Freshman year I learned about the detrimental effects of abstinence-only sexual education, the form of sexual education taught in our state. Abstinence-only Sexual Education leads to increases in teenage pregnancy, rape, decreased use of contraceptives, and neglects to teach about consent. “Why did this legislation pass if it is not scientifically beneficial?” I thought before I realized that that was not why this legislation was passed. Rather, it was probably because of the beliefs of people, not facts. This information caused me to desire to someday work to change legislation like this. After looking into career options I realized that the best way to cause positive solutions to detrimental legislation, I decided that I wanted to go into public policy. Although I’m only a junior, I have already taken steps in this direction. Last year I was a student Ambassador for the Policy Project when they passed legislation for the Safe Child Project, and this year I am continuing to stay up to date on their work, as they continue to pass legislation to benefit students in our state. This year, I plan to report on the availability of period products for my school and go to the capital in support of the Focused Student Project. This project aims to improve student success by improving their focus in the classroom. Because I aim to work with people of different backgrounds and governments, I am volunteering with my city’s Youth Court where I work with youth from my community to help people improve and learn from their mistakes. We don’t change the lives or paths of everyone who comes to court, but for some people we do. When this happens, it is amazing to know that we were part of the process. Because of my passion for improving the lives of those around me through engagement and legislation, I plan to be able to go to a school close to my city’s capitol, the University of Utah, to make it easier for me to do policy work. However, this school is more expensive. This scholarship would enable me to easily pay for the costs of living at a more expensive college. As a result, I would have easier access to the resources needed to help me on my academic journey. In all, I hope to earn this scholarship not just for myself, but for those who will benefit from future legislation that I help with the passage of. This is because I believe that I will be able to benefit future generations with bills and laws that are based on facts, not just beliefs.

About a month ago I went with my ward to a senior living home to talk with some people there. We spoke with a woman who had gone on a mission with her husband to Brazil and had an adorable dog. Afterward, we stuck sticky notes with positive messages on their doors. It was wonderful to be a light to people who sometimes get ignored, which is something that I have often done in my life. Four years ago around Christmas, I was going to the bus stop with a bag full of little chocolate baggies. I was planning to give them to my teachers, although I had just realized that I had an extra bag of chocolates. I decided to eat it myself at lunch. However, then I looked across the street to see an old man who didn't go out much looking out the window. Deciding that he probably needed a gift more than me, I walked across the street and, making sure that he was looking, put the chocolates on his mailbox. I don't know if he went and retrieved them, but I hope that he did. Because everyone deserves a little something special around the holidays. About a quarter of a year ago, I again went with my ward to do a service project, this time at the food and care coalition. We made breakfast and got tables ready for those who needed a free meal. Now, I don't enjoy cooking. But, being able to make sausages for those people was one of the best things I've ever done. I also got to see the kindness toward us and each other, whether it was asking for extra napkins for their friend, or thanking us for the meal that we had prepared. At that moment I was so happy to be able to serve my fellow man. One of the easiest but most important ways to embody selflessness is to let people tell you their opinions and experiences. This might seem so inconsequential, but you never know if someone has something big that they need to get off their chest until you let them tell you. Because of listening to others, I have been able to strengthen my friends and family and hear the struggles of others, whether it is worrying how they are going to be financially stable in the future to explaining about past trauma. I am certainly not perfect, but I believe that by listening to them, I relieve just a fraction of their stress. In all, the experiences of selflessness that I have stated have made me more open-minded toward the individuals in my community and made me realize how easy it is to serve someone. In the future, I will invite others to work at places like the Food and Care Coalition and remind them that everyone deserves love and service.

About a month ago I had to explain to a guy in my grade why I had quit cross country. See, my freshman year of high school I made two of the most important decisions of my life. The first was to continue doing cross country, and the second decision was to quit it. As a child with ADHD, running was a great way to eliminate the pent-up energy that often filled me. Luckily for me, I was also a decent runner. I lettered in varsity that year because I ran two varsity races, and got third place in a sophomore race. This was impressive, at least to me, because Utah is one of the states where cross country is one of the dominant sports. But more important than my visible achievements was the sense of control that I received, as I learned for the first time that I am physically and mentally strong. Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed running with my team, I disliked races. This is because, first of all, I am an introvert, and so the sheer amount of people and screaming at races always stressed me out. Second, I have always hated sudden loud noises, like balloons popping, or in this case, gunshots. Needless to say, I always wore earplugs to races. Finally, I hated the pressure of races. Because of my ADHD, I have always struggled with doing things that other people wanted me to do, and being forced to show up and race at every single event made me feel not in control of my life, and I would cry before every single race. My severe anxiety (which caused me to start taking anxiety meds at the age of seven), led to night after night of crying in my bed, stressed because I would have to go through the whole ordeal the following year. As a result, my auto-immune disease, MOG(Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein) started acting up and so my optic nerve was in severe pain for days on end. Deciding that vision loss as a teenager would be bad, I finally decided to cut out the source of my problems and quit cross country. It's been several months since that decision, but I am now so much happier. I enjoy going on occasional runs with myself, going wherever I want to go. I also get to have more time for my other sport, debate. Some might say that I wasted my potential by quitting cross country, a sport that I was obviously decent at. But I want them to know that I chose to enjoy my classes, learn how to speak, via debate, and ultimately do what's best for me. Because in the end, that's what my cross-country challenges taught me.

My favorite thing to do in Minecraft Is to farm animals—specifically, sheep. I love the challenge of finding an area big and flat enough for an oversized pen, as I like to have multiple sheep at a time. Then I have to find/farm wheat to lead the sheep to the pen I have now built. Once I have successfully caught a sheep I can either look for materials to dye the sheep's wool or look for another sheep. Often, I end up doing both. Once I have both a dyed sheep and another sheep, I can breed them to create new sheep. The most enjoyable/hardest part is finding new flowers, powders, and ink to create new and unique sheep with unique wool. My favorite colored sheep are blue or green, though other colors can create variety for my penned herd. Once I have my wool, and potentially a set of shears, so that I don't have to keep killing sheep, I can start to use my wool to furnish my home. I like having white walls in my home, but with a multi-colored floor and ceiling to add intrigue to the space. However, paintings can also just be fun to hang around. In all, sheep farming is both a fun and challenging experience that all Minecraft players should participate in at least once. After all, who knows when wool might save you through a trade?

My favorite co-op game is Boomerang Fu. That might seem like such a primary choice, but there are two reasons for it. First, it allows for great bonding experiences, and second, it teaches strategy and patience. My brother often brings his neighborhood friends to our house so that they can play Boomerang Fu together. I love watching them form teams, congratulate each other when they win, and make fun of each other when they don't. My favorite is when both teams are evenly matched and they get so excited about each win because it makes them that much closer to winning. My favorite memory of Boomerang Fu, though occurred when there were two remaining players, one from each team, and one of them died because he accidentally jumped into the water, much to his team's dismay. The nice thing about Boomerang Fu is that you can adopt so many strategies. You can try and attack only from a distance, take all the powerups, or try and make people jump off the map and get out of the round. But, even in such a fast-paced game, patience can be important, if you just start swinging you might miss the powerups or fall off of a cliff in your haste. In all, I love boomerang Fu because it builds connections between individuals and groups, and is a very engaging game for people of all ages.

There is a side of me that I often hide. It is the side of me that causes me to laugh like a maniac for about 5 minutes straight, that causes me to always sit on top of desks, and admit to all the books I've read, like The Shining, 1984, and The Handmaid's Tale. When I do, it is either to freak people out purposely or because I'm with my besties. That is why the lyrics, "Acted just insane enough For your friends to claim hysterics" resonates with me, which is because I've done similar things before. Just a few weeks ago my math teacher was talking about exponential graphs and she said, "And then the line increases exponentially, just like rabbits.", to which I blurted out, "Or rats. Rats multiply so fast!", which caused everyone to start laughing, especially since that was the first time that I had spoken during that entire class period. The hard part is knowing when to let out my stored energy, and when to hold it in, risking the chance of having it explode later, like once again, in the middle of math class. Usually, I hold it in. I also think that the lyrics "Acted just insane enough For your friends to claim hysterics" show the amount of effort that teenagers will go to just to impress someone. I mean, as teenagers our brains aren't fully developed, which means that we're still figuring out when we should or shouldn't do or say things, and we're still learning how to be true to ourselves. Which is harder than it seems. I, for example, have a bad habit of making myself the center of attention by saying random things like, "Did you know that heels were originally meant for men?" because I don't know how else to get people to pay attention and listen to me. Still, I've seen people do worse. I used to have a friend that would agree with everything his friends were saying, and only later tell me that he thought the opposite. He could have used a minor amount of energy and voiced his opinions, but he chose not to. Still, he knew what he was doing, which shows that these lyrics also bring hope, because they show that it is possible to gain control of our emotions, and social skills. Thus, I believe that these lyrics are important for all of the previously reasons.

The most important book that I believe should be read by everyone is the book 1984 because besides being a classic, it teaches multiple lessons about human and governmental nature. The basic story of 1984 is about a man named Winston Smith who works a basic job and lives a simple life in the state of Oceania. However, after he discovers that a woman who should not have any interaction with him is in love with him, Winston begins to see the cracks in the society in which he lives. Because of this, he is eventually tortured until he loses his formal moral sanity and believes everything that his totalitarian government tells him. This book teaches the importance of evidence, the lack of which caused the ignorance of the Oceanian people. This is because, in this book, the government constantly destroys or changes evidence, making it nearly impossible to know what is real. This is further emphasized by the use of propaganda, which further confuses the population. Also, 1984 teaches about the power of free speech, or more correctly, the consequences of having none. This is shown by the fear of speaking out against the government, and the stress and paranoia. Yet at the same time, 1984 teaches about the uncrushable power of love. It does this by showing how, despite how the government tries to de-glorify the power of love, it still exists, through relationships such as Winston and Julia, and the relationships of the proles(working-class citizens). Although this is a fictional book, the lessons taught are an important warning about what society can become, because as strange as some of its aspects are, similar things have happened before(AKA: North Korea and Russia).

The best Hogwarts house for me would be Ravenclaw. I know this because of my own personality and through the process of elimination. I would not be in the house of Hufflepuff because I am simply not a very patient person, and because although I respect fair play, I also understand when fair play is more restrictive than helpful. Plus, hard work can lead to burnout. And I believe in the power of breaks. Gryffindor would also not be my house because I do not believe that bravery is one of the important attributes. This is because I have learned that caution and careful planning can lead to much better results a majority of the time. Additionally, although Chivalry can be helpful, is not the most important thing, especially if Slytherin, which does not believe in Chivalry, is at the same school. Speaking of Slytherin, I would not fit into that house because I do not believe that your heredity decides what you can do in life, nor that cunningness is the most effective way to get what you want. Because if you lie all the time, who will trust you, and so how will you accomplish anything in life? Now, why would I be a good Ravenclaw? Well, I greatly appreciate any knowledge. I love to read and to learn more about almost anything. I also crave talking to people who are intelligent and have diverse experiences, which is why I do debate club and am one of the only students who regularly asks questions. In Ravenclaw, I would probably get to talk to a lot of intelligent people, that could help widen my understanding of both the natural and magical world. Also, I love looking ahead and planning out, if not the specifics, then vague ideas, of my future. So much so, in fact, that I often forget to live in the moment. But that's okay because in Ravenclaw I would most likely meet people who have the same problem. But most importantly, wit is one of the main attributes of the house of Ravenclaw, which basically means being able to write and speak intelligently, with occasional humor. I personally love to write and have written my own novel, a song, and a magnificent short story. But I also love to laugh, which is probably why I have collected so many hilarious personal stories. And the rest of the Ravenclaw population would probably appreciate my stories and have some of their own that I could add to my collection. In all, the Ravenclaw house would allow me to express my interests with people who are similarly minded, without fear of humiliation.

When I was about 6 I told my dad, "Wow, I can't believe the world's real.". It was a weird thing to say, and it took a few years for my parents to figure out what I meant by that. See, I had something called derealization, which is a type of anxiety. Most people get it at least once in their life, but only about 2% of the population gets it regularly. I am part of that 2%, or at least I was. Derealization, at least from my perspective, is when I get stressed about things that are going on in the world and so my brain decides to convince me that the world, or everything around me doesn't exist. I used to run upstairs multiple days every week to my parents, crying because of it. This is because I would get so stressed when I was lying in my bed at night, thinking about my life. And falling asleep? I was afraid of it, afraid that I'd wake up just to find myself floating in eternal darkness, the world gone. What was the worst about derealization was that it was a cycle. Derealization kept me up, and staying awake would make me not think straight, causing me to get more stressed. I bet you can guess what would happen next. Luckily, I have a dad who experienced the same thing as a child. He and my mother would remind me to breathe when I was hyperventilating, and remind me that the things that I was stressing out over weren't as important as I thought they were. Although that may seem mean, it was the only way to prevent me from running upstairs every night. Plus, I began taking anxiety meds when I was 7, which helped a little and started taking ADHD meds when I was 14, which helped even more. Most importantly though, I was fortunate enough to have some truly wonderful people in my life. My grandma was always patient with me, my parents paid me to learn how to swallow pills so I wouldn't have to eat what was inside them with applesauce, and my 6th and 3rd-grade teacher made school enjoyable by letting us write random stories and do Just Dance in class. After nearly 9 years, I now rarely get derealization. But, It took me years to figure out how to deal with my anxiety symptoms, although I'm still glad that I experienced them. In all, I learned that there is still hope even in our darkest times.

My Barbie Dream House would be in the middle of the Tuscan countryside. Why? Because out of all the places that I have been to, it has been the most peaceful. If I had a huge Barbie Dream House in the middle of a city, people would probably want always to come inside and look at it. Considering the fact that it would be my dream house, that wouldn't be appreciated. The inside would be two stories and have a 20-foot ceiling, which would be made out of glass so that I could see the rain when it came down. The house itself would consist of one large upstairs room with a pool with floating pathways that would lead to floating platforms on which would sit a bed, a few bookcases, and a TV room. This is because I would like to be able to swim at any time, but to also have a place to sleep, read, and watch entertainment. The downstairs would have a bathroom, of course, a large kitchen that would have a grill so that I could make burgers whenever I wanted, and a pantry full of canned vegetables and fruit, so that I wouldn't have to leave for the supermarket often. There would also be another room that would contain a giant aquarium, full of fish and hermit crabs, as well as saltwater snails. This would be so that I could be able to observe the simplistic beauty of these living creatures whenever I wanted. My Barbie Dream House would be so peaceful, I would rarely want to leave.

The Michels vs. the Machines is an amazing movie on Netflix. Full of comedy, great characters, and a fantastic plot, it is great for family movie nights and people of all ages. At first glance, this movie is about a family trying to survive a machine uprising. But it is so much more than that. This movie is about the hardships of being part of a family, the importance of following your dreams, but also knowing when to let go, and the resiliency of humans. The movie starts out with the daughter, Katie, being accepted to a film school in California, and being ready to leave home. But after her dad breaks her laptop, he decides that they need some last bonding time, so the family packs up to drive all the way to her school instead of just flying. While on their road trip the machine uprising happens, and the Michels narrowly escape being captured. With the help of two now faulty robots, they go to upload a file onto the internet and shut down all the robots. Unfortunately, they get attacked and the file is not submitted. Now, they must go to the former tech headquarters. They are extremely close to uploading the file when the main AI nemesis shows the dad video footage of her saying that she doesn't really believe in him and just wants to get to school as quickly as possible. This leads him to swerve the magnetic car that they are in, showing the AI where they are. Aaron and Katie escape but their parents are captured. As separate teams, they must figure out how to once again attempt to upload the file and save the world. Which they do after the parents escape from their cells and the children cause hundreds of robots to glitch. This movie is special because it involves the parents, and shows both their faults but also their gifts. It also shows that it is okay to be obsessed with things like Katie is with films and Aaron is with dinosaurs. Most importantly, it shows the fact that humans are capable of change, as when the robots change their programming and decide to work with the humans and not their AI ruler, or how the dad learns to use the internet, and Katie finally realizes how much she loves and needs her dad. And of course, when Aaron ends up getting over his social anxiety and decides to actually hang out with Abbey Posie, his crush.

11 would have to be the first squad member. Not only is she able to flip cars, but she is also willing to focus on the big picture and not let others change her mind, like how she wouldn't change her mind about Will not being dead, even after the boys saw what they thought was his body. Joyce would also be an effective squad member because she gets results in interesting ways and notices things that others don't. She also doesn't care if people think that she's crazy. This can be shown when she didn't listen to her ex-husband or her son when they said that she was in denial after her son's death, and instead knew that he was still alive and talking through the lights. The third and final member of the group would have to be Steve because he knows how to use a bat and has been surprised by things like demigorgans enough to know that some things can't be explained fast enough, and you just have to listen to the orders of other people. This can be shown when he barges into Nancy and Jonathan about to kill a demigorgan, and Steve just has to be ready to kill it. If this squad were faced with a new threat, Joyce could figure out what the threat was, Steve could figure out how to kill/get rid of it, and 11 could do the actual deed. The threat would be gone in less than a month.

Holly is my favorite character. Not only is she, as Jim puts it, "Kind of a dork.", but she is also willing to have fun. Holly actively seeks out opportunities to connect with her colleagues, often initiating conversations and finding common interests to bond over, but even when that doesn't work she still has one friend who sees the best in her(Michael). While she loves to do weird skits, like when she sings, "Let's get ethical" with Michael, she also knows when to be professional, which is an important life skill, like when she needs to give information to the members of Dunder Mifflin. I admire this about her because I also know how to be both professional and spazzy. I also love Holly's subtle humor and the way that she changes her life in subtle ways, as she does by growing closer to Michael. I also admire the fact that Holly, although she does experience romance, is willing to forget people and move on, and is not so desperate to be in a relationship that she loses sight of the other things in life. She seems like someone hard to notice, but once you get to know her, you can never forget her,

"You never know what someone is going through." my mom used to tell me whenever I complained about people. And after all this time, I know that it's true. People will treat you completely differently depending on their state of mental health. For me, I was always bossing everyone around because that was my way of showing my extreme anxiety. Because I thought that if I could control the world it wouldn't stress me out so much. But I was wrong, and I had to learn to deal with the imperfections of the world around me. But harder than getting rid of my perfectionism was getting rid of the constant feeling that I would always be separate from the world. I couldn't figure out why it was so hard for me to make friends, or why the things that came so easily to my siblings, like paying attention in class, were so difficult for me. I probably never would have known if my parents hadn't gotten me tested for ADHD. However, instead of being happy that I now knew why I thought a little differently, I cried because there was another thing wrong with me. But after my medication came, I became more confident, my focusing abilities became better, and I began to understand other people. In the past few years, I have learned to better manage my mental health. I know when to step away from things or situations, and when to write down things so that I can remember them later. Plus, I now have a lot of friends who love me for being the spazzy weirdo that I am. I'm also no longer failing classes, and I take online classes if they are less effective for me in person. But best of all, I am now able to explain my problems both socially and mentally, to my parents and friends, which is something that I was never able to do before. I don't know what I want to do during college. But I know that I'm going to get there. And because I've learned so much through my life about my abilities, I am going to apply to at least 3 Ivy League schools, just because I can. But I do know that I would like to be a teacher. Not just because it seems like an honest profession, but because I want to do a better job than all of the other teachers who tried to get in the way of my simple dreams. There will also be youth who need support, who are struggling with their mental health, and who are struggling with their parents. And I want to help them. Because everyone deserves to do their best in this life, regardless of what challenges they will have (or get) to face. In the end, I know that even though my mental health sorta sucks sometimes, it is also a blessing in disguise. Because I know how it feels to feel lonely and to think that you're not meant for this world. So, no matter what college I go to, no matter what career I pursue, I will be able to bring strength to my fellow classmates, encourage them to do their best, no matter how they think of themselves, and of course, remind them to take a break when they need it.

"You never know what someone is going through." my mom used to tell me whenever I complained about people. And after all this time, I know that it's true. People will treat you completely differently depending on their mood, and what has recently occurred in your life. For me, I was always bossy as a child because that was my way of showing my extreme anxiety. Because I thought that if I could control the world it wouldn't control me. But I was wrong, and I had to learn to deal with the imperfections of the world around me. But harder than getting rid of my perfectionism was getting rid of the constant feeling that I would always be separate from the world. I couldn't figure out why it was so hard for me to make friends, or why the things that came so easily to my siblings, like paying attention in class, were so difficult for me. I never would have known if my parents hadn't gotten me tested for ADHD. However, instead of being happy that I now knew why I thought a little differently, I cried because there was another thing wrong with me. But after my medication came, I became more confident, my focusing abilities became better, and I began to understand other people. In the past few years, I have learned to better manage my mental health. I know when to step away from things, and what things I need to write down to remember later. Plus, I have a lot of friends who love me for being the spazzy weirdo that I am. I'm also no longer failing classes, and I take online classes if they are hard for me in person. But best of all, I am now able to explain my problems, both socially and mentally, to my parents and friends, which is something that I was never able to do before. In the end, I know that even though my mental health sorta sucks sometimes, it is a blessing in disguise. Because I know how it feels to be afraid, to feel lonely, and to feel that you're not meant for this world. Thanks to this, though, I will be able to comfort my future nieces and nephews, as well as my children, whenever they feel lost. I will take their pain, and turn it into comfort.