I just got back from the frozen snowy weekend camp. For a month that passed like a decade, my Grandma Sam has been in the hospital. When I got into the car with my mother it was quiet. I could see what had happened. My grandma died. For a whole year, I was broken and lost. She was my compass, my map, and my mentor. When I was a baby she created a bond with me that I can't describe in words. Months after her death I was lost. I was a storm cloud that could not stop raining tears. Then one day I felt her spirit come to me. She told me to go for my dream. I begin to think about the good times with her. As the storm cloud of tears disappeared I started to fight for my dream of being a NASCAR technician. I learned she was not gone. She was in my heart pushing me to achieve my dream and not to give up and whimper. I started to focus on what I loved to do in my life. I started pushing myself until I would break, and then I would build myself back up again. Although I was lost and stormy after the death of Grandma Sam, I started to learn what matters to me and to focus on making my life better. The reason why I am a person who takes changes today is because of her. She guides me along the way in my heart.

A community is like a NASCAR. If one section or portion is broken others will get worn down faster. This is why everyone needs to be involved in their communities. I have helped out my community in many different ways. Even though I am a scout I do the service projects for fun and to help out the community. I have done sock drives for the homeless to a clean sweep to building new horseshoe pits for a camp. I have been helping the community for a long time. It is important to me. Sometimes it feels that there are only two choices in a community. Either you help it become better or you just do nothing to help out. I chose to help out because I felt if I didn't help the community would become very bad. I have done many things. My first ever community service project was planting trees and then I got hooked on helping the community any way I could. I plan even after I leave this community and go into a new one that I will always help my first community. I will do service projects to help the world a better place. I will set up drives for socks and food to help the homeless. I will do anything to make the world better. Even though I want to go into NASCAR my career there will be able to help my community because I will be able to give extra money and help kids and adults in need. I wish that more people would help their community. I can't do it alone. It is a team effort to make this world better.

What is DEI without Dale Earnhardt Jr a museum. (Tony Stewart) The same goes for a community. Without people taking care of their community, it becomes memories of the past. I am committed to giving back to my community so it is not just memories of my past experiences but my future life. I do service projects that range from sock drives to cleaning up parks to making animal shelters. My goal is to leave my community better than what it was when I entered it to help future community members. I have made my community a better place. Every action I do will impact my community so I try to make sure I take good actions to help make a better community. One of my most impactful actions on the community was when I helped fix up a camp. I replaced rotting benches, horseshoe pits, and signs making it a healthier place. It also made the camp look nicer and providing people with a better experience. Another action that impacted my community for the better was when I decided to help clean up a church to make it nicer for the people attending. I found many things that could have caused danger like open needles and bags of drugs that people throw on the ground. I have also been awarded for my efforts to make the community better. In fifth grade, I was awarded the outstanding citizen award by the major of Auburn. I have also earned the world conversation award for cub scouts and boy scouts which requires me to help the community be more mindful of the environment. I also represent my community at the World Scout Jamboree. I also try to set an example to others every day. Every day I try to make my community better for not just me but others. I will keep doing service projects to help make my community much better than when I first came into it. I feel that without people in a community that help give back that the community might just become memories in someone's head or on paper. I want to keep my community going by helping out however I can in my life. Everyone in the community will always affect it no matter what they think. I just hope I can keep my community from becoming a museum like the NASCAR company DEI did many years ago.

Everyone in the world encounters adversity, for some people it being treated differently just because of your race, your religion, sexuality, or your disabilities. The biggest adversity in my life though was not any of those; it was losing a close friend to bone cancer. My friend Leroy was a unique person. He treated everyone with respect, taught me how to be happy, and could make the world seem better. Losing him was a big loss to me. I felt that there was a hole in my life without him. I could not keep myself together during the month after I lost him. I could not focus on doing school or sports. Watching NASCAR didn't even help me feel better. With help from my family, I overcame the sadness. I will always feel the loss of Leroy because of his impact on me. Leroy's death taught me to not take life for granted go after what you want to do in life. I have started to go after what I want to do in life. I want to be a NASCAR engineer. I have started taking many classes to help me with the mechanical side of machining and small gas engines. I have also started to not take anything for granted in my life because of that. I wake up every day working my way closer to my dream knowing that I will have to work hard. I do everything with Leroy in my mind to help motivate me. I also learned that family and friends are needed in life and that they will always help you no matter what. Even though he has passed his spirit lives on in my work because I do it because of him. I have joined the fight against all cancers, not just bone cancers. I try to help people become more aware of the cancers and how they can affect the people around the person that has cancer. Leroy was the best and his death was the harest adversity I had to get over and I am still not over it.

Although my mom was only a single other for 1 and a half years she is the reason why I am who I am. My mom was in college in Hagerstown Maryland when I was born on the 16th of May 2004. She had to work all day to support me and my great grama who took care of me during the day. My mother would come home exhausted and had to do school work and I would want to be with her during that time. When my mom had free time she would spend it with me at the park going down the slide and looking at all of the places in Hagerstown. Every day when I started to crawl I would wait at the door for my mom to get home so I could be by her. She also gave up on going into the navy to keep me. She always loved me and would be happy to have her at my side. She showed me that I should never give up on something just because it is hard. She also showed me that hard work and determination are needed to be successful in this world. She taught me to never leave anyone that needs someone to help them. If she had left me I would not be as determined and be somewhere else. She would always find ways to hang out with me when she was a single parent. She also showed me how to love people even if they are needy. She always put my needs first. She made sure that she had enough money to take care of me and my grandma. She also tried to get an education to get a job that made more money. She made sure that she did the best she could and never gave up on me just because of all the work. She gave me a good life because of that and she also made good choices. She made I was safe and always worried about my health and when I started to show symptoms of asthma she tried to find out what was wrong to make sure I was safe. She also would play with me and bring me with her when she went to go do something for fun because she could not leave me out of her sight. When I was older she moved across the country from Hagerstown Maryland to Tocamoa Washington to be with my dad Robert. She did that because she knew that it would help me and that I could get more time with her. She worked night shifts just to be with me. She didn't go to the navy just to keep me by her side. She did an online school just to be with me after she got done with work. She moved from Maryland to Washington because she knew that I needed a father's figure and that she wanted to spend more time with me. That is why my mother is the best single mother to me even if she was a single mother for one year. This Scholarship would mean so much to me because I could go to college and when I have kids I could spend more time with them.

Yogi Berra once said if there is a fork in the road take it. One of the many inspirational quotes from a famous and smart baseball player. This quote has inspired me to take chances. This quote has inspired me to take chances in my life. If something happens, it does for a reason so why not take chances. Many people come to a fork in the road and leave it or they turn back because they are scared of failure. If you do not complete something and you tried it is not failing. Not doing something because you are scared of failure is failing. I have learned that the hard way but this quote helps me to forget never that you try you will never fail. In conclusion, I have learned to take the fork and never give up. If you try you will never fail.

I do not think I want to study automotive repair. I have always liked cars and building things. this is one of the jobs that I love to do. I have done many classes that are hands-on including aerospace machining, jewelry, and small gas engines. I love to work on things. I am skilled at making things and I am very creative. I was taking apart toys with bolts at one and putting them back together. I also learn things very fast and can implement the skills. These are the reasons why I want to do automotive repair. I know what I want to do.

Not many people think that chess can affect someone's career path especially if it is being a mechanical engineer or baseball player. Yet chess has affected my career decisions and how I will do in my life. It has done it in many ways that you might have not thought of. Playing baseball I have to predict what the other team is going to do. Let's say a runner is on third nobody out I will suspect a bunt. In chess, if someone makes a pawn wall I would suspect they are doing a defensive strategy. Even though chess is a board game and baseball is a physical sport I can use things that I have learned in chess and imply them to baseball. Also, the predictions help me in being a mechanical engineer. I if there is something wrong aerodynamically I can predict that the chassis is causing the issue. This is helpful because I can fix the issue with the car designs of the car itself. This is one way that chess has influenced my goals. Chess has also taught me how to get out of jams. In chess, if you are in a jam you have to be calm so you can think about what is going on. It is the same in baseball. Like a great baseball player said," Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical." In baseball, if you are not paying attention or have your mind focused on something else it will hurt how you play. Also if you are in a slump if you pay attention and keep trying you will get out of it. Also when being a mechanical engineer you have to fix problems and think about them. It is hard to do that when you are focused on something else that is happening. This is another thing that chess has taught me that is very helpful in my life. In life, you have to be mindful sure I am still working on that but in chess, you have to be mindful of what your opponent is doing. Chess has helped me be more mindful in many ways. In baseball, I have to know where to through the ball in different situations on the field. In mechanical engineering, I have to be mindful when designing a part because I have to make it safe for people to use. I also have to be mindful out in public to not be rude or cause any problems that can happen if I am not being mindful. I also would need to be mindful when talking to someone because I might not know what is going on in their life. Mindfulness is very important in life and even though I am still working on it chess has helped me be more mindful in my life. In conclusion, chess has taught me many things that are important in life. It also helped influence my goals in life. Chess is a game that no matter who you are it can help change the course of your life.

You may ask what have my outdoor experiences are? I am an Eagle Scout that has been on many outdoor camps. I have gone on many outings but the best ones are the ones that are new experiences. My top experience was going to the Grand Canyon. The experience was something I will never forget. The night stars in the canyon sky. You could see so many stars and constellations in the canyon than anywhere. I also loved the way it looked. I got to see all these amazing things like some fossils and old ruins in the canyon. I also say the endangered humpback chump in the river near the little colorado river. I also got to raft through many rapids. One time I was sleeping in the back of the boat and the guide decided to go into the rapid backward. It was an amazing experience. What did I learn from the Grand Canyon? Many amazing things I never knew before I went there. One of my favorite things I learned about was that the Grand Canyon was a very secrete site to many native tribes and that many people use to live in the canyon. I also learned about the many types of animals that lived in the canyon and the colorado river. I learned that the bats are very friendly to humans and that they love lights because light attracts bugs. I also learned the history of exploration of the canyon. I learned many facts including that the Canyoneers were originally Nevil's Expeditions which was one of the first rafting companies to take people down the canyon. I got to learn many things at the Grand Canyon that I will always have with me. Even though my goal is to be a mechanical engineer this does help me with my career goals. At the canyon, it taught me that you will have to work as a team to do things even if you don't like the people that you are with. It also taught me that you have to do your part if you want to have a good life in the world. I also learned that you have to be prepared because I hiked up the Bright Angel trail. Without the many training hikes I did with my troop I would have probably not made it up the trail. I also learned if you want to accomplish something you have to never give up even if it gets hard. It also showed me that if you love something you should do it as your career. The guides that helped us down the river gave up many things to do it. But they did the job because they love to go white water rafting and they love the Grand Canyon. This is how the experience will affect my career choice of being a mechanical engineer. In conclusion, the white water trip in the Grand Canyon I did has affected me in many ways. It made me love the outdoors even more than I already did, it taught me many historical facts about the canyon, and gave me life skills for being a mechanical engineer. If I could do this again I would.

How has COVID-19 affected my life? It is hard to narrow that one down because COVID-19 has affected many things in my life. It has kept me away from family and friends. It has also kept me from being able to do my hands-on classes for school like small gas engines. I have learned that I need to have hands-on classes for I can get tired of school. I also found out that I need to have sports to keep my mental health good for me. I also found out that it is harder to get along with family members well being in the house 24/7. I also learn that in the world that certain countries are able to shut down and some can't. I learned that because of the USA being one of the most important countries to the world economy that if the USA shut down it could cause another great depression. I also learned that some leaders are better than others in the world. Some of the leaders of countries broke under the pressure and some bent but keep straight. I have learned many things about the world and myself. I have learned that many people have been grieving for their loved ones. I have learned that I have been lucky that no one that is close to me was lost to COVID-19. This is how COVID-19 has affected me and what I have learned about myself and the world around me at this time. COVID-19 has affected everyone, not just me.

Although my mom was only a single other for 1 and a half years she is the reason why I am who I am. My mom was in college in Hagerstown Maryland when I was born on the 16th of May 2004. She had to work all day to support me and my great grama who took care of me during the day. My mother would come home exhausted and had to do school work and I would want to be with her during that time. When my mom had free time she would spend it with me at the park going down the slide and looking at all of the places in Hagerstown. Every day when I started to crawl I would wait at the door for my mom to get home so I could be by her. She also gave up on going into the navy to keep me. She always loved me and would be happy to have her at my side. She showed me that I should never give up on something just because it is hard. She also showed me that hard work and determination are needed to be successful in this world. She taught me to never leave anyone that needs someone to help them. If she had left me I would not be as determined and be somewhere else. She would always find ways to hang out with me when she was a single parent. She also showed me how to love people even if they are needy. She always put my needs first. She made sure that she had enough money to take care of me and my grandma. She also tried to get an education to get a job that made more money. She made sure that she did the best she could and never gave up on me just because of all the work. She gave me a good life because of that and she also made good choices. She made I was safe an always worried about my health and when I started to show symptoms of asthma she tried to find out what was wrong to make sure I was safe. She also would play with me and bring me with her when she went to go do something for fun because she could not leave me out of her sight. When I was older she moved across the country from Hagerstown Maryland to Tocamoa Washington to be with my dad Robert. She did that because she knew that it would help me and that I could get more time with her. She worked night shifts just to be with me. She didn't go to the navy just to keep me by her side. She did an online school just to be with me after she got done with work. She moved from Maryland to Washington because she knew that I needed a father's figure and that she wanted to spend more time with me. That is why my mother is the best single mother to me even if she was a single mother for one year.

What is perspective? I believe perspective is how someone looks at a situation. I have been asked what was the hardest thing you ever lost. My answer is always the same my friend Leroy. His death changed my perspective on life. He died from bone cancer in January of 2020. His death changed my perspective of life because before he died I thought I had all of the time in the world. I found out I don't. If I want something I have to go out and do it before I pass away. I learned not to take anything in life for granted after his death. I also lost my first friend who showed me that not everyone in life is rude. That made me want to help people and that also has changed my perspective on my life. Because of him, I don't look at people like they are objects but like they are spirits on the earth. I also learned that not everyone has the same amount of time on the planet and that I can't wast any more of my time because it may run out before I can change the world for the better. I also learned that to not be judgmental because people might be having something going on that is changing their lives. My perspective on life has changed and it will always change because perspectives change and the death of my friend changed my perspective a lot. You might say that I am not on-topic but to me, this is my way of talking about how my friend's death changes my perspective on not just life but everything else around me in life. I have started to push myself more than if he had not died and that I need to change the world for the better to honor him. I also have learned that even if the person is different from you they still can be the best person in your life and that looks don't matter at all. I also have learned that everyone is different and that I will find no one who is the same as me. Before his death, I thought all of the people I knew were going to live forever but after his death, I started to appreciate things more. I started to be happy when I woke up because of what happened. I have learned that perspective is different for everyone and different things change theirs. I have a new perspective on life and I am ready to use it to make a good impact on the world and help the community become better. I also will now never take anything for granted and if I want something I have to work for it and not be given it. I also have learned that adversity is just a part of life that is needed to change people's perspectives. All in all, the most perspective-changing thing that happened to me was losing my best friend to bone cancer.

I have had many failures but there is only on that I am most thankful for and it is when I turned down a select baseball team in fifth grade. It has made me want to work hard in baseball to prove that I belong on teams. It encouraged me to try out for teams this year and I have the determination because of the failure. I know it might not seem like a failure but to me it is and it is the reason why I am determined to play baseball at high levels that if I was on that team in fifth grade that I would not be playing at. That determination also has allowed me to do better in school and get my eagle scout award. It also showed me that I don't need to be one of a select team to be a great baseball player it is my determination that makes me a great baseball player. If I am told that I am not good enough for a team I try hard and come back stronger and better than before every single time. It also helped me be determined to do hard scholarships that are not much money but every single scholarship is important for me to not have to be in debt and be able to let my kids do select sports if they want. That is why not taking the scholarship to play for a select team in fifth grade is the most important failure of my life so far.

Thiese pictures is our two dogs. The oldest one who is 18 months old is named applo and the 19 week old airdale is named sally and she is blind.

This august my boyscout troop and I went to the grand canyon and went water rafting. About a year ago I was afraid of any water higher than my head and I floated down the little colorado river.

Some people's role models are famous people on TV or sports teams. My role model though is not one person but three. The three are my Mom, my Dad, and my madad. They have taught me to be kind and helpful to the community. They also help me go after my dreams and they don't hold me back. They also help push me to do better things that I would have never thought of. Like going to the grand canyon and going to West Virginia for the world scout jamboree. They also help me when I have problems with school work and if I am having a hard time. They encourage me to take AP and honors classes to improve my self. They also help keep going if I want to give up. My mother was a single parent that worked hard and she taught me how to be hard working in my life. My dad treated me like his own son when my mom got back together with him. He showed me that in life I have to be caring for others. My madad is transgender and she showed me that you can be whatever you want in life as long as you go after it. Together they showed me how to be able to work with other people in life and not to judge a book by the cover. My mom helps me keep up on homework and tries to teach me how to organized. They all help me in baseball and honor that the sport is the thing I want to do. They also have shown me that you can overcome anything. For example, my madad was homeless for one year after she and my mom got divorced. They also showed me that being right in arguments is not needed but being right in your heart is. They also have helped me through my autism and have treated me as the same old Alex before finding out about the autism. They also show me to never hurt anyone. They also taught me to be helpful to everyone. They also have taught me to be happy even when something is not going my way. They also have shown me that in life you have to be respectful, kind, and helpful to others no matter who they are or what race they are, or if they have a disability. They also have taught me how to bring your friends to close but enemies closer to teach them how to be caring not to be bullies in life. They are some of the greatest people to have as role models because of this. They are also great people and parents to me and my three siblings. That is why my mom, my dad, and my madad are the best role models in my life and always will be. I can have a connection to my role models because they are my loving, caring, and thoughtful parents that I can love and get advice from in hard times.