I’m part of a club called Girl Up- a United Nations Foundation Campaign that advocates for women’s rights, safety, equity, and education worldwide. I joined as a freshman, became the Public Relations Officer as a sophomore, and loved being able to speak out against injustice. In October, the officer team met to discuss our biggest fundraiser: Our School Cycle Fundraiser. We normally host a big fundraiser that supports School Cycle, a partner of Girl Up, that donates bikes to women and girls in underprivileged nations so that they can avoid the dangers of their sometimes lengthy commutes to school. We decided to have a summer kickoff picnic, open to the whole community. There would be a live band, raffle baskets, food trucks, face paint, and games for children. As the Public Relations Officer, I was in charge of reaching out to local businesses to see if any would be interested in donating something for our raffle baskets. While stopping by Solon stores, it was so encouraging to see how many were willing to donate to help our event’s cause. As May approached, we started putting flyers promoting the picnic in every classroom, and in public places. We posted about the event on social media, and soon, it was time. On the day of the Picnic, it was pouring... our event was supposed to be outside. Was all this hard work slipping down the drain? Luckily, it had finally stopped raining when we began to set up, and once everything was in place, our prayers for good weather were miraculously answered when the sun broke through the clouds. People soon started to arrive, the music played, and the sun kept shining, as if it had come out just for us. Soon, the picnic was packed. Our community had showed up to support us and our cause, which was so heartwarming. I took a moment and just stared at the crowd. Wow. We did this, I helped do this. A group of 16 year olds pulled off an event that brought a community together for music, smiles, food, and raffle prizes. We brought happiness to a community, and in return, our community was helping us to ensure women and girls around the globe receive a safe education. A wave of satisfaction, gratitude, and happiness overwhelmed me, and I realized I wanted to see people happy like this all the time, I wanted to see love and smiles all the time, and wanted everyone to be able to enjoy life. I wanted to see people rallying together to stand against injustice, and band together for equality. Right then and there, I realized that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I want to protect communities from the evils of injustice, and fight to keep equality, freedom, love, and happiness alive. I knew it was going to be my life goal, because I felt something so fiery inside, something so passionate that I knew wouldn’t fade. That something? Equality for all.

Your heart is pounding out of your chest while crawling through a filthy drainage pipe . Your body aches, the smell is putrid, but there's no going back. Hope seems closer as the sight of the sky draws nearer and nearer until PLOP! You've slugged out of the pipe into a rain puddle, look to the sky in the rain, and take your first breath as a free man. Doesn't that seem like a fantastic movie?! That adventure to freedom came as a jailbreak premeditated for years by prisoner Andy Dufrense, who was serving a life sentence in Shawshank State Penitentiary for a murder that he didn't commit. I first watched The Shawshank Redemption when my parents recommended it to me as it was one of their favorite movies, and once I watched it with them, it immediately became my all-time favorite film. As a lover of mysteries, dramas, and action packed films, The Shawshank Redemption fit the criteria perfectly. Through the movie, the audience knows from the get go that Andy didn't commit the murder of his wife. What made me really interested in the film is that justice wasn't properly served, which is something that I intend to dedicate my life work to: ensuring justice is served through courts. Because of this, I was hooked to the screen, eager to see Andy receive justice. When nobody believed in Andy's innocence, Andy didn't stop believing in himself, and knew that in order to receive justice, he had to break the law, and get justice himself. The paradox that intrigues me is that in order to receive justice, sometimes the law has to be broken, which shows how broken the justice system is (although the movie is fiction), and makes me want to help put it back together.