When I was young, I spent summers at my Grandma’s house. Most afternoons, my Grandma would enlist my sister and me to pull buckthorn, an invasive tree species, from the nearby park. Later, I learned that buckthorn is more than just an eyesore. It grows up to 20 feet high and forms dense thickets that prevent sunlight from reaching native plants below. City governments and religious institutions are often forced to spend significant amounts of money on buckthorn removal, diverting their resources away from the causes they serve. I decided I wanted to do something about the buckthorn problem. I began by contacting local libraries and churches, but it wasn’t until I had a chance conversation with my friend’s mom that I discovered the institution that had the greatest need. My friend’s mom mentioned that she had visited St. Therese, a parish that has a convent, a school, and a senior living home on its property, told me that she had heard they were having issues maintaining their property. When I drove through the church’s parking lot, I noticed the buckthorn that was crowding out their property. I met with the Director of Landscaping at St. Therese, who told me that they had not been able to keep up with the buckthorn that was spreading across their property. As people entered the parking lot off a main city road – often driving 40 miles per hour – they could not see around a bend in the church's road because the buckthorn was so dense. Since this spot was near the convent and the senior living home, where more than 80 older adults live, the buckthorn was causing a significant safety issue, as many of the nuns and nursing home residents would walk along the road, which does not have a sidewalk. Determined to be of as much assistance as I could, I began researching removal strategies. I found that large-scale buckthorn removal requires saws and weed wrenches, which I did not have. So, I reached out to three local cities and asked to borrow their weed wrenches. Two responded, and I was able to assemble five weed wrenches for my project. Recruiting volunteers was easier. I reached out to almost everyone in my contacts and followed up with each of them. In all, I established a team of twenty five people. While it was amazing to see such a diverse group get together to serve, the diversity of the group meant that I had volunteers with very different skill levels. In just three hours we cleared approximately 100 square yards – about 900 square feet – of dense buckthorn along the church’s parking lot entrance. Driving through the church’s parking lot, I could easily see around the road. A few days later, the Director of Landscaping informed me that twelve parishioners had told him that they felt safer driving into the church parking lot. I used to see business management, which I plan to study in college, and ecology as separate fields. Completing this project taught me that they are interconnected. Many of the things I did for the project – cold calling local cities for weed wrenches, dealing with weather risks, and establishing my volunteer team and motivating them towards a common goal – tie into the skills I’ve learned through my school’s business program. The project ignited my interest in studying Sustainable Business in college to prepare me to help organizations make measurable sustainability investments. More broadly, I learned the incredible power of engaging others to care for the environment and the people most impacted by it.

When I was young, I spent summers at my Grandma’s house. Most afternoons, my Grandma would enlist my sister and me to pull buckthorn, an invasive tree species, from the nearby park. Later, I learned that buckthorn is more than just an eyesore. It grows up to 20 feet high and forms dense thickets that prevent sunlight from reaching native plants below. City governments and religious institutions are often forced to spend significant amounts of money on buckthorn removal, diverting their resources away from the causes they serve. I decided I wanted to do something about the buckthorn problem. I began by contacting local libraries and churches, but it wasn’t until I had a chance conversation with my friend’s mom that I discovered the institution that had the greatest need. My friend’s mom mentioned that she had visited St. Therese, a parish that has a convent, a school, and a senior living home on its property, told me that she had heard they were having issues maintaining their property. When I drove through the church’s parking lot, I noticed the buckthorn that was crowding out their property. I met with the Director of Landscaping at St. Therese, who told me that they had not been able to keep up with the buckthorn that was spreading across their property. As people entered the parking lot off a main city road – often driving 40 miles per hour – they could not see around a bend in the church's road because the buckthorn was so dense. Since this spot was near the convent and the senior living home, where more than 80 older adults live, the buckthorn was causing a significant safety issue, as many of the nuns and nursing home residents would walk along the road, which does not have a sidewalk. Determined to be of as much assistance as I could, I began researching removal strategies. I found that large-scale buckthorn removal requires saws and weed wrenches, which I did not have. So, I reached out to three local cities and asked to borrow their weed wrenches. Two responded, and I was able to assemble five weed wrenches for my project. Recruiting volunteers was easier. I reached out to almost everyone in my contacts and followed up with each of them. In all, I established a team of twenty five people. While it was amazing to see such a diverse group get together to serve, the diversity of the group meant that I had volunteers with very different skill levels. In just three hours we cleared approximately 100 square yards – about 900 square feet – of dense buckthorn along the church’s parking lot entrance. Driving through the church’s parking lot, I could easily see around the road. A few days later, the Director of Landscaping informed me that twelve parishioners had told him that they felt safer driving into the church parking lot. I used to see business management, which I plan to study in college, and ecology as separate fields. Completing this project taught me that they are interconnected. Many of the things I did for the project – cold calling local cities for weed wrenches, dealing with weather risks, and establishing my volunteer team and motivating them towards a common goal – tie into the skills I’ve learned through my school’s business program. The project ignited my interest in studying Sustainable Business in college to prepare me to help organizations make measurable sustainability investments. More broadly, I learned the incredible power of engaging others to care for the environment and the people most impacted by it.

From Struggling to Successful: How a Single Act Changed my Trajectory The room was big, and the lights were bright. I was barely fifteen, and I didn’t understand anything anyone was saying. It was my high school’s first informational meeting for DECA, a business club and competition. At the first meeting, I was unfamiliar with nearly all of the business terms the club leaders used. What grabbed my attention were the opportunities they described. DECA could help prepare me for the read world, they said, and for a freshman who had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, this sounded promising. I registered for the club and started to prepare for District-level competition. It wasn’t long before I realized I was in over my head. Even though I was attending the weekly chapter meetings, I had so many unanswered questions. I knew one of the events I had picked involved writing a ten-page paper, but what was that paper supposed to include? How could I write ten pages on a subject I knew almost nothing about? I was also struggling to come up with information on my feet. When practicing a roleplay - an event where students are given an imaginary business scenario and asked to prepare a response within a short time period -- I blanked and stopped talking after thirty seconds, rather than the typical 5-7 minutes. Unlike me, other students seemed to understand what they were doing – they were coming up with better responses and seemed to know exactly how to study, while I just felt lost. One fateful chapter meeting, the student officers announced that there would be an upcoming study session where all DECA students could come in for help from a teacher. With competition only a month away, and with my paper for my marketing plan still mostly blank, this seemed necessary for me. At the study session, the first thing my teacher, Ms. Benson, did was alleviate some of my worries. She told me that the club was hard for everyone, and gave me practical tips for how to improve. She spent time reading and rereading my paper, giving me new ideas and strategies for how to intrigue my judge. Gradually, the program started to make more sense to me. I started to develop stronger ideas for roleplays, and my writing for my marketing plan improved. At the awards ceremony, I was shocked to learn that I had not only qualified for state-level competition in both of my events, but that I had earned first place for the marketing campaign I’d created and second place for my roleplay-the very same event I’d been bombing at practices just two months before. I used to believe success was solely a result of hard work. This experience changed my mind. If one teacher hadn’t helped me, I would likely have quit a club I now love. This sparked a realization – what if other students with potential left DECA because they didn’t know how to succeed? This year, I ran and was elected an officer for my school’s DECA chapter. My main priority, as the officer of operations, is to increase the number and accessibility of study sessions hosted by the chapter. I hope to help other students realize their potential the way one teacher helped me to realize mine.

In just three minutes and thirty seconds, Taylor Swift turned pop culture into political action with her music video “You Need to Calm Down.” In the video, Taylor portrays a trailer park resident living in a neighborhood with some of the most important LGBTQIA+ figures in the United States, including RuPaul, Laverne Cox, and Katy Perry. But instead of interacting with her ‘neighbors,’ Taylor uses the moment to speak to the video’s audience directly. She calls out online homophobia and cyberbullying. At the end of the video, a call-to-action screen appears, urging viewers to sign a petition in support of the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. To me, the music video is an incredible example of a musician using their talent and platform for the common good. Getting all of the celebrities who appeared in the “You Need to Calm Down” music video together must have been an incredible feat, but Taylor uses the moment not to focus on herself, but to support the expansion of rights for LGBTQIA+ people. The “You Need to Calm Down” music video isn’t really about Taylor Swift. It’s about a powerful person using her resources to advocate for those who are often left out of the conversation. The “You Need to Calm Down” video had a profound impact on me when I was coming to terms with my own identity. It showed me how many people valued inclusion and genuine respect for those in marginalized groups. More broadly, it taught me that power and status can be used to advocate for others. Although I am not musically inclined, I’ve tried to implement the video’s message of inclusion and service in my everyday life. I wrote a successful grant request to my school district’s board for free menstrual products so that students whose families could not afford them would not feel embarrassed during their periods. For my Eagle Scout project, I removed safety hazards from a local nursing home’s property that had been ignored. In my future career in business management, I hope to use my influence to speak up for equity and inclusion within my organization. Taylor Swift’s performance in her “You Need to Calm Down” music video helped me become proud of my own identity and continues to motivate me to speak up for acceptance of the identities of everyone.

I love Sabrina’s music, acting skills, and style, but what keeps me coming back to her Spotify page and her YouTube interviews is how she represents freedom from what the world tells women they can and should be. As a woman in business, I’ve long sensed a pressure to dress, style, and act in a way that conforms to largely ‘masculine’ norms. Bright colors, fun prints, or anything overtly feminine or ‘girly’ can be seen as unprofessional or childish. Culturally, there is a push, as women, to leave parts of ourselves behind in order to be seen as capable. Sabrina’s career challenges these norms. She is feminine and fun by her own choice. She uses her style and identity to relate to other women. As a teen girl, I’ve learned from Sabrina that being feminine and being successful are not mutually exclusive, and that wearing pink and being respected are not opposites. When I’m listening to Sabrina’s music, I’m reminded that my feelings, dreams, and love for fashion are not weaknesses, but things that can make me stand out in a male-dominated field. Ultimately, Sabrina Carpenter has made me confident in my future and my identity. I believe her career is having a profound impact on many young women and will continue to do so for years to come.

Math is the language upon which everything else we do in this world is made possible. As a business student, I've spent a lot of time imagining new plans for companies and small businesses. As a DECA officer, I've heard a lot of ambitious plans for marketing campaigns and financial investments. Although every plan and idea is different, what is always consistent is that the best business plans take the numbers into account. Dedicated financial planning - math, in essence - is what allows businesses to thrive. Being able to offer this kind of support to new businesses is something that is extremely valuable to me, and I'm proud to say that I've helped two small businesses grow by creating budgets and growth plans for them. In my senior year of high school, I plan to take AP Calculus, and in college, I plan to take statistics, accounting, and advanced calculus. These classes will allow me to improve my skills and become a valuable asset to all of the causes I hope to serve in the future. In short, I love math because of its power to create positive change in the world. With math, ideas become plans, and dreams become reality.