My name is Katelyn Sears, and I have always been passionate about making an impact on the world as an educator. I am a senior at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas, where I am the secretary of the band, a member in choir, the president of the Inspire Positivity Club, a member of my school’s National Honors Society chapter, and part of an internship program where I assist as a teacher's aide in an elementary music classroom. I currently plan to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall to major in Music Education, so I can carry out my life-long dream to be a teacher. Almost everyone at one point in their life has that one teacher who impacted you in a way you can never forget. My goal is to be that teacher for as many students as I possibly can be. I plan on earning my degree in Music Education and using it to make a positive impact on the world through, well, music. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself. I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. I currently intern in an elementary music classroom, and witnessing my students' excitement to see me and to learn music motivates me further to use my studies in Music Education to one day help make the world a better place through the positive impact I plan to have on my students. I am beyond excited to see where my education will take me and to meet my students that I’ll have the blessing of to one day impact and change their lives for the better through music. For me, my main adversity I’ve dealt with has always been my mental health and anxiety. From the age of four, I had already considered the possibility of ending my life. I’d sit there in bed at night, after what felt like hours of my parents arguing and hold my breath as long as I could, hoping that it would stop my breathing and maybe I’d escape the noise and stress. Since elementary school, I’ve experienced practically non-stop anxiety stemming from just about anything and everything you can think of. Through middle school I suffered with body image problems, leading me to eat less and less. Even now, I still sometimes have moments where I suffer from these problems, but nowhere near the extent I once did, thanks to the after-school club, of which I later became the president of, ‘Inspire Positivity’. The school club, ‘Inspire Positivity’ was and still is one of the major ways I overcame my issues with my mental health and anxiety. It was founded during my sophomore year of high school with the simple goal of inspiring positivity through talking through difficult mental health topics and through spreading positive messages/actions throughout the school community. I now, as the current president of the Inspire Positivity club, get to help fellow peers who struggle just as I did, find a place where they can talk through difficult topics and learn how we can continue pushing on. As the president of this club, I have learned countless things about mental health and I’ve been able to push myself to fight and face my anxiety head on through being in front of my peers and leading discussions each meeting.

My name is Katelyn Sears, I am a senior at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas, where I am the secretary of the band, a member of the choir, the club president of the Inspire Positivity Club, a member of my school’s National Honors Society chapter, and part of an internship program where I assist as a teacher's aide in an elementary music classroom. I currently plan to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall to major in Music Education, so I can carry out my life-long dream to be a teacher. This scholarship can help me receive the funding I need in order to get my degree, as I have no assistance from my family to pay for college as I come from a low-income family with struggles paying bills and putting food on our plates. For me, my main adversity I’ve dealt with has always been my mental health and anxiety, as I have consistently faced intense struggles with my mental health and anxiety throughout my life so far. From the age of four, I had already considered the possibility of ending my life. I’d sit there in bed at night, after what felt like hours of my parents arguing and hold my breath as long as I could, hoping that it would stop my breathing and maybe I’d escape the noise. Since elementary school, I’ve experienced practically non-stop anxiety stemming from just about anything and everything you can think of. Through middle school I suffered with body image problems, leading me to eat less and less, hoping I’d drop this non-existent extra weight and fat I saw on myself. Even now, I still sometimes have moments where I suffer from these problems, but nowhere to the extent I once did. I overcame the extremity of my poor mental health and intense anxiety through the support of my friends and an after-school club, of which I later became the president of, ‘Inspire Positivity’. The school club, ‘Inspire Positivity’ was and still is one of the major ways I overcame my issues with my mental health and anxiety. It was founded during my sophomore year of high school with the simple goal of inspiring positivity through talking through difficult mental health topics and through spreading positive messages/actions throughout the school community. Through attending these meetings, I saw how the people around me experienced similar struggles and I found people who all cared deeply about helping others despite their own struggles. At the start of my junior year, the opportunity came to me to be the leader of the very thing that had helped pull me back together, and I jumped right in without looking back. I now, as the current president of the Inspire Positivity club, get to help fellow peers who struggle just as I did, find a place where they can talk through difficult topics and learn how we can continue pushing on. As the president of this club, I have learned countless things about mental health and the importance of taking care of one’s mental health and I’ve been able to push myself to fight and face my anxiety head on through being in front of my peers and leading discussions each meeting. Through the Inspire Positivity club at my high school, I’ve been able to overcome the adversity of my poor mental health and high anxiety levels.

My name is Katelyn Sears, and I have always been passionate about making an impact on the world as an educator. I am a senior at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas, where I am the secretary of the band, a member in choir, the club president of the Inspire Positivity Club, a member of my school’s National Honors Society chapter, and part of an internship program where I assist as a teacher's aide in an elementary music classroom. I currently plan to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall to major in Music Education, so I can carry out my life-long dream to be a teacher. Public service is important to me because it's one of the most direct ways you can have a positive impact on society. I plan to have an impact on the world through educating and inspiring my students throughout my career as an educator. I am interested in pursuing a career in public service, specifically teaching, because I have always been passionate about education. From the time I was in first grade, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. After-school and over the summer I’d always make a point to play “teacher” with my younger sister, where I’d excitedly teach her different topics and skills I had learned in my classes. I loved explaining to her math concepts and educating her beyond her grade level. Now, I still have that same passion for education, and I want to pursue education because I know that it’s my calling. Almost everyone at one point in their life has that one teacher who impacted you in a way you can never forget. My goal is to be that teacher for as many students as I possibly can be. I plan on earning my degree in Music Education and using it to make a positive impact on the world through, well, music. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music is such an influential thing, as it has the power to bring people together and can have an enormous impact on a person's mental health. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself. I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. I then hope that through that impact I have on them, my students go on to impact others as well, causing ripple after ripple of impacts, causing a non-stop chain of positive impacts on the world, even after I'm long gone. I currently intern in an elementary music classroom, and witnessing my students' excitement to see me and to learn music motivates me further to use my studies in Music Education to one day help make the world a better place through the positive impact I plan to have on my students. My time at my internships has solidified my passion of becoming a music educator, and I know that Music Education is the correct path for me. I am beyond excited to see where my education will take me and to meet my students each year that I’ll have the blessing of to one day impact and change their lives for the better through music.

My name is Katelyn Sears, and I have always been passionate about making an impact on the world as an educator. I am a senior at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas, where I am the secretary of the band, a member of the choir, the club president of the Inspire Positivity Club, a member of my school’s National Honors Society chapter, and part of an internship program where I assist as a teacher's aide in an elementary music classroom. I currently plan to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall to major in Music Education, so I can carry out my life-long dream to be a teacher. This scholarship can help me receive the funding I need in order to get my degree, as I have no assistance from my family to pay for college as I come from a low-income family with struggles paying bills and putting food on our plates. Receiving this scholarship is important to me, as it will pave the way for me to reach my goal of becoming a music educator who positively inspires and impacts her students. From the time I was in first grade, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. After school and over the summer I’d always make a point to play “teacher” with my younger sister, where I’d excitedly teach her different topics and skills I had learned in my classes. I loved explaining to her math concepts and educating her beyond her grade level. Now, I still have that same passion for education, and I want to pursue music education because I know that it’s my calling. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music is such an influential thing, as it has the power to bring people together and can have an enormous impact on a person's mental health. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself. I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. On top of allowing me to achieve my goal of becoming a music educator, receiving this scholarship is important to me because it will help alleviate the financial stress of paying for college. My family has always had financial struggles with either paying bills or keeping food on the table. Despite both of my parents working full-time jobs, due to my larger family size and ongoing debts, there was never enough money to go around for any of the “extra” things. Due to this, I’m completely on my own to pay for college, for a car, and for anything else I need, leaving me in need of scholarships like this so I can afford to go to college without racking up massive debts like my parents. This is incredibly important to me as I don’t want to burden my future family with being unable to pay bills and such due to student loans and such. I want to prove to myself, my family, and everyone else, that even with low income and no financial support from my parents, that getting my degree and changing the world as a music educator is completely viable. Receiving this scholarship is important to me as it would be that push I need to make an impact on this world through education.

My name is Katelyn Sears, and I have always been passionate about making an impact on the world as an educator. I am a senior at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas, where I am the secretary of the band, a member in choir, the club president of the Inspire Positivity Club, a member of my school’s National Honors Society chapter, and part of an internship program where I assist as a teacher's aide in an elementary music classroom. I currently plan to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall to major in Music Education, so I can carry out my life-long dream to be a teacher. I am interested in pursuing a career in teaching because I have always been passionate about education. From the time I was in first grade, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. After-school and over the summer I’d always make a point to play “teacher” with my younger sister, where I’d excitedly teach her different topics and skills I had learned in my classes. I loved explaining to her math concepts and educating her beyond her grade level. Now, I still have that same passion for education, and I want to pursue education because I know that it’s my calling. Almost everyone at one point in their life has that one teacher who impacted you in a way you can never forget. My goal is to be that teacher for as many students as I possibly can be. I plan on earning my degree in Music Education and using it to make a positive impact on the world through, well, music. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music is such an influential thing, as it has the power to bring people together and can have an enormous impact on a person's mental health. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself. I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. I then hope that through that impact I have on them, my students go on to impact others as well, causing ripple after ripple of impacts, causing a non-stop chain of positive impacts on the world, even after I'm long gone. I currently intern in an elementary music classroom, and witnessing my students' excitement to see me and to learn music motivates me further to use my studies in Music Education to one day help make the world a better place through the positive impact I plan to have on my students. My time at my internships has solidified my passion of becoming a music educator, and I know that Music Education is the correct path for me. I am beyond excited to see where my education will take me and to meet my students each year that I’ll have the blessing of to one day impact and change their lives for the better through music.

My name is Katelyn Sears, and I have always been passionate about making an impact on the world as an educator. I am a senior at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas, where I am the secretary of the band, a member in choir, the club president of the Inspire Positivity Club, a member of my school's National Honors Society chapter, and part of an internship program where I assist as a teacher's aide in an elementary music classroom. I currently plan to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall to major in Music Education, so I can carry out my life-long dream to be a teacher. This scholarship can help me receive the funding I need in order to get my degree, as I have no assistance from family to pay for college as I come from a low-income family with struggles paying bills and putting food on our plates. Almost everyone at one point in their life has that one teacher who impacted you in a way you can never forget. My goal is to be that teacher for as many students as I possibly can be. I plan on earning my degree in Music Education and using it to make a positive impact on the world through, well, music. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music is such an influential thing, as it has the power to bring people together and can have an enormous impact on a person's mental health. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself. I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. I then hope that through that impact I have on them, my students go on to impact others as well, causing ripple after ripple of impacts, causing a non-stop chain of positive impacts on the world, even after I'm long gone. I currently intern in an elementary music classroom, and witnessing my students' excitement to see me and to learn music motivates me further to use my studies in Music Education to one day help make the world a better place through the positive impact I plan to have on my students. My time at my internships has solidified my passion of becoming a music educator, and I know that Music Education is the correct path for me. I am beyond excited to see where my education will take me and to meet my students each year that I’ll have the blessing of to one day impact and change their lives for the better through music.

As someone who’s experienced consistent struggles with her mental health, mental health is extremely important to me as a student, as it makes all the difference in a person's learning abilities and energy. Poor mental health can be the difference between thriving and learning and sleeping through class and barely scraping by. It’s important that students have a solid, healthy mental state so that they can intake and retain information at the highest levels they personally can, and so they can remain motivated to complete schoolwork. Mental health is important to me because mental health plays a huge role in determining success in education. A way I advocate for mental health in my community is through my school’s after-school club, Inspire Positivity. I am the current 2-year president and facilitator of this club, leaving me in charge of making meeting calendars and then running the actual meetings. Coming into the role of president of the Inspire Positivity club was an unexpected, yet welcome, surprise for my junior year. I had joined the club the year before, as it was a new club run by a fellow band member with a message that captivated me. Due to poor leadership, come junior year, I was unsure if Inspire Positivity would survive. After talking to the teacher sponsor, I found there were no plans to continue the Inspire Positivity club into the new school year, and I knew then I had to spring into action to ensure the survival of the club. I quickly pulled together a list of people saying they’d like to be a part of the club, proving that people were still interested, and then quickly filled the role necessary to jump-start into having meetings again. Since the start of my junior year, the club has continued to grow and has played a major role in who I am today. Since joining and even more since becoming president last year, the Inspire Positivity Club has pushed me to become a more optimistic thinker and has pushed me to continue through difficult times. I have become more aware of the ways that positivity, negativity, and overall mental health can affect you and how you handle the curve-balls life throws at you. I’ve also become a more confident leader, as I, as president, often lead and handle the majority of our meetings, leading discussions and our projects, making sure we stay on task and focused on our goals. Thanks to Inspire Positivity, I have had the opportunity to make an impact on people's day-to-day lives through our “Positivity Posters” hung on walls around the schools, fundraising to help buy Christmas presents for students on our school’s angel tree and by having the discussions over improving mental health and how to be a more positive person. Inspire Positivity helped me grow as a person, and as the club has grown, I have grown with it, and with each new member, its reach ripples farther out. Thanks to this club, I have pushed myself to go out of my way to give compliments, to give back to the people around me, to check on the people I know are struggling and need that reassurance, ensuring that I was advocating for the mental health of my school’s community. I always knew I wanted to be someone who made a difference, and through the Inspire Positivity Club, I’ve been able to make that difference I’ve always dreamed of, and I’ve grown into a person who will continue to push forward to help advocate for mental health within my community.

My name is Katelyn Sears, and I have always been passionate about making an impact on the world as an educator. I am a senior at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas, where I am the secretary of the band, a member in choir, the club president of the Inspire Positivity Club, and part of an internship program where I assist as a teacher's aide in an elementary music classroom. I currently plan to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall to major in Music Education, so I can carry out my life-long dream to be a teacher. This scholarship can help me receive the funding I need in order to get my degree, as I have no assistance from family to pay for college as I come from a low-income family with struggles paying bills and putting food on our plates. Almost everyone at one point in their life has that one teacher who impacted you in a way you can never forget. My goal is to be that teacher for as many students as I possibly can be. I plan on earning my degree in Music Education and using it to make a positive impact on the world through, well, music. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music is such an influential thing, as it has the power to bring people together and can have an enormous impact on a person's mental health. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself. I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. I then hope that through that impact I have on them, my students go on to impact others as well, causing ripple after ripple of impacts, causing a non-stop chain of positive impacts on the world, even after I'm long gone. I currently intern in an elementary music classroom, and witnessing my students' excitement to see me and to learn music motivates me further to use my studies in Music Education to one day help make the world a better place through the positive impact I plan to have on my students. My time at my internships has solidified my passion of becoming a music educator, and I know that Music Education is the correct path for me. I am beyond excited to see where my education will take me and to meet my students each year that I'll have the blessing of to one day impact and change their lives for the better through music.

I plan on using my education in Music Education to give back to society through, well, music. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music is such an influential thing, as it has the power to bring people together and can have an enormous impact on a person's mental health. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself. I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. I currently intern in an elementary music class and witnessing my students' excitement to see me and to learn music motivates me further to use my studies in Music Education to one day help make the world a better place through the positive impact I plan to have on my students. For me, my main adversity I’ve dealt with has always been my mental health, as I have always faced intense struggles with my mental health. From the age of four, I had already considered the possibility of ending my life. I’d sit there in bed at night, after what felt like hours of my parents arguing and hold my breath as long as I could, hoping that it would stop my breathing and maybe I’d escape the noise. Since elementary school, I’ve experienced practically non-stop anxiety stemming from just about anything and everything you can think of. Through middle school I suffered with body image problems, leading me to eat less and less, hoping I’d drop this non-existent extra weight and fat I saw on myself. Even now, I still sometimes have moments where I suffer from these problems, but nowhere to the extent I once did. I overcame the extremity of my poor mental health through the support of my friends and an after-school club, of which I later became the president of, ‘Inspire Positivity’. The school club, ‘Inspire Positivity’ was and still is one of the major ways I overcame my issues with my mental health. It was founded during my sophomore year of high school with the simple goal of inspiring positivity through talking through difficult mental health topics and through spreading positive messages/actions throughout the school community. Through attending these meetings, I saw how the people around me experienced similar struggles and I found people who all cared deeply about helping others despite their own struggles. In my junior year, the opportunity came to me to be the leader of the very thing that had helped pull me back together, and I jumped right in without looking back. I now, as the current president of the Inspire Positivity club, get to help fellow peers who struggle just as I did, find a place where they can talk through difficult topics and learn how we can continue pushing on. As the president of this club, I have learned countless things about mental health and the importance of taking care of one’s mental health.

Jack’s story inspires me because it serves as a reminder of the strength of the human mind and soul. Every day, humanity’s mind and soul are challenged in ways that I couldn’t even begin to imagine, and Jack’s story is an example of those challenges. Yet, despite all odds, humanity carries on, just as Jack carried on. The simple fact that Jack endured such inhuman horrors, pushed through to get an education despite not speaking English, and accomplished so many amazing things is such a huge inspiration to me. I have always faced intense struggles with my mental health. From the age of four, I had already considered the possibility of ending my life. I’d sit there in bed at night, after what felt like hours of my parents arguing and hold my breath as long as I could, hoping that it would stop my breathing and maybe I’d escape the noise. Since elementary school, I’ve experienced practically non-stop anxiety stemming from just about anything and everything you can think of. Through middle school I suffered with body image problems, leading me to eat less and less, hoping I’d drop this non-existent extra weight and fat I saw on myself. Even now, I still sometimes have moments where I suffer from these problems, but nowhere to the extent I once did. I overcame the extremity of my poor mental health through the support of my friends and an after-school club, of which I later became the president of, ‘Inspire Positivity’. The school club, ‘Inspire Positivity’ was and still is one of the major ways I overcame my issues with my mental health. It was founded during my sophomore year of high school with the simple goal of inspiring positivity through talking through difficult mental health topics and through spreading positive messages/actions throughout the school community. Through attending these meetings, I saw how the people around me experienced similar struggles and I found people who all cared deeply about helping others despite their own struggles. In my junior year, the opportunity came to me to be the leader of the very thing that had helped pull me back together, and I jumped right in without looking back. I now, as the current president of the Inspire Positivity club, get to help fellow peers who struggle just as I did, find a place where they can talk through difficult topics and learn how we can continue pushing on, just as Jack did. As the president of this club, I have learned countless things about mental health and the importance of taking care of one’s mental health, as well as how we can help better the community around us. I plan on using my studies in Music Education to give back to society through, well, music. I want to be a music teacher so that I can help students find their passion for music, just as my music teachers have done for me. Music is such an influential thing, as it has the power to bring people together and can have an enormous impact on a person's mental health. Music for many is an escape and a way to express oneself.I want to provide my students that opportunity for self-expression and escape from their day-to-day lives, and hopefully through that, leave an ever-lasting impact on them. I currently intern in an elementary music class and witnessing my students' excitement to see me and to learn music motivates me further to one day use my studies in Music Education to give back to society through the impact I plan to have on my students.

Music has always played a huge role in my life, all the way from starting music in elementary school to where I am now: a senior in high school planning to major in music education so I can spread the impact and joys of music as an educator. I am currently an active member in my high school’s band and choir programs, as well as a second-year student intern in a local elementary music classroom. Music has affected my high school life in an incredibly positive manner, as it brought me together with many of my closest friends and allowed me to discover some of my biggest passions, including my passion for music education. I have always wanted to go into education, but after experiencing the family-like bonds I made and the intense excitement and determination I felt during marching season, I knew that I wanted to one day direct my own marching band. The feeling I got freshman year at my area marching contest was like no other, and I still vividly remember the giant smile across my face and the tears of joy as we performed in that stadium that day. That feeling of standing there in the stadium, hearing the music roar from our instruments, knowing all of mine and the band's hard work that season had come together at that moment, changed me forever. The impact from that first year at the marching contest and all the years that followed helped me make up my mind on music education, as I want to allow my students to feel that same rush of emotions I felt in that stadium. Band has also had a lasting effect on my high school life through the experiences it's given me from me being the flute section leader, secretary of the band, as well as a two-year All-Region band qualifier and a two-year state Solo & Ensemble qualifier. My time throughout my junior and senior years in an elementary music setting as an intern has given me so much insight into the world of education. This experience has affected my life as it brought me even closer to music, and it allowed me to meet my top-tier mentor teacher and all my wonderful students. I love the way my students' faces light up as they learn and take in music every day, and it fills me with joy to see music positively affecting them just as it has affected me. All together, music, whether it be through band, choir, my internship, or even just in the car, has had such an immensely positive effect on me throughout high school and will continue to affect me throughout the entirety of my life. I’m so grateful for every opportunity and experience music has given me, and I am so genuinely excited to become a music educator and allow for students to experience the joys of music like I have.