The book that changed me into a book lover was a murder mystery called Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen McManus. This book was actually one of her first books ever completed and the thrill and mystery kept me on the edge of my seat even until the very last page. Now not everyone is a fan of murder mystery books but the thing that I absolutely love about this book is that it has a perfect balance between thriller, mystery, and romance. The A plot and the B plot intertwine in a way that allows you to be completely consumed by both plots. The romance doesn't take away from the main idea of the book about this teen girl finding herself in a new town while she is being targeted by an unknown killer. She solves the case by linking the past, future, and present to make an exciting discovery. I recommend this book to people trying to find a love for reading because it's a book that captivates you from the very first sentence. There is a twist or turn at the most unexpected times and even in the serious moments of crime and death you still find the sweet cringy loveable moments that make you pull a blanket over your head and squeal. It makes reading fun as it engages all of your emotions from fear to happiness and even tears from either sad moments or laughing too hard. Finding this book ultimately changed my life and for the better, it showed me that it's okay to have fun while reading, that books are meant to help distract you and educate you. I hope that this book helps others as it helped me.

Books are a true treasure in the world of knowledge, personally, I find that they not only help with analytical thinking but also creative thinking for the people who decide to read. Reading for me was a way for me to escape reality but also in an unexpected way has helped me expand my view of the world and help me in the classroom. The most recent book I have read was a fictional piece by a new author, Alex Aster called Lightlark. I found the book on social media looking for a way to try something new. This fantasy novel was such a fun read that I found fun and relaxing but also kept me on the edge of my seat waiting for more on each page. The book was about different leaders of different creatures competing for the chance to remove the curses that affected their lives and the health of their homes. There are put through different life-or-death challenges to see who deserves their curse to be broken. Now I understand that this book may seem childish but I really connected with it as I feel it represents society in a fantastical way. By connecting books I read no matter the genre of the book I think it helps me progress mentally by truly indulging in how even fiction resembles the times when it was written. This book describes the same concepts of prejudice, discrimination, and racism that many of us experience in our everyday lives. It made me realize that you can never truly understand someone else's situation without living in their shoes. Throughout the book, the main character fights hard to be the winner and earn her place among her royal peers and earn their respect. Much like minorities do in today's society, as well it brings in the idea that many people that are from younger generations don't receive as much respect as others simply because of their, even though that is still relevant today in different cultures not many people take the time to talk about it. The themes of this book intertwined with fantasy made it the harsh truths of reality easier to understand and spot the wrongs that these truths cause. I feel as though this book Lightlark has broadened my view and ability to detect the wrongs of society and learn how I personally can correct my own behavior to stop prejudice on my end. I also believe that this will be true for any reader who reads any books.

Mental health looks different for everyone. No one's depression is the same, and no one's anxiety is the same. My parents grew up on the idea that therapy and mental illness were for the weak, that everyone has it the same and only the strong can move past it. Many of my parent's beliefs caused my mental illness to become worse, "how could an athlete have body dysmorphia", and "how could you have anxiety and social anxiety you like to hang out with your friends". I was put into a generalization of who I was supposed to be and it made it hard to get out of bed in the morning, or hard to speak to others freely, and even look at myself in the mirror. No one noticed the things I felt were obviously my screams for help. My sly comments or the moments where I thought isolation would help. Religion became hard to understand, friends felt hard to make and harder to keep, I felt my parents weren't listening or seeing the problems I was having, and I lost all motivation to go out and change the world. The voice that was constantly in my ear screaming at me, that I was embarrassing, stupid, ugly, unloved the more I heard it the more I believed it. Most people dive into their God when things get tough, I ran from it. I didn't want to be one of his strongest soldiers taking on a tough battle. I wanted peace and happiness something any teenage girl longs for. I didn't like the idea of destiny because I felt that it meant that all the disgusting things I felt I was, were because I was designed to be that way. It took me years to learn that it was an inner battle that needed to be won. That I was brought to this path to find that I could love myself how I was, without changing who I was for others. The voice screaming at me always ended in me screaming back at it. I relied on others to see the internal struggle that I was going through rather than just confiding to them about it. But that's one of the biggest issues with mental health those of us who have issues are never encouraged to come forward with the problems we are struggling with. I felt as if I had to go through it alone. I pushed my friends away and they let me which made things worse, my parents didn't understand even when I did put my pride aside and let them in. Over time when I learned that it wasn't something I had to do alone, I repaired most of my relationships. But I learned that vulnerability is something to take advantage of when you are struggling, and it's okay to ask for help. Growing up with goals and wants can become extremely hard when you are also growing up with a mental illness and even harder if you have more than one. The best thing is to learn that to get the big things you want is patience, you have to reach each little stone to get to the big one. Whether that stone is getting out of bed or finishing a book. It is okay to take time to yourself but being productive in anything is good medicine. Having mental health issues has taught me many valuable lessons, but most importantly it's okay to have a bad day or a bad week. What matters the most is you have a strong support system to fall on.

Growing up my parents worked hard to make sure that I went to a good school for K-12; somewhere where I had unlimited opportunities to decide what I wanted to do with my future. But the biggest problem that I faced growing up was that I was a minority, a black sheep, one of seven African-Americans in my graduating class of 750. As I hit high school, I became more aware of how little African American history we learned and how inaccurate what we were learning was. In high school, I took it upon myself to create and participate in groups that taught black history accurately. I was the historian of the World Cultures Club where we discusses and researched different cultures that students come from. I founded the Literary society at my high school where we encouraged the reading and writing of diverse topics through diverse authors with different backgrounds like those from different racial and ethnicities as well as those from the LGBTQ+ community. As well I was part of the African Student Association where we discussed how to include more positive educational opportunities for African American students. All of these organizations have indulged in my need to spread awareness and make an impact on diversifying my communities to be more inclusive, with this I chose to major in Criminal Justice with a minor in both political science and Spanish. With that, I plan to become a juvenile defense lawyer and work to lower discrimination and crime rate among adolescence that are African American and in the foster system. Community service to provide strong leaders that represent minority communities is a very important goal of mine. As I work closely with children from all backgrounds through homeless shelters, food pantries, and jobs like babysitting, I learned that the best way to implement diversity is to provide children with positive images of people from those different groups at a young age. In life, I want to accomplish making the world a better place for everyone to feel welcome, even if it is one community at a time. Because many people do not realize the luxury that comes with being produced in an environment that welcomes you and encourages you to be great while providing examples for you to follow that also look like you. Whether that is an example of someone who is black, white, gay, or other. If each person strives to make their community just a little more inclusive, not only will it solve the problem of providing powerful role models that inspire opportunities but it will help alleviate much more tension in other social problems as well.

Throughout life I have had to face many challenges all ranging from me being a petite girl on the soccer field to being 1 of maybe 10 to 15 african americans at my primarily white school. Being an African American women in high school only becme more challenging as I slowly indulged myself in male predominant fields of work. As any curious high school I changed my mind on what career I wanted because I felt confident that I could do them all. Even though I was constantly being out down by my male counterparts. As I slowly dipped into fields of agriculture, culinary, social working, and even the medical field I was never excepted by those around me. If the class work wasn't hard enough trying to connect with my classmates was. Many times I was called names and even slurs but I refused to let any of that stop me. That was until the day that I took an online college English class, were it's core focus was Journalism. I suffered the same treatment from my classmates but this class was my outlet. I was always taught at home that no matter people said to me I could only retaliate with kindness, that because with harsh words or violence I was just a bad as them. But with journalism my retaliation could also be a voice of reason. The class focused on three main topics for our writing: gender, race, ethnicity. Though, I loved to write about social injustice for both African Americans, this class also opened my eyes on the fact that it also applied to all minorities including women. But the full impact of this class did not hit me until the day I recieved feed back from my essay analyzer. Her name was Tiara Jackson. The words she left for me about my essay inspired me, but also helped me build the courage to decide that my writing can change the world for the better. I could fight for equality and love through locigal persuasive words. Now, as a Senior in high school, committed to continue my soccer and academic career at Texas A&M commerce I plan to double major in Political Science and Journalism. I plan to continue to write as a way to speak up against society. To voice all the challenges I have had to faces, and all the challenges I have had to share with others. I believe it unfair that my challenges have occurred, but I realize now as I head to college that they have mede me who I am. Determined, fierce, and one to never back away from a challenge. It has also prepared me to face my obstcles head on as I move forward in life.

Every child is taught the basics of greed, generosity, kindness, or hate. In my family, my dad taught me the ideas of generosity and kindness by bringing me along with him to military bases in Texas. As a veteran, my dad truly believed in the ideals of serving others, which I have taken up because of him. So, on the holidays we would take presents to families and children whose parents were deployed and unable to attend. Together my father and I would carefully pick out the toys, then wrap them in fun wrapping paper. After we would gather all of the toys into the back of our truck and drive hours to the military base in San Antonio. The first year we did this together I was in second grade, what I remember most was the smiles on everyone's faces. Some with dimples, some with teeth, but all wide and grateful. Everyone was smiling the kids who were my age and younger, and the parents. This memory is what drives me to continue to go out and serve others in my community every day. Whether it be through service hours, helping someone with a task, or by doing small gestures. I always strive to make other's lives easier and happier. The memory of their smiles motivates me to create the same smiles on everyone I impact. The person I am today is someone who cares and who gives, that is thanks to my Dad, and the smiles of others.