Many of my favorite memories were made with my grandfather. Music is something we have always shared and my favorite song he has shared with me is 'Summer of '69' by Brian Adams. This song has the most important message to me because it reminds me to enjoy life and that my experiences now will become my stories later on. Listening to artists such as Adams reflect on life and by the end of the song speak in the past tense reminds me of the brevity of life. As the circumstances of Brian's life evolve throughout the song as he progresses through and farther from his youth its message to me is to enjoy my youth and seize opportunities as they come. My favorite line of this song is "when I look back now, the summer seemed to last forever" because it represents how temporary situations often falsely seem permanent. This is an encouraging message to me because although we move on from phases of life that we miss, with time challenges and difficult phases of life pass. This song embodies my belief that life is unpredictable but even in difficult situations it is important to make the most of your experiences. This message is most important to me because this is the primary lesson I have learned from my grandfather, that life is short and measured in our experiences with those we care about.

An aspiring surgeon would never struggle with their mental health, right? Unfortunately this statement is not the truth. Throughout my life I have struggled with depression, a mental health issue affecting millions as many struggle in silence due to assumptions just as this, that there is anyone immune to mental health challenges. Although this has caused me to struggle in various areas of my life, it has also allowed me the opportunity to grow and find strength in myself to overcome depression and other challenges. During times when motivation is absent from my mind and self doubt it prevalent, a goal such as becoming a doctor seems unreachable. Depression and academics tend not to coexist, I have struggled many days to focus in classes (and even wake up for them), interact with my teachers and peers, and get enough sleep to put forth my best work in the classroom. However, my goals have only gotten higher in spite of my struggles, as I find challenges to be motivating in my pursuit of my full potential. I believe that because of my desire to overcome my depression I have become more academically successful than if I had never struggled with my mental health at all. In challenging me depression, I have found my biggest supporter to be myself as through success I combat the thoughts and feelings of inadequacy and shame that often come with depression. My challenges with mental health have impacted my relationships by both strengthening my bonds with some while causing growing distance between myself and others. Meeting others who discuss mental health openly has helped me to create a supportive network of friends helping each other through everyday challenges. However, because mental health is still heavily stigmatized it has caused tension with others as many are not educated about mental health. Many apply hurtful stereotypes to those struggling with their mental health as well as contribute to the social isolation and excluduin many experience for speaking out. Overall, stigma surrounding mental health has caused my relationship to decrease in quality with those I have opened up to. My understanding of the world has been expanded due to my struggles with mental health. As someone who has struggled to understand others and their feelings, others sharing their challenges has helped me to relate to their experiences and to understand their perspectives. Also, I have come to realize that mental health is often disregarded and treated as though it is a hush topic, this has revealed to me the lack of understanding in society. My understanding of the world has come to include the conclusion that through connection, active listening, supporting others and speaking out, we can lessen society's burden of ascending mental health problems.

Throughout my life, I have come to know that feminism is synonymous with opportunity. Not only opportunity for an individual or for women but for all. Feminism for millions of women across the world also means freedom, freedom to choose one's life direction which has historically been withheld from women. Although many confuse feminism with the notion that women are superior to others, it means equity and providing women with equal rights and treatment in order to elevate society as a whole. For me personally, feminism is my future; as a young women pursuing a career as a surgeon, I have feminists before me to thank for this opportunity to be possible. Feminism is important because in addition to improving the lives of women, it has the power to improve society for all. Top indicators of advanced economic development globally include female education and female involvement in the workforce. Feminism is important firstly because with more workers in the work force, the work force can function more efficiently and therefore more profitably. Also, feminism is important because with expanded educational and employment opportunities, women are less vulnerable to poverty, abuse including financial abuse, complications in childbirth as well as other physical health and mental health challenges. Finally, the children of women who obtain a college degree or even just a high school diploma are more likely to themselves finish their education and join the workforce in higher paying jobs. A feminist who inspires me is the America author Sylvia Plath. She wrote only one full novel titled "The Bell Jar" which illustrates Plath's struggles as a woman pursuing a career and struggling with her mental health, revealing institutional and societal shortcomings in regards to the treatment of women. She has enhanced my understanding of feminism by introducing the principle that feminism has no bounds in the support of women's efforts. While Plath challenged societal norms she also brandished her femininity as a symbol of strength and was a devoted mother and wife. Plath is a representation of women not being confined to one role, not to the role of breadwinner and author and also not to the more "traditional" role of wife and mother, showing that both can coexist in one individual. She has taught me that despite society's teachings that femininity is synonymous with weakness, women embracing their femininity unapologetically is a sign of strength. I contribute to the feminism movement by seizing the opportunities provided to me through former trailblazers efforts and encouraging others to do the same. Most surgeons are still men, and female surgeons face challenges such as harassment and discrimination which discourage women from choosing surgery as their occupation. To challenge this I will enter the medical field boldly and unapologetically. Also, I have two younger sisters who are both in elementary school, their whole lives I have demonstrated for them and told them that they to must unapologetically follow their passions and pursue their dreams. Throughout my medical career, I plan to provide training and mentoring to other females pursuing medicine as well as any other field as I am invested in the future of feminism, as for me, feminism means opportunity for all.

My passion lies in improvement. I am constantly striving to improve my own life as well as the lives of others. I am passionate about improving the lives of others by improving their health and helping them to endure difficult times in their lives as a surgical oncologist. My mother is a nurse and I grew up with a passion for the medical field in general, the comradery and community of people dedicating their lives to saving lives. Becoming a surgical oncologist will provide me with the unique opportunity to improve my life, my family's lives, my patients' lives and health as well as the medical field. I am passionate about my family, specifically my younger sisters. It is important for me to provide a positive and successful female role model for them and inspire them to work hard and invest in their education. I have what it takes to accomplish my goals because I am committed and consistent in my efforts. I understand that great things do not happen quickly or come easily, and the value of daily efforts in achieving large goals. I am willing to put in additional years of training through medical school and surgical residency to become fully qualified to save patients' lives. I am very intrinsically motivated and I value reaching my potential. I will overcome obstacles with the help of my support system which is my family as well as through resilience, which I have developed throughout my education. I view success as the compilation of efforts toward a goal over time which can only be achieved through self-discipline and accountability, so I hold myself accountable in every aspect of my education. Finally, I will overcome obstacles in my education because I know how to learn and continue my efforts in exploring my learning style and adapting to new environments. In becoming the best student I can be I continue to learn from all of my experiences, even challenging ones. I will give back to others less fortunate than me primarily through performing surgeries. Through my efforts, I hope to eradicate tumors and heal the body of my patients. I will also give back to others in my career by caring for their mind and emotions as well. Battling cancer is a difficult process and I hope that each patient will allow me to be a part of their support system. Supporting families as a medical professional is also important as illness is often hardest for close loved ones. I will build bonds and offer my compassion and resources to my patients and their families to help their lives return to normal. In my personal life, I plan to volunteer primarily to assist foster children and rescue animals. I spent the summer before my freshman year of high school volunteering at a children's home and since I have developed a passion for helping foster kids. Investing in children's education and health is an investment in our future that I plan to partake in. I also have a lifelong passion for animals and plan to volunteer in shelters and adopt and foster dogs and guinea pigs when possible. Overall, my goal is to help others in the most impactful way I can, by saving lives and investing in the future.

I am Lilliana Denick but everyone calls me Lilly. I am an 18 year old future surgeon. I was born and raised in Florida and I have two younger sisters. Another important fact about me is that my education is a top priority in my life and I value it highly. I am a senior and graduating as part of the first class of Spoto High School's collegiate academy, I have an unweighted GPA of 7.2 and have invested countless hours into my education, however, before any achievement must come motivation, discipline, and consistency. From the time I was in elementary school, I knew that I wanted to do something important and that my education was going to be the key to achieving this. My mother was a young, single mom working and attending college full time while taking care of me, throughout this time and my whole life she taught me the value of education. As she completed and continued the various stages of her education to become a registered nurse our lives improved, aside from her lessons I witnessed firsthand the power of education. Since then I find myself giving my best to each task I complete and striving to improve myself, however, my interest in surgery was not inspired only by my pursuit of self-improvement, but my passion for helping others. I have chosen to enter the medical field because it allows me to help others in a very impactful way, by saving their lives. My goal is to become a surgical oncologist and help people like my grandfather who passed away from cancer when I was in middle school. Throughout the course of his illness, it was difficult to watch him become more ill, I never expected that it would bring me closer to my grandfather and show me the strength of family in difficult times. I am not one to shy away from difficulty and struggle in life and the most exciting aspect of this career to me is to help families recover from the effects of cancer and hopefully to help their loved ones enter remission. I decided to do this for families and to help people continue to make memories together. Aside from helping my patients' families, I am pursuing medicine for my own family. My younger sisters are 5 and 9 years old, as the oldest sibling I take pride in setting a strong, confident, and successful example for them to follow, I want to be successful in my career so that I can assist them in following their passions. Me becoming my family's first doctor is important not only to me, but to my whole family to make them proud and to show my sisters the power of hard work and consistency.

Consistent adherence to one's moral values is the essence of integrity. In other words, integrity means doing what is right even when there is an option not to. I consider integrity to be less of a personality trait than it is the compilation of conscious choices and continuous efforts to do the right thing. Finally, I believe that integrity is most often found in going out of your way to help others when many would not. On a busy Saturday I drove through Tampa, as my red light turned green I saw a glimpse of orange fur on what looked like a speck on the ground to my left. I then realized it was a newborn kitten crying in the street with cars speeding overhead. Although I was tempted by the thought that someone else would stop and help as I am sure many others driving before me did, I turned around, waited for the next red light to retrieve the kitten, and I took it home. I bottle-fed her and watched over her until she was given to a cat rescuer. The kitten's name bestowed upon her by my 5-year-old sister is MewMew, and she is now healthy and looking for the perfect family. I did this because it was the right thing to do and because integrity is stepping up to fix the shortcomings of others even when it is not your responsibility to do so. Another example of my choices to exemplify honor in my life is when in the bathroom at school I noticed a shiny purple photo album filled with polaroid pictures by the sink. I was not sure who it belonged to but I put it in my bag to bring it to the lost and found. On my way out of the bathroom, a girl walked in panicked and asked me if I had seen the photo album. I handed it to her and she smiled, hugged me and thanked me; the photo album was insignificant to me, but I knew that it was important to someone else.

I believe that learning is important for all individuals, however, it is essential to women. Historically, education is the key to independence for women and the main determination of the degree of control which women tend to have over their own lives. Educated women on average get married later, have less children, earn higher wages, have more control over their family's finances and report higher personal satisfaction with their lives. I believe that learning and my education will help me to realize my full potential as an independent and professional woman. Learning is vital to my constant pursuit of personal growth in every area of my life. Outside of my academic career I have improved my knowledge of life skills such as cooking, managing my health and wellness and helping to maintain my family home out of my strong desire to become a well-rounded individual. I also think gaining knowledge is important if we are to relate to others. In today's diverse world it is often our unawareness that divides us, with all of the resources we could possibly need we often fail to learn about each other. Throughout my career as a surgical oncologist and throughout my life I never want to stop learning from the patients, colleagues, families, and other individuals I meet along the way. I strive to learn at least one thing from each person I meet and speak to in order to become more open-minded and understanding. Learning is most important to me personally because it is my way of working hard in order to make my family proud and make all of their sacrifices worthwhile. Most members of my family do not pursue or even consider higher education, I am the second behind my mother to pursue my degree and make a new life for myself through education. I plan to be an example of the value of education to my family and anyone else I may meet and to empower others to invest in themselves. My education will allow me to be set apart from the rest in my achievements and to show others that hard work makes great things possible. As well as bringing a sense of accomplishment to my family, learning gives me the opportunity to feel accomplished in myself. Pushing my mind to its limits and overcoming difficult experiences incites my passion for learning everything that I possibly can. I hope through my education I can one day educate and train others to pass on my love for learning. The world to me becomes more exciting and fascinating the more that I know how it works because from then I only want to learn more and know there is always more knowledge to be received. I am passionate about learning because it will allow me to live a life determined by my choices and hard work that I will never stop putting forth in order to gain knowledge.

My name is Lilliana Denick and my goal is to become a surgical oncologist. I have always put my best effort forth in every task I have been given. This is my general policy for my life and as I am applying to colleges I hope that they and one day the right medical school will give me a chance to become my best. This year I am graduating as the valedictorian of my class, I am fully committed to my education and my future career. Aside from that I love to spend time with my family, they are the most important part of my life and I could not accomplish nearly as much as I have and will continue to without them. My goal through my career is to heal families. Cancer is a horrible situation and a diagnosis can be heartbreaking. It is even more heartbreaking to watch your loved ones become more ill and weak, I hope that one day I can give families good news that their loved one is going to get better or even just hope. I also chose this career as my goal because I believe that it is fitting to my strengths such as focus, mental endurance, my ability to stay calm in stressful situations and my full devotion to any task I commit to completing. As I give my all to achieve my career I will do my all for my patients and treat them as if they are my own family. For me becoming a doctor is about leaving a legacy, to rid a woman of a tumor that keeps her in the hospital away from her children or helping a teacher who goes on to inspire millions for example. In this way my legacy will live through my patients, this career is worth all I have because their stories will all be a part of me. I want to relieve families of the uncertainty of their futures together and give every patient the best chance at a long and happy life. Finally, a personal reason why I have chosen this path for myself is to make my family proud and to show them that I have become successful with their help. I want to show them that I am grateful for all of the sacrifices they have made for me, and because of this I will sacrifice my time, energy, and all of my effort for continuing the legacies of others.

I have a blue merle Pomeranian named Mako. A few things that make Mako himself are that he spins in circles when he is excited, is a master of strategy in stealing food, and he is the most loving dog I have ever known. I tend to be reserved and private by nature, I do not typically show much affection to others and am not good at receiving it, not because I do not want these things, because I do not necessarily know how to. Mako is extremely clingy and I am his favorite person in my home. Mako gives me the love and support that I do not know how to ask for but need, he seems to always know when I need him the most. I spend much of my time doing individual activities such as exercising and studying which often leaves me wishing a friend was there too, and in my house that is Mako. He is a great friend to me, I often take him on car rides, into pet friendly stores and to parks as well as including him in my exercising and studying. Aside from being a phenomenal friend Mako reminds me to enjoy life. His relaxed yet playful attitude helps me to realize that life is much more than school or work or accomplishments and to go outside and enjoy life every now and again. Without Mako I would not go on long walks and observe the world around me as he closely inspects each blade of grass or crack in the sidewalk as he always does on our walks. I used to find this habit annoying until I realized that he finds such joy in the smallest things and allows all of life to be a wonder to him. So in this way my dog shifted my mindset, he drew me away from the rut many find themselves in of viewing life as dull and average. I have found ways like Mako for all of my life to be exciting and beautiful in some way. As well as giving me a more grateful mindset, Mako has shown me that it is okay to give other people the chance to love you. Mako gives everyone his all, he loves and trusts unconditionally even when he is let down and I struggle to do the same, to not cut myself off from anyone I feel will hurt me; Mako has shown me that loving others and receiving love in return is worth the risk. Mako's example has helped me become what I want in a friend, more loving, happy, compassionate, easy-going, and loyal. Overall, Mako has completely changed me and changed my life as I now have the most loyal friend one could have.

I believe the biggest problem facing the world right now is a lack of education. Across the globe, millions of individuals are denied the opportunity for education, discrimination and poverty being the most prevalent reasons. To change this I believe that education must come to the forefront of societies; supporting students through quality instruction, transportation, and financial assistance would eradicate the cycle of poverty that millions of families suffer in as they cannot afford to send their children to school. Also, women, minorities, and the poor can no longer be denied education for discriminatory reasons if our world is to become more educated, as with education, prejudices subside as well. Educational opportunities must be extended to the most rural villages, to oppressed women, to those turned away for their skin color, their orientation, their identity, for who they are, only then can we progress and break cycles of poverty and entrapment that plague communities across the world. As well as on an institutional level, a lack of education socially causes many issues born in ignorance. In a world with abundant information and ideas constantly available through our devices, why do we use them for division and fighting? Why not for unity and understanding? Technology allows us to listen to and come to understand one another, I believe in our world a cultural shift of openness, of curiosity and care to others must occur. I believe in the hearts of individuals these changes must occur, a change which is much more impactful than those within a court room. The initiative to explore other cultures, other's history and our own, to listen to one another, and to use it for growth is education as invaluable as academic knowledge.

I relax by playing music and practicing self-care on a regular basis. Music to me has always been a retreat from whatever negative things are happening in life, and a path through them when I cannot escape. Songwriting is how I collect my thoughts, and the only way I can make my thoughts make sense sometimes. To step back from the world behind my guitar is the only time I feel truly free without the anxiety of everyday pressures looming over me. Other ways I practice self-care are by activities like reading, walking, spending time with my pets, and caring for my body. My final and most important form of self-care I apply to my life is ironically, scaled back levels of work. Often, by taking many breaks, allowing long periods of time for small tasks, and being patient with myself, I not only relieve the anxiety brought about by a task, but help to eliminate the source of anxiety itself. Slowly working through problems, I have found is the best way for me to de-stress, while also maintaining my productivity, and ultimately preventing burnout. Taking breaks to enjoy activities as necessary as a shower and as unnecessary as coloring enables me to feel as if I am enjoying whatever I am doing, becoming proud and happy when it is done. Overall, I care for my mental health by communicating with myself to determine what would help me maintain balance in my mind and my life. By finding equilibrium in my life, I feel more at ease and satisfied, knowing that nothing in life is feasable without compromise, even within oneself.

My entire life I have watched those close to me tirelessly pursue opportunity. Watching my mother pursue nursing which working full time and raising me inspired me to see education as a vessel for opportunity. Watching my father start and grow a small business over the past four years has opened my eyes to necessity of branching out and using all of the resources available to achieve one's goals. This has shaped my hopes for the future as it has shaped my strong work ethic and my perseverance. Because of this I am determined to fully apply myself in order to become a trauma surgeon in order to provide for those I am closest with, and those I have never met through my care. The principle of hard work, of pushing harder through weariness has shaped my dedication to succeed through my corresponding efforts. Also, because those close to me inspired me to pursue opportunities in the face of hardship, I hope to inspire others too. In the same way I looked up to those ahead of me in choosing to forge their own paths in life, I see my younger sisters looking up to me. I am dedicated to inspiring them to work their hardest toward their goals and to let them watch me give up as I hope they never do. As a woman in the medical field, I hope to inspire the generation of women after me to pursue their dreams, even when they are discouraged to do so. Overall, my hopes for the future are for the service of those around me, and my success to enrich the lives of others.

Something that I love about myself is my perseverance. From the time I was very young I watched my mother simultaneously work full time, attend college, and raise me alone; through the years I promised myself to always do my best work like I watched her do. There has yet to be a challenge in my life I have not faced head on and worked continuously to overcome. Fast forward about a decade and here I am writing this. By now I'm a junior in high school and a sophomore at my community college through a duel enrollment program; I spin rifles in my NJROTC unit and I've had all A's all of high school. Coming from a family who "don't do school", people wonder how I became so smart. The truth is that genius or any other superiority is not the reason I am choosing to make myself successful. I love my perseverance because it was born on a small apartment's kitchen table by my mother's midnight-studied nursing textbooks. I love this about myself because I never quit on anything or anyone. Finally, I love this about myself because it allows me to draw purpose and inspiration to work hard and achieve my potential for myself and for those around me, so one day I can be half the role model I grew up with.

The most helpful piece of financial advice I ever received came from my father. He told me that financial success comes with the ability to delay smaller, shorter term wants in order to obtain lasting and more profound things later. This allowed me to see that the most consistently successful and organized people in life often share this ability to deny what they want now for what will yield a larger future benefit, and also, only pursue the things which add value in whichever way it may add it to life. By applying this principle, I have been able to easily distinguish what is actually necessary in my life and what is not. Following this concept, one becomes more aware of what truly adds value to everyday life, even when applied to non-material things. Denying gratification of fleeting wants also increases the quality of the financial decisions made, not just the frequency. While striving toward a financial goal and almost exclusively spending money when necessary, non-essential purchases are more likely to be more thorough decisions which bring greater long-term satisfaction. The reason this simple principle is so profound when applied to real life is that American society pushes the opposite. The "have it all right now" mind-set works to fund businesses through the indoctrination of impatience in culture. Counteracting this principle, the only route to true and honest success, as well as among the least popular concepts in America today, is hard work. Finally, this concept in avoiding foolish spending when applied to one's life, it is a change in mindset in which the holder eventually becomes more aware of the value that non-tangible things have.

My experience with mental health brought me to my lowest but allows me to help others. In seventh grade, I experienced my first major depressive episode and began to experience accompanying anxiety and panic attacks. After moving from everyone I knew I went through this alone, and upon that pressure, I developed a severe eating disorder. My battle with anxiety, depression, and bulimia has spanned over 4 years of misunderstanding, judgment, and isolation as I went into and out of recovery, and still am. Throughout my journey, I have learned a lot. I have learned that throughout life people come and go. I have learned that at the end of the day, there will likely only be a couple that stay and to hold onto those people. I have learned that mental illness is as legitimate as physical. I learned to listen, and I have learned to speak up. Through my experiences, I have gained a drive and desire to help others in situations similar to mine, ones I went through primarily alone. Throughout my life, it is my goal to listen to and support as many people as possible, and to provide an open door and open arms to anyone in need. My ultimate career goal is to be a doctor, a trauma surgeon. In any capacity of the medical field, you are bound to encounter mentally ill patients, or a struggling loved one at the loss of a family member or a friend. Although I may not be able to do much I will work my hardest to support those family members in the moments I dread most about one-day saving lives, the ones I will not be able to. I also plan to volunteer in any capacity with children and teens and provide them with a positive example and someone to listen to them. I wish to in some way work with kids who are hurting and are high risk like I once was. I plan to use my story to make another's brighter.