Giving is important to me because I believe kindness can save the world. You never know when someone is struggling, and if you do and are able to help, you should. I believe that karma is real and that what comes around goes around. Besides that, it is such an amazing feeling knowing you brought a smile to someone's face with just a random act of kindness. Some of the things I do to help give back are helping organize drives of different sorts, whether they be food drives, feminine hygiene product drives, clothing drives, etc. I think my favorite organization that I am a part of is the Stephanie Waterman Foundation. They help provide clothes, racquets, shoes, etc to underprivileged children in Kansas City and the metro area. The smiles on both the parent's and children's faces are so, so, so rewarding to see because you know that with something as minor as a tennis racquet, you have been a brightness in someone's life.

When I was around 13, I was considering quitting the sport I had played since I was 6 years old. Tennis has been my life for 7 years, but I wasn't sure if it was right for me. I was burnt out, miserable, and didn't have any will to really do anything at all, much less an intense sport. It was a hard time mentally for me as well, as my grandpa had passed away right before Christmas and our cat had passed away earlier that year in October. I was contemplating just quitting altogether, and then when I talked to my friends and coaches, I realized I couldn't just leave. I had friends who counted on me, coaches who believed in me, and the relationships that resulted from tennis that would last a lifetime. I was soon able to find my love and passion for the sport again with the help of my friends and coaches. If it wasn't for them and the support system they had given me, I probably would have quit.

I think that the best way to live a long, healthy life is by treating everyone with kindness and helping someone out if they are struggling. I believe that especially in the environment we live in nowadays with global and political tensions, tensions across different groups, we could all use a little bit of kindness. If we were all able to start thinking as a community and a collective again, and not lose sight of the communication and relationships that make us human. I believe that we all need a reminder that there are good people all around us, and if someone is feeling down you can be the person to brighten their day. You never know what someone is going through, and if universally the attitude could be changed to more open-mindedness, more and more people could live a long, healthy life because of the support that they would be surrounded in, and the fulfillment they get from being able to make someone's day. A little kindness always goes a long way.

One investing tip that I have taken to heart is to set aside a certain percentage of all my earnings for saving. For me personally, that number is around 20% of what I earn, since my parents still help me pay for a lot of things. I have also started making lists of things I want or need and only try to get those items if they are on sale or at a reduced price in order to save money, and try not to chip into my savings at all but instead keep them in a bank account where they can very very slowly start compounding interest. With the combination of savings and compounding interest, I have been able to save over $4,000 dollars and I have learned how to save money as well as how to wisely spend it so I am never or at least very rarely in a situation where I would have to be living pay-check to pay-check.

The pandemic affected me in a positive way by showing me just how quickly everything around me can change and that there is nothing to be scared about if you want to do something new. If you want to open up a business, do it. If you want to change your lifestyle to be healthier, do it. It taught me that time really is precious, as cliche as it is. I think that until you have experienced an event that makes you grateful for the time you have, you don't understand that, and for me, that event was the pandemic. I have learned how to be more organized, how to dream, and how to live fearlessly. If you want to change your future, you have to change your present, every day, a little bit at a time. Change doesn't have to be instantaneous, it should be gradual. Because of these small changes, I was able to make my dreams turn into goals, and I have the confidence that I will be able to achieve those goals.

My favorite scientist is Katherine Johnson, an amazing mathematician, and woman of color whose calculations of orbital mechanics led to the first crewed spaceflight. She broke the barriers of both gender and color and made people listen and be more open-minded.

My favorite book is "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. I first read this book when my mother gave it to me in fourth grade. At the time, I was extremely confused as to what the point of the book even was. I was so caught up in the strange words and the picture that didn't make any sense that I didn't read it again until four years later. When I picked up the book again in eighth grade, it made more sense, although not as much as I would have liked it too. I was starting to understand the message, or what I thought at the time to be the message. Over the past several years, I have read the book 15 more times. I think the reason I love this book is that the message it is trying to put across is to look beneath the surface and try to have a deeper understanding and find the real truth and meaning of everything, and the book itself requires you to do this. As a young fourth grader, I thought the book was just about a weird adventure that this boy went on, and I was confused about all of the characters. As I matured and was taught how to analyze books for a deeper meaning, the fact that this book required you to apply the message to actually understand the theme was mind-blowing. I still am in awe of how such a short novel can put across such a deep message, and how well-written the book is. And no one I have ever talked to about the book had the exact same wording, because we all interpreted it a little bit differently because we had to look beneath the surface to get the message.

The person I admire the most from history is Malala Yousafzai. When I was a little girl I remember going to school one day and everybody was talking about the girl who got shot in the head but survived. My friends and I swore that it was because of "girl power" that she was able to survive. What stunned me more is that as soon as she got out of the hospital, she went and started to protest and bring awareness to women all around the world about the inequality women everywhere faced. As I grew older, I realized just how much Yousafzai actually went through and the trauma she must have faced afterwards, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I realized how strong of a person she must be, and I really admired that. When Time magazine came out and she was the cover, I was so excited for her. Not only was she able to make the cover of newspapers, but now she was on the cover of Time! I'm also awed that she never changed. She never let the fame or the news distract her from her goal: equality and rights for women all across the world. She is a part of the movement, and many women I know including myself were inspired from a young age to follow in her footsteps and not just settle for the inequality, but instead to reach for the stars and take our future into our own hands.

I would try my hardest to stand up for the women who don't have a voice and make sure that we get justice and are treated equally in the workplace, school, etc. I would try to talk to legislators to make more laws to stand with young girls and women and encourage them to speak up and support them when they do. Too many people I know have been victims of unfair treatment and unequal opportunity, simply because they are women, and this needs to change. If there were more women in influential positions, other problems could be tackled in a better way too, because there would be a wider variety of opinions and problem solvers in the field. Other issues such as global warming, vaccines, poverty, world hunger, etc, could come a lot closer to being solved/ greatly helped if there were more women in the field, but the first step is to get them in places of authority and make sure people actually listen.

My family and I have been wanting a dog for a while, but it seemed as though we would never have enough time to be able to properly potty train one. Over the short break between quarantines, we drove down to Georgia to get our pup, a miniature Dalmatian named Prince. As soon as we saw him we knew that he was the one... he had chosen us. His tail was wagging a hundred miles an hour, and his eyes were shining. We brought him home, and have created many memories with him!