Mental health is something that has effected me in the past but I continue to grow each and everyday personally and professionally and not let something so debilitating take over my life and career. The steps that I take to make my mental health a priority was control the parts of my life that I have the ability to have full control over. I grew up as a competitive dancer, so that in itself created an unhealthy and negative space in my head, but I chose to change that narrative when I quit my senior year of high school. I started working for a gym and turned to indoor cycling due to the parallels between dancing and cycling of high intensity and fun, up-beat music. I found such a welcoming and inclusive community that made me fall in love with it. Due to this, I have started the journey to become a certified Indoor Cycling Instructor! I am eager to create and foster a welcoming community for others while getting a great workout! Another thing that I made sure I had full control over was my daily schedule. This starts off the night before creating a detailed list of all of the things I need to do the next day and things I would like to get done. This makes it so when I don't accomplish everything on my todo list I don't get filled with anxiety and can have more peace from day to day. In addition to this, I make sure my living space is cleaned and organized so although my school and my work life may be hectic and cluttered, I know that when I come home I have a clean, safe space for myself. Lastly, which is arguably the choice I have made that has had the most positive impact was drinking alcohol significantly less. I have noticed a huge improvement in my productivity and my overall mental health. I am less anxious and can spend more time doing the things I love without having anxiety. Although, I do run into the occasional FOMO, I love the person and adult I am becoming due to this change. All of these things I have implemented have helped me achieve many accomplishments I an incredibly proud of. I am a current senior at the University of New Hampshire and upon my graduation from UNH this may I will be continuing my education at Boston University. Alongside these habits I have instilled and the support I have received from professors, peers, and my family, I have made my education a priority and accomplished something I never imagined being possible. I also am apart of Alpha Chi Omega where I was able to serve on the executive board as Vice President of Finance as well as MyJourney Facilitator and a mentor for my major. I also am apart of Order Of Omega, a national honor society for members of Fraternity and Sorority Life. As you can tell, I am someone needs to have a full schedule or I am constantly thinking what I can be doing better and what more I can do. All of the changes and habits I have implemented into my daily life has improved my overall mental health significantly. Although I do have days where my mental health can be debilitating, they are far and few between now and I am incredibly grateful!

Hello, my name is Kaci Crowley and I am a current senior at the University of New Hampshire studying hotel and hospitality management. Upon my graduation from UNH this May, I will be continuing my education at Boston University School of Hospitality Management Masters Program. All of my jobs thus far have been in the hospitality industry and have thrived in each position I have been in. From being a host, to a hotel reservation sales agent, and a food and beverage intern I have fallen more and more in love with this industry and cannot wait to grow in my career and make an incredible impact on individuals and the industry as a whole. If I was granted this scholarship, it would help me tremendously with the cost of tuition. Although, Boston University is an extremely prestigious university, it does come with an expensive cost. I hope to minimize the cost of attendance to further my education and make meaningful connections with peers, faculty, and industry professionals through BU. How I envision using my passion for this industry to make a positive impact, is starting off at my education. I hope to inspire peers each and everyday with ideas and through my actions in and outside of the classroom. Then as I further my career I want to impact the industry through empowering every single employee, providing an elevated level of customer experience, and put an emphasis on accessible hospitality. Another way I hope to impact the industry is prioritizing education and training. Education is extremely important to me and whether that is working with local colleges and universities hospitality program to advance the students careers or working with line employees to make them a more well-rounded employee to ensure they have every opportunity they have to become promoted or increase their earnings. Being in the hospitality industry is something that started off as just a high school job after school and now has become my entire career and I cannot wait to give back to this industry the same way it has given me so many incredible opportunities!

Hello, my name is Kaci Crowley and I am a current senior at the University of New Hampshire studying Hotel and Hospitality Management. I will be furthering my education next year at Boston University School of Hospitality Management mastering in Hospitality Management with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance. I currently am in Alpha Chi Omega women's fraternity, where I was fortunate enough to serve as Vice President of Finance, MyJourney Facilitator, and be a hospitality major mentor! I am originally from Austin, Texas, so when I went to UNH, I knew absolutely no one. Luckily I found a home at AXO and through all of the positions I held I was able to give back slightly what I was given by this organization. But what I mostly gained from this experience was to give back to our local philanthropy HAVEN. HAVEN is a non profit organization that supports women and children who have been affected by domestic and sexual abuse. During my time as VPF, I worked closely with the Vice President of Philanthropy to raise over $8,000 for this amazing organization. Even though I will no longer be apart of this organization after this semester, I want to continue supporting HAVEN and their cause. Professionally, I want to work in hotel investment or hospitality asset management. Although, there is a heavy presence of women in the hospitality industry, most industry leaders are men, especially in the financial sector of the industry. Throughout all various jobs and organizations I have been apart of I have been in a leadership role and will continue to do so when I am at BU and in my future career. I hope to be a role model for women in the industry who are at lower level positions to strive to further their career and pursue any and all dreams they may have. I would also love to work with local colleges and their hospitality department to further support the women to make connections and help them advance their careers. Lastly, being a role model for all young girls staying at the hotels I may work at would be an amazing gift. I have always looked up to woman and their accomplishments and hope one day I get to do the same for young aspiring hospitality professionals. I am incredibly proud to be a woman and will continue to work to support young women with their goals!

If I had the opportunity to do a cross-over episode of my favorite Disney Channel shows that impacted my life growing up it would be Shake It Up and Hannah Montana. These two shows were so special to me as I grew up as a competitive dancer, which dancing was heavily apart of both. To see the main characters, Zendaya and Miley Cyrus, grow up to be such influential and strong women for my generation and all generations following, is truly incredible that we have such amazing role models for girls and women to look up to. The story line would take place in Chicago with Hannah Montana visiting the Shake It Up set to film an episode with the dancers. Cece and Rocky become increasingly threatened and angry with the presence of Hannah there and start to pull pranks and spread rumors to sabotage Hannah. They would pull pranks such as cutting the lights and music during her live performances and spreading rumors such as she lip syncs and pays someone to sing for her, all which could potentially hurt or destroy her career. However, due to Hannah not realizing its Rocky and Cece starting causing these commotions, she excitedly invites them both to be apart of her finale dance of that episode. They end up having the best show in Shake It Up history with the highest views ever. By the end of the episode Cece and Rocky both confess to Miley what they have done and Miley forgives them. A very strong bond was created between the 3 girls and everyone promised to always support each others career and personal endeavors. To which the episode ends on a cliff hanger of Hannah inviting them to go on tour with her. This episode has multiple messages being sent to the young audience watching this show. First, being friendship and unity. Friendship is one of the strongest things in the world and it is important to foster and care for each of your friendships, because at the end of the day you never know if they're going to invite you to their tour. Secondly, overcoming jealousy and rumors is a crucial message to instill in the younger generations due to the competitiveness and cattiness that goes on in middle schools. Lastly, pursuing your dreams is overall the most important message being sent in this episode. This episode is all about showcasing individuals talents and supporting and building their confidence in them. By coming together and supporting each others differences and talents, they are inspiring the viewers to pursue their own personal dreams and talents. This episode is also incredibly important to the dance community because of the toxicity that comes along with competitive dancing. I would have loved to watch this cross-over episode when I was in the thick of my childhood and dancing career!