Being involved is one of my favorite parts of high school! I have tried to be active with a variety of organizations to meet and help different people. Through my years at Cibola, I have been a part of athletic teams, academic clubs, and community service groups on campus. I feel it is important to be involved in helping different organizations as well because there are not enough people volunteering and giving back in our society. I have been a member of the Student Senate at Cibola High School for four years. Cibola Senate is a leadership group that focuses on community service, school spirit, staff appreciation, and leadership skills. I was elected Student Body Secretary in 2021. I love being in a leadership role and planning events and activities. Senate provides community service for many organizations like the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, TriCore Medical Labs, and Seed to Need. I feel that our work through Senate has made a positive impact on others. In Cibola’s senate we have also worked to help advocate for kindness to students, staff, and our community through a week called dude be nice week. On each day a different group is honored, for example this year was dude be nice to self, dude be nice to staff, dude be nice to community, dude be nice to each other, and dude be nice and spirited. In addition to the Senate, I am a member of the National Honor Society. This organization is also involved in community service and as a member I volunteer to tutor underclassmen and sponsor a variety of food drives. I am also the president for Operation Smile for Cibola High School and have been a member of the organization for 4 years. Operation Smile is a non-profit organization whose volunteers repair childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families throughout the world. Students at Cibola in Operation Smile work to raise funds to pay for these life changing surgeries and create awareness about the organization in the community My athletic involvement at Cibola was through the volleyball team. I played varsity despite undergoing five surgeries. My ability to persevere and work hard to play again after surgery and physical therapy each time was something I learned about myself from this experience. I did not realize how strong I was. I am happy to say that I will be playing volleyball at Pacific University in the fall, majoring in kinesiology and hopefully going on later to attend medical school, and I hope to continue to volunteer and be involved on campus. Outside of school, I have really enjoyed volunteering at athletic events like Ironman Arizona, All Out Call Out, and The Terrain Race. I love supporting athletes who are pushing themselves and often are raising money for other organizations in the process. I have also had the opportunity to volunteer at animal rescue organizations, volleyball clubs, and for elementary schools. All of these opportunities were important, but I feel my efforts through Cibola have had the largest impact. Helping students by creating connections, taking the time to thank and appreciate others, supporting small organizations by volunteering time and effort, providing food for those in need, and raising money for others are simple gestures that have a big impact. Creating a lifestyle which includes supporting and helping others is important. What a wonderful world it would be if people could adopt the mentality of “how can I help others” instead of “why should I help others”.

Being involved is one of my favorite parts of high school! I have been a member of the Student Senate at Cibola High School for four years. For my senior year I was elected Student Body Secretary. I love being in a leadership role and planning events and activities for the entire school! Cibola Senate is a leadership group that focuses on community service, school spirit, staff appreciation, and leadership skills. The group does community service for Seed to Need, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, COVID Testing kit packaging for TriCore Medical Labs, runs a blood drive at the school, and plans registration, dances, and graduations. This year I spearheaded a new tradition at Cibola. Seniors were allowed to buy and paint a parking space on campus. The money raised was used to pay for senior activities such Senior Sunrise Breakfast, Senior T-Shirts, and a Senior BBQ at the end of the year. My favorite initiative is Dude be Nice Month. Activities are planned to celebrate school staff, students, recognize community stakeholders, and promote school spirit and reduce bullying. I am also a member of the National Honor Society. This organization is also involved in community service and as a member I volunteer to tutor underclassmen and sponsor a variety of food drives. I am the acting president for Operation Smile and have been a member of the organization for 4 years. Operation Smile is a non-profit organization whose volunteers repair childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families throughout the world. Students at Cibola in Operation Smile work to raise funds to pay for these life changing surgeries, create awareness about the organization in the community, and have the opportunity to participate in medical missions.

I live an extraordinary ordinary life! I have so many small things in my life that bring me pleasure. Sunsets, the sound of the ocean, volleyball, fruit snacks, 80's music, and fuzzy blankets are all things that warm my heart every time. Those things all make me happy, but I think the smallest thing that brings me joy is an audio book. I absolutely love stories. I remember my mom reading to me as a child. I love tales of adventure, dystopian literature, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, suspense, mystery, and young adult novels. I love the characters, the settings, the struggles, and feeling like you are in the story. It would be impossible for me to tell someone my favorite book. I have dyslexia, so reading is a touch hard for me. I still read, but it takes me a long time to get through a book. When I was younger my mom introduced me to audio books. I fell in love. To hear stories come to life while I do homework, exercise, clean my room, take a road trip, or just sit quietly is such a gift. I consume stories. I always have an ear bud in listening to a story. I love discovering new stories and listen to my favorites over and over. I think listening to good stories is something that everyone needs in life. Finding a connection with a character or story is so uplifting. I often talk about "main character moments". These are experiences that happen in real life that are like something that would happen to a character in a book. I have only had a handful of main character moments in my life. Winning a scholarship because I wrote about my love of audio books would be a HUGE main character moment!

I think joy means bringing great happiness to others. This in turn brigs happiness to one's self. It is like the gift that keeps on giving! I seek out joy in my life by living an extraordinary ordinary life and work hard to be involved in activities at school that are centered around giving and doing for others. I have been a member of the Student Senate at Cibola High School for four years. For my senior year I ran for a Student Body Officer position and was elected Student Body Secretary. Cibola Senate is a leadership group that focuses on community service, school spirit, staff appreciation, and leadership skills. The group does community service for Seed to Need, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, COVID Testing kit packaging for TriCore Medical Labs, runs a blood drive annually at the school, works registration, dances, graduations, and other school wide events, to name a few. One large initiative is Dude be Nice Month. Activities are planned to celebrate school staff members, celebrate students, recognize community stakeholders, and promote school spirit and reduce bullying. In addition to the Senate, I am a member of the National Honor Society an organization also involved in community service and as a member I volunteer to tutor underclassmen and sponsor a variety of food drives. I am the acting president for Operation Smile and have been a member for 4 years. Operation Smile is a non-profit organization whose volunteers repair childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families throughout the world. Students at Cibola in Operation Smile work to raise funds to pay for these life changing surgeries, create awareness about the organization in the community, and have the opportunity to participate in medical missions.

My greatest challenge has been my body. My bones did not form completely, paired with the fact that I am very flexible, lead to numerous knee and ankle dislocations. I had three reconstructive surgeries. I was always in pain and was not able to do simple things like walk my dog or ride my bike. My body rejected the cadaver grafts and I developed cysts in both knees that were painful and had to be surgically removed. I have had five surgeries in five years! The bones have been ground down to create grooves for tendons and ligaments, and were drilled to place pins, screws, and anchors for cadaver grafts. I have had ligaments reconstructed, tendons replaced, and cysts removed. I have spent over two years in physical therapy. I have worked extremely hard to overcome my physical challenges. I have been diligent about physical therapy and rehab. I have worked hard in the gym to be the best player I can be and make up for the time lost. In order to achieve my dreams of attending med school, I have taken a difficult course load in high school. Even though I missed a great deal of school, I worked hard to stay on top of my school work and currently have a 4.4 GPA, taking honors and Advanced Placement classes. I am ranked in the top 10 in my senior class. I am thankful for my cadaver grafts which allow me to be an active person, and for surgeons and physical therapists who took such good care of me. My experiences have had a huge impact on my life and I want to pursue medicine or physical therapy for my career. I want to give others the opportunities for an active life that these professionals have given me.