I come from a family of social workers, teachers, and non-profit directors. My family shaped me with the value of giving, which I put into action by volunteering in and outside of school. This value has motivated me to pursue higher education where I can get a degree that allows me to give back as my career. I was twelve when I first volunteered at the Charles Schulz Museum helping younger kids with crafts and activities in the museum’s camps. Right away, I was hooked! Watching their faces brighten as I helped them succeed at camp activities felt immensely rewarding. I felt valued and learned the importance of making others feel valued when I formed personal connections that led campers to literally jump with joy when they saw me. Hearing kids pronounce “yellow” as “lello” made my heart melt. When they gifted me their admittedly terrible drawings with a smile on their face, I wanted to hug them and never let go. I learned that I was good at making kids stop crying; and I quickly became the volunteer to whom crying children were sent. I learned that making children feel safe and nurtured made me feel really good. It also made me more confident in my abilities as a person. Six years later I’ve completed over two hundred volunteer hours at the museum alone. I’ve volunteered at over ten other non-profit organizations and was selected as the youngest ever student body Community Service Director at my school. This year I received a Santa Rosa City Merit Award and a certificate of congressional recognition for my service. While I’m proud of this award, I feel energized knowing that I’ve made a positive impact in so many children’s lives. From cooking burritos with developmentally disabled students, to coordinating Special Olympics, to preparing and serving pasta at an elementary school fundraiser, I’ve been able to help kids from all backgrounds feel safe and have fun. My experience volunteering led me to a job as a camp counselor. This past summer I was hired to help pilot a newly founded outdoor nature camp for toddlers. Every week I led a new set of ten campers, mentored three to four teen volunteers, and served on a leadership team of nine counselors who planned and directed camp activities. I was extremely nervous about starting this job but it quickly became one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had. My favorite part of the summer was connecting with the campers and helping them flourish in new environments. Most of the toddlers had never been to any type of camp or school before and were scared when they first arrived. I learned that by getting on their level and going at their pace, I could help them overcome their fears and have a great time. I also learned that with young children, small gestures are huge. Simply holding a child’s hand while walking to and from activities, or playing tag with them during breaks could positively impact their little lives. It made me wonder what kind of impact I could make through a career of giving to children with needs greater than missing their mom. I have since started researching careers that focus on helping children like pediatric occupational therapy. A career that involves some of my strongest values and interests—helping people, the study of the human body, and working with children. After I graduate high school, I plan on attending a four year college where I can major in and study one of those fields to continue my passion and my family practice of giving.

I come from a family of social workers, teachers, and non-profit directors. My family shaped me with the value of giving, which I put into action by volunteering in and outside of school. This value has also motivated me to pursue higher education where I can get a degree that allows me to give back as my career. I was twelve when I first volunteered at the Charles Schulz Museum helping younger kids with crafts and activities in the museum’s camps. Right away, I was hooked! Watching their faces brighten as I helped them succeed at camp activities felt immensely rewarding. I felt valued and learned the importance of making others feel valued when I formed personal connections that led campers to literally jump with joy when they saw me. Hearing kids pronounce “yellow” as “lello” made my heart melt. When they gifted me their admittedly terrible drawings with a smile on their face, I wanted to hug them and never let go. I learned that I was good at making kids stop crying; and I quickly became the volunteer to whom crying children were sent. I learned that making children feel safe and nurtured made me feel really good. It also made me more confident in my abilities as a person. My experience volunteering led me to a job as a camp counselor. This past summer I was hired to help pilot a newly founded outdoor nature camp for toddlers. Every week I led a new set of ten campers, mentored three to four teen volunteers, and served on a leadership team of nine counselors who planned and directed camp activities. I was extremely nervous about starting this job but it quickly became one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had. My favorite part of the summer was connecting with the campers and helping them flourish in new environments. Most of the toddlers had never been to any type of camp or school before and were scared when they first arrived. I learned that by getting on their level and going at their pace, I could help them overcome their fears and have a great time. I also learned that with young children, small gestures are huge. Simply holding a child’s hand while walking to and from activities, or playing tag with them during breaks could positively impact their little lives. It made me wonder what kind of impact I could make through a career of giving to children with needs greater than missing their mom. This past fall, I learned more about careers by participating in a local mentorship program with Medtronic, a medical technology company. During bi-weekly meetings with a Medtronic employee, I learned ways to apply my calculus and physics school work to solving real-life problems. I worked with other students to practice clearing a blocked artery and design 3D printed objects. We also toured a virtual cadaver lab at the Medtronic site to see how biologists study the human body without experimenting on live people. I discovered how much fun science and technology are and how many ways science helps people every day. I have since started researching science careers that focus on helping children like pediatric occupational therapy and pediatric physical therapy. Both careers involve some of my strongest values and interests—helping people, the study of the human body, and working with children. After I graduate high school, I plan on attending a four year college where I can major in and study one of those fields to continue my passion and my family practice of giving, specifically to children.

I come from a family of social workers, teachers, and non-profit directors. My family shaped me with the value of giving, which I put into action by volunteering in and outside of school and which I will bring to my future school, community, and career with passion. I was twelve when I first volunteered at the Charles Schulz Museum helping younger kids with crafts and activities in the museum’s camps. Right away, I was hooked! Watching their faces brighten as I helped them succeed at camp activities felt immensely rewarding. I felt valued and learned the importance of making others feel valued when I formed personal connections that led campers to literally jump with joy when they saw me. Hearing kids pronounce “yellow” as “lello” made my heart melt. When they gifted me their admittedly terrible drawings with a smile on their face, I wanted to hug them and never let go. I learned that I was good at making kids stop crying; and I quickly became the volunteer to whom crying children were sent. I learned that making children feel safe and nurtured made me feel really good. It also made me more confident in my abilities as a person. Six years later I’ve completed over two hundred volunteer hours at the museum alone. I’ve also volunteered at over ten other non-profit organizations and was selected as the youngest ever student body Community Service Director at my school, a position I still hold today. This year I received a Santa Rosa City Merit Award and a certificate of congressional recognition for my service. While I’m proud of this award, I feel energized knowing that I’ve made a positive impact in so many children’s lives. From cooking burritos with developmentally disabled students, to coordinating Special Olympics, to preparing and serving pasta at an elementary school fundraiser, I’ve been able to help kids from all backgrounds feel safe and have fun. My experience volunteering led me to a job as a camp counselor. This past summer I was hired to help pilot a newly founded outdoor nature camp for toddlers. Every week I led a new set of ten campers, mentored three to four teen volunteers, and served on a leadership team of nine counselors who planned and directed camp activities. I was extremely nervous about starting this job but it quickly became one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had. It was also a great learning experience because the camp was new and we had no idea what would work. The first week, I took my campers on nature walks, and quickly learned that toddlers don’t like them. There was no room to dwell on failures with ten angry toddlers in tow, so I replaced nature walks with game time. I saw how changing course benefited the kids when they begged me to play cops and robbers with them instead of crying that their feet hurt. My favorite part of the summer was connecting with the campers and helping them flourish in new environments. Most of the toddlers had never been to any type of camp or school before and were scared when they first arrived. I learned that by getting on their level and going at their pace, I could help them overcome their fears and have a great time. One boy, Warren, refused to go on the boats that were part of camp activities. I promised that we would go slow and stay close to the dock. He became comfortable on the water and even started asking to go farther away and to speed up. Even for such a small thing, his bravery inspired me. I also learned that with young children, small gestures are huge. Simply holding a child’s hand while walking to and from activities, or playing tag with them during breaks could positively impact their little lives. It made me wonder what kind of impact I could make through a career of giving to children with needs greater than missing their mom. This past fall, I learned more about careers by participating in a local mentorship program with Medtronic, a medical technology company. During bi-weekly meetings with a Medtronic employee I learned about their job. I worked with other students and practiced clearing a blocked artery and designing 3D printed objects. During the blocked artery lab, my team struggled to manipulate the supplies we were given in a way that fully cleared the artery. However, we watched another group blow up a balloon inside the model artery and completely unblock it. We later learned that this was an example of a balloon-angioplasty. Printing a 3D object involved less trial and error but excited me more because I got to use my love of math and physics. We also toured a virtual cadaver lab at the Medtronic site to see how biologists study the human body without experimenting on live people. I discovered how much fun science and technology are and how many ways science helps people every day. I have since started researching science careers that focus on helping children like pediatric occupational therapy and pediatric physical therapy. Both careers involve some of my strongest values and interests—helping people, the study of the human body, and working with children. After I graduate high school, I plan on attending a four year college where I can major in and study one of those fields to continue my passion and my family practice of giving.

I have always craved knowledge. Whether worldly knowledge or girlish gossip, I’ve always wanted to be in the know. Recently I’ve become intrigued by scientific knowledge and interested in STEM careers, specifically with a focus on biology and working with children—both areas I can delve into as a Biology major at my future college or university. To start exploring biology-related careers, I searched for volunteer and internship opportunities and signed up for multiple ones. Unfortunately, every opportunity I found got canceled or was too far away. I didn’t give up but broadened my search. I researched, talked to teachers and counselors, and discovered a local mentorship program with Medtronic, a medical technology company. I immediately signed up and got accepted. During bi-weekly meetings with a Medtronic employee I learned about their job. I worked with other students and practiced clearing a blocked artery and designing 3D printed objects. During the blocked artery lab, my team struggled to manipulate the supplies we were given in a way that fully cleared the artery. However, we watched another group blow up a balloon inside the model artery and completely unblock it. We later learned that this was an example of a balloon-angioplasty. Printing a 3D object involved less trial and error but excited me more because I got to use my love of math and physics. We also toured a virtual cadaver lab at the Medtronic site to see how biologists study the human body without experimenting on live people. Through this mentorship, I discovered several career paths in which I can apply my math and physics studies and my interest in biology. My interest in a career with children was deepened this past summer when I worked as a camp counselor to pilot a newly founded outdoor camp for toddlers. Every week I led a new set of ten campers, mentored three to four teen volunteers, and served on a leadership team of nine counselors who planned and directed camp activities. I was extremely nervous about starting this job but it quickly became one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had. It was also a great learning experience because the camp was new and we had no idea what would work. The first week, I took my campers on nature walks, and quickly learned that toddlers don’t like them. I had to brainstorm with my team to find better activities. There was no room to dwell on failures with twelve angry toddlers in tow. I replaced nature walks with game time. I saw how changing course positively impacted the kids when they begged me to play cops and robbers with them instead of crying that their feet hurt. My favorite part of the summer was connecting with the campers and helping them flourish in new environments. Most of the toddlers had never been to any type of camp or school before and were scared of being without their parents or trying new things. I learned that by getting on their level and going at their pace, I could help them overcome their fears and have a great time. After spending an entire summer surrounded by toddlers I decided that I want to pursue a career working with children. However, I wasn’t sure what field I wanted to go into until my medtronic mentorship which opened me up to the STEM field. I have since considered careers in pediatric occupational therapy and pediatric physical therapy. Both careers involve some of my strongest values and interests—helping people, the study of the human body, and working with children.