I live in Houston, Texas where flooding during hurricane season happens often and the damages left behind are horrendous. Some families are left behind dealing with this traumatic experience and may still have no place to live that they can call their own. Hurricane season is a dreaded season for all, even those who don't fall victim to flooding of their homes and damges. It can also affect the streets after the storm has passed. Many people in the city are unable to drive on the roads to get to work or see others who may have been affected by the harsh weather. Action to fix the mess has been delayed or not attended to at all as well, and it is time for a change. Growng up I have helped with hurricane relief through my church to supply necessities to families who need help but I have never done anything in regards to adressing the issue at hand to better prevent this wreckage from happening. After thinking about what could possibly help I have come up with a few ideas. Rain gutters are in place in neighborhoods and along streets to help with drainage but they don't help as much as they should. It takes days for the water to go down and I've noticed that there aren't too many around. With all the new home develpment being made in so many locactions around the city, sending letters to the building companies to encourage them to incorporate more rain gutters to the neighborhoods would be a way to address the situation at hand. While on the topic of new home development, many neighborhoods that are adding on to old ones should work on those that have been damaged as well. We see on the news of different company's and business sending money or offering to fix thinks that have been broken after disaster strikes but it's always a small amount of offers. With neighborhoods being attached to old, especialy, in flood risk areas, the building companies should offer an old and new homes a hurricane repair plan. Another way to prevent flooding would be to plant more trees and plants along the street and in neighborhoods. This can serve as a secondary draining system because the plants can absorbs the sitting water. Not only will is make the city/community beautiful but it will limit the amount of water on the streets allowing driving access. One more idea I had is simply cleaning the sides of streets. Sometimes the draining process is harder because there is trash or build ups of leaves lining the cubs that don't allow the water to smoothly flow down to the rain gutters and it will often car this debri with it limiting the space. We are always informed on when a huricane is approching so it would be benificial to homes if we picked up the traah and leaves and put them in garbage bis. This way we are not only preventing flooding that will lead to blocked roads and damaged homes but cleaning the environment as well. These are just a few differnt ways to adress this issue in my community/city that can make a positive change. Now that I have had time to think about this situation I could be the one to write that letter to a home building company or bring these ideas to my churches hurricane reliefe program.

Growing up, reading and writing weren't always my strongest skills up until the fifth grade. I dreaded the days when we had to read books for homework and write down how long we read outside of school on a pretty printed reading log. I believed I shouldn't have to read when I'm not in school, therefore it felt like a chore rather than something I could possibly enjoy. As time went on and I progressed to middle school, suddenly there was a switch in my attitude toward reading. The first book that triggered my need to read was a novel by Jenifer Armentrout called "Don't Look Back". It was a book full of mystery and suspense that had such a strong grasp on me. Ever since then, I read all the time , sometimes two to three books a week. You may be thinking that the book I just mentioned is the one I'm going to use as a reading recommendation but, you are sadly mistaken. The book I want to recommend to you is a memoir piece by the name of "Educated" by Tara Westover. This story is a recount of the author's challenging life growing up in a Mormon family, their unusual lyfestyle, and her desire to attend college. She highlights the importance of education and how the lack of knowlege can impact a person. She covers religion and opinions that you may or may not share. She gives insight into a life that people normally wouldnt understand if they simply heard about it but she gives you space to try from someone who has actually been through her lifestyle. This memoir is a scary roller coaster for the author and the reader but it is a great read. It allowed me to step into a world of another who has not had the same experiences as me or my firends through life, religion, and continuous questioning of topics we learn in at a young age. There are so many other suggestions I could present but, this book resonated with and I wholeheartedly believe it will resonate with others as well.

At the age of eleven, community service became one of my deepest passions and I believe it has shaped me into the person I am today. I have always been a compassionate, caring and nurturing person by nature, so it’s no wonder that I’ve fallen in love with serving others. The service experience that sparked my desire to help those less fortunate occurred on a cold afternoon a few days before Thanksgiving. My fathers fraternity partnered with HEB for their Annual Feast of Sharing where we handed out all the groceries necessary for a wholesome, traditional Thanksgiving meal. The line of people was so long that it hurt my heart. After that, I didn’t care how cold it was; I was happy to keep filling bags with groceries and handing them out. After all the groceries were depleted, my mom and I were on our way home when we saw a little elderly lady walking alone, struggling to carry her bags of food. My mom stopped and offered to drive her home. She was a kind, interesting lady who didn’t have a family with whom she could spend the holiday. Our unexpected passenger was so thankful for the ride home which left me with a sense of fulfillment. Observing her simple needs and the impact we had on her has made me more conscientious about the needs of others. I have looked forward to serving the community ever since. I’m seventeen years old now and I have never had formal employment in which I’ve worked for wages. Some may see that as a negative, but I say that I have indeed worked - - simply in a different capacity. The world that we live in is overflowing with people in need of help; be it food, shelter, clothing, employment, healthcare, or simply a helping hand. I’m blessed that my parents can provide for me so that I don’t have to work right now. This allows me to devote my time outside of school and sports to work in the community. I enjoy volunteering and believe that the world would be a better place for everyone if more people found it in their hearts to give FREELY of their time and resources to help the less fortunate. Over the past six years, I have volunteered with many organizations including United Way of Greater Houston, Houston Food Bank, The Beacon Homeless Center, The Church at Bethel’s Family, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and Second Mile Mission, to name a few. I’ve served in whatever capacity was needed and each experience has left an impact on my life, world perspective and behaviors. At the homeless support center, I helped wash clothes, issue shower towels, and hand out toiletries. I noticed many women were asking for feminine toiletries and their bottoms had red stains. I realized that being homeless doesn’t stop this part of life and I made it a point to always carry feminine essentials for any girls in need and I also donate my outgrown clothes instead of throwing them away. After serving the homeless hot meals, I watched as they devoured their plates like they hadn’t eaten in days. I instantly felt guilty for how I buy more food than I need and throw away food I don’t finish eating. This experience made me aware of how wasteful I’d been and inspired me to give my overflow of food to others. In today’s society, the gap between the rich and poor keeps growing. In response, I will continue my community service and may even open my own nonprofit organization one day.