Community is not what everyone often makes you believe it is. It isn't going to events every Friday night, talking with every person you walk by, or even actively engaging with others. A community is the result of every soul that has ever walked through it. Whether it is quick passive recognition before moving on or actively organizing others to achieve an ultimate goal, a community is a mosaic of every person that has ever or will ever touch glance its way. At this point, you may be wondering why I am talking about community as an entity instead of aspirations and contributions. I encourage you to not think of them as separate. I am a mosaic of every soul that has ever touched me—grazes of fingers on wrists and deep conversations alike. I have walked through so many spaces: my rural hometown, where I used to think I didn't belong; my current university, where I made my own space; and the various small towns I drive through on a bi-annual basis. All of these communities have been impacted by my presence, and I have been impacted by theirs. As someone studying psychology, my passion is people—learning, exploring, and connecting with people. I have hopes and dreams separate from every person I've ever met, and yet we still all want the same thing: to give back to those who touched us along the way. For me, that looks like practicing counseling psychology in areas where mental health is undervalued and simultaneously growing beyond those spaces. I am not going to sit here and pretend like one person can change all of the problems in the world, but I am going to say that aiding even one person is enough. And with one person, we can reach millions. My ultimate goal is to create a domino effect within my hometown community and every community I subsequently travel through. Oftentimes, psychology is overlooked as a STEM field because it is seen as "less than" or "pseudoscience," but that could not be farther from the truth. People and human interaction are probably the hardest things we, as humans, can experience. They are the root of all struggles. Understanding the various aspects of human nature is what fundamentally connects all of us as one. We all know what hurt and joy feel like, but helping others realize that they are not abnormal for being human is the psychologist's biggest superpower. Showing a person that they are just as much part of this beautiful mosaic as the greatest of world leaders. We teach them how to find the right color and shape for their piece of glass and how their place is no less important than anyone else's, regardless of size or shape. Connecting people to every community they have walked through is far from an easy feat, especially for someone like myself without much consistent external support, but it is a goal I will never stop working towards. It is not possible to do what I would like without an official degree, however, so I am pursuing the necessary channels, if not for myself, then to show others that it can be done even for us homeless, queer, and female students. I aim to contribute to the community by modeling for those who see the injustices I see, by leading those who struggle back to a path of health and happiness, and overall by fostering community within the individual. I aim to contribute to the community by bringing community to places where it is accepted and creating community in those where it is not.

As a young, queer, female-presenting student working in the automotive industry has been a struggle. Very few people took me seriously and I took that as a challenge to establish myself in the industry. I currently am working on a public project aimed at closing these gaps and deconstructing these barriers for others. Automotive Insight is an intel-based project aimed at bridging the gap between minority and female students and the automotive industry. Through a two-night seminar, students will be able to gain access to free information about their vehicles and hidden resources around them. From how to change a tire in the event of a flat to what questions to ask when faced with difficult decisions in a shop, students can learn how to be prepared for any situation life may throw at them regarding their vehicles. I am a firm believer that information should be accessible and that profit should not be put over people. In addition to my passion for free education, I have been studying as a classics student at my university. Again, my goal is to bridge the gap between female/minority students and another male-dominated world. I hold weekly discussions and academic aid sessions to help female and minority students excel in fields that often work to keep them out. In this program, I meet with neurodivergent students to provide academic planning tailored to the neurodivergent mind to aid these students in their college careers. Studying classics has also provided me with a unique experience that bridges fields and languages. I have a working knowledge of both the ancient Latin and Greek languages that has helped me work with students in unfamiliar fields on more than one occasion, and I have been able to use my discussion skills developed thorugh my writings to help students advocate for themselves in a way that most cannot. While I pride myself most on these two achievements, I also hold several other attributes that make me unique that I use to give back to my community. As a self-supporting homeless student, I understand the difficulties posed when accessing higher education and through the achievement of a degree. I aim to be an example and a resource for students who may not otherwise be able to access college by providing accessible mental health and academic aid tailored toward individuals in my same position. As a queer individual who has established myself as an upstanding community member in a relatively unaccepting community, I have been able to provide support and mentorship through our community teen center for teens who face the same social struggles I have. It is through my lived experience I have been able to establish myself as a resource in the world of equity and empowerment and I intend to give back through the application of my psychology degree.

One of the many struggles I have had to overcome to get to where I am today is the income barrier and houselessness. I have been houseless since I was 18 and am going on 3 years now. I was able to secure a high-paying job as the manager of an automotive shop and also have 2 other jobs that I work during the academic year (one as the registrar and one in accessible education helping students with learning disabilities access college). At the present, I still do not have a permanent address, but I have been able to fund my college career and create a sustainable living situation for myself. I have had to navigate the higher education experience from the perspective of a disenfranchised community, which has been far from easy. As a low-income student with ADHD, I aim to continue helping my community by providing access to affordable, accessible mental health care. My pathway to getting there, however, is a long journey. I intend to get both a masters in counseling psychology and a PsyD so that I can aptly provide mental health care for low-income and disabled communities. I don't just want to provide an immediate impact on my community, however. I want to create a chain effect within the low-income and disabled communities through visible representation. I aim to show younger generations that higher education is possible regardless of the challenging situations we may find ourselves in. Through various research projects and research deep dives, I have shown repeatedly and found consistently that the rates of higher education pursual and success are disproportionate in houseless, physically disabled, and learning-disabled communities. The community I live in has one of the highest rates of houselessness in the state of Arizona, one of the highest rates of disability in Arizona, and one of the lowest rates of higher education pursual in Arizona. I not only want to give them access to the services I aim to provide but also access to the path I took. I aim to show the people I work with that economic and social mobility and freedom are accessible regardless of houseless or disability status and I aim to help them navigate the process through the lens of a disability or houseless status. Disability status, houseless status, queerness, and mental health status should not be barriers to accessing higher education. Through my work, I aim to help people deal with their struggles, accept themselves, and overcome the societal challenges that they face to create a better life for themselves. Through having to overcome the difficulty surrounding many of these identities myself, I have realized how challenging navigating this world alone can be and thus how important it is to attempt it anyway and how vital aid can be in success. I aim to help my community bridge these gaps to create more manageable and successful lives regardless, or perhaps because of, their status, whatever that may be.

My favorite Disney character growing up was Nala from The Lion King. Maybe not the main character, but an important one nonetheless. To me, Nala represented more than the character who had to be the one to get help and the love interest of the main character. What I saw in her was a strong female lead who a community relied on to save them by getting them to help themselves. The entire community relied on her to be strong when the one who was supposed to be the hero had fled and left everyone he knew behind. From the beginning of the story, she was the love interest and nothing more, playing no vital role in the kingdom from which she came, destined to be the matriarch because the protagonist wanted her to be and not because she deserved it or earned it herself. From the beginning, she was destined to have no control over her story. From the beginning, I saw her as the true hero. She was defensive and proud of her achievements regardless of what everyone else thought. She knew her worth and wouldn't let anyone take that from her. She witnessed firsthand the atrocities that had happened to her family and didn't back down from her responsibilities. But it was her on whom the community relied for their eventual release. She was the one who had to talk the protagonist back into the real world. She was developed in a way that allowed her to be both loving and strong at the same time whereas most other characters were one or the other at various points but never at the same time. While other characters were awarded time to grieve and be weak, she was not. I saw a lot of that in my own life as a child. Growing up in a difficult household, I remember being the one to protect my siblings and having to grow up too quickly. I was forced into the same situation Nala was from a young age. I had to take care of everyone including, sometimes, my parents. I had to be the one to talk my mother into leaving the abusive relationship. I had to be the strong character when everyone else wanted me to be the side character shielded from the reality of the world. Some of us never had another option.

There are very few things in life more important to me that education and those things are people and equity. In my case, higher education is the route needed to better my community and aid disenfranchised communities. I aim to practice counseling in disenfranchised communities, particularly the houseless and those with learning disabilities. Higher education is not just a goal for me to achieve, but it is the backbone of my life path, the foundation from which I can gain access to helping others. I feel that, though information has an intrinsic value to it, using information learning how to apply it to our society is the most important aspect of higher education. My goal in life is to bridge the gap between low income and learning disabled individuals and higher education because I believe higher education is valuable not only for me but also for others. Higher education is most important to me because it affords me an opportunity to aid those in need and build a better life for myself. It allows me to go from houseless myself to stable and able to help others. I am able to be a better functioning member of society. Higher education allows for individual growth and exploration. It is through my time in higher education that I came to have this view on the institution. You are exposed to a number of ideas and thought processes that will shape who you are as a person, the way you think and articulate arguments, and the way you express and function within those ideas. Though some may see narrow routes of education as a superior option because it allows for more specialization, I see a liberal arts education as the most valuable base for anyone who wants to be a productive member of society whether that be as a doctor, a mechanic, or a social worker. It provides the base for moving foreword through exposure and wide application. You are taught not only valuable information but also how to articulate that information in a way that is most effective. You are taught how to construct solid working theories of the world and how to apply seemingly irrelevant information into social realms in a way that strengthens the understanding of the world you and others have. It is through higher education that we open ourselves to different perspectives and solutions that we otherwise would not have had access to. We can access different ways of thinking that provide us with more open-minded approached. Most importantly, higher education provides us a way to shape ourselves into our ideals and create our own identities in a world full of clutter and noise.

The song with the most important message is not important because of its lyrics or its sound, but rather because of its importance in many human rights situations right now. The song "Another Love" (Tom Odell) has been an anthem as of recent in both the Russia-Ukraine war and the Iranian revolution. It symbolized both a personal struggle with love but also a struggle for the freedom and rights that should be awarded to every person regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and more. The line "all my tears have been used up" has resonated with many who struggle with accessing basic human rights. Those who have not only been part of but who have witnessed the numerous tragedies that have occurred in recent months. It is true that many of us simply do not have any energy left and yet through this song many are able to express their feelings of loss, of grief, and of hope for something better. Though the song originally became popular with the Ukraine struggle for freedom, it applies to many situations including the Iranian revolution, missing and murdered indigenous women, LGBTQ+ fight for freedom, and the women's rights movement. As such it is deserving of the title "most important message" in the minds and hearts of who are struggling (though this song is rivaled by "Baraye" (Shervin Hajipour) for many).

My personal favorite extracurricular activity I participate in is my position within my university as a college access navigator. In this position, I work with multiple students with learning disabilities to aid them in navigating the college world and shifting their lives from living with parents to independent sustainability. As is the nature of this position, I have had to spend extensive time investing my energy into other students and away from myself. As is the natural tendency of this position, I initially found myself over-investing and losing grip on my own academic investment. In response to this, I had to find ways of shifting my schedule and energy to not leave myself behind. Initially, I tried to shift my schedule so that I could continue investing the same energy ratio I had been into each aspect of my life. It is important to note that I also work two other jobs while balancing this position and a full-time academic load. I dug into strategies I knew worked for me and my ADHD brain to refocus my academic energy. I stopped utilizing traditional work and study methods and started using methods that seemed counterproductive. I spend 15 hours across two days on the weekends doing the entirety of my weekly homework load for the upcoming week. I had to be very careful to avoid burnout and so I had to build in a stimulating environment and a plethora of breaks to not overwhelm or overwork myself. This worked very well (and still does) to encourage me to stay on top of work and invest all my energy into academic work for a solid chunk of time. I was able to free up my weekday time to focus on things like self-care and random assignments that come up. I thought I had solved the issue. I was wrong. I was still over-investing my energy into other students and was becoming exhausted along with them. As such, I decided to participate in some training in counseling tactics. I allotted a certain amount of time I can spend on my students while still providing them with adequate help. I blocked off my evenings from both academic and work-related things. I confined my working hours to business hours. I certainly allow for flexibility, but I set up this standard to protect my energy so that I was not getting overwhelmed in one sphere and letting it bleed into another. I also found methods of reorganizing my responsibilities that worked for my brain. I created a work mindset, an academic mindset, and an extracurricular mindset, and I confine them to the times I have scheduled them. I keep all of these categories out of my personal space (even now, I write this in my academic space outside of my dorm). I recognized that I had to respect my own boundaries (and I passed these tools onto my students) to manage my time between academics, extracurriculars, and personal responsibilities. I created separate energies, spaces, and even tools for each category and I am strict about respecting those distinctions.

A healthy lifestyle should not be a difficult goal to achieve. Unfortunately for many disabled students like myself, it is harder than it should be. As a houseless, low-income, disabled student, leading a healthy lifestyle has been incredibly difficult. Being low-income has severely limited my ability to get a gym membership, though I used to be a gymnast which has led me to be aware of my body and its health from a young age. As a result, I have had to find creative ways to create a healthy lifestyle for myself and for my planet. I had to start with small changes and work my way up. First and foremost, I shifted my diet to a plant-based one. This was originally incredibly difficult given the household I was in but very quickly I was forced from that house. I got a decent job and was able to choose how I fed myself, and I chose a plant-based diet for a number of health reasons. I found myself having more energy and a better awareness of my nutritional health than I had before. I not only knew what to do, but how to do it, and I could do it on my own. From this point, I was able to move beyond diet to physical health. I very quickly found ways of exercising that fit my body. As someone with Ehlers-Danlos, physical movement can become incredibly difficult very quickly if I am not careful. As a result, I have had to avoid things like running, lifting, yoga, and other traditional methods of exercise. I found small ways of exercising my body like low-effort and low-energy physical therapy exercises and warm-up gymnastics exercises I had learned from the one month I could afford physical therapy when I was younger and in my years as a young gymnast that I quickly could not afford to do anymore without hurting my body. When I started my job at an automotive repair shop, I quickly began to develop enough strength in my muscles to move from small exercises to more traditional ones. I was able to move outdoors to provide my body with the essential nutrients and mental health benefits from outdoor mobility, sunlight, and fresh air. I picked up hiking in the lovely mountainous forests surrounding my hometown; I started outdoor yoga with my cat (though he doesn't seem to like it very much so I stopped bringing him), and I started walking everywhere to increase my mobile activity. I think it is not only important to recognize the importance of an individual healthy lifestyle but also to contribute to a global healthy lifestyle. I have shifted to a plant-based diet both for health and ethics, but also to reduce my carbon footprint and support finding sustainable farming and agriculture methods. I have switched to local foods and sustainable companies. I have reduced my driving by walking to reduce my carbon footprint and encourage physical exercise within myself. I bought a fuel-efficient car to offset my driving when I do have to do so. I think that it is impossible to separate independent physical health and global health. As such, I have made strategic choices to both benefit my own lifestyle, but also that of the earth itself.

One of the many struggles I have had to overcome to get to where I am today is the income barrier and houselessness. I have been houseless since I was 18 and am going on 3 years now. I was able to secure a high-paying job as the manager of an automotive shop and also have 2 other jobs that I work during the academic year (one as the registrar and one in accessible education helping students with learning disabilities access college). At the present, I still do not have a permanent address, but I have been able to fund my college career and create a sustainable living situation for myself. I have had to navigate the higher education experience from the perspective of a disenfranchised community, which has been far from easy. As a low-income student with ADHD, I aim to continue helping my community by providing access to affordable, accessible mental health care. My pathway to getting there, however, is a long journey. I intend to get both a masters in counseling psychology and a PsyD so that I can aptly provide mental health care for low-income and disabled communities. I don't just want to provide an immediate impact on my community, however. I want to create a chain effect within the low-income and disabled communities through visible representation. I aim to show younger generations that higher education is possible regardless of the challenging situations we may find ourselves in. Through various research projects and research deep dives, I have shown repeatedly and found consistently that the rates of higher education pursual and success are disproportionate in houseless, physically disabled, and learning-disabled communities. The community I live in has one of the highest rates of houselessness in the state of Arizona, one of the highest rates of disability in Arizona, and one of the lowest rates of higher education pursual in Arizona. I not only want to give them access to the services I aim to provide but also access to the path I took. I aim to show the people I work with that economic and social mobility and freedom are accessible regardless of houseless or disability status and I aim to help them navigate the process through the lens of a disability or houseless status. Disability status, houseless status, queerness, and mental health status should not be barriers to accessing higher education. Through my work, I aim to help people deal with their struggles, accept themselves, and overcome the societal challenges that they face in order to create a better life for themselves. Through having to overcome the difficulty surrounding many of these identities myself, I have realized how challenging navigating this world alone can be and thus how important it is to attempt it anyway and how vital aid can be in success. I aim to help my community bridge these gaps to create more manageable and successful lives regardless, or perhaps because of, their status, whatever that may be.

I am a completely independent, self supporting university student. My goal is to be a counselor for children and teens with trauma because of my background. Life is not easy, that much everyone knows. When I was little My home was not a safe place for children. At the age of 7 my parents got divorced and though it was for the better, and for our safety, it was hard. My mom worked a night job as a nurse to support us 3 girls. We lived at my grandparents house for a couple years on food stamps before things started to look up for us. We've never had money but this was extreme. My mother rekindled with her highschool sweetheart, my now step-father. It wasn't all rainbows and flowers though. My parents had the task of blending two broken families. It wasn't ideal but at least it was real. We moved into a new house, got a dog, and finally started settling down. Until COVID hit and we lost everything. Turns out the universe loves playing tricks on you. My parents relationship was always tense but never like this. Because of my mom's job as a nurse we were all high risk for COVID. Personal time is very important to my family and during quarantine we lost that. We all had our ways of coping. My mom picked up more hours, my sister dancing, and my brother the military. I struggled just as much as them. I got a few clinical diagnoses based on my childhood trauma. I got diagnosed with ADHD. And I started having health issues. I was diagnosed with anemia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and hypoglycemia. I lost all sight of a successful future. Then I did some internal exploration. I started drawing and writing. I joined online communities to find a fit for me. And the worst part, I came out. I say worst loosely. It was the best part for me but my family has never been that accepting of different kinds of people and were convinced I had been lost because of my celtic faith. I got kicked out. Everything seemed so hopeless to me. So I did what any sensible person with no funds or support would do and continued on. It seemed bad but I knew I could do good for myself and I got my own job, car, cat, and place. All while supporting myself. And trying for university. And now we're here. I work 2 jobs to support myself and my cat. In spite of the trouble it has caused me, I am active in the queer community, social justice movements, women's rights movements, and the environmentalist movement. I dont know if my parents were more disappointed in my sexuality or in my diet once I told them I was plant based... Now I am a second year university student in Oregon but living in Arizona. I manage an automotive repair shop in Arizona, work at my university in Oregon, and volunteer to help new students in the university transition. I never quit because I knew my little sister was looking to me. I knew that people who come from similar situations would be looking to me. I am strong for them if nothing else. But I also knew that I deserved better and I keep working towards that every day. The world needs to see people like me to make change and help those families and children in need. I want to be part of that change. While I am working very hard to keep myself afloat it is very difficult.

While me and my parents have not lost their jobs due to COVID, I have been severely affected. My mother is a nurse who deals with people who have tested positive for COVID, has had shortened hours, and received a pay drop. My father has suffered shortened hours and a pay drop. I have not been able to receive the proper assistance with my schooling, such as tutoring for calculus or assistance with a research project. I, as well as the rest of my family, have experienced a severe mental health drop. The constant stress of the time has been detrimental to both me and my family. My mother disappeared after leaving a suicide note, she is here and okay now, my father has experienced an increased irritability level, I have had to change my medications many times, and my siblings mental state has become less stable. As well, I have lost one close friend to suicide and have grown detached from the people that had helped keep my mental stability and physical health up. During this time, I have been able to do a lot of self exploration. I have started practicing a Celtic Pagan faith; I have come out as bisexual, and I have learned how to move on from my past trauma and help others. While not seeing people was a struggle at first, I have learned to enjoy time to myself and I have found ways of staying in contact with reality and the outside world. I have worked extensively with my family to figure out how to deal with and avoid future family trauma and fights. I come home most days exhausted but I am happy with the household I have helped create and I am glad that I get to help people all day at work. The importance of connection and unity has really developed in our society and in my mind during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My personal identity has been a constant struggle in my life. I come from a small conservative republican town in Arizona. In a place where one is expected to be something, finding out you don’t fit in is challenging. When I first started to discover myself and my own identity I was terrified, I wasn't supposed to be that way. I had to work to be okay with life. I didn't have control of any other aspects. I became a stronger person because of myself. In the eighth grade, I was normal. I didn’t have a worry in sight. But then the troubles started: my family became strapped for money and I developed some mental health issues I couldn't get away from, and I started to feel like I was missing something. I wasn’t connecting with anyone anymore and I didn’t know why. I felt the way a child never should. I felt like I didn’t belong. I had a rough childhood; I was forced to grow up too fast, but I knew how to think. I knew something wasn’t “right” with my head, I wasn’t like the other kids. I began to look into myself and do some soul searching. After a while I finally located the first of my “problems,” I am gay. That wasn’t supposed to be me; I panicked and hid from the world; my mental state got worse. I attempted suicide twice; I was so scared of my being a failure to my parents. It took a long time but through those around me who held me up and a lot of self exploration, I realized it wasn't a problem. I was okay with myself, and I was finally free. Then 2020 rolled up in a savvy expensive car and dragged me right back down. At the beginning of quarantine, I was struck with a feeling that I was connected with this world in a way others weren’t. I searched until I was so mentally drained my brain felt like the Sahara. Eventually I found a spiritual belief and practice that fell under the term “Celtic Pagan.” And here entered the second “problem.” I was supposed to be Christian. I withdrew into myself, but, instead of making my mind a horrifying place like I did before, I decided to use my fear and anger to build a stronghold of acceptance and love. Within the last few years I have had to realize that who I am is not up to others. I am not sick. I am not wrong. I am not invalid. I am not a disease. I am just different. I am subject to change. And, though life would be easier if I could fit in the cookie cutter mold or if I decided to play the character that fit in, I am growing fond of the person I have built within myself. I needn’t be concerned with others’ thoughts or lives just as they needn’t be concerned with mine.

My goal is to assist a variety of people through interdisciplinary therapies, and so I chose a variety of liberal arts colleges with the highest educational standards to provide a path through a higher college education. I hope to be educated, at least to a minor degree, across various disciplines, such as finances, literature, the arts, and business, so that I am well equipped to deal with real-world situations where there is a mixture of topics involved. While I aim for psychology to be my primary path of education, I know that studying one narrow path throughout college would not allow me to extend my education into real-world scenarios nor would I be able to help people through various approaches if need be. No one on this planet can get by without an education that spreads across disciplines because nothing in life after college is so narrow as to pertain to one singular study. A therapist also needs to know how to run their business, in addition to knowing a variety of ways to try and help someone. Having a liberal arts college experience allows for the most flexibility and impact. In addition to helping a variety of people through the field of applied psychology and interdisciplinary therapies, this field will provide a sustainable living wage for myself. My end goal is to open an animal sanctuary for animals coming from various kinds of farms and ranches and allow people a place to really connect with nature and the world around them as well as themselves. Understanding how people work and having a solid financial situation are key to achieving this goal. As well, the broad areas of study a liberal arts college provides will allow me to transition from one field of work to the next in the event of an excess of people working in the field of psychology and therapy. I will already have a base education and some level of experience and observation in the fields I might need to transition over to, such as basic medical and biological care as well as teaching, writing, and art allowing me to transition into fields of animal care, journalism, and independent employment. Building a better community is the central aspect of my desire to pursue a college education and a career in psychology. A higher college education will also allow me the knowledge to gain experience and expertise in other fields through volunteer work and community work. Involvement in the local community, wherever I place myself, is an important part of my life goals. I want to help people and improve the community as a whole and having a liberal arts education will allow me some leeway into and access to positions of leadership, communication, and guidance in the community. It is important that I involve myself in various extracurricular activities to integrate myself into the community of my choosing and a college education and experience will allow me to see and explore the options of community involvement available to me without extinguishing my desire for helping others through self-improvement. I hope to see a more unified sense of humanity in my community. I hope to see people putting aside political and social differences to unite against climate change and inequality. I hope to see people work together to prevent war and hate. I hope to see love overpower the negativities in life. I volunteer at my local humane society to help animals get adopted. I volunteer at my local suicide prevention organization, Out Of Darkness, to help people fight for themselves. I carpool multiple people to reduce our carbon footprint. I work in customer service to promote local support for local shops. I make art and write to promote unity and change. I am active in the black lives matter movement, the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the women's rights movement, the environmentalist movement, and the animal cruelty movement. I strongly believe that working together to build bridges across social and economic gaps will help unify humanity, and so I am highly active in movements that work to do just that. I do independent work, including but not limited to art, writing, music, therapy, budgeting, and tutoring at little to no cost for the recipients. I work in management at a local automotive shop and I double as customer service there. I work to buy from and support the small and locally sourced businesses over big corporations to promote honest independent work. I try to eat locally and ethically sourced foods to promote taking better care of and supporting our regional environment. I help people start their own regionally specific and beneficial gardens and compost to create a better environment. I want to continue this through my college experience and the best way to do that is to be involved with my campus and college area.

My goal is to assist a variety of people through interdisciplinary therapies, and so I chose a variety of liberal arts colleges with the highest educational standards to provide a path through a higher college education. I hope to be educated, at least to a minor degree, across various disciplines, such as finances, literature, the arts, and business, so that I am well equipped to deal with real-world situations where there is a mixture of topics involved. While I aim for psychology to be my primary path of education, I know that studying one narrow path throughout college would not allow me to extend my education into real-world scenarios nor would I be able to help people through various approaches if need be. No one on this planet can get by without an education that spreads across disciplines because nothing in life after college is so narrow as to pertain to one singular study. A therapist also needs to know how to run their business, in addition to knowing a variety of ways to try and help someone. Having a liberal arts college experience allows for the most flexibility and impact. In addition to helping a variety of people through the field of applied psychology and interdisciplinary therapies, this field will provide a sustainable living wage for myself. My end goal is to open an animal sanctuary for animals coming from various kinds of farms and ranches and allow people a place to really connect with nature and the world around them as well as themselves. Understanding how people work and having a solid financial situation are key to achieving this goal. As well, the broad areas of study a liberal arts college provides will allow me to transition from one field of work to the next in the event of an excess of people working in the field of psychology and therapy. I will already have a base education and some level of experience and observation in the fields I might need to transition over to, such as basic medical and biological care as well as teaching, writing, and art allowing me to transition into fields of animal care, journalism, and independent employment. Building a better community is the central aspect of my desire to pursue a college education and a career in psychology. A higher college education will also allow me the knowledge to gain experience and expertise in other fields through volunteer work and community work. Involvement in the local community, wherever I place myself, is an important part of my life goals. I want to help people and improve the community as a whole and having a liberal arts education will allow me some leeway into and access to positions of leadership, communication, and guidance in the community. It is important that I involve myself in various extracurricular activities to integrate myself into the community of my choosing and a college education and experience will allow me to see and explore the options of community involvement available to me without extinguishing my desire for helping others through self-improvement. I hope to see a more unified sense of humanity in my community. I hope to see people putting aside political and social differences to unite against climate change and inequality. I hope to see people work together to prevent war and hate. I hope to see love overpower the negativities in life. I volunteer at my local humane society to help animals get adopted. I volunteer at my local suicide prevention organization, Out Of Darkness, to help people fight for themselves. I carpool multiple people to reduce our carbon footprint. I work in customer service to promote local support for local shops. I make art and write to promote unity and change. I am active in the black lives matter movement, the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the women's rights movement, the environmentalist movement, and the animal cruelty movement. I strongly believe that working together to build bridges across social and economic gaps will help unify humanity, and so I am highly active in movements that work to do just that. I do independent work, including but not limited to art, writing, music, therapy, budgeting, and tutoring at little to no cost for the recipients. I work in management at a local automotive shop and I double as customer service there. I work to buy from and support the small and locally sourced businesses over big corporations to promote honest independent work. I try to eat locally and ethically sourced foods to promote taking better care of and supporting our regional environment. I help people start their own regionally specific and beneficial gardens and compost to create a better environment. I want to continue this through my college experience and the best way to do that is to be involved with my campus and college area.

As someone who has always owned pets, I understand how impactful they are to our lives. I want to start an animal sanctuary for rescued farm animals to show people how important animals are to our mental and physical health as well as show the animals some love they may not have experienced in their farm lives. I own one dog [Opie], four cats [Scotch, Mikka, Beans, & Wiley], a rabbit [Comet], and a snake [Loki- No picture]. My Instagram handle is @pinky_the_flamingonaut and also features pictures of past pets including Blake and Thunder- rabbits, and Soda and Puppy- cats.