. During my junior year, my mom passed away due to a brain tumor that no one knew about, not even her. This happened during the week before my finals. I could never foresee this happening nor thought it was real. My mom's passing discouraged me to do good in school and I did kind of bad in my classes regarding grades. Now without my mom, my dad, and two older sisters have to step up and support all of us. I later get back up on my feet knowing that my mom would want me to thrive in school and life without her. It's still hard to this day that she's gone to me. This would be an everyday obstacle for me. However, instead of continuing to be in pain, I shall actually use this and all of my obstacles to help me get my education. The education I want to pursue is a career in either accounting or finance since my family and I have been struggling financially as well as my community. I want to educate and train myself in any financial or money-related field and use my gained knowledge and skills from college and educate as well as advise my community about money and solve our financial problems. In the future, I see my community in a better financial status and continuing to progress.

Out of all the following given to me, my biggest inspiration and passion has to be technology. Technology to me is an absolute necessity for the world to progress economically, socially, and culturally and transform into a more advanced and developed Society. It has proven to me countless times that it had just done that and continues to do so. Technology just fascinates me in many ways. From turning energy into more environmentally friendly to having ai assist you, to communicating with people through numerous ways, it's just so amazing. I love that technology makes life easier and more to enjoy. And in this ever-technological world, I want to adapt to the new changing phenomenon with technology. I know that technology though can be a hassle. I myself, have experienced so many struggles with tech. Such as paying mobile, dealing with computer crashes, doing school on Zoom, and signing in to websites; the struggles are endless. But this also increases my love for technology. That it can be a challenging thing to learn. I want to build up my skills with tech and boost my confidence by going through the challenges technology gives me. It'll teach me what I didn't know and how to solve problems more efficiently. And I know I'm not the only one who loves technology and thinks it's beneficial. Many people around the world, especially the youth are getting used to technology and many want to study and work in this field. Technology is becoming a popular curriculum in the world's education system and I am so happy. I'm so glad that many young people such as myself are determined to go through all the difficulties with tech and go more in-depth in the field. I hope to work with many passionate people in the future around tech. As for my job in tech, well I can't decide. The careers are endless. I don't know if I want to be a software developer, computer scientist, programmer, or cyber security analyst, it's just so much. Even though I don't have an actual career to pursue, I want to continue to work with technology in general life. I want to continue learning more about all the diverse concepts in technology and help contribute to my family, community, and the world. Technology will always be part of human lives and I will continue on discovering new concepts every day and hopefully make an impact in the technological world.

There are so many great things about Disney. They've been putting all-time classical movies in the cinema, creating one of the world's move beloved cartoon figures, inventing creative songs, generously donating and cheering the unfortunate, cooking delicious turkey legs, and overall giving people the happiest place they can be. Disney has been and always will be part of my childhood that continues to give inspiration and imagination to young kids and even adults. They've become a big influence on my behavior and values around the world. Without their help, I would be misguided and probably walk on a bad path. And despite being a fan of Disney, I rarely had the chance to go to Disneyland since it is too far from my house and out of my family's budget. Luckily, I managed to go to Disneyland for the first time on a marching band trip and my expectations over there were met. I managed to go to a lot of unique rides that were made for Disney characters and franchises such as Cars, the Incredibles, Star Wars, and more. Disney nails being a positive influence in the world and I'm happy that I managed to witness a little magic in their theme park. Out of all the magnificent things Disney did, my favorite thing about Disney is that they continue to make kids and their families happy. This may seem not a like a big extraordinary thing, but Dinsey constant kind action of making everyone happy whether it's their theme park, films, shows, toys, or whatever, is a good thing that is needed in the world. What this means to me is that Disney will forever be a beacon of hope and kindness in this cruel and uncertain world. They became one the biggest conglomerate in the world and be part of the biggest cheerers in the world. I appreciate that Disney helps brightens people's moods like I did in Disneyland. They always find new ways to entertain people across the world with new products and media. I admire their dedication to their name of being the happiest place on Earth and inspiring people to make a positive change. I would forever be thankful for the hard work and positivity they spread in the world and I hope I would participate in doing the same in the future in helping spread happiness in the world. Disney's act of kindness shows me that there are still good people int he world and would need help to better our planet with love.

Skills that I, fortunately, possess that will help me go into the field I am going into are my basic math skills/calculations, statistics, research, memorization, and efficiency. The field I'm going is the accounting field. The accounting field is a field that interested me from all the way to seventh grade and now a high school junior and soon to be a high school senior. The complex field of accounting interest me because it simply suits my way of working and its requirements. Many people say that accountant is boring since you just sit all day doing paperwork and having long hours, but I see a bigger picture in the field that just keeps attracting my attention. I tend to work alone and independently throughout my academic years. And I find that very positive for me. So having the role of an accountant would absolutely be perfect for me, as being an accountant means not really talking to other people that much and mostly independent work. It is a very introverted work in other words. I can get used to this. As for the requirements of being an accountant, I think they could not be a better profession that matches my skills and strengths. Accounting first requires basic math skills just as adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, statistics, and a little bit of algebra. I would have never that my math skills in basic calculations, algebra, and statistics would apply to a job so well. In fact, I am so happy and relieved. I thought many jobs would require more advanced math such as calculus, differential equations, etc. in this progressing and technological world. I thought it was hopeless until accounting came to mind. I excel at doing basic calculations as well as algebra which I found as the easiest math subject in high school so far. As for statistics, I absolutely love it, since I'm a very logical person and I constantly find factual numbers to prove something. Speaking of finding, since an accountant requires statistics, the job definitely requires research. I've been doing many research projects in my academic years both in school and in my extracurriculars. I've gone used to it over time and developed more on my research skills, so doing accountant research wouldn't be a real challenge and if it is, then I would gladly improve my research techniques and improve my work over time. And what all of this requires is good memorization. Having a good memory is sometimes difficult, especially in a job. But luckily, being an accountant doesn't require hard topics for me. I'm good to memorize something if I listened carefully and it isn't really that complicated. The biggest memory that I will never forget about being an accountant is to never lose track of my work. And the final part of being an accountant is being efficient. Of course, many jobs require workers to be efficient, but in accounting, you need to be very efficient because accountants are responsible for keeping businesses alive. The complex responsibilities of tracking a business's finances, managing money, reporting financial reporting, and more are vital for it to keep running. Such tasks fit me because I've been doing my best in being efficient in my work whether it's in school, at home, or in an internship, and benefitted it. So I know what it's like and I want to prove to any accountant job that I'm someone worth looking at. Being an accountant will continue to inspire me and with my current knowledge and skills, I earn my degree in accounting and fulfill my dream job.

I think my most significant achievement to date has to be when I finally made a positive impact in my community. During the summer after my sophomore year, I was given an excellent opportunity for my English. She gave former students a project where we interviewed and recorded community members of our city of Richmond, mainly business owners their opinion on what should the city council do with the leftover 17 million Covid Relief money that the state gave to our city since we needed help after the devastation Covid caused us to our businesses, health sector, and environment. And we use all of our interviews and the recording and combined them into small videos to present to the city council and have them enact the main opinions of the business owners. In my experience, the main points of the business owners were to have more working street lights so that people can see through the night and create a safer environment, a reconstruction of our city's park so that it can be bigger and more people could enjoy playing in it, and create more opportunities for our youth such as sports clubs, paid internships, etc. so that our youth won't have to go to other cities to find such things and that this will create a close relationship with our city. After a few months, the city council enacted new laws regarding this issue, and new positive changes were implemented in our city. Out of all the 300 former students my English teacher offered, only 10, including myself participated in this unique summer project. At first, I questioned whether this will change anything in our city and I did not like the idea of talking to strangers or meeting potential new friends. In fact, I only joined because I thought such a project would help make my high school transcript look good. But as soon I start going deep into the project, soon I felt that I want to stay. This experience taught me that I could break out of my shell. I'm not really a social person as I'm very shy, but I easily get to know more about my project team members and even befriend them. I bonded with them throughout the entire project and together we took turns out interviewing multiple business owners in our big city. I was scared, yet I still did it. The business owners were actually very kind and actually like to help us with our project. I managed to interview twice with questions that I made as well that came into mind and it was just a remarkable experience. This taught me that I could easily talk to new people and think of creative ideas in my head. For most of my time, I was just holding back my potential. Not only this, but this experience taught me that you should never assume the worst. I thought that the interviews would end up in a catastrophe because I thought the business owners would be mean and impatient. I was proven wrong and this gives me a different perspective about Richmond. And during the presentation to the city council, this experience gave me a boost of confidence in my presenting skills and I was able to say what I had to say to the city council who applauded all of my project members' performance. I never felt prouder in my life in myself and in other people. It goes to show that teamwork is one of the greatest things that could happen if I could be more social toward others. After the project, I hope to achieve new possible ways to continue to improve the city of Richmond. Unfornafoutnatly, we are a very low-income community with limited resources. However, this will not stop from helping better it and its community. My experience showed me that I shouldn't stop here at helping my city. I would take any offer from the city itself or any community organization that would better impact the city in any diverse way. Whether it's improving safety, cleanliness, or something even bigger, I'm determined to have my city's back as well as my community's. The future will look brighter.

Hi, my name is Justin Tieng Vilaysouk. I'm a high school junior at Richmond High School, CA, becoming a senior next year, busy trying to graduate, applying to universities, more scholarships and so much more. I'm so excited for next year. This scholarship would help me immensely and my family, but first here's my story and a little about me. I was born on March 31, 2005, which makes a an Aries. I was born to hardworking Laotian refugees who fortunately escaped the Vietnam War and find them a better life here in America. Ever since then, they managed to build a family; my two older sisters and me, the only boy and the youngest child. Growing up, my family and I usually have numerous struggles that life throws at us. When I was a baby, our first home in Richmond was robbed. We had to move out and find other homes, but since we live in the Bay area, finding a place to say was very tough. We moved from apartments to renting houses and living with our relatives. Finally, we managed to find a permanent house that was suited for us in San Pablo, a small city near Richmond. Still, we continue to struggle as we are a low-income family. We struggle to find jobs that'll support us and our situation worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. My mom lost her job and had to find a new one. We faced many bills that we could barely pay off and people we grew up with or we knew became strangers to us. We also faced issues with each other. My family and I usually argue with each other non-stop and we sometimes say the cruelest things to each other that we regret. My parents especially. But...even though we get each other's nerves sometimes and are far from a "perfect" family, we still love each other and have each other's backs. And, then the worst thing happened in our lives. During my junior year, my mom was sent to the ICU because she was feeling very weak and the doctors discovered that she had a brain tumor. No one knew she had that, and never knew what pain she must be enduring. The rest of the family and I didn't know what to do. We just can only rely on hope and prayers for her. Unfortunately, she passed away. She never got to see me graduate high school and continue to see me grow. We were devasted after her passing. Without her, we struggle to have a good income to pay our bills and have more medical bills, and our financial stability is just derogated. I still have my dad and two sisters, and despite this major and unexpected challenge we have in our life, I vow to myself that I'll move on in life and make my mom's dream come true; to be able to support our family and succeed in life. So, this scholarship is a HUGE generous gift to me and the rest of my family regardless of how much money it has. This scholarship will help contribute money toward my education, which will lift an even more bigger financial burden on us. This is a big offer that I just can't ignore. Having the chance to go to college, and get a degree with some money to pay for it, gives us the chance to finally improve our lives. We've been through a lot in our lives, and now it's time for me to help free my family from our financial and emotional struggles. Thank you.

The dream version of my future self is me at a mature age who accomplished all of my future goals.

I will DREAM BIG by always seeing myself having a successful job, owning a good house in a good area, and having a family of my own one day. I vision myself accomplishing the dream that many people still today and evermore are trying to accomplish; I see myself finally reaching my American Dream. The dream right now seems like an illusion due to the current situation America is facing, but I still believe in the American Dream and will continue to dream big so that I could achieve it. My wildest dreams are not only living my American Dream, but I also dream about enjoying the great things in life that I couldn't before with my career and education. I come from a low-income family and was birthed to hardworking Laotian refugees. My parents miraculously escaped the Vietnam War, immigrated to America, became US citizens, and did and sacrificed so much for me and my two older sisters to have a good life in America. I want to give back what they gave us and make sure I'll enjoy all aspects of my life I can. In the future, I want to first help my family get out of poverty by hopefully using my degree in any money-related area such as accounting, finance, economics, business, etc., and get a job at a good-paying company. If I don't get into any, I wanna dream bigger and hopefully start my own company and be the CEO of mine that helps people learn more about money management. I will continue supporting my family and use my wealth to help other low-income families that are struggling as well. Helping others just makes me feel so happy and comfortable and it would mean the world to me if I have the opportunity to help as many people as I can. I would also use the money to spoil myself a bit. I want to travel the world, explore unique places in other countries, and overall live a great lifestyle to the fullest. I will use my education to make my wildest dreams a reality by applying for as many scholarships as this one so that I would avoid a lot of college debt and if I have enough, I would go get my masters in any money-related major. I don't really care about the universities I go to; unless they're cheaper than others and closer to more, I would go. And I will always be productive in school, and stay on track while doing an internship so that I could have experience for my job and get some money on the side. After I graduate, I would apply to many possible opportunities and offers that are open to me, and hope for the best. Another option is to get started in making my own business around money management and use my knowledge and skills to build a successful future for myself and my future family. I will keep dreaming big and will not wake (give) up until my dreams become real.

Hi there, my name is Justin Tieng Vilaysouk and I'm a junior and upcoming senior in high school. I was born in the US to hardworking Laotian refugees, who fled the Vietnam War and came to America to start a better life for themselves and their families. I have two older sisters, the oldest working and the other one currently in college. My family and I face many hardships in America as we are a low-income family and we constantly have to move everywhere, as we couldn't afford a home during a period of time. But fortunately, we finally managed to buy a home in the low-income community of San Pablo, CA. I appreciated all of the challenges and sacrifices my parents had made for me and my sisters and I know that they did everything they can to support us. But I know that they're human. My parents weren't involved in my childhood. The caretakers who were were none other than my beloved grandparents. Growing up, I was entirely raised by my grandparents on my mother's side. My parents were always working long hours so they couldn't take care of me throughout my childhood. Instead of buying a babysitter or putting me in preschool, they gave me to my mom's grandparents who were very happy to raise me. I was very happy about that decision because I was very socially awkward when I was little. During my time with my grandparents, they always tried to make sure I'm fed and happy. My grandma especially. She always gives me snacks, soda, and candy when I was little. And I usually watch tv whenever I'm bored. I usually watch kids' channels like Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network, where I watch some educational, but mostly nostalgic cartoon shows that bring me fond memories. My grandparents could only speak a little English, while I could only speak a little of our language which is Khmu. Despite our language barriers, we still could communicate well and understand each other. I spent get taking care of my grandparents from when I was a toddler to when I was in Sixth grade. After sixth grade, I could start raising myself. I had to depart from my grandparents, but I always visited them. They eventually passed away during my middle school years. I'm kind of happy because they did so much work in their lives and lived a good life, so now they could enjoy their new ones in heaven. Being raised by my grandparents had a great impact on my upbringing. Their love and gentleness toward me made me feel kinder and more respectful toward others. They made me have a love and softness for the elderly. They were the icons of my childhood who showed me to be a good person and stay on the right track. Without them, my upbringing would end up with me being a rude and rowdy kid and I would be set on the wrong path. My grandparents' help affected my future goals by putting more goals in them. My original goals were to go to college and major in any type of money-related major, get a good job in the financial/business area, and help my family and myself with a better life, but I also want to help others and especially the most vulnerable groups in society. These groups include the elderly, the poor, the oppressed, etc. I want to use my skills and education and educate those people, who are financially struggling, be a philanthropist, and donate money to those who need it. *Kindness is everything

I plan to make a positive impact on the world by improving the economic issues that continue to plague Society's poorest. Here's a little backstory on why I want to make that impact: I was born and raised under low-income, but hardworking refugee Laotian parents, who fled the Vietnam War. Like many war refugees, my parents fled violence and came to America for a better life for themselves and their future families. During their time in America, they struggle with learning a new language and adapting to American culture. Still, they did their best to learn and became American citizens. They decided to have three kids; two girls, and me; Justin their only son and youngest child. Throughout my entire life, I constantly see my family go through the financial struggles of life. I usually see my family paying bill after bill and even having to move out of a lot of places. My family originally lived in Richmond CA, but one day we got robbed which left us poorer and paranoid. So we moved to El Cerrito but got kicked out by our landlord because he had another tenant that'll pay more than us. Then we moved in with some relatives for a while and eventually found our permanent home in San Pablo CA. It pains me to see my family still in such a poor situation, where we can't really enjoy our lives as we keep trying to survive. It hurt me even more when my mom passed away. My mom passed away from a brain tumor that my family didn't know she had. This was the moment that I realized that my and my family's lives would totally change forever. Without my mom, we face more financial issues since she was helping my dad pay the bills and she paid most of our insurance. Now that she's gone and my dad is now the single father of three, we are in a more dire situation. My plan in helping my family is to go to college, apply for as many scholarships as I can, and get my bachelors in any money-related (business, accounting, finance, etc). majors that could give me the knowledge and skills I need to help get my family out of our financial crisis. I would also like not to only help my family but to our community, which mostly consists of low-income, non-college-educated Americans. I realize see that my community and many low-income cities don't properly manage their money which could improve their economic status and solve and prevent making financial mistakes. It seems that there's no institution or business that helps my community with that. I want to change that. After living through the financial hardships in my life and seeing it in my home area, I definitely want to apply my aid to the entire world. I'm planning to help my family first by getting a good job in a company, or starting my own business and educating them on how to manage money better and help pay for our necessities. I would advocate educating my neighbors and impending an agenda in schools that educates the youth about proper money management. And whenever I reach a higher position in my job, earn more money, and my company or business becomes more influential, I would use my power to donate, support, and educate as many people across the world as much as I can about solving their financial problems and improving their lives. In a world where the poorer get poorer, the rich get richer, it's time for the poor to get comfort.

My name is Justin Vilaysouk. I come from a low-income yet hardworking family, being the proud son of Laotian refugees, and am an upcoming and determined college student and future college graduate. I happened to be the only boy in my family, and none of my parents or two sisters have completed a college bachelors. So, what makes me a non-traditional student is that I will become my family's first-gen boy student. Before I discuss my drive to do more, here's a little history about me and my family. My parents are both Laotian refugees that fled the Vietnam war and they immigrated to the land of opportunities which is America. They are still English learners and had difficulty adapting to American society and high school. Despite this, they decided to go straight to work and find a job suitable for them rather than go to college, so that they'll at least have money to support their children. My mom worked for a daycare in Berkeley while my dad work as a plumber for a plumbing company. My parents like many low-income parents work day and night so that they could support themselves and their children. They constantly deal with so many bills and we had to move all over the place because we couldn't afford almost any houses that fit their income. So getting a bachelor's and education, in general, is very, very important to my family. My parents view college as a huge opportunity to help us escape the cycle of poverty. Unfortunately for them, my parents didn't have the money, time, or willpower to go to college. My oldest sister tried to go to college but she dropped out because she said it was just too difficult for her and she had to do a non-degree job which really upset my dad. As for my second-oldest sister, she managed to go to a four-year university luckily but she still hasn't finished her degree yet. My parents have high expectations of me to take my education seriously and responsibly. They regret that they didn't have the chance to go to college so they want at least most of their children to go and create a better path for our family. I'm currently doing very well in high school. In fact, I'm doing way more than I thought I would. I'm currently researching what colleges I could and want to go to and getting a lot of emails from colleges, and applying to scholarships such as this one, even though I'm a junior. Hey, it's never too early. Still, my dad has doubts about me being able to go to college. He doesn't see my potential and believes that I'll just drop out as my oldest sister did, but I'll prove to him he's wrong. As for my mom...she always has faith in me. She always tells me that she'll be so proud of me for going to college and getting a good job. She always motivates me to do good in school and makes me proud. She was my rock in life, and I wished she could see me do all those things. My mom passed away in my junior year due to a brain tumor and I didn't have to chance to say I love her in person. So, what drives me to do more? I would definitely say it's my parents. My dad's optimism about me would only make me believe more in myself. My mom's hope for me would always be in me. I WILL make my entire family proud and WILL succeed in life.

My very own accounting firm is a business I believe I could start in my local community. I think I could begin creating an accounting firm for my community because I'm really interested in the accounting and business field and planning to major in one or even both of them in college. Not only that I'm interested in these areas, but I'm very motivated to create an accounting firm, as I come from a very poor family, and we constantly face financial issues. We also live in the poor low-income city of San Pablo, CA, where many community members aren't educated enough about dealing with money. I want to change that and improve my family's economic status, and money handling, as well as the many impoverished members of my community. I have a strong desire to learn how to manage money better and use that knowledge to educate others about money management. Plus, accounting and business easily go hand and hand. Having an accounting background could further boost my firm's success. After all, accounting is considered the language of businesses. In my small city of San Pablo, we have a low income which is lower than the state's average, and a high poverty rate higher than the state's average. We also have many small businesses that are almost running out of business due to financial mistakes made by business owners and inflation. I think the main reason the cause of this is financial chaos, is that many community members don't have the proper education or support that teaches them how to properly manage their money, what their economic situation is right now, what their priorities should be, and how to live a financial well life. My accounting firm would contribute to the general welfare of my local community because it could help many small business owners and future entrepreneurs adequately record their finance and money. I could not remember the time I see an actual accounting firm in my community, so I want to be the first person who creates one and will help educate community members to manage their money wisely. And hopefully, with my firm helping my community's financial issues, I could end the cycle of poverty in we constantly live in and give a bright future to our future generations. I would go about developing such a business by definitely doing my research. By researching, I could see how I could start my accounting firm, how to make it successful, be beneficial to my community, and make sure it doesn't run out of business. I organize what I researched and plan out a plan that would effectively work for my accounting firm. I would plan out what's a good place where many people are in need of financial knowledge and help and what's a good day to create my firm. I would also ask for a lot of help from all the people I know who are willing to help me. Whether it would be my friends, teachers, or family, I would need their help in giving me advice, donations, and overall support in creating my firm. I know that many of them have more knowledge in business than I do, so going to them for help would help me greatly. And of course, I would need to help myself in creating my firm. I would try my best in earning money for my firm through internships, part-time jobs, or anything and paying the necessities it needs to be efficient. This won't be a walk in the park, but with hard work and determination, I will succeed.

This scholarship, like many other scholarships, would definitely make a positive difference for me; it would absolutely help me change my life. I come from a working-class family and we've been constantly struggling with our bills. I want to help my family by applying to college with little or even zero debt with this scholarship and many others. I don't want to go to college with little financial aid, to put more bills on my family. So I'm trying my best to counter possible school debt by applying to many types of financial aid as I can. My long-term goal is to of course finish high school and go to college/university with a lot of financial aid so I can counter school debt. Once I'm in college, I want to complete my bachelor's in accounting, while doing an internship for accountants, so that way I could help my family with our finical issues during my school time and get some work experience in my career. And once I complete my bachelor, I want to work for a big or at least a good-paying accounting firm that'll help me know how to manage money better and earn money for my family and myself. This is one of my career aspirations. Accounting is the perfect job for me because since my family and I are usually in a bad financial situation, I want to learn more about analyzing our finical position and improving it. Plus, it's a very introverted job and an office job that my dad always wants me to work in. My other career aspiration is either to become a web developer, medical assistant, or manager. But I prefer accounting because it was always in my mind when I was young. When I become an accountant, I just don't want to help my family, I also want to help many low-income or improvised people, and future entrepreneurs bookkeep their finances. Another career aspiration of mine is to use my career to help others succeed. A time when I experienced a very emotional weakness, was the passing of my mom. She died of a brain tumor, which my family not even my mom know she had. We've seen her change. My mom was usually the tough mom where she has no shame in scolding her children but also showed tough love. But before her passing, the following months with her were very different. She was very quiet, awkward, and slow. My family and I thought she was just paranoid about things since she was scammed one time and lost a lot of fo money and with many things happening this year. We never thought that she had a brain tumor. We never thought that she was in pain. I never thought I would lose my mom during my junior year when she didn't even see me graduate high school or my sister's boyfriend. I thought she would be with us when my siblings and I grow up as adults. She didn't even tell us about her situation, I think it's because she doesn't want us to worry. And what makes it worse, was that she died on the week before my midterms week. My family and I were devasted. We don't know what will happen now with my mom and now face more financial issues without her, since she helped my dad pay the bills and insurance. Even though my mom was gone, I will do everything I can to still make her proud. I will always help my family, achieve my and her dreams, and live life to the fullest.

Domestic violence is something that is still unfortunately not talked about in the world, including the US, in many places. People don't talk about it in school, in the workplace, with close ones, or anywhere. It is sadly a controversial, emotional, and taboo topic to spread awareness. But despite the challenges, I will do anything I can to expose the hidden abuse of innocent wives and husbands who can't speak u[ for themselves. I myself, nor my family ever faced extreme domestic violence, thank goodness. My parents do fight constantly (verbal domestic violence), however, and sometimes they say very hurtful things to each other. I don't seem to bother because it happens so much that it seems normal to me. They don't physically hurt each other just verbally though. I wish they would stop fighting with each other and focus more on loving each other until it's too late. And it was. One day, my mom got very ill and she didn't contact my family which made my dad angry at her and he yelled at her for being reckless. But what he or my entire family including myself didn't know was that she had a brain tumor in her forehead. She was put in the ICU and got surgery. That didn't change anything. The tumor damaged her brain so badly that she couldn't recover and in a few days later she passed away. My dad, who stood by her side in the ICU, the man with who she constantly clashed, was broken. Even though they didn't have a perfect marriage, they still deeply loved each other. My mom's passing is a wake-up call for me to help spread awareness about all types of domestic violence to the public and how to prevent it from happening. My plan to do in my life to raise awareness for domestic violence is first to support any organization that also helps spread awareness about domestic violence or trying to end it. Supporting these organizations by donating and joining them would definitely give them more power; the power to be more influential to people and reach out to victims of domestic violence. Individually, I will also try to encourage my friends, teachers, family members, or anyone I know to be educated about this tough issue and tell them to spread the word. I never want any of my loved ones or people I know to get hurt by domestic violence. I will spread the word on social media as well, being active in clubs in college that also spread awareness, and participating in activities and laws that'll decrease domestic violence. My actions will help impact the lives of others by preventing people from becoming domestic abusers, being able to avoid domestic violent relationships, and helping victims break free from their domestic abusers. Those who are getting aware of this topic would be more cautious about marriage and being in a relationship, and those who are already in a bad relationship would get the support they need. My actions would overall, and hopefully, empower people to fight against domestic violence, and change Society about this issue for the better.

Being American means a lot of things to me. Being American means so much to me. Being American means not just being a US citizen. It means that I am a hardworking, determined individual who come or was born in the Land of the Free and constantly works hard to achieve the American dream. Being an American means that I have a purpose in this great country. I am constantly looking for opportunities that this opportunistic place keeps giving and taking advantage of in my life. I am a person who respects the laws of the land. I am obliged to pledge my allegiance to that beautiful star-spangled banner and follow the Consititons the great forefathers created. An American is a person who can enjoy, live and defend the civil liberties of the Home of the Brave. Being American is definitely a privilege. I know that many people from around the world are trying their best to become Americans, but can't because of many issues. So I hope I can help change that process so that I can help my future American brothers and sisters enjoy the gift the country gave to me. And yes, discrimination and oppression continue to happen in this country, but it happens everywhere. I have high hopes to help battle against the evil system that America has been struggling to fix. Being American is not easy as well. Many, many people like the entire world, Americans themselves think being an American is a bad thing and not a good thing to be proud of. I respectfully disagree. Many people think that America is too boastful and sensitive about many things. America has caused the most damage in the world like genociding the almost original people of this country, starting coups in countries, bombing innocent civilians, exploiting its own citizens, and many more crimes. Yes, I definitely agree and will not deny that America isn't a perfect country and that it caused a lot of dysfunction in the world and we have a lot of problems. But being American means that we don't deny important pieces of history whether are bad or good. Instead, we try to make amends and move on so that we could continue building a better future. Many Americans are people who have been oppressed by this country. But many of them have forgiven and never forgot the crimes the US committed, and decided to appreciate what could help them rather than it could hurt them. And being an American to me is definitely being a patriotic person. I don't mean hating other countries. I mean loving the country that helped shape my destiny. My love for this country is unconditional and I will forever be grateful to be born and raised in this country.

I love math because math plays a significant role in my life and my future college major. First of all, I have to admit it; I never really liked (hated) math when I was little in elementary and middle school. And I even didn't see the significant impact it had on me and the world. When I was in high school, I thought math would be so difficult and hard to understand like algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus. I was proven wrong, however. These types of math were actually easy and I did begin to understand their principles and subjects. Math at first may fumble a lot of students, but as soon we look more into it, we understand it better. And the more we understand it better, the more it's easier and actually fun to do. This happens to me all the time. I like when math is challenging my brain and I sometimes overthink the problems in math, which I'm working to improve on. Realizing that math isn't that hard if you put the effort in learning it and practicing it, it can be very rewarding in the end. This changed my attitude toward math immensely. I soon see that math doesn't just play an essential role in my life, but in everyone's lives. The history of math has helped humanity develop and better explore the world. It has helped us with architecture, telling time, engineering, and so many other great things. It helped me how to deal with money better and learn more about our economy and how to survive. So I want to major in accounting, any other money-related major, or computer sciences. These majors are difficult majors that require a lot of math. So I need to learn more advanced math and continue expanding my knowledge and my love for math

My passions are to keep working on what my values are. I am passionate about supporting and loving my family. I am passionate about giving my best in life; such as doing my best in school. I am passionate about hard work, never giving up, being healthy, being happy, and overall trying to succeed and live my life. I'm very passionate about values because they are what make me me. There are other things that I'm also passionate about though. For instance, I'm sure that many people can relate to this. I am very passionate about eating good and tasty food. I'm passionate about drinking boba. And I'm also passionate about money, and I hope to make more of it and manage it better. Another thing I hope to cope with is my mental illness. My mental illness is what keeps me from succeeding in life. I have an anxiety disorder. Despite being passionate about living, I usually dread it. I sometimes have dread in my life, because I am worried that I will not be able to achieve my goals and dreams. I'm afraid that the future has something bad for me and for my family. I was scared that I would not make it far in life. These constant negative thoughts and feelings keep flooding me and just ruin my day sometimes. And they got even worse when my mom passed away. She passed away from a brain tumor that no one, not me, my family, or even her knew about. I'm so scared for my future health; thinking that I might develop a brain tumor and if it will be passed down to my future children. Not only that, I'm scared that my family and I will survive without our mom. She was one of the greatest people I have had in my life. She always help pay my dad with the bills, pay my and her life and medical insurance, and overall was a tough love disciplining mom. We had already planned our future with her but now since she's gone, we don't know what to do. I no longer have medical or life insurance and my dad is the only person who pays the bills and he doesn't have enough money. We're in a complicated situation that I never thought we would be in. I'm now worried about how will I get medical treatment or help my own future kids with money without medical or life insurance. I worry that my dad might get a girlfriend since he no longer has his wife. It's too much to think about, but I will remain strong and just hopeful. I will do anything I can to help my family and myself and still try to achieve my goals and make my mom rest happily. Some of my goals for my future are goals that many low-income folks have. My goals are to go to college, tried to avoid debt, and get a high-paying job. I plan to be an accountant to be more knowledgeable about money management and use this knowledge to help us find better solutions to our finical problems. I will also help other people like us with my new financial skills. If you work with money, then you know about money. As for my aspirations for my future, my aspirations are just being able to make my family and myself financially stable and have a good future, even if my mom isn't there no more. I aspired to keep on dealing with my anxiety and move on in my life. Afterall, life is short.

I am currently working/planning to address my future student loan debt by applying for many scholarships such as this as much as I possibly can. I also plan on working my Fafsa in my senior year which is getting my financial aid from the government. I also plan to make and save a lot of money as much as I can to pay my future loan debt. My money situation is kind of good; I'm currently selling snacks and drinks in school to friends, classmates, and teachers and I kind of making a good amount of money, way better than I expected. And after my 18th birthday pass, which is on March 31st, this year, I plan to apply for a part-time job while doing school. Hopefully, it's a job that I tolerate or know how to deal with like washing dishes, or any type of cleaning. Even if I don't get a job like that or any other nice part-time job that pays well, I would just have to get a part-time job that might not be suitable for me, or I'll have to enroll in one of my school's paid internships in the summer. Nonetheless, I'll take any opportunity that pays me and will continue selling snacks and drinks in school. And of course, I'll be making very wise money managing. I plan on not spending anything not even a penny with my money, unless if my family needs it or during an emergency. And I hope to learn more methods how to avoid future student loan debt. Right now, I'm learning about my sister's situation. She's currently in college and is kind of struggling financially. She does have a little debt, but she doesn't work. I'm hoping to learn how she managed to have little debt and how to pay them off quickly. I also hope to do more side hustles. Even though it seems like too much work for me, I hope to work a part-time job and work other jobs any family relative or friend might offer. Again, I want to make a lot of money and enough to help pay off my student loan debt. I'm willing to do anything to prevent another huge strain on my family. We already have enough debt and bills to pay. Plus, my mom unfortunately isn't around with us no more to help us. She was the backbone of our family who always helped my dad with the bills and pay my and her medical and life insurance. Now that she's gone, my family and I can't have any more financial problems. But I'm sure my plan will work and I will work to achieve my goal. Then have the opportunity to support my family and make my mom happy.

My personal experiences with finances and financial education as a whole have not been that efficient, unfortunately. What I mean is that I haven't been really active with any financial activity or learned anything about finances. I unfortunately have been procrastinating. I didn't take any financial classes even in m high school, because I thought that finance is a thing I'll learn in the future and it wasn't interesting to me. I was confused about what classes I'm going to take in high school, so I didn't bother taking any finance classes. And as if right now, I realized that I made a big mistake but I have high hopes for learning it now. I finally decided that either finance, accounting, or any type of money-related field is going to be my major in the future. One of the main reasons why I want these types of majors is because my mom recently passed away and she a huge factor in my family. She helped my dad pay the bills and was the one who paid my and my older sister's medical and life insurance. Now that she's no longer with us, my family and I have been facing a lot of financial issues and changes. We managed to set up a go fund and get a good amount of money but we believe it's not enough to support our bills and my mom's medical bills. She had been in the hospital for a while and her bills are presumably very expensive. And on top of that, my oldest sister just lost her job and is desperately trying to find one to help support my dad. I hope to support my entire family by educating myself more about finances and how to deal with money better. I'm taking classes related to finance next year to prepare me for college. I plan on using what I learn to better my future by using my financial knowledge to educate my family about our financial problems and find the best solutions to solve them. My family has been struggling a lot and I don't want to put them in a worse situation with student debt. So I try to use my financial education very seriously and wisely to try to avoid debt or have a very small amount of it. I also plan to help other low-income families that are financially struggling and support them the best I can by teaching them about finance. Hopefully, I can finish my degree and get a professional job in the money-related industry and further improve the livelihoods and conditions of people in poverty like myself. It's time we build and secures our future.

Hi there, my name is Justin Vialysouk, and a bit of myself is that I'm currently a 17-year-old student at a school in Richmond CA, called Richmond High School. I'm the son of two Laotian refugees and am a junior in my high school. I live with my two older sisters and my dad. My mom unfortunately and unexpectedly passed away this year. And so many other relatives of mine. Her passing was a very sad moment in my life, but I continue on with my life and hopefully make her proud by giving it my all in my life and trying my best to be successful. Here's a bit of myself; I am a very fast speed walker who ironically despised walking and running. I used to walk to my house all the time, but I don't do that very often. Now without my mom, my sisters insisted that they'll pick me up because they are kind of paranoid about what will happen to me after my mom passed away. I have no complaints, but even though I don't like walking that much, I kinda miss it. In fact, I kinda miss walking to the park with my parents. My parents and I would always walk the park on Sundays where my oldest sister would be at her friend's house and my older sister would be at home doing school or work or talking to her boyfriend. Every Sunday we go to Point Richmond Park and just have a relaxing day at the park, walking slowly while enjoying the park's natural beauty. And eventually, we end at stopping at a pier and looking at the magnificent sea of the bay. We usually see other people walking too and a lot of bicyclists. Walking in the park would always be one of my greatest memories of my mom. And speaking of my mom, I remember her always comparing bicyclists in Berkeley that they ride too slow or in the way when she goes to work or goes home. It's kinda funny. I actually like bicycling. I used to ride a bike a long time ago when I was little, but I'm too poor to be a bike now. Still, I have an interest in the cycling community. I love how they're eco-friendly unlike most people nowadays and actually respect the road with drivers. I just find the community very positive and athletic, which I want to be. I hope one day I'll be able to afford to buy a bike and ride again. It'll feel like the good old times when I was a kid. I plan to help improve our roadways by talking to my city council and discussing proper city planning. I'm a part of my school's youth activist group and we could talk to our city council which I can take advantage of in helping the road be safer and fairer for both drivers and bicyclists. And if there are any organizations that support improving our roads, I would hopefully donate some and make a change in our roads.

It's very important that we, humans work to better understand the nature of our universe because it so so vast and has the answers to so many questions. The universe is a very, very big place and humans even with massive technology and intelligent scientists, still need to explore more of it. There are still so many unknown things about the universe that can be very beneficial in increasing our knowledge of science and math. We also need to understand the nature of the universe to solve any misconceptions we have about it and our world. We can prove concepts we have about are real. Learning more about it could also be inspiring and interesting for young people to explore and hopefully will create more new, and young scientists. Working to better understand the nature of it would massively help humanity understand where we come from, where we are going, what events are happening, and how can physics work in the universe compared to Earth, and use this great knowledge to continue to improve the world, and further expand humanity's minds and potential. The universe continues to grow, and so should we. Ideas that I hope to employ are ideas that'll be helpful in the development and progression of Society. Since the science world has been providing cleaner methods to produce energy in the world like the fusion experiment, we could put our understanding of how the universe works and help provide greener ways to produce energy. And since the world is getting more technological, we could improve our technologies and make them more outer terrestrial; meaning inventing more technologies that work in space. Not only we could help humanity we could also help our planet Earth. The Earth has been our home forever and we can increase our knowledge to improve it with the knowledge of the universe on how to make it cleaner, save energy, and more. Concepts that I hope to employ are mostly scientific fictional ones. I'm not really a scientist or really involved in science, but I hope understanding our universe would continue to prove that there's more life than we humans out there and parallel universes. The fact that aliens do exist and to prove there are multiple worlds in the universe. It's a really fascinating concept to think about and I hope humanity could develop more and might have capability to explore more in the universe and see if for ourselves.

Well for starters, feminism is NOT about women having more rights than men or the other way around. It is about women having the same rights as men. Or in my own words, feminism is the ongoing struggle and battle for gender equality. It is extremely important, in the past, now, and forever because it is a movement that continues to improve the conditions, livelihoods, and rights of all women and girls in the world. We live in a world where women have more rights and freedom than in the past and have benefited from the movement as there has been constant female success in the world. However, many people around the world are now twisting the movement, thinking that it favors women and wanting women to have more rights than men. And now many women's rights are being taken away; with the world turning its back on women's rights. Plus, discrimination based on gender still exists. Feminism is still needed more than ever. It has helped progress the world on women's rights and needs to keep it that way, keeps on progressing. Feminism nowadays remains a controversial subject and many people may dislike it, but it is not what people think it is. Feminism teaches the value of gender equality and how it improved the world. It taught many societies how valuable women are and it pushed them to their potential. Feminism should be represented and re-taught in the right way; where it doesn't show the negative stereotypes of it, but its rich history and actual meaning so that the world can keep on moving forward for women's rights. An inspirational person who has impacted my view on feminism was definitely my mom. She like most moms showed me the results of hard work and dedication. Even though she's a woman and worked in a low-income job, she impacted my view on feminism by constantly proving to me that women can do anything. She managed to keep paying her and my medical and life insurance, but lost her jobs multiple times but keep getting up until she got another one, lost both of her parents not that long ago, but moved on. She's probably one of the fiercest women I have ever seen and I'm proud to be her son. And, it's very sad that she's no longer with me. My mom recently passed away because of a brain tumor that no one including her didn't know she had. I know that she was in a lot of pain. She didn't tell me or my family anything because I know she didn't want to worry us. I know she was definitely a strong woman because she barely react to the pain. And she fought until the very end until it was her time. My mom was a very stubborn woman, but I still love her and her stubbornness is a character trait of a feminist; women who are so stubborn that they refuse to get back down from their problems and oppression. I contributed to the feminist movement in my school by supporting my female friends and classmates and female-based organizations in my school. I support them by motivating them to give it their all in life and inspiring them to hopefully make they continue to defend their rights. I have many strong female friends who all are vocal about women's issues and we always try to put that in the school s curriculum. When I became a philanthropist, I hope to donate charities to other women's organizations in the world and remain an lifelong advocate of gender equality.

A time I helped someone in need was my mom. I know that as a son, I should always help my mom, but she was never a needy person. But she was, when my grandpa, her dad suddenly passed away. My grandpa passed away in 2018 on a Sunday, I believed as my mom called my dad but he didn't respond when she went to see him. She and my uncles and aunties on her side were devasted, but mostly my mom. Because she was the main child who always visited my grandparents who always do their laundry, always check up on them, and we live close to them. My mom spend a lot of quality time with her parents and having her dad pass away was just heartbreaking. I have never seen my mom cry before because she is a very strong and stern lady. She never let her emotions take over her. This time they did. She was crying uncontrollably, a sight that I never thought I would see. It was a situation that I never hope she'll be in again. I tried helping my mom by being patient and more caring than usual. In all honesty, my mom and I have a rocky relationship because she's a very "tough living" mom and has no shame in yelling at her family. I put my problems with her aside and did my best to look after her. I always check on her is she's eating or getting the nutrition she needs. I try to comfort her when she's emotional. And I just did everything I can to help support her. My family helped her too and we just remind her that we're always here for her. After my grandpa's funeral, I started to try better my behavior and relationship with my mom. I tried to always listen to her and avoid arguments with her. Arguing and fighting are very common in my family. So I tried to change that "culture" of my family and be more loving. She always visits her dad in the cemetery every Sunday. I usually go with her and be there for her. We would always buy our grandpa's favorite food and drink and just talk. It was very relaxing for her and I was happy that she was getting better. As a mother, she was the backbone of my childhood always lecturing me to do good in school, rewarding me with money, and disciplining me. I turn in the favor by following these instructions and doing my best. Now, she's with my grandpa and grandma that also passed away. My mom recently passed away, but I hope that she's reunited with her parents in Heaven and just happier. I will continue making them proud here on Earth and keep on following my mom's teachings.

My volunteer service was when I willingly help disabled students at my elementary school. It was the volunteer service that opened my closed mind and softened my heartened heart. It happened way back in 6th grade in elementary school. My elementary teacher was absent one day and my class and I had to go to another class which happens to be the disabled students' class. The students were students who have autism and have difficulties in their speech and thinking comprehension. The teacher and main caregiver of that class told us that we can work on our own classwork, but she would love it if some of us could help her students for the day. She basically wanted us to play games with her disabled students and make sure they were doing well and not doing anything dangerous. I and many of my friends volunteered. I thought it was better to help these people than do my boring classwork. We helped the disabled students play games that were actually fun, talk to them so we can get to know each other, and follow what the teacher instruct us. My experience was better than I imagined. The students weren't frustrating to handle, they were actually kind and just wholesome. And after we were done, when school was about to end, the teacher was very pleased with how we interacted and help with the disabled students. This is one of my unforgettable volunteering memories. What my volunteer service has taught me about myself is that I actually have a soft spot for society's most vulnerable groups. They include the elderly, children, the disabled, and so on. I used to think very negatively of these types of people because I was too ignorant of the problem they face, unlike the abled people like myself. But this service taught me to be humble and open-minded about others' situations. It taught me to be very, very grateful that I don't have the problems that these people face every day. My views were less harsh and more understanding. I no longer think negatively of these people and am more willing to help volunteer more for people in need in general. I know this may sound very corny, but now one of the main factors of my volunteering service is love. And love will keep me motivated to help the helpless and improve Society with my volunteering services.

My caregiving experience was volunteering to take care the disabled students for one day. It was way back in elementary school and was one of my fondest memories when I was young. When I was in 6th grade, my class and I were sent to the disabled students' class because our teacher was absent. These disabled students were students who have autism and who struggle with their comprehension and speech. The teacher of the class told us that we can do our own work, but appreciated it if we help the disabled students and see what the adults in the class have to do every day to take care of these students. Many of my friends and I volunteered. The teacher just wanted us to play with the students and make sure whatever they were doing is safe. We help the students by playing games with them, checking up on them, and always being patient and gentle with them. My experience was better than I expected. The students were actually kind and just so innocent. We had a great time playing games and the teacher was very pleased with the results. My caregiving experience was overall wholesome and it make me feel more empathetic and sympathetic for those who need more help from others like the old, the disabled, and so on. My experience impacted my personal goals by letting them involve helping the vulnerable. My original goal was just to go to college, get a good job in a money-related field, and support my family and the people I have to help in my profession. I never included vulnerable people in my goals. But now I do. My goals now are the same goals I had and to support Society's most vulnerable groups by donating and volunteering more. My experience also affected my journey by opening my mind and my heart. I admit I used to be a very close-minded person. I thought the disabled kids and many other people like them were weird and I try to avoid them. However, this experience helped me progress. I understand why they are that way and need help as well as other people like them. My views and attitudes changed and I hope I can help other ignorant people like me to change as well. My experience has changed my identity as well because again, being very ignorant and discriminatory was one of my traits. Now, one o my traits is being knowledgeable and inclusive. So I hope that I will keep on caring for the people I love and those who need it and further progress my mind.

My educational goals are to finish high school and get my diploma and to either plan to go to a two-year community college and transfer to a university or go straight to a university and complete my bachelor's in accounting or any other money-related field. The person that supported me the most in reaching my education goals was definitely my mom. She was the only parent who went to community college and completed two degrees in child care. She couldn't complete a bachelor's because she claim that she doesn't have the knowledge or time. But she knows how valuable and worthy getting a full education in college. She has faith in me and in my older sister that we can help our family to succeed in life and get out of poverty by going to college and earning a good job. Having my mom see me graduating high school and college was also one of my educational goals. Sadly and very, unfortunately, she passed away before she can. The only achievements I did in my academic year that made her proud were passing my ELD, getting good grades in my progress reports and report cards and always getting honor rolls in middle school and in high school. I will still continue to make her proud by completing my goals even though she's gone. Back then when she was with me, she always constantly, constantly remind me and motivates me to do good in school and try to avoid hanging out with the wrong crowd that could meddle with my education and progress in school. I always listen to her and succeed in school because of her wise advice. She has helped me by always rewarding me with money whenever I get good grades and just being a good mom. Getting paid was one of the great benefits when I get good grades. That, and getting new stuff or getting food. Other than rewards, my mom wasn't the tiger parent I thought she'll turn out to be. She's a very strong and scary lady; she tends to have a loud voice and usually screams at me and my family whenever we did something to make her mad. But she wasn't like that when it comes to education. Instead, she's more empathetic and tried not to push me to the extreme or judge me, unlike my dad. My dad constantly reminds me to do good in school too, but he keeps saying that I don't have the potential or knowledge to go to college as he favors my older sister over me and keeps comparing me to her and our cousins. My mom doesn't and she always defends me. These fond memories and her support make me miss her so much. I will keep on staying on the right track and achieve my educational goals under her name and continue thriving in life.

It is very important for me and for all young adults to manage our finances as students because we'll be able to have a bigger perspective and a better way of how and where we spend our money. The economy right now isn't as good as back then and student debt has just been increasing; even with the help of Biden's new student debt law, there are many students with soul-crushing debt. Not only student debt, but students have to get more other debts like house payments, medical bills, and more. This sad and cruel cycle just keeps on going and there's seem a no-stop to it. We need to manage our finance to at least have less and even avoid debt. And we need to learn how to make better decisions with money in our life in general. Many young adults make bad decisions that resulted in them and their families struggling with money. School and many parents don't teach us how to manage our finances, which is a huge problem in the education system and in Society. We need to learn what to save, what to spend, how our budget works, and so on. In order to secure and have a bright future, we need to be able to achieve our financial goals in life through financial management. What I need to do to manage my finances well is to always look ahead and never procrastinate. What I mean is that I need to know what's going to happen in the future and what I need to do to make myself financially secure right now and don't do anything too late. I am currently making money by selling snacks in my school to my friends and teachers. I'm actually making quite a lot and I'm keeping track of how much I make. I also tried to avoid spending my money. I only spend my money for emergencies and to support my family and I also keep track of that. I'm basically developing a good money habits and keep improving my mindset on finance. I also will probably pay for insurance that'll help me in the future like life insurance and car insurance when I get my driver's license. But that's for later. I'm just focusing on making money by continuing to sell snacks and hopefully getting a part-time job after my 18th birthday and working while going to school. I also plan to go to college and avoid a lot of debt like applying to many scholarships right now and getting a degree in a money-related field, so I can better improve my knowledge in money management. Everything looks good so far and I tend to keep it that way in my future.

A book that has transformed my life was actually a novel that I randomly picked in my English class in 8th grade. It was the book that increase my love for reading and literature. It is a romance novel called, "What if it's Us?" Here's a background of the novel. The novel, "What If It's US?" made by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli. This book was made in 2019 and is a young romantic novel about two teenage boys in New York. The protagonist and narrator of the novel is a 16-year Jewish boy named Arthur who bumps into and meets a guy named Ben, a 17-year-old Puerto Rican guy in a post office. They talked for a while and get to know each other. It was this moment that sparked a connection between the two boys and later they started to hang out and try to see if they are the right ones for each other. The story is not only wholesome, but it also has a lot of young adult humor which I wasn't expecting and it made me laugh. And it contains very mature content as well as the real-life situation and just lots of drama. Just like young love. Anyways, back to how this novel transformed my life; this novel transformed my life because it basically opened my eyes to my real self. When I was back in middle school, I was a young growing kid who struggled with his identity. More specifically, struggled with his sexual identity. I had a strong attraction towards other boys which I try to deny. I keep ignoring these feelings and sometimes I hang out with the wrong crowd that mocks people like me. But I had to come to the truth eventually. I did it by reading this novel. The cover caught my attention, which shows both the two lovers and the protagonists of the novel. So I grabbed the novel and started reading it a bit, and immediately got hooked. I got hooked because the novel shows how I want to my life to be. The novel shows how natural for Arthur to feel attraction toward Ben. I don't know if that makes sense but what I mean is that the novel did a good job of making homosexuality just like a normal thing. I used to think that it wasn't, but as I keep reading the novel I realize that there's nothing wrong or bad about it. This novel shows a great gay love story that changed my views about myself. This novel let me realize that maybe I am gay or attracted to guys and that's okay. This helped solve my identity crisis. This is such an impact on me because I've been living in denial for so long and keep hurting a part of myself. Now, I fully have accepted myself and just have a love for romance novels and gay stories like this one. This novel not only help me accept my true self, but it taught me that love is not perfect. It taught me that love is something people need to work on and it sometimes does hurt people. Exactly what I did to myself. I'm so glad that I was able to read this novel and I keep on learning the lessons from it and applying them to my life. It's a 10/10.

The main medical condition that has been a constant problem in my life is eczema. I have had eczema ever since I was a toddler and it spread from my legs to my entire body. Right now, it isn't as severe, but it's still an obstacle I have to face every day. My eczema is probably caused by genetics. My mom has eczema and when I was in her stomach she says that she took medicine that doctors advised her not to take during pregnancy. As a result, that might've been an effect of my growing eczema problem. I myself contributed to increasing my eczema. I continue to eat many allergies that cause me to be itchier like seafood and I usually wear clothes that have irritating products that worsen my rashes. But I try my best to avoid making my eczema worse. Eczema has affected my life very negatively. I constantly get itchy and usually scratch so hard that I damage my skin. As one of my doctors said, "Itching is a thing worse than pain." My eczema keeps me scratching at night and making me bleed. It just keeps me miserable. Not only does eczema make me itch, but whenever I sweat or get heated my rashes give me an uncomfortable feeling and it ruins my body image. I have to wear sweatpants or any type of clothing that covers my eczema. I am very ashamed and embarrassed to let people see how severe my medical condition is that I try to cover them even in bad conditions like wearing sweats in the hot summer. I did wear clothes that expose some of the eczemas a few times and I remembered getting stared at. It was an awkward and shameful feeling, so I try to cover it again. And right now even when I'm typing this essay, I'm itchy right now. It just never stops. It also affected my goals for the future which were wearing "exposing" clothes like shorts or sleeveless shirts and having a life with no more rash. These goals were the long time goals I tried to achieve when I was little. I thought that my eczema will get better and goal away and I'll be able to live a normal life. It turns out that my goals were more difficult to achieve than I imagined. But despite the problems eczema gives me, I'm just used to it now. As I said before, I had eczema when I was really young so I grew up with eczema for a long time, and think it was nothing or normal to me. I still have hopes for my future and just have to find other solutions to better my eczema and continue living my life with it.

Loss of a close family member that I recently had in my current junior year was my very own mom. She died of a brain tumor that my family, myself included and she didn't know she had. My family and I knew that she was acting strange for a few months and her personality totally changed; she went from the usually tough love loud self to a quiet and weird person. We lashed out at her because o her peculiar behavior but we really didn't know she was in pain. And when we did, it was too late. I never expected my mom to die early in my life. I thought she would see me graduate high school and my sister graduate from her university. I thought she'll be there for my 18th birthday. Her passing was very shocking and my family and I still can't believe she's gone. I, the only boy in the family have been struggling with adjusting to my new life without my mom. I remember all the good times we had and the bad ones. I thought that I'd never move on without her, but eventually, I realize I have no choice. I know that my mom was a strong woman. So it's my turn to be strong for her. My loss of my mom caused me to focus that the most important thing that matters in my life is life itself. Her passing has told me that life is truly short and I need to cherish every moment of it and succeed in life. My mom seeing me being successful like going to college and getting a good job to help support my family would be one of the greatest things she'll ever see. So I want to fight my negative emotions and doubts. I will no longer think negatively about my life and future and will just focus on working hard in school, in the workforce, and in any other aspects of my life. I will do anything I can to assist my family that my mom did. I will make them and her proud and keep on living.

This is a poem about my current situation and my goal in life. I was born in California, full of resources and opportunity, and raised in a city, full of deprivation and poverty. My parents tell me to work hard and value life, I always do but I struggle with strife. I want to make my family proud and happy, as they did everything they can that made me sappy. In my junior year, my mother recently passed away, I never thought I have to graduate high school without her hooray. My father and sisters are struggling and sad, life just keeps giving us problems which makes me mad. Our future might be horrible as it seems, but that might change unless I achieve the American dream. I want to get my degree without any debt, so I have to apply for many scholarships, don't forget. I will support my family no matter what, I will have to succeed in life, no buts.

My career goals will foster gifted children's social-emotional well-being and intellectual needs by educating them and their families on managing money better. My career goal is to get a job or profession in the business/accounting/finance field because I myself want to teach how to survive and thrive in this business-oriented country and busy world. Here's a little background of me; I come from a low-income background like most children in this country. My parents were poor, Laotian refugees seeking refuge in the US to escape the Vietnam War and did their best to provide the necessities of life for themselves and their three children (my two older sisters and me) in America. Both of them tried their best to learn and speak English and sacrificed so much for us. We were doing good for a while, then Covid hit and my mom lost her job. She got another job thanks to the help of my oldest sister, but my family face more problems because the economy wasn't as strong back then. And recently, my mom passed away from a brain tumor. My family and I are in a more difficult and devastating situation now. My mom didn't just help us with the bills, she help pay my, her, and my older sister's life and medical insurance. Now they're all gone. We not only longer have no insurance, but my oldest sister has no job as well and she's struggling to find one. As for my dad, he no longer has his wife and no person to help pay the bills and taxes. It is a hard life that I know many people are facing. So I want to do everything I can to earn a position in fields related to money to support my family and other low-income families financially. I want to be either an accountant, financial advisor, or business analyst in the future. Being one of these types of professionals can help me teach and advise social-emotional people to deal with their financial issues. Many people are upset and need emotional support because of financial issues so I could help them deal with their financial problems and they no longer have to worry about money and know how to work with money more efficiently. The same with the intellectual needs of gifted children. Many gifted children who come from poor backgrounds have less chance of succeeding in life than gifted children who come from rich backgrounds. I see many talented children who are suffering from student debt or facing financial issues in general. I want to help solve their problems by informing them of useful information that'll help them go to college and avoid or have less debt and earn a job that'll support them and their own families. I'll teach them how to be financially stable in life so that their intellect could expand and be put to good use in Society. Overall, my money-related career goals will foster social-emotional well-being and meet the intellectual needs of gifted children by assisting them on how to be successful in life and teaching them actual valuable lessons that schools don't teach about.

What generational wealth means to me is that it is both a privilege and a blessing that is gifted to someone by their parents, grandparents, or any generation before them. Generational wealth is money that is given to those who have more resources than others or those who were smart at dealing with their money and able to generate money for future generations. It is a hard goal that many people like myself want to accomplish. It seems difficult from where I come from as I'm a high school student living with a low-income family. Now it seems impossible as my mother recently passed away and we're just facing more problems in our lives. I no longer have medical or life insurance as my mom was the person who paid those for me as well as my two sisters and my dad is the only parent in our family and has to pay the bills by himself now which is not enough. But with effort, hope, hard work, and good handling of money, I know I will achieve it. I plan to achieve generational wealth is definitely try not to procrastinate a lot and doing very efficient things that'll help my family, myself, and our future generations in life. For instance, I will try to earn a lot of money. I already doing that right now. I've made a lot of money by just selling food to my friends and teacher in my high school. So I will continue to keep doing that and hopefully, after I turn eighteen I will get my own debit or credit card and get a job while doing high school. This way I could earn more money and still work on my education. I'm also being very careful about what I spend. I haven't spent anything on my money unlike some of my friends. Even if it's for some snacks or anything else I find kinda useless I won't spend it. I will only spend my money to help support my family and for emergencies and would rather save money that'll be a part of my generational wealth. And I will keep track of my money. Not only that, but I also plan to get all the necessities I need to produce money and a good life for my future children. What I mean is that I'll use some of my money to pay for any type of insurance such as medical, life, or car insurance and any other organizations that'll help me deal better with many other aspects of my life and pass those privileges on to my children. And of course, I'll plan to get a good job by going to college and getting my degree in accounting so that I can be more knowledgeable about money management and apply for scholarships like I am right now. So far it looks kind of good for me and I will continue working only on my plans. Even though all these tasks might be daunting, I know I have the capability to do them all. I will not let my future generation go through what my family had to go.

If I could have everyone in the world read just one book it would definitely be the Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is an all-American classic novel made by F. Scott Fitzgerald that all English teachers know and love. Here's a quick summary; the Great Gatsby is set in New York and is about a rich man named Jay Gatsby who lives on the West Egg of New York still madly in love with his ex, Daisy Buchanan who lives in the East Egg, and tried to use his wealth to impress her. However, he faces some challenges as Daisy is married to a cheating husband named Tom Buchanan. And despite the novel's title, the novel isn't narrated by Gatsby, but instead by Gatsby's neighbor named Nick Carraway who's obsessed with the success and secret life of Gatsby. One can say that Nick might be in love with Gatsby and he doesn't even know. So everyone should at least take a peek at this book to see the masterpiece behind Fitzgerald's mind. For instance, I took a peek at it, well I had to because I was assigned to read the Great Gatsby as it was the book I had to read in English. I admit, I thought the beginning of the book was boring. But as soon as I read more, the soon I see the story starting to make sense and understand the lessons it gives. The Great Gatsby is a novel where it educates readers on how precious one's love is and realizes that we sometimes have to face reality. It also has many complex events that happened as it involves many twists, tragedies, and wholesome moments. Just like in real life. This novel is like a story of Fitzgerald's own life. Plus, the novel is not only popular among readers but also among moviegoers. There have been two movies that had their own take on the novel and both managed to show the beauty of the novel. I recommend people watch one of the movies too; either watch the original movie which is really old or watch the reboot. So again, if people start reading the Great Gatsby I guarantee that they'll be invested in the story like I was and increase their love for reading.

Hi, my name is Justin Vilaysouk and I'm the child of Laotian refugees. I am 17 years old, and currently in high school and am working my way to help support my family. I currently have no job yet, but I'm hoping to get one after I turn 18 and continue to apply for scholarships. As I mentioned before I'm the child of Laotian refugees who came to the US from the Vietnam war, but now only my dad is around. My mom passed away recently before the week my finals are due. She died of a brain tumor that no one knew about and her passing devasted my family, especially my dad. They weren't the perfect couple; well no one really is. They tend to fight a lot, but they do really love each other. I would like to call it tough love because the main cause of their fighting is the struggles they keep facing. They keep struggling with house payments, insurance, and just everyday financial problems and they still do their best to support me and my two older sisters. Now that my mom's gone, everything is more difficult. However, my family and I will keep making her proud. She always encourages her children to do good in life and enjoy it to the fullest; as her passing proves that life is short. Even though she's gone, I will not stop working. I will do everything I can to support my single parent. My dad who's now alone is constantly instilling the values of our family. These values he keeps instilling are the values of hard work, effort, family, determination, and boldness. He instilled these values in my entire life, but when I was young I didn't express these values. Now and a while ago in middle school I definitely do. I will keep working hard to help our financial problems, I will put the effort into my work so that we can flourish more, family will keep us more connected and continue loving each other, I will continue to be determined to reach our goals, and I'll always are bold; taking risks in life to earn rewards in life. I will cherish and conserve them and hopefully instill them in my future kids one day. These values are the values that transformed my family from an extremely poor, non-English-speaking family, to a socioeconomically "well" English-speaking/learning family. These values help my family survive and thrive in life and without them, my family would be in a worse situation. They help keep my family together even when my mom is gone. I'm so grateful to have these values my dad instilled and hopefully, I'll be able to share them with others so that they can help people value their life and the things they can accomplish.

The movie that has had the most significant impact on my life has got to be one of my childhood favorites: Kung Fu Panda 2. Kung Fu Panda 2 is a sequel to Kung Fu Panda, a story of a panda in China named Po who achieved his dream of becoming a kung fu fighter. He now has to stop a major threat that is going to kill kung fu and take over China. That threat happens to the killer who killed Po's mother and village. The antagonist/killer is an albino peacock warlord named Shen that wants to take over China with the use of cannons/gunpowder. He also wants to defy his destiny, because he was prophesized that if he continue walking a dark path he would be defeated by a warrior of black and white. Shen thought the black and white referred to pandas which is why he went on a killing spree and is a reference to the Yin and Yang; a Chinese philosophical concept of balance or good vs evil. The reason, why this film impacted me so much, is that it's actually a very good story. Po later in the film realized that Shen murdered his mom and has trauma coming back to him. He tries to ignore them but eventually lets them go through him; accepting his dark past. And when Po did, he got this boost of confidence and heroism in him that led him to face Shen and stop his madness. However, he didn't harm Shen. Instead, Po tried to convince Shen to be good. The fact that Po embraced his dark past, his mom's killer, and not taking revenge is such a good display for a hero like him. I always find him as the stereotypical goofball, but he is a character that went through a lot and still managed to walk on the path of goodness. As for Shen, I never see such complexity in a villain. He may seem like a stereotypical villain with wanting to control the world, but he continues to pursue his goal because he believed it's too late for him. He thinks he committed so many crimes that he's one longer redeemable. And ironically, he actually defeated himself. He's after all a warrior of black and white as well. What these characters told me is to always walk on the path of good/success and accept the harsh realities in life.

Attributes that make me unique are that I think ahead and never procrastinate. I'm a maverick in my school because I'm a studious student who never stops working in a low-income, "laid-off" cultured school. I attend a school that has a majority of lazy or unmotivated students. It's the harsh truth. I myself have many unmotivated friends who rarely put the effort into their work. It might be because the school we attend has fewer resources and opportunities than rich schools have or that the school is "ghetto." Whatever the case, I won't make any excuses and will never stop working. And even though I sometimes struggle with my school's environment and got picked on for being a "nerd," I will continue to be on top of my game. For instance, I'm the type of student who always turns in his assignments and projects way before they're due. I'm a student who's constantly applying to multiple scholarships even though I'm still a Junior. I'm a student who learns from his mistakes and always tries to make better decisions. In fact, the person I am today is the person who learned from his mistake way back in second grade. I admit back then, I was very ill-mannered, immature, and lazy. I thought I could be this type of person for the rest of my life but I was definitely proven wrong. I had to repeat 2nd grade all over again because I was that type of person back then. That hit me, and very soon I change and adapt into a better person. I matured over my academic years and vowed to always be the hardworking person I envisioned myself to be. That means giving back to my community. I've been living near Richmond and in San Pablo for the entirety of my middle and high school years. Yes, these cities are poor and have many problems, but I advocate to help solve those problems. These cities are now my permanent home and I will help by trying my best to improve the culture of these cities. I want to motivate other students to work hard, help out the poor, work with helpful organizations, and hopefully become an accountant one day and educate the great people of my communities about money management. With determination and hope in me, I know I can do this. After all, hard work results in progress.

I was once a close-minded, ignorant, and homophobic boy who was insecure about his sexuality. I used to hang out in the wrong crowds, full of homophobic people who mocked sexual minorities in elementary schools. I thought this was normal. I thought bullying people with different sexual attractions was a good thing. I didn't create a safe space at elementary nor at home. I was raised in a close-minded household with bigoted parents and their bigotry grew more on me. But during my early age of close-mindedness, I soon started to feel attraction to the same gender when I saw two men kissing in a video once. I felt weird and tried to ignore or repress this feeling. It got stronger though, ever since. Ever since then, I started thinking about what I was doing and what I thought was wrong. Maybe I am gay. I struggle with this idea so much. I hurt other people like me and thought it was okay. I kept struggling and denying it until I am left with a conclusion. I am gay, and I need to stop my hypocritical and hurtful behavior. I accepted myself and started to leave the homophobic groups I used to be in. I started to be more open-minded about myself and other sexual minorities. And eventually, I had a change of heart. I begin to love myself that who I am is not wrong and that I should be proud of myself. This applies to other gay youth like me. I started to make friends with students at my high school who also identify as LGBTQ+. I continue to learn more about other LGBTQ+ people and progress my mind. I support many pro-LGBTQ+ organizations in my schools and try to make sure that non-LGBTQ+ respect others who are LGBTQ+ and prevent any type of discrimination. I try to make a safe space in school and at home now. My oldest sister also is gay and came out to me and my older sister which I fully support and I came out to them. Our parents still don't know about our secret and still continue to be homophobic, but hopefully one day I'll tell them the truth and will defend my oldest sister and myself. I am now happy with my true self and will continue bringing more LGBTQ+ awareness to my school, house, and everywhere in my life!

What makes me so passionate about the creative arts is that it's such an underrated, underappreciated, and diverse array of subjects. People look at creative arts and don't know what to use in the future. People look down on the creative arts because many think that the job they have doesn't make good money. But money isn't everything. The creative arts such as music, painting, photography, literature, dancing, and cinema are those who like to have fun in their future. I also love how they aren't as challenging as other subjects such as STEM. A piece of art that is most important to me is definitely literature. Literature is a crucial subject to me because it's so easy for me and very euphoric. Whenever I'm writing or typing something, things just come into my mind instantly and when I read what I wrote I can see the flaws I made. Things obviously sound better in your head. Additionally, literature can be such an impactful and inspiring thing for me. The poems, quotes, lyrics, and speeches I discovered throughout my entire academic years helped changed my life. They helped me have a broader view of the world, have a growth mindset, and further increase my interest in literature. I hope that when I write my college essays, they'll be so inspiring that they'll help me get into selective universities. Fun fact; I love literature so much that whenever I am supposed to write one or a couple sentences in a school assignment, I usually go in-depth and usually write an entire essay! Literature is also calming. Whenever I'm stressed or got things on my mind I like to write some literature. It helps distracts my mind and gives me creative ideas. Oh, I would also like to add a funny thing about me. Even though I love writing and analyzing literature, I usually don't read a lot. Or at least not a lot like I used to. I usually listen to music; meaningful ones that help soothe my growing brain. And ironically, I used to dream of being an author when I grew back when I was in elementary school. Despite me not being the book nerd I once was, I still like to read challenging essays that I have to analyze and write about in school. Literature overall is very complex and I can't wait to explore more of it.

An aspect of my identity; a repressed one, is my sexual identity. For a long time, I've been oppressing a part of who I am. I am gay, but I only came out to my sisters. My friends, family members, and even the closest people in my life still don't know about my secret. The reason I repress my sexuality is that I grew up thinking being gay is bad and was raised in a traditional household where being gay seems dishonorable to my family. Despite having a conservative childhood, I keep having an attraction to other males. So I kept quiet about my attraction, and with each passing day, my attraction toward males seems to get stronger. And it's getting tougher to hide my true self. So I hang out with the wrong crowds a few times; I hang out with people that were homophobic and I tried to be like them. I then realized that what I was doing was wrong. What I'm doing is hurting other people like me. What I'm doing is hurting myself. So eventually when I became a Sophomore and I went to my high school physically (Freshman year was online) I had the courage to come out to my sisters. I figured this is a good time to come out to them because my oldest sister also came out to my older sister and me that she's also gay and already in a relationship. That was a shock, but that also strengthened our siblings' relationship. Now in my junior year of high school, I still don't tell anyone that I'm gay because I want to keep my life private most of the time, but mostly because I want to find the right time when people can love me for who I am. My sexuality influences my interactions in the healthcare setting in an inspiring way. I'm motivated to help queer folks like myself in the medical field. I know that the world is more progressive in this era, but there's still discrimination in the health field toward sexual minorities. My goals as a future PA are to help put an end to that and reach out to those who are struggling with their sexuality and help them mentally and physically. I want every person no matter their sexuality to have good health. A healthier environment in the health setting is better for everyone.