I have played softball since I was five years old. I grew up in a family where everyone played softball and baseball and we always wanted to be better than one another. Having me and my siblings all playing the same sport create a sense of competitiveness. Even though we had a competitive bature we all wanted to help each other grow with the sport and eventually we all became MVPs at one point and won a championship or two. Growing up in a sport family is one of the best bonds someone can have due to be connected by the best sport, softball and baseball. While playing softball, I had my fair share of coaches and each had their own personality. Some would be very strict or some would be too relaxed with the sport, but we knew they always had their best interest in us. I learned that sometimes you will have a bad coach and that it's okay to not like their teaching style but they just want you to win and to learn. My high scholl career, I had the best softball coach, he taught me to have fun with the game while still keeping my same competitiveness. There is definetely an advantage to the game when you have a balance with it, it's almost a cheat code. He taught me to slow the game down and alot more can happen. Growing with the game makes you realize how much it impacts your life and how many relationships you make with it. Softball has taught me to not give up on something just because of a small occurence. Many times I wanted to give up on the sport because of a bad coach or a bad game that I had. It made me realize how big of a support group that I have and had a whole team to cheer me up when needed. A softball team never truly stops supporting each other even after not playing for the same team. The sport grows many relationships as well as a sense of competive nature and a strong mentality to continue no matter the circumstances. Working as a team can help so many situations and allows you to just have fun with the game knowing that an error is normal and can happen at any moment in life. I would recommend this sport to everyone no matter their age. It's a sport with one of the most lessons learned.

Social media has become a bad representation of our society. It has grown to become one of the leading causes of serious mental health issues. Many people struggle with bullying on the internet and reaching for unrealistic expectations on life due to people on ever showing small part of their lifestyle. People do not censor anything anymore and do not even attempt to keep some things to themselves. These things can cause people, especially younger people, to think about life in a way that it was not meant to be thought about. It can cause them to have harmful thoughts and their brain can become clouded with so many unusual thought. Even though most platforms put age limits on things that shouldn't be seen by children such as graphic content, children tend to find a way to get past them by lying about their age. I partially blame people for posting things that should not be recorded, but this calls for parents to really watch over their kid's screens. To overcome these situations, we as a society should have better guidelines for the things we post and interact with online. Without these graphic posts, it would be alot harder for children to access things that should not be watching. On the bullying subject, many people who comment terrible things on social media live depressing lives and project it onto normal people. We need to set standards for how we speak to each other online and in person as well. The way people have evolved to be rude or criticize people for no particular reason is uncalled for and unacceptable. This has been a huge reason for a decline in mental health over the years. People have started to have lower self esteem and have developed depressive episodes due to constant bullying or unrealistic posts. Soon people will stadt to realize that the words taht they type out in a few seconds that they don't think will hurt anyone, could lead to something bad down the road if not right then. To stop these things from happening when need to create a better community and realize how our words can affect others. Parents should still set age limits and monitor what their children have access to. Many people judge most parents for that and claim that they are "helicopter parents" but it's defintely better than having the other outcome to the situation.

I grew a passion for business and technology early in highschool when I took an Information Technology course in the 7th grade. These classes provided me with an insight of what working with computers is like and how to manage them. I have always had a knack for management and growing as a team. I played various team sports in school that led me to have that leader mentality and a need to be competitive woth everything I do. I picked my major because I want to help businesses and allow them to grow to their full potential. I believe any company can go big if their team is treated as a family and analyze their data correctly. I believe that any knowledge I gain from higher education will benefit society in a way where they feel valued at their companay and would want to work in an office as a family. Many employees feel as if they are not valued at the workplace, and my idea is a way to reverse that. With my education I plan to learn how to make the workplace a better place to be and maintain a better morale. Connections are everything when it comes to becoming a part of the team. In order to gain comnections, you need a good education so that these leaders can see how passionate you are about helping their business. The harder you work in school, the more likely they are to recruit you. That is why I want to succeed in my education and see how far I can go for my passion. Since I come from a low-income family with a single mother and four siblings, it is hard to maintain enough money to go to school without working. I have worked at my full-time for two years while at community college. Working while completing my education has it pros and cons. I have less time to complete school work which involves me having to rush to finish work. I hav ebeen saving to be able to pay my tuition off as quick as possible so that iy does not become a burden post-graduation. I am grateful that I have a job that is flexible enough that I can work forty hours a week while continuing my education. I will continue to work while getting my education, but will work less hours to get the most out of university.

Education means many things to me. As a first-generation student, I did not know much about the post-highschool education. I have always had a passion for business and technology, so I knew Management Information Systems was the best pathway for me. After researching many colleges and pathways, I had decided I wanted to go to a smaller in-state college with low tuition and no hope for scholarships. On our way to the campus tour for the college, me and my mom had been in a car accident where we were blind-sided by a truck who was no paying attention while driving in the rain and we were pushed into oncoming traffic, though a miracle had happened and we walked away with no injuries. I took that personally and decided that it was a sign for God that the college I was going to tour was not the right fit for me. With that being said, I decided to hold off looking for colleges and applied to a the bigger in-state school, I got accepted to University of Alabama through their Pre- College program. I was excited because my family is full of Alabama fans, but my grades were not enough for scholarships and did not have many extracurriculars. I worked hard and grafuated high school with honors. I was then referred by someone to become an athlete on my city's community college tennis team. With that scholarship I had my first two years paid for and loved the sport after having never played. I have had better grades than I have ever had, and am learning easier than I did in high school. I am now in my last semester of community college and applied early decision to a school I had never thought I would go to. When I applied to this school, I did not think I would get in because the acceptance rate had went down through the years. I am now enrolled at Auburn University for Management Information Systems and am so excited to continue my journey. All of the challenges I faced led to me to where I am now and I could not be more grateful. I want to motivate others who come from a low-income family and first-generation students. I would like to show others that just because you did not do great in high-school does not mean you are not worthy of higher education.

My motivation to become a first generation student in my family is to provide a positive outlook on life for my younger sister. Coming from a low income family, where my mother was not able to work but a few hours a week but still found ways to provide and let us continue our passion through sports and education, college means a lot to me and to give my family the life they wanted to provide me is all I could ever ask for no matter what I have to endure. My goals are simply to be work towards a better life through education and work, which would lead me to a passioniate workplace. These goals are set to promise a better life. Undergraduate studies will lead me to bigger and better education, where I would love to complete my Master's to provide better income. The education I will recieve will not only provide me a better life-work balance, but also help me complete my passion, which is business management. My number one goal is to create a non-profit and gove back to those in need. I want to provide others with things that I never recieved. I am immensely grateful for being able to be where I am today. As a matter a fact, I would not be anywhere nwar where I am now without my lovely mother and motivated sister. My sister plans to go to college as well a few years after me when she graduates high school, I would love to be able to provide optimism for her future and show her that anything is possible when you have a passion for something. Me and her both know that there are many challenges to getting to where we want to be but we are both willing to take on those challges head on. We have had my discouraging talks amongst other familh memebers who come from trades, but even thiugh we respect the trades, we do not find ourselves with a passion for the trades. A majority of people in a our area work in the trades and it is heavily advertised in our schools, but some people simply do not see themselves in those fields and that is perfectly okay in our eyes. I want to be able to give hope to people in small counties who feel they belong elsewhere. With that being said, I cannot wait to continue my education.