Hello, my name is Karsyn Joy Cosper, and I am a senior at Clifton High School. I have always worked hard in school and excelled academically. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia in third grade, but this only drove me to be more disciplined and dedicated to school work, not allowing my learning difficulty to hold me back. I am currently ranked in the top ten percent and first in my class. This year, I am running cross country as a hobby and plan to do powerlifting again (I have done it since sophomore year.) I have also been in band all four years of high school and last year, the band got ninth place at the State Marching Contest. This year I am in band leadership as the Color Guard Lieutenant. Other organizations that I am active in include Leos, Interact, FCA, and NHS. For many of those organizations I volunteer around my community. I have volunteered at the Lutheran Sunset Nursing Home’s Hope Center for Alzheimer's patients, the Elementary School, Lion’s Club events, concession stands, and many other places. I have also volunteered every year of “Neighborhood Clifton”, which is a weekend where all the churches in Clifton come together to clean up and help the citizens of Clifton. My service is typically outside manual labor projects, specifically: mowing lawns, hauling trash, cutting/moving limbs, and weed eating. At the moment, I plan to get my degree in either speech pathology or nursing because I feel called to show the Lord's love to people in need. I also have a personal connection to speech pathology. As a child, I talked a lot but no one knew what I said. I had a very hard time forming the correct mouth shape and my parents could not understand me most of the time, so I was enrolled in speech classes at the elementary school from the age of three to fifth grade. My speech pathologist was the kindest person I knew and always encouraged me. She also showed me how valuable communication skills are. While I am not looking to work at an elementary school, I want to make the same kind of impact on people that she made on me. Without her help, I would not be able to articulate my ideas to others and struggle to work in groups because my peers would not understand me. I feel like I could be a good nurse because I have always cared for people very deeply and I never want anyone to be hurting. In hard moments, I want to show the Lord's love and goodness to those in need. Many of my family members passed away when I was in late elementary school/early middle school, and it was a very difficult time for everyone. We saw lots of nurses, some were kind and caring while others seemed like it was a difficult burden to help the people I loved. I want to be like the kind nurses, who cared for them and made them as comfortable while they were going through their medical treatment. Additionally, I want to love patients who do not have a support system around them. It can be very scary and stressful to be alone in those types of situations, so I hope I represent Christ's patience, calmness, and wisdom, and reassure them that they are not alone.

Billie Eilish is a phenomenal singer-songwriter because of her amazing control over her voice, impactful lyrics, and how real she is in her songs. My all-time favorite song she published is "What Was I Made For." Her amazing ability to hold her voice back and sing so high at the same time is such a difficult skill. She also made the lyrics pierce through the air but have a special softness to them. It is the most impressive control I have ever heard from a singer. Additionally, the lyrics of the song articulated how life is changing and can break down all of our conceived thoughts. At the time I heard the song, I was struggling in an especially difficult breakup and I discovered the guy I was dating wasn’t who I thought he was. Another song I really like Billie created is “Bad Guy” because I am in band and we play it at football games when we do well. It makes the entire stadium more enthusiastic and enjoyable. The last song I am mentioning is “Ocean Eyes” because it was the first song of hers I heard. I think it is important to recognize where artists start, and who they were before they were famous. Concluding, Billie Eilish is an amazing singer-songwriter. I am blown away by her abilities, but more importantly, I am very thankful for her and her song “What Was I Made For.” Personally, nothing hits my heart and soul more and it helped me through one of the hardest times in my life.