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Dragons By: Elizabeth Mayo In fantasy, dragons are fire-breathing animals that can take down nations in seconds. In real life though, dragons are the people that try to destroy others' lives through their computers. Like a knight in shining armor, cybersecurity can defend against today's dragons. Reflecting, I realized that my love for dragons had helped to fuel my pursuit of a career in computer science, especially cybersecurity. As a child all my time was spent scouring books about dragons or spending months collecting money to buy a figurine. Everything about dragons kept me captivated by their unbelievable abilities, otherworldly appearances and even their strength enchanted me. When I got older my father introduced me to computers by letting me help him build his own. Even with all the computers, buildings, and soldering, I was always drawn to dragons. Interests became intertwined and I was infatuated with dragon games or building dragon LEDs. In the second year of high school, I started to reject many of my interests. The dragon figurines were collecting dust, my computer was slowly starting to die and it felt like a part of me was missing. Instead of pursuing my passions, I spent my time watching mindless shows or listening to music that didn’t fit. The embarrassment of my true interests caused me to hide from my friends and lie about what I truly liked. Sitting there in this dark period of my life caked in a thin layer of dust was my favorite dragon figurine staring at me. The first time I realized just how much of myself I was letting go is when I was cleaning my closet and faced with my old favorite figurine. Memories seemed to fill my brain and I realized that I was hiding my passion for dragons and cybersecurity to fit in. Yet in doing so, I was being unfair to myself. Seeing that dragon made me realize that I wanted to protect people against the dragons that may destroy their lives and computers. A few months after that, seeing all the different possibilities and creative ways made me interested in a career I never even knew about. That passion sparked me to start researching as much as I could on cybersecurity. Doing cybersecurity will help me to get a job that fulfills my constant thirst for knowledge and keeps my spark of passion ignited. That moment in my time made me realize I want to do cybersecurity. Overall realizing just how much of myself I had hidden and engaging in my interests has helped me tremendously in life. No matter what, I hope I can get a career in something I’m passionate about. Dragons are what led me to my current spot and I hope that no matter where I end up I will always have a dragon on my desk.

My personality. Three dreary weeks I was in the hospital for mental health. That time frame was filled with critically reflecting on every part of my identity and past mistakes. Around week two, my nurse entered the room for vitals and as usual I zoned out. I could hear as the machine beeped its usual sequence and the blood pressure squeezed my arm. Breaking me out of my trance, the nurse mentioned “For someone who just went through this traumatic experience, you seem really friendly. It brightens my day”. I nearly burst into tears when she said that I love making people happy and to have someone be impacted. That last week made me realize just how much I loved about myself and the impact I have on others. Friendliness and kindness will forever be a part of myself I value no matter how low I feel. I hope as the years go on I can learn to value more of my physical traits and continue to brighten peoples lives.

Dragons In fantasy, dragons are fire-breathing animals that can take down nations in seconds. In real life though, dragons are the people that try to destroy others' lives through their computers. Like a knight in shining armor, cybersecurity can defend against today's dragons. Reflecting, I realized that my love for dragons had helped to fuel my pursuit for a career in computer science, especially cybersecurity. As a child all my time was spent scouring books about dragons or spending months collecting money to buy a figurine. Everything about dragons kept me captivated by their unbelievable abilities, otherworldly appearances and even their strength enchanted me. When I got older my father introduced me to computers by letting me help him build his own. Even with all the computers, buildings, and soldering, I was always drawn to dragons. Interests became intertwined and I was infatuated with dragon games or building dragon LEDs. In the second year of high school, I started to reject many of my interests. The dragon figurines were collecting dust, my computer was slowly starting to die and it felt like a part of me was missing. Instead of pursuing my passions, I spent my time watching mindless shows or listening to music that didn’t fit. The embarrassment of my true interests caused me to hide from my friends and lie about what I truly liked. Sitting there in this dark period of my life caked in a thin layer of dust was my favorite dragon figurine staring at me. The first time I realized just how much of myself I was letting go is when I was cleaning my closet and faced with my old favorite figurine. Memories seemed to fill my brain and I realized that I was hiding my passion for dragons and cybersecurity to fit in. Yet in doing so, I was being unfair to myself. Seeing that dragon made me realize that I wanted to protect people against the dragons that may destroy their lives and computers. A few months after that, seeing all the different possibilities and creative ways made me interested in a career I never even knew about. That passion sparked me to start researching as much as I could on cybersecurity. Doing cybersecurity will help me to get a job that fulfills my constant thirst for knowledge and keeps my spark of passion ignited. That moment in my time made me realize I want to do cybersecurity. Overall realizing just how much of myself I had hidden and engaging in my interests has helped me tremendously in life. No matter what, I hope I can get a career in something I’m passionate about. Dragons are what led me to my current spot and I hope that no matter where I end up I will always have a dragon on my desk.

Cats are creatures that have so much personality from sassy to sweet. We got my tabby cat Penny three years ago and everyday she brightens my day. Even the simplest things from her eating or sleeping. I love the way she gets scared by the littlest things. Or playing with the tiniest strings . Animals in general are a simple pleasure I can't live without. I love just going on YouTube and watching a funny cat video or a dog trying new foods. Going on walks and just watching animals in nature makes me so happy. Watching animals in nature conservations or animal documentaries. I just love how the animals interact and it makes me so happy to see them enjoying there environment. Suffering from mental health issues I find myself down a lot of the time. Having animals in my life I have constant entertainment that never fails to make me happy.

College is a chance at a new life, new friends, a way to restart the stress of high school and learn what I'm passionate about. Mental health has always been a huge struggle with me from the stress of college to the stress of my future. My parents have invested a lot of money for therapy and medical bills.Due to this money has greatly limited my choices in schools and the school I'm currently considering still leaves a strain on the budget. The extra money will help me fund my schooling and still have money left over for mental health resources.

Hair. Such a simple thing to love about myself, but it represents my self confidence and identity. When I was younger I was insecure about my hair wearing it in a bun constantly. Never truly taking care of it and letting it become a huge knot. That knot was a huge burden on my self confidence. Yet as the years went on I went into the hairdressers and got that knot cut off. From that day on I vowed to love my hair and embrace it. Now I can't go a week without my hair down and I love my curls!! It also represents a side of myself that when I was younger I never embraced. Being mixed race I often felt pressured to be more "white" or "black". I felt insecure about my identity. But having that final knot cut off and finally having curls. It felt like a restart of myself. No matter what I will always appreciate my hair even when it's dry or messy. I hope that people like me will embrace there natural hair.

Monster I Iove the thrill, action and suspense of this anime. The minute I found the anime online I became obsessed, slowly collecting the manga and various figurines. I've always had a strong interest in forensics and puzzles, this just made my love even stronger. This was also one of the first mangas I started to seriously collect and now my collection has grown to fill a bookcase. I just hope no matter where I end up I can take my manga and I will forever rewatch this anime.

The birds chirping. Crunch of leaves under my feet. The smell of fresh rain. Nature smells and sounds like freedom. It's a place where I can go to let go of all my worry's and just relax. Nature doesn't care that I failed the test or submitted a quiz late. When my dad was sick from covid I couldn't go home right after school. I found peace in sitting by the lake and just relaxing. Ever since I was a child I had a strong attachment to nature. In girl scouts we would do long hikes out to camp or just sleep under the stars. From the many nights I spent under the stars in girl scouts or days spent reflecting by the lake. Nature will always carry many happy and relaxing memories. I appreciate the smell, noises and even taste of nature. I hope wherever I end up I have a place to reflect on nature.

Health comes in many forms be it diets or exercise or food or even companionship. A healthy lifestyle depends on the person, one person may be able to live without working out daily or a person may have a different palate. But we do have the needs of a healthy lifestyle in common. I think that the most necessary part of a healthy lifestyle is the mindset, if a person has low self-esteem or a unhealthy mindset. It's impossible for them to live a healthy happy lifestyle, for that it's necessary for people to have a therapist or a support system to survive. Without companionship or a therapist a person will engage with behaviors that shorten a lifespan. Diets I don't believe help in a healthy lifestyle, instead I believe in intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is eating based on what your body feels and not overeating. To have a healthy lifestyle it's important to go outside or get some form of exercise. Even if it's just simple chair exercises or walking in place. Walking and running are some of the best ways to stay active. The last way to live healthy is environment, trying to keep clean.

My cat running around selling into walls or running up the screen door. Everyday is like a new event that causes tremendous amounts of joy to the family. Penny is her name. Lately her newest obsession has been the Christmas tree she climbs up her tree and trys to jump into it. She even will sit underneath and hit all the low ornaments. Our whole family will try to sneakily watch her and take pictures. Just seeing my whole family try to quietly giggle and smile at the cat is enough to make my day.

Giving comes in many forms from just holding the door open for a friend to saving someone's life. My grandma once told me a story of a guy she works with having struggles with mental health. The moment she realized the gravity of the situation she immediately got him connected with the employee counselors. She even offered him help on paperwork and going to the counselor with him. After two weeks he quit that job and told her he had a solid plan after and a minister. Years later he walked into the office with his fiance. That story really taught me the importance of giving kindness, advice and support. I always try to brighten people's day by giving cookies to my friends at school or random gifts. Just that little amount of kindness could save someone's life. In my life I plan to give back every way I can be it volunteering at the women's shelter my mom works at or even just offering a smile. Small things really do change lives.

Artificial intelligence can affect almost everything in our day to day lives, where we work or even how we interact. It's incredibly fascinating to see how such a technology evolves over the years. I remember going to a vintage computer festival as a child and seeing just how much our technology has changed. The old computers could barely load up a game, but now they can imitate humans. This field is still ever growing, meaning in a few years there could be computers that can imitate a persons emotions or even behavior. It's so fascinating to me that technology can become like us. My dad has always been scared of the effects of technology and how it can take away possibly minimum wage jobs. I've seen this at a local super market, the employees protesting because a robot got installed that took away jobs. In the near future I wonder just how many people artificial intelligence could replace. Now that has really helped in factory's or more dangerous jobs. Also it may replace the more tedious jobs like people working on conveyer belts. Artificial intelligence could also help us to better understand different human behaviors or responses to events. It may help us in the near future to have support systems always available. Especially if our phone or technology at the time had a modern artificial intelligence it could help to have someone to talk to or mental health support. It may also help for emergency support or hotlines. Therapy has always been a disadvantage for poorer people to get. Often costing in the thousands or hundred thousands. But with advances in artificial intelligence scientists may be able to make a compassionate system that can help people 24/7. I'm incredibly excited for artificial intelligence because of the rate that it is progressing and the advantages it's making in job markets and mental health supports.