Where do I even begin with 2024? Three-quarters in, I've already experienced an incredible rollercoaster of emotions and new experiences. I competed in my very first dance competition, started my final year of high school, and began college applications, setting the foundations for my adult career. It was also the year I felt the lowest in a long time, overwhelmed by the desire to quit multiple extracurriculars because I felt left out and forgotten by the people I desperately wanted to accept me. I grappled with the challenges that came with my first relationship, shedding countless tears as I tried my hardest to improve myself for someone I felt I didn't deserve. Emotional challenge after challenge hit me, and throughout this year, I had no idea if I could even get out of bed to deal with myself or the world. But I did. Every day, I got out of bed and dealt with the day ahead. And every day, Taylor Swift has been by my side to deal with the world with me. Her music became my soundtrack, a comforting voice I could always rely on and relate to. I could be sobbing my heart out to her melancholic lyrics in "Cardigan," happily singing along to her love-filled melodies on her album Lover, or feeling free, fun, and empowered as "22" blasted from my car's speakers. I always joke that she writes songs about me because somehow, I can always find a Taylor Swift song that narrates my life perfectly. So, no matter how hard life became, I continued to deal with the world with Taylor accompanying me. And because I dealt with the world, eventually, life began to improve. Going into my senior year, I had an epiphany that changed my perspective. The same groups continued to exclude me, but it finally hit me: it was my final year of high school, and I may not even see most of these people after graduation. I realized I didn't need to seek validation from people who didn't appreciate me for who I was. It was incredibly exhausting to constantly self-scrutinize my interactions, trying to find out why I couldn't be like the rest of my peers. It was such a freeing experience when I stopped caring about what other people thought about me. So, if my year had a soundtrack, "This Love" would be the first song from 1989 (Taylor's Version) on my list. "This Love" depicts a love that fades but eventually returns even stronger than before, and I feel it resonates deeply with my journey this year. I lost so much self-love and appreciation when I began fixating on one-sided friendships, but once I stopped caring about other people's opinions, I started rebuilding that love. I began embracing my true self, even around those who I previously wanted to impress, and it was the most beautiful, liberating feeling. I've become more resilient, self-confident, and assured in my identity and worth, and I've resolved never to return to that people-pleasing mindset. "This Love" symbolizes the personal growth I've experienced this year and my progress in returning to who I truly am. As I navigate my last year of high school, this beautiful song will continue to remind me of my resilience and strength through the challenges I've faced this year. My journey is far from over, but "This Love" will always be a triumphant anthem of the year I reclaimed my self-love and self-worth amidst adversity.

My dad has always preached "resilience" to me during challenging times. While I was skeptical of the word at first, now I see that my father and mother are the epitome of resiliency. My father has been in the US Navy for twenty years and currently serves as a Command Senior Chief. My mother also served in the United States Navy for eight years, and they had me early in their service. For the first three years of my life, I barely saw my parents. In my earliest memory of my mother, I didn't recognize her because she still served after I was born. Now, I realize my mother's immense sacrifice during those first formative years. She sacrificed raising me to serve her country, and I am incredibly grateful to her. I look up to her for her bravery and resiliency as she struggled through her service, unable to take part in raising me during those years. But if my mother exemplifies resiliency, I could never forget my father's incredible sacrifice to serve his country. My father continued to serve when my mother and I settled in California after she retired. In contrast, my father was stationed in multiple international countries for years, and this distance caused us to only see each other during my summer and winter vacations from school. Not until 2019 did my father get stationed in California, where we could finally see each other daily. So, my father sacrificed twelve years of his life with me, all to serve the USA. His commitment to the military and protecting his country showcases his dedication and resiliency as a father and a protector of this country. My parents' sacrifices are the biggest motivations I have to date. Their strength inspires me to be strong and resilient in my life, to be the best version of myself. I'm inspired to face my fears head-on, resolve conflicts with care and confidence, show kindness to others, and never let any trial or tribulation hurt me completely. I'm inspired every day to strive for academic and personal greatness, continue my studies in college, and earn my doctorate so I can further my career goal of becoming a pharmacist. But even though I plan to enter college right after high school, at some point in my academic career, whether that be after my undergrad or graduate studies, I plan to enter the US Navy. Today, the military and protecting my country have far greater meanings than I ever considered before. They remind me of all the sacrifices my parents made in my life so they could continue to serve the US. The military represents resilience, bravery, strength, and dedication in the face of hardship and pain, all qualities I strive to embody in my own life as I navigate my academic career and personal development. I'm determined to follow in my parents' footsteps to honor their commitment to service while also contributing my talents and skills to our country. I look forward to gaining leadership experience and discipline that will undoubtedly assist me in pursuing a doctorate and a pharmaceutical career. I also look forward to achieving those skills while protecting and serving my country. Through my future civilian and military careers, I genuinely hope I honor my country and my family's legacy while exemplifying the values they represent.

I'm the only daughter of my mother Julie, a beautiful, resilient, incredibly hard-working Filipina immigrant, navy veteran, and single mother. When my mother and her family received the opportunity to immigrate to the US from the Philippines, it was an absolute blessing for them, having lived in poverty for generations. However, the challenges my mom faced growing up in poverty and throughout her life only increased my admiration and respect for her every day. All the late nights she spent at work, all the long hours she spent studying to get her master's degree, and every single moment we spent together has impacted me incredibly and shaped me into who I am today. Right after she immigrated to the US, she joined the US Navy to help support her family. Eventually, she left the Navy to raise me once I was born. My mom was a young single mom, so I always saw her as this fun, carefree spirit when I was younger, but her view of her expanded as I grew older and gained more understanding of the world. She became a mentor, a guide for me as I navigated childhood, my first crushes, and the increasing difficulty of schoolwork. Importantly, she became someone I trusted to let out my feelings, especially entering my early teen years. She taught me how to push through tough times, as I experienced them with her; she gave me valuable insight into carefully choosing who to trust; she taught me the importance of saving money, especially seeing how she helped pull her family out of poverty. She even owns her own two-story house today, the product of her incredible hard work to provide a better life for herself, her family, and me. But of course, being raised by her, I've seen firsthand the mistakes she's made, the things she may have approached in the wrong way or handled badly. It's been incredibly eye-opening to be so close to someone and see their flaws personally, and every day I learn from her mistakes. I strive to avoid those negative attributes and to be a better person in every way I can. I strive to speak my mind and focus less on pleasing others. I strive to take charge of my life and live it the way I want to, as my mom did when she got the opportunity to make a name for herself in the US. This includes taking charge of my academic career and goals. My mom was never really interested in extracurriculars, nor did she have big expectations for me to go to a prestigious university once I graduated. However, I knew I wanted to make her proud; I knew I wanted to make a living, while also supporting her and my future family, just as she bravely did for her own family. So I took charge; once I hit high school, I entered as many extracurriculars as I could. I took challenging AP classes even without her guidance, worked hard for straight A-grades, joined clubs, and even applied and got accepted into my school's ASB. I knew I wanted to contribute to my school and be academically successful because even if my mom didn't see the point at that moment, I knew she'd be proud of me in the end. I plan to continue maintaining my high grades and contributing to my school so I can enter a university to earn my doctorate in Pharmacy, all to eventually make a living for myself and to support my mom, just as she supported me.