A love for dirt, bugs, plants, running bodies of water, and endlessly asking questions has turned more than a few heads my way. All too many times I have been told, "Good for you for liking those things" or with a shake of their head, "You're just like your father/brother/uncle/grandfather." That is, those are the more positive things they have said. Yet, very rarely do I find other women who like those things too. Even more rarely does someone say I remind them of a woman they know out in the field or who is outdoorsy. Why is that? Why is being dirty and passionate about subjects not generally considered creative or political rarely heard of when speaking about women? Now, that isn't to say that being creative or interested in politics is an inferior interest by any means, but rather that we need more diverse representations of people in fields. This is not, however, why I chose my degree. No, ever since I was a kid, I spent as many hours outdoors as possible. Up until it snowed outside, I would be decked out in whatever appropriate gear for the weather doing my homework. When I was in tenth grade, I faced the great and terrible question we all were asked when we were young: what we wanted to be when we grew up. Only this time, I had to act on it. So, with every week I went hiking, kayaking, canoeing, snowshoeing, fishing, and overall lazing outside, I came to the decision that I wanted to protect that which I loved; I wanted to be an environmental scientist. Not only was I going to be an environmental scientist, but I was also going to be an environmental conservationist, fighting to protect nature and all the inhabitants within it. The first step I took toward doing so was getting my Fisheries and Aquaculture associate’s degree at Bellingham Technical College. Graduating Summa Cum Laude, I finished that degree last June with a graduating class of three, which started out as twenty-four. Now, I'm on the final stage of my education, at least for now. That is, I am currently working on my bachelor’s degree in environmental Conservation at Skagit Valley College. With this degree, I aim to be a natural resource manager. By getting this degree and working toward this job, I will show other young women, such as I, that we are welcome in the environmental field. I will be able to use my position to advocate for more young women to join the field and diversify the opinions with passion, respect, and knowledge. As someone who actively studies various other cultures and their languages, such as German and Spanish, I will be able to better communicate with those of other backgrounds both in their language, as well as understanding that their culture is different. Furthermore, after taking a Communication in Environmental Resources class, I will be equipped with the tools to better and more respectfully communicate, work with, and encourage a diverse group of people to participate in environmental conservation conversations. I will do my best to ensure that all people are welcome, regardless of race, class, creed, sex, gender, or otherwise. But more importantly, I will help show other woman that is not only okay, but wonderful to be a ceaselessly questioning, constantly exploring person in this world. Thank you.

To many people, fifty-five is just a number. For me, it is a death sentence, a ticking time bomb every present over my head as family members at or above that age pass away. For every death, I mourn less every day; it is no longer a surprise, no longer an if, but when--an expected loss. My family has a generational predisposition to heart disease. For us, once you hit fifty-five, you are expected to have a heart attack within five years. Although far too many die, others survive and go on to accumulate a multitude of variations of heart issues, such as my grandfather, who has AFIB. He, who once used to go fishing and hunting with my dad, trekking through miles of forest, can no longer walk over a mile without resting. Heart disease took away what he loved. As for me, that ticking time bomb of forty-five hanging over my head has presented me far to many challenges, too many worries, and too many fears. I, an avid outdoors woman, could not imagine being unable to hike outside or even walk my dog around my neighborhood. Yet, every time my grandparents come to visit, and I see my grandfather be unable to simply walk for any considerable distance, I am overcome with sadness and fear. Will I become like that someday? Will I, too, have to tell of family members that passed too young, a hollow sadness in my eyes? Or, worse, will I become another number in the books, another sorrowful story to tell? By the time I was twelve, I was caught in a battle with depression and anxiety attacks. For me, I struggled to find a reason to live. What point is there to keep forth if in the present I am randomly riddled with pain? What point is there to live for tomorrow if my tomorrows are so limited? My great aunt died at forty years-old of a heart attack; would I break her record as the youngest to pass away from my family's curse? For two years, I lived as a shell, enfettered in the chains of fear, hurt, anger, and a desire to escape from that which was inescapable. Finally, the chains broke. It wasn't a quick process. I took one and a half years to decide one thing, and one thing alone. I could not have decided it if it were not for my familial curse and anxiety attacks: I wanted to be someone. I decided that if I was going to pass away at forty-years old or earlier, I was going to be someone. Yes, I had panic attacks every day, sometimes waking me up in the middle of the night in a feverish state, sometimes in the middle of a music piece. And yes, I had to watch my family members' souls wilt as more and more family members left us without so much as a goodbye. I have watched family despair as they reach the forty-five mark, knowing not much of their time is left. Once, I had let it get to me, dragging me into a mindset I have sworn to never enter again. Now, I know if I succumb to my generational curse, at least I will be known as a good, positive person--someone who is not defined by their disease or their impending future, but rather as someone who fights despite it.

Imagine a world where anyone, with one simple instrument, can tell what kind of creatures live in or near their home watersheds. As a kid, I had a fascination with everything outdoors, but as the daughter of a devout fishermen, I grew up close to the water. For hours, I would stare into furiously churning rivers and eerily still lakes, wondering if some mythological fish would jump out of the waters and eat me. Although I know now that that isn't likely to happen, it left me questioning: what was really in our waters? Many times I was told that all sorts of fish species were believed to live in certain waters, yet unless carcasses were found or the fish were actually caught, no one knew if they were really there. Even worse, many didn't know that invasive species, many of which were very small, were in water systems until they had established themselves as a nigh-reversible problem.Then eDNA was invented. A fascinating, constantly improving technology, eDNA allows us to identify what creature species may live in waters through taking water samples. This eDNA uses a primer--technology that allows the database to select a DNA chain unique to the species' it is looking for--along with the Polymerase Chain Reaction Process (PCR Process) to tell the user whether or not that species' DNA is in the sample. At the moment, through using eDNA, scientists and citizen scientists can collect water samples to send to labs which identify these species. Right now, the technology isn't advanced enough for most scientists to immediately assess the eDNA, or for them to identify a vast majority of species. In the future, I hope to work on the advancements for eDNA collection. Someday, everyone will be able to stick a machine in the water and tell what creatures are living within it, and I shall be excitedly waiting until then.

I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to be outside. For every step I took while hiking through the forests or every breath I breathed while snorkeling in island coves off my home shores, I knew I wanted to protect nature. I wanted to continue swimming through clear waters and hiking through pristine forests, the smell of fresh blueberries in wild blueberry fields imprinted on my mind. That's why I am getting my bachelor's degree in Environmental Conservation. Through the knowledge gained in my degree and my talent for critical thinking, I want to be able to advocate for the restoration and conservation of our natural resources, bringing them closer to the healthy state that they deserve to be in. After achieving my degree, I plan to become a natural resource manager or outdoor educator. As a natural resource manager, I will play a direct and key role in helping advocate for innovative technologies to preserve our natural world, such as clam gardens, traditionally used by the local Coast Salish People for food. Through the implementation of clam gardens, our native species will increase and the quality of our water will improve. It is my hope that through advocating for and implementing these, that our waters will become less acidic as well, helping us to reduce the harm that is currently happening to shellfish all around the world. However, I would love to become an outdoor educator as well. As an outdoor educator, I will be helping the environment in the ways that truly make a difference: educating people about it and what they can do as individuals to advocate for the preservation of the outdoors. My heart was touched by outdoor educators throughout my life as they regaled me with stories of peace, passion, and hope. My goal is to someday, if only for one person, influence them as outdoor educators have influenced me. I know that I would be a good fit for these roles. For over four years, I have led people in leadership positions in my Scouts BSA troop, at different points acting as a senior patrol leader, troop guide, and troop instructor. I know what I need to do to teach people and to get them passionate about the outdoors, making them want to preserve what is around them. While in the Scouts BSA working on achieving my Eagle Scout Award and once I was finished with Scouts, I have volunteered as many hours as possible with conservation and humanitarian organizations. By doing so, I have become a part of the community, being recognized by my actions in helping both the people and the environment when they were in need. I will protect nature. I will become a powerful force in my community. I will make a difference.

Your honor, principles, and heart is your guide, your pride, and your backbone. Do not cross it. That is how I was taught. For me, it meant do not lie, work hard, and always help others. My dad is the epitome of this; he is known for always helping others, constantly there for those who need him, gentle yet strong. Dad was also the one who got my brother and I into Scouts BSA, something that has been a guiding light for me for years. A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. These are principles I have strived to be for as long as I can remember. Many people believe that you should set physical goals, becoming the best in this sport or the smartest in this subject. While those are good goals, before I did any of those, I set my goal to be someone, not something. I decided to be kind. I decided to be trustworthy. I decided to be loyal. I decided that I didn't need to be the best at something, but to be the best to someone. Every action I take, I try to hold to these standards. Not only that, but I try to do something that is one of my key three principles--kind, loyal, and friendly--every day so that it is a constant reminder of what I will achieve and become. Therefore I lived the words of Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit.” Holding myself to these principles, I have easily found friends and become respected by others. Anyone can get a good education if they wish or become a great athlete; not everyone is kind, hardworking, or honest. It is through using my principles that I have become successful in the fields I have chosen, including becoming the first woman in my county to earn the Eagle Scout Award with the Scouts BSA, the highest award given in the Scouts BSA and nationally recognized. Not only that, but I graduated at seventeen years old with my associates degree in Fisheries and Aquaculture at Bellingham Technical College with the Summa Cum Laude Award. Now, I am taking the bachelor's degree at Skagit Valley College for Environmental Conservation, and I plan to carry those same principles that got through my associates degree to Skagit Valley College. Earning this scholarship would allow me to continue to focus on my education and maintaining my principles so that I may always carry myself with kindness, honesty, and grace.

I would put Adidas, Crocs, Underarmor, and Brooks as one category. This would be the "common shoe brand names" category. This would be a first bar. I would put lancehead, cobra, copperhead, and cottonmouth as one category. This would be the "venomous snake common names" category. This would be a second bar. I would put snake, ZZ, spider, and rubber as one category. This would be the "houseplant where the common name ends in 'plant'" category. For example, they are called spider plant, snake plant, rubber plant, and ZZ plant. This would be the third bar. I would put Nike, Polaris, Minuteman, and Trident as one category. This would be the "types of late 1900's missiles" category. This would be a fourth bar. I would make the first bar such because all of the brand names are also relatively common, but may trip some up with the option of Nike or rubber. It should be relatively easier to guess. I would make the second bar such because I like snakes, and cobra, copperhead, lancehead, and cottonmouth are relatively well-known snake names due to their high level of danger. They should be relatively easy to guess, however some may become tripped up with the other option of "snake" that would be categorized in the third bar. Additionally, the term lancehead may trip them up with Trident, Nike, and Underarmor, as they could both be references to war, Trident being traditionally a weapon, Nike being a goddess of victory, and Underarmor literally referencing something under your armor. I would make the third bar such because I grow many houseplants, but the words themselves can easily be attributed to the wrong categories or partners. However, if you know plants, it may be easier to get. I would make the fourth bar such as they could be easily attributed to other words in the bars, are a difficult to guess and very specific category like the NYC Connections does, and are names of common brands, which I find intriguing.

Friendship, honor, loyalty, wit, and adventure. All these things and more I have learned from books. For me, books were a way to feel alive, to experience heart racing adrenaline--without the physical risk--and soul-crushing sadness without the physical loss. Libraries in themselves always felt like a home, giving me the same feeling as returning to your grandmothers house. They smelt of old books, spoke of tales to be told, yet they held a peaceful quietness difficult to find in my day-to-day life. Although I know not how, I would volunteer with a library, if only to see that special light come on in someone's eyes and to regularly relish in the serenity of the silent shelves. Books have been crucial in shaping my being. They taught me that there are good people out there, and that when it comes to friends, you shouldn't settle for less. Yet, the also taught me that to attract good people to me, I must first better myself to become a good person. They taught me that through being loyal to good people, good people would be loyal to me. Books also taught me of mercy, to wish help and healing onto those who have harmed me, instead of hurt or further harm. It is through books I have learned that it is okay to walk away from your foes, removing yourself from situations you cannot face until you are strong enough to do so. My favorite books that exemplified these characters I read over and over again over the course of multiple months, until I knew every turn of the page, every curve of the corners that had been bent from being unintentionally dropped while reading late at night. It was through this constant reinforcement that I became who I am know. These books inspired me to have not physical goals, but rather personal ones. Before working on becoming the most accurate shooter and best flutist, I chose to work on being the kindest and most friendly person I could be. It is due to this that I have become known as kind, trustworthy, loyal, good at critical thinking, and brave. These books were only the beginning. In my later years as a reader, I picked up personal management and leadership books. It was through these books that I learned about things such as paradigm shifts and how to truly listen to others. These books transformed my life, though the book I am referencing in particular is "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. It is through this book that I learned to set habits for myself for goals I planned to achieve. I started exercising every morning, playing my flute at a certain time every night, and ensuring I could write even just one sentence on my book or poetry before I went to bed. Through these habits, I strengthened my skills and grew, becoming stronger both physically and mentally. Through it all, I continue to read. I have become entranced in fascinating textbooks every quarter for my college, learning about topics such as aquaculture, entrepreneurship, and marine biology. These books have become the backbone of my knowledge and collegiate career, acting as a gentle support should I forget a fact or technique. Books have stayed by my side year by year, a constant comfort, mentor, and method of entertainment should I ever need them. This scholarship would be a great aid to my education, allowing me to continue studying books and reading in my free time, as well as being able to afford the books I need for my degree.

I don't know their name, nor the songs they played. But I do know one thing: I was hooked. It was the summer of 2023, and my fabulous friends invited me to spend time at the renaissance fair with them. Being an avid lover of all things food, dressing up, music, and historical reenactments, I took the offer. While the festivities during the day were fun, I was truly captivated with the nighttime activities. With fire breathers dancing to the beat of the drums and henna on my hands, the music and firelight enthralled me. After their performance was done, the concert started. My friends beckoned me forth, urging me to join them in the dusty pit in front of the stage. Then the band played. Music sang while people dressed in everything from peasant frocks to plague doctor outfits danced together, some swing dancing in circles, some simply feeling the beat of the music. Dust swirled around our feet. Soon, it felt as if I wasn't just an individual with friends; I was one with the crowd, dancing to the same time and feeling the same beats. Though the concert played on for over an hour, it was one song that stuck in my mind. That song was "The Never Ending Story." It wasn't for the music itself, but rather for the tears in my friend's eyes, who had only the year before beat cancer, that stuck with me. She wasn't alone. It was then, when I merged with the crowd and saw how it could affect people, that I knew I would see another live concert. When I got home, I instantly looked at the newspapers to find events that I could go to. I scoured the internet, finding local music events I could bike to. At the time, I could not drive myself, and so I had to find as many local concerts I could get to on my own accord. Since then, I've seen concerts from swing, cover, jazz, blues, and concert bands or orchestras. Each of them were wonderful, and I can never truly replicate the awe that envelops my heart when I hear live music, like a warm hand cradling my soul. There is, however, one experience other than my first, that I hold dear to my soul. Every time I think of it, it brings a tear to my eye and a warm ache in my heart. It was my junior year, and my band teacher of five years was retiring. He was like a grandfather to me, the band my family, and the band room my home. His name was Mr. Gray, and his wife had cancer. Mournfully, his wife passed a day after our final concert. It was this final concert that was our favorite. While brushing my hair one morning, I came up with the idea to surprise our band teacher with a special song for him at the final concert. Excited, I rushed to my band president with the idea, and before I knew it, we had picked a song and received the music. So with one of the solos in the song, I and my band played "Thank You For the Music" from "Mamma Mia" for Mr. Gray. It was heartfelt. It was beautiful. And I only hope that I can feel that same love in music again. Small note on the picture: I was not allowed to take pictures with the band playing, and therefore you cannot see them. It was the Bellingham Orchestra, December tenth, 2023.

My favorite memories as a kid are of running barefoot out into my backyard in the early mornings. I was on the hunt for the ripest strawberry to eat; it was the best reward. As for the rest of the strawberries, we shared them with our neighbors or made jam. Even back then, I knew that whatever I did, I wanted to be working around and with nature. Furthermore, as a homeschooled student, I took every moment I could to do my homework outside, doing everything from working on my math while fishing to simply reading my schoolbooks in the backyard. Many years later, from the moment I planted the first of numerous trees with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) and saw what a profound impact it could have, I decided I wanted to work to save and preserve the outdoors. Through joining the Scouts BSA and eventually earning my Eagle Scout Rank Award, I was able to explore various possible environmental conservation topics and opportunities. As a Senior Patrol leader leading my troop outdoors, I found spirit, energy, and comradery. The outdoors is my passion—my home—and I will do what I can to protect it. Becoming an environmental scientist with a focus on conservation is perfect for me because I will be able to do two things I love: protect that which I care about, and constantly learn and explore. Using the degree in Environmental Conservation that I am pursuing, I will work to join organizations and get a job working to aid my local community. As for a career, there are two things I want to become, and for similar reasons: I want to become an outdoor educator or natural resource manager. As an outdoor educator, I will be able to teach the public about nature, sparking that special light in one's eyes that comes on when you learn something fascinating and new. More importantly, I will be able to teach others how nature and science can touch one's soul, bringing you closer with the people and world around you. As a natural resource manager, I will be able to make sound decisions about the protection of natural resources. Not only that, but I will be able to explore innovative ways to help the world and my home. Specifically, I want to research the positive impacts that creating clam beds and oyster gardens may have on our environment, hopefully reducing or even reversing pollution and lack of oxygen in the water. Receiving a scholarship to help me complete my education would mean everything. If I am to go to college here, and I will do everything I can to do so, I will need help covering the costs. I live in a single income home. Not only that, but I also have a brother who is getting his bachelor's degree as well, but he did not receive any scholarships. Because of this, the income provider of my household is paying for all of it, which we cannot afford. Therefore, to pay for schooling, I need to produce the funds myself. Should I pursue bettering myself through higher education as I intend and I do not get a scholarship, then I will need to get a job during school. This could severely put me back amongst my peers, especially considering that it is a two hour-long commute to my campus, which is valuable time potentially lost. Through having to work a job while in college, I will have less time to focus on my schoolwork and to do what I must to earn good grades.

We are losing aquatic life, and fast. To what? To something that is all around us and seems to be in abundance yet is rapidly reducing at rates one can only consider frightening. This thing that the absence of is causing such panic is oxygen. The lack of oxygen has caused what are called hypoxic and anoxic zones, which are areas of water where there is an unsustainable or no amount of oxygen for aquatic life forms to live. Not only that, but the unbalance of carbon dioxide, which creates the potentially disastrous carbonic acid, to oxygen has caused shellfish to be unable to maintain their shells. Luckily, I have a few plans to mitigate this problem. For one, using my knowledge and position as a natural resource manager or federal ecologist--positions I am striving to achieve--, I will work to lobby for their to be more nearshore habitat protection and restoration. I believe that one of the many reasons our oceans have become the way they are is because of nearshore habitat degradation. Using both indigenous knowledge and modern scientific advances, we can work to sustainably restore the kelp beds along the coast. Kelp is both a massive habitat producer for aquatic life, as well as a magnificent mechanism for carbon sequestration and oxygen production. In fact, according to the US Naval Institute (2021) article "Can Seaweeds Help Fight Climate Change?", a "healthy giant kelp forest [can be] capable of producing 100 times more oxygen than a terrestrial forest of equivalent size." Through planting kelp forests and maintaining them, we will be able to help the world's oxygen supply. I would like to make the addendum, however, that I will need to further research the impacts that humans have on kelp, and possibly make the restored areas marine protected areas. Secondly, I plan to advocate for and research about the installation of clam gardens. First done by the indigenous Coast Salish People, clam gardens were originally a method of mariculture used to provide food. I believe that this same process they use for clams can be used for oysters. Oysters can filter up to twice as much water as some clam varieties. I believe that with proper research, oysters will prove to be crucial creatures for making our waters clean again. Because oysters filter out algae, which cause massive algae blooms, they will help increase oxygen levels in water. To clarify, algae blooms appear to be beneficial in the beginning, since they would produce mass amounts of oxygen. However, after they consume all the nutrients in the water to bloom, the algae die off, and the decomposition process uses extensive amounts of oxygen in the water. It is these algae blooms that create hypoxic and anoxic zones--the zones which kill much of if not all wildlife caught in them.

Everyone has a dream. That is how the saying goes, yet I think it is missing a part. I believe it should go, "everyone has a dream, but a successful few have an aspiration." What is the difference? A dream is simply a "cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal" (Dictionary.com, 2024) whereas an aspiration is "a strong desire to achieve something high or great" (Merriam-Webster, 2024). I have an aspiration. And that aspiration is to make a difference. Specifically, I not only aim to protect our stunning environment, but also to better it. Through my school, I hear every week of how waters are no longer clear or clean to drink from, how fish die in massive heat waves reducing food and spiritual sources for many, and how our forests become less and less diverse. As a student studying environmental conservation, I want to protect these places and creatures that we hold close to our souls. The first step to doing this was finishing my associates degree in Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. Not only did I do that, but I finished top of my class. My next step is to finish getting my bachelor’s degree in environmental conservation. In the fall, I start my third of four years working towards this. After that, I will delve deep into the environmental conservation world, working to lobby for more rights for hunters and fishers, who fund a vast majority of environmental conservation, while also protecting those very same wildlife. Furthermore, I will teach others about the environment, which is why my two main professions I am pursuing are a natural resource manager and an outdoor educator. As a natural resource manager, I will strive for funds to be allocated toward protecting wildlife as well as towards funding scientific research for conservation methods. However, what holds dear to my heart is educating the people, and whether I do that as a natural resource manager connecting with the public or as an outdoor educator teaching as my job, my hope is to inspire a love for the sciences and a knowledge about what is going on in the world around us. This hope came from my community. This hope came from my friends, my mentors, my peers, my family, and strangers I have worked alongside and helped along the way. Although I live in a small town as a homeschooler, it is easy to turn a blind eye to others. It is the teachers from the public school that taught me what community meant. Truthfully, one of those classes, band, saved my life. It was in band that my band teacher, Mr. Gray, taught me that we were a "band family" and that that meant we looked out for each other. If one of us was sick for a long time, we all wrote and signed a card for them. When one of the band members' family members had cancer, we brought them pre-made food. Moreover, through volunteering with humanitarian groups alongside fellow people who I came to know and recognize, I learned that community also meant working together to help others in our communities--even if they wouldn't have helped you. It is this idea of helping others and my environment that I plan to carry into my future. However, I can't do that alone. I need scholarships, such as these, to help me through college. Although my father works hard to support our family of four on his own, it's not enough for me to go through college. That is why I need this; why I need you. Thank you.

There were signs. From my "incessant" question asking to my love of the outdoors, my parents should have known I was going to be a scientist. Albeit, I myself did not know that it would be the path I would eventually pursue. Although it took me many years to decide, I have chosen to pursue--and have been actively pursuing--being an outdoor educator or natural resource manager. Why? I want to make a difference. As an outdoor educator, I will be able to bring both youth and adults into the natural sciences world. I will make a difference through the people. Through my work, I will be able to let them catch the macro invertebrates in streams and identify them, teaching them that bugs are amazing. Not only are bugs fascinating, but they are incredible indicators of stream health. As an outdoor educator, I hope that I can bring a passion and light into the eyes of people through having them personally be able to touch, observe, and come to conclusions about scientific topics. When I was a little girl, I remember being ecstatic learning about salmon in my salmon class or catching the "underwater stick bugs", or more scientifically known as caddisflies. However, the environmental field is finicky, and while being an outdoor educator is the job I am pursuing to the utmost extreme, my next goal is being a natural resource manager. Working as a natural resource manager, I will advocate for healthier environments. However, what I really want to do with this position is work to advocate for the health of our waters. In the United States and many countries over, we are plagued with unclean waters, many of which have been starved for oxygen. I want to change that. Researching for many hours, I have come up with an idea to fix this problem. The Coast Salish Tribes, a local indigenous group to my area, create structures called clam gardens. These "clam gardens" originally provided food for their people. Recently, they discovered that these clam gardens also helped restore the natural environment and natural populations for clams. Naturally, upon hearing about them, I became curious. I believe that, of course crediting the indigenous tribes for the original idea with clams, that this can also be applied to oysters. Oysters, which can filter up to twice as much water as some clam varieties, I believe are key to making our waters clear again. As a natural resource manager, I will use my position to advocate for research upon this topic further. There is a catch. I can't do this alone. I need this scholarship to help me finish earning my bachelor's degree in environmental conservation. Living in a family of four off of one income and having a brother also going through college, I cannot afford to finish my degree without working. Yet, by working while going through college, I will have a more difficult time remembering what I learn, as well as be unable to make the connections necessary to pursuing my goals. This scholarship will allow me to have the time to garner allies a, research opportunities, and learn methods to become a better ingrained part of my community. Because I will be a larger part of my community--even more so than my volunteering experience has led me to be--I'll be able to better teach others about science and push for actions to be taken in helping our environment. This scholarship will help me, but with this scholarship, I will help the world.

Mental health struggles can make life just that: a struggle. Yet, it is largely because of my mental health struggles--anxiety and panic attacks, to be exact--that I am the person I am today. You see, panic attacks are strange things. When I first had a panic attack, I thought I was dying. It was this very thought that shaped who I am today. After joining my local band and finding a purpose through it, I made a decision. I decided that I was going to be kind. Not only that, but I was also going to be happy. Why? Because I can't change the fact that I have anxiety. I can't change the way the people around me are. I couldn't change that I felt alone, unheard, and empty all the time. Yet, through kindness, I could make others feel less alone and more heard. The smiles that they gave me for it gave me my own and, if only for a brief moment, it made me feel less empty. There was something else, though. As I lay in bed, soaked in sweat, and having difficulty breathing for three hours, a thought came upon me. I thought to myself, "What if die today? Would anyone care? Would I be remembered? What would I be remembered as?" At the time, what I could come up with was hardly anything good. Although it has been six years now, I still remember thinking to myself that the only people who would remember me was my family, and one friend. That was it. For anyone else who had known me, I figured I'd be remembered as shy, hot-headed, loud, dramatic, smart, and not amounting to much. From that thought onward, I was determined to change. As I mentioned above, I made it my goal to be kind, to be positive; to be the kind of person I would want people to know me as. I started setting goals for myself. First, I decided to get my distinguished expert rank in small-bore shooting. Simultaneously, I chose to earn the title of the third chair in my band. Next, I went on to shoot national competitions in high-power rifle and I got into the highest possible band in my school. Not only that, but I earned my Eagle Scout award with the Scouts BSA, the first woman in my county to do so. All along the way, I chose to be kind to people and to be the best person I could be. Because of that, I am known by people on shooting teams across the country and many scout troops within my county. I have had friends tell me I was the only person that listened to them and treated them like a person. My personal favorite compliment I ever got was from my dentist, who said talking to me "was like talking with an old friend," despite the fact that we had only met that day. This is all to say that yes, my anxiety has given me issues. I have been in the middle of concerts and suddenly been unable to breathe because of my panic attacks. There have been times that the mere thought of walking into a building I hadn't been in before made me feel as if I would throw up. Yet, every time I get that feeling, I make one decision that I have been making ever since I got these panic attacks: I put a smile on my face, straighten my back, and take one step forward. I will continue to do so, always taking one step forward.

Sweet, creamy, and absolutely sugary deliciousness, one of my favorite parts of selling cookies while in Girl Scouts was getting the hot drinks from Starbucks. For many of us, the cheery voices of Girl Scouts selling their signature Thin Mints--or my favorite the Savannah Smiles--outside of grocery stores is a herald to the fall. I, however, was one of those sellers. Standing in the cold wind, rain, and sometimes snow, I did my very best to sell another box of those cookies. Known throughout my troop as "the seller," I followed my dad's rule of "make them say no three times." Through using this strategy, I was able to achieve my cookie-selling goals. Yet, after an hour or so of standing outside trying to sell sweet treats to diabetics in unfavorable conditions, I and my girls would need a break. With a flash of our smiles and a sparkle in our eyes, we were able to convince our parents to get us a hot drink from the Starbucks in the grocery stores. Ecstatically skipping into the stores, we would go up to the counter to order. I, as someone with anxiety, generally avoid caffeine. Therefore, much to the humor of my friends and family, I would get a half-shot decaffeinated pumpkin spice latte. Yes, I know, why even get a coffee-type drink in the first place if you don't want the caffeine? Two things: one, it was a hot drink and I'd take anything warm, and two, the decaffeinated coffee took away some of the overloading sweetness stereotypical of lattes. This became my signature drink. If for some reason they couldn't or wouldn't make this for me, I would get a hot cocoa with extra whipped cream and sprinkles, if my parents allowed me to. After a few years, the Scouts BSA opened up its doors to girls and I, being ever the adventurous opportunist, hopped on that bandwagon immediately. I wanted to be able to go scale obstacle courses five stories in the air and zip line across lakes like my brother had been able to; Scouts gave that to me where Girl Scouts could not. Eventually, I earned the highest rank in this program, the Eagle Scout Award, further affirming my belief that it was the right choice for me to switch. Despite my change in loyalties, there was one thing that always stayed the same: my drink preferences. That's right, although I was selling popcorn not cookies outside of grocery stores, there was still that spirit of a cold, little girl craving something warm and sweet. I aged out of scouts about thirteen days ago, yet I'll always hold onto the memories of huddling up in the doorways of grocery stores where the heat blasts out drinking my half-shot decaffeinated pumpkin spice latte. Should I feel cold and pass by again, I know for sure where I'll be stopping by to warm myself up and get a hot drink.

They say the measure of a man is not how far you make it, but how far he comes. In The Gladiator’s case, a movie on Netflix, this is most certainly true. The Gladiator is the best movie of the twenty-first century, one of the main reasons being because it has an amazing plot. Losing his wife and son to the power-hungry Emperor Commodus, General Maximus seeks his revenge. While being forced to fight as a gladiator in the arena, Maximus slowly gains popularity amongst the crowds with each win. Boldly, Maximus challenges Commodus to a duel and wins, but loses his life as well. Rome’s weak ruler was gone. Maximus, the main character of The Gladiator, is a fair man with good morals. When the original ruler of Rome, Marcus Aurelius, was dying, he appointed Maximus to be the next ruler of Rome over his own son, Commodus. Aurelius saw Maximus as a just and strong leader. Furious, Commodus killed his father and Maximus’s wife and son. Also, he ordered the killing of Maximus, but Maximus escaped, only to be recaptured to fight as a gladiator. Through careful observation and the guidance of another freed gladiator, Maximus managed to rise to the top. Maximus refused to kill when unnecessary. Having only killed when necessary, Maximus was seen as a good man, even by other gladiators. Unlike many other movies, The Gladiator was set up like a book. It had the initial life before the hero; hero accepts their fate; hero makes allies and enemies; and finally, hero defeats villains, generally at some cost. Plus, it had a fabulous plot. Also, as every good story should, it shows that the hero isn’t perfect; that he has a weakness; that he makes mistakes too; that he is human. When Maximus died in the movie at the end, it was the saddest movie death I have ever experienced. Since watching it, I have been looking forward to the sequel, which is about Maximus's nephew, to come out. Because the movie’s main character has good morals, we admire the character. Also, since he is not perfect and makes mistakes, we relate to him more. By doing this, the movie directors gave us a character that seemed real; someone for us to relate to and root for. The movie, unlike typical action movies, is set up like an actual book. It doesn’t have just action. Wisely, the movie directors set up the story to not just have fight scenes, but also drama, emotion, and backstory. To have love, trust, struggle, sadness, courage, and kindness. These all combined make many people who watch this movie fall in love with it.

Personally, I like breathing oxygen and being able to drink clean water, as many of us do. That's why I'm going into my field--Environmental Conservation, a bachelor’s degree program at Skagit Valley College in Washington State. Of course, I have other reasons prompting me to get this degree, including my love for the outdoors, a passion for critical thinking, and a desire to better myself and the areas around me. This program has a heavy focus on management practices combined with various scientific procedures and hands-on experience. As a people-person, I will pursue the path of being a natural resource manager and impact my natural area through this job. However, I have another goal. I want to see all the polluted or damaged waters being healthy and clean. As an avid backpacker, hiker, camper, fisher, and all-around explorer of the outdoors, I have seen many different water qualities. It pains me to see water bodies full of algae, pollution, and devoid of life. Although I cannot fix all bodies of water, I will advocate for the restoration of them. Specifically, I want to use oysters to clean brackish waters. Oysters are a unique shellfish that is well-known for being superb at cleaning pollution out of bodies of water. Not only that, but because oysters eat algae, the blooms of which are the primary cause of hypoxic and anoxic zones, they are key to preventing our brackish environments from becoming unhealthily low on oxygen. Through taking my Fisheries and Aquaculture Degree at Bellingham Technical College, I learned that there is a time-tested method for helping establish clam beds. This method is building a "clam garden," an indigenous method of the Coast Salish People for helping their communities build a steady source of food. After some consideration, I got to thinking. What if we could do this with oysters? Can we build an oyster garden and use it to not only bring back the local varieties of shellfish, but also to help clean our waters of pollutants, protecting them from unhealthy oxygen levels? I don't know. What I do know is that given the way shellfish grow, it should work. I will be getting my degree in Environmental Conservation. However, when I get this scholarship, I will be able to devote more of my time toward researching my theory and advocating for its research/use that would otherwise have been spent working a job to receive the extra funds needed to pay for school. I will make an impact on my environment, and I will see that the waters become clear again one day. Thank you.

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. That is the Scout law, something I, as an Eagle Scout with the Scouts BSA, have pledged to do my best to embody. When I first joined, reading all of those, I thought it was impossible to be all those qualities all the time. To this day, I still think that no normal person could fulfill every principle within that pledge all the time, every day. However, I think that every person should pick a few of those to embody all the time, and the ones that I chose are kindness, trustworthiness, friendliness, cheerfulness, and bravery. If you asked anyone I know today who or what I am, the first things they usually say is kind, honest, and positive. My teachers will tell you that I can be paired up with anybody--as my Eagle Board of Review committee told me was stated in one of my recommendation letters--and my friends will tell you they think I am fearless. In my free time, I have gotten into reading leadership books, such as "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. I also read books that are more fun, and currently I am going through "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini. When I am not doing this, I also like to paint, and I am currently trying to paint enough acrylic paintings to submit them to a panel of judges for my local art museum. If they are accepted, my paintings will be hung up in the art gallery. However, these are all things I do at home or when I have a spare minute out and about. What I like to do the most in my free time is paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, and snorkeling in the ocean. These activities are what got me wanting to be in the science side of STEM. That, and ever since I was little, some of my fondest memories are of skipping along the ocean shores looking for oysters. It is through these oysters that I will make my contribution to the Environmental Conservation field I am entering. See, oysters are my favorite sea creatures. Why oysters, though? After all, they aren't bright or shiny, aren't flashy, and they don't move. It's simple. Oysters clean the water from pollutants in the sea, acting as natural filters for the brackish water world. These small, versatile creatures are the key to making our waters clean again, allowing natural fauna that may have once been smothered out by algae to flourish. For a bit of backstory, it is not only general pollutants that oysters filter out, but also algae, their primary food source. Algae would seem to be a good thing at a glance because it produces oxygen. In small amounts, it is perfectly fine. However, when there is an algae bloom, the algae grows in alarming amounts, then it dies. It is this death of algae that causes anoxic zones—zones of ocean where there is no oxygen. You can see, then, how oysters could be of benefit here. By planting oyster beds and using indigenous knowledge to create oyster gardens, like how the Coast Salish Tribes do, we can create a buffer of sorts to prevent anoxic or hypoxic zones. This is what I will contribute to the field. I will work to place these oyster beds where the water quality is at its worst, helping to bring my local waters to the levels of clarity they once were. Thank you.

Chicken! Chicken is the same everywhere, right? After all, it's just a bird. Surprisingly, it's not. Last year, I got the amazing opportunity to travel to Panama, the country. The first day we were in Panama--other than the trash that was strewn all along the beaches and poorer parts of the city streets--the first thing I noticed was how different their food was. Not only did their chicken look different than ours in the United States of America, but they hardly ever had vegetables on there lunch menus. This got me thinking. Why is our chicken different? Are there any health repercussions? Why do they have so few vegetables? Amongst other things, this trip spurred me on with a multitude of questions. One of the main ways that traveling can lead to personal growth and development, then, is that it makes you ask questions. It makes you wonder why their area is different from where you live. Additionally, it gives you room to debate amongst other travelers the pros and cons of places where you have visited versus where you currently lived. This debate--this exchange of ideas--is in my opinion, the best way for personal development to happen. After all, how can you change if your ideas have never been challenged? In the words of Alejandro Jodorowsky, "birds born in a cage think flying is a disease." Through traveling, you are breaking that cage and allowing the bird, in our case the mind, to fly and reach greater heights. Through traveling, you are breaking your former preconceptions. Through traveling, you are breaking the barriers that were preventing you from thinking differently. Traveling also allows you to see how others are living in different lifestyles. By seeing how others are living differently, oftentimes travelers will realize that they want to change or adapt their own life. Maybe they want to change to become like the others that they see, and maybe they want to change because through seeing another live as they have been, they realize that it is no longer how they want to be. Personally, I hope to travel much more in the future, especially to South American countries. They are beautiful, and I long to be in the hot, lush greenness of Panama again, where Panama City is less of a "concrete jungle" but more like a jungle with concrete.

"Good morning, how are you?" All it takes is five little words and a smile to brighten someone's day. When I was in middle school, I started getting anxiety attacks. Back then, I didn't know what they were until I went to a doctor. Up until that point, however, I thought I could die at any moment. It was this thought that caused me to make my decision. I decided that if I was going to die, I wanted to be know by people as being a good person. So, I made it my goal to do something nice for someone every day. To do that, I started with opening doors for people, but who it affected the most was the people in my middle school office who worked the front desk. See, middle school students tended to be mean to the ladies in the office. I, however, was not going to be that. Every day, I walked into that office, smiled at the ladies in there, and said, "Good morning! How are you?" They usually would grin back at me, lean over the desk, and we would talk before I went to band. Honestly, I never thought much of it. That is, until I was gone for a few days. When I came back, I did my usual greeting, and the front desk ladies burst into tears and ran around the desk to give me a hug. It turned out, I was the only person who had treated them like a decent person since I left. In her words, she had "missed her ray of sunshine." Although I have now graduated, I still go back to that office and pop in to share one of my smiles, and she still tears up when she sees me. She's not alone, either. I have made it my goal to be kind to people, no matter what, for years now. At this point, it is no longer a conscious act, but rather a habit. I have had people cry or sprint to hug me whenever they see me because I was the only person who would listen and befriend them, despite them having autism, PTSD, anxiety, depression, ADHD, ADD, and more. Personally, the saddest case for me was when I invited a guy from my troop who helped me with my Eagle Scout Project to come play card games with my family and I. In his eighteen years of life, no one else had ever done that before because he had autism. I remember the last night I saw him before he left for college. He started crying in the parking lot of our scout's church, telling us that it was the only time someone invited him to hang out with them. I have one final story to tell. In my county, there is a program called BP Reachout. Every year for eight years now, I volunteer for it. BP Reachout is a volunteer event where every year, BP will buy food and gifts to give to those in need around the community. When most people think of Christmas, they think about gifts, a tree, family, and food. I do, too. This program, though, is what comes first to mind. There have been some years where, after days of packaging food and wrapping presents, we will go deliver presents to people in terrible living conditions. I have had people fall to their knees in shock after seeing the food come through their door, after they had thought they wouldn't be able to eat over the holidays. Thank you for reading.

Sitting for a solid half an hour in front of my computer screen, I planned out bus routes to get to school. Where it would take others twenty-six minutes to get to school, it took me an hour and a half via bus, with two transitions at stations. It was worth it, though. Last June, I graduated from Bellingham Technical College with a 3.98 GPA. Through long days and many hours of studying on the bus, I worked hard to get those grades. I will maintain that level of commitment when I go for my Environmental Conservation Bachelor's Degree at Skagit Valley College in the fall. If you asked the people around me what they would describe me as, they would usually say that I am "a ray of sunshine"--my Spanish teacher--or "an angel"--Mrs. Jordan, the lady who worked the front desk at my middle school. In general, I am described as being positive, kind, smart, helpful, and ambitious, although also awkward and unaware of my surroundings. That isn't by coincidence. Way back when I was twelve, I got my first of many anxiety attacks. Back then, I wasn't sure I would make it to the end of the week. Because of this, I decided that I was going to be the best person I could be and do the best things that I could. First, I wanted to be kind. Therefore, every day, I made it my goal to be kind to someone. Setting character or principle goals built the foundation for me to set my physical goals. For example, I became the youngest person to get distinguished expert in shooting at my local gun range. Additionally, I became the first woman in my county to get the Eagle Scout rank with the Scouts BSA, the Scouts BSA's highest and most esteemed rank, which is recognized by the president of the United States of America. Through participating in the Scouts BSA, I found a passion for being in and helping nature, volunteering countless hours with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association. However, every day I look around me and see or read about how the nature that I love is slowly falling into decline. I will do everything I can to prevent that. That is why I am getting my degree in Environmental Conservation; it is the best way for me to protect what I love. It is through this love of nature that I have come to love STEM. While taking my degree in Fisheries and Aquaculture, some of my fondest memories there are of looking through a hemocytometer, eating Cheeto puffs, and counting the algae cells. I also loved the serenity of being outside and how math became something that wasn't only on paper, but rather something practical or tangible; useful. Although I admit that my brain can't comprehend all the wires in robotics or theoretical math, I know that I love learning about things like genetics and how you can tell the health of a stream through something as small as a bug smaller than the size of the first phalanges of your pinky finger. It's these things that make me desire to pursue science. However, I can't do it without scholarships such as these. College is expensive, as you know, and I chose to go to a community college to get my bachelor's degree to help cut down costs. Yet, as someone living in a four-person household sustained on one income, who's sibling is also getting their bachelor's degree, I can't afford to do this on my own. That's why I need your help. Thank you.

One and a half hours. That's how long it took me to take the bus to take the bus to my college, which for someone who could afford to drive, would only take twenty-six minutes. Sadly, I wasn't one of those fortunate people. Where everyone else complained about having to wake up at eight in the morning to get to school by eight-thirty, I was catching a bus by six-thirty. That doesn't matter. What matters is that I wanted to get up that early because I wanted to get my degree; I was going to get my degree no matter what, and I was going to be the best at it. After graduating with a 3.98 GPA for my degree, I could definitely say I was successful in my goal. I'm not going to stop there, though. No, I'm going to get my Bachelor's Degree this fall in Environmental Conservation so that I can protect that which I love the most, other than my family: nature. As a second-generation college, I will do my best and make my family proud, no matter what challenges I will face--even if that means I have to take a three-hour bus ride every school day. As for why I want to go into STEM? I want to protect the natural resources that I love. For every breath of the salty sea air I took, my love for the outdoors grew. Even as a child I knew that I wanted to work outside. In fact, my favorite memories as a kid are of running barefoot out into my backyard in the early mornings. I was on the hunt for the ripest strawberry to eat; it was the best reward. As for the rest of the strawberries, we shared them with our neighbors or made jam. As a home-schooled student, I took every moment I could to do my homework outside, doing everything from working on my math while fishing to simply reading my schoolbooks in the backyard. Many years later, from the moment I planted the first of numerous trees with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) and saw what a profound impact it could have, I decided I wanted to work to save and preserve the outdoors. Through joining the Scouts BSA and eventually earning my Eagle Scout Rank Award, I was able to explore various possible environmental conservation topics and opportunities. As a Senior Patrol leader leading my troop outdoors, I found spirit, energy, and comradery. The outdoors is my passion—my home—and I will do what I can to protect it. This is why I want to get a degree in Environmental Conservation; the outdoors made me who I am today. For me, receiving a scholarship to help me further my education would mean everything. If I am to go to college here, and I will do everything I can to do so, I will need help covering the costs. I live in a single income home. Not only that, but I also have a brother who is getting his bachelor's degree as well. However, he did not receive any scholarships. Because of this, the income provider of my household is paying for all of it. In short, my family cannot afford to put me through college. Therefore, to pay for schooling, I need to produce the funds myself. One of those ways is through scholarships, such as yours. Please help me complete my goal of protecting and helping what I love, furthering my degree, and helping inspire other women to enter into STEM. Thank you.

I was twelve when it happened. Soaked in sweat, riddled with pain in my chest, and I was barely able to breath. It was the middle of the night. For three hours, I laid there, unable to say a word, before I eventually lost consciousness. I thought I was dying. When I went to the doctor, I got the most shocking news of my life; it was an anxiety attack. That's right, what I thought was certain death was only my brain panicking. Since then, I have had many, many more anxiety attacks, and oftentimes at the most inopportune of times. But see, the thing is, I'm glad I get them. It sounds weird, I know. See, as I lay there for three hours, I had a lot of time to think. "What if I did die today? What would people think of me? What have I done to impact others?" All these thoughts and more ran through my head. I know, that sounds like abstract thoughts for a twelve year-old. Honestly, it was. Now, I would say I wasn't a normal tween. I was home-schooled, which for my case meant I only got to talk to people my age once a week when I went to my local homeschooling co-op. For some, that may have been fine. As someone who's stay-at-home parent yelled at them or their sibling three-to-five days on average, only once if you were lucky and seven times if you weren't, I wasn't okay. Although it was my brother, not I, who was the one constantly being told that they're worthless, can't do anything right, or make my parent's life horrible, it still impacted me. Back then I would drown everything out with music, or walk circles around our herb garden for hours memorizing the plant names. Tarragon, one of the herbs, quickly became my favorite to snack on, since it tastes a lot like black licorice. This was all to say that I was definitely in my head a lot, wishing I could get away. So, for me, my anxiety attack was the catalyst for personal change. Despite being the meager age of twelve, I decided that I wanted to become something; I wanted to change. Like a once calm wave hitting the shore, I changed. Instead of laying in bed wondering if I should even get up for the day, I got up early and exercised. Luckily for me, that helped reduce my panic attacks. I decided to join my local public school band, and I worked hard for hours a day to become the best I could be at it, eventually going on to compete in solo competitions. Every day, I made it my goal to do something kind for someone. Now, my goal is to get my bachelor's degree in environmental conservation. My degree I'm going for is at a community college, which means it costs less. However, as a four-person family still living off of one income, paying for college is a struggle--one I hear about regularly. I want to make a difference in this world and to protect the beautiful things in nature that have given me joy on my darkest of days. To do that, I need scholarships, such as this one. My anxiety attacks were the push that got me running down the path to success, and I can guarantee you that I will keep running to beat that storm. Thank you.

Philosophy is an intriguing discipline, one of which has tackled the question of a whether there is a God multiple times. Personally, I always considered myself agnostic. After all, how could there be one being that is deciding everything's fate, all the time, and knows both all of the future and all of the past? Why, as many religions believe, would this being look like us humans? Why has the being allowed us to slowly destroy the Earth, the only planet found so far to sustain intelligent life? All of it doesn't seemed to be laced and riddled with common humanity and error. Yet, I only last week, I had a talk with a Christian that made me pause. As I was talking to him, he told me his story of why he was a Christian. He had said before that he "gave God one month." Although I don't recall his name, I think I shall forever remember his story. While going through college, he took a course on world religions. According to his anecdote, he figured he would give each religion one month. He followed all the beliefs in the Bible, went to church. Then, one day, he invited his mom to join him, an alcoholic of ten years. Surprisingly, she agreed. A week later, she joined an Alcoholics Anonymous group, and has been clean since. I remember him looking at me and going, "Ya know, praying to God made my mom of ten years get clean. I gave God a month, and he delivered." Now, as someone who has taken psychology and studied it, I wondered if perhaps through changing his way of thinking and attitude, that is what got through to his mom. What if he had subconsciously influenced himself to think that way? I still think that was a key factor. However, I could see how that would have an impact on someone. While talking to him, I brought up what I believe: that there isn't necessarily a god, yet all of the patterns in nature can be explained through vibrations. Think about it. Everything vibrates at a frequency, and as far as I'm aware, there are only so many frequencies. If that is the case, then there are bound to be similarities all over the universe. He countered with the thought of yes, there are all these frequencies everywhere that make patterns and similarities, but who created those frequencies? Who decided they would create those patterns? I can't counter his idea, yet I cannot prove it. At the end of the day, that is what science is about; proving hypothesis's. Arguably, the statement that there is a God is a hypothesis of sorts. The thing is, this hypothesis can't be scientifically proven, and I would argue that since it deals with human beliefs and emotions, it would fall under the category of a soft science, like psychology or sociology. Can you really prove it? Sort of, but it is uncertain in many ways, and varies from person to person. At the end of the day, although I can't say I believe in a God--I have personally had no proof of one--I can say that I do think religion is a good thing. While historically pretty segregated and closed off, at the end of the day, religious institutions have always been very close-knit communities, and are likely to last where other communities fall apart.

When you hit a salmon on the head with a bat, sometimes the eyes pop out. It sounds cruel, doesn't it? Surprisingly, it's not as bad as you'd think. As a now-graduated student from the Fisheries and Aquaculture program at Bellingham Technical College, I learned that killing the fish with a bat after they spawn is arguably a better death than how the salmon would naturally die, which is through slowly decomposing and rotting away over multiple months. For me, fishing has been a massive part of my life since I was young. Some of my best memories are of going out on the ocean with my dad and throwing out a line to catch flounder, an easy-to-catch and tasty fish. Then, when we were hot, we'd jump into the ocean to swim, avoiding the jellyfish. Recently, I've been getting into free-diving and snorkeling around the San Juan Islands. It is beautiful. I'm cold and covered head-to-toe in a wet suit, but it's worth it. This is all to say that I love being in, around, and working with the ocean. I will do anything and everything I can to protect it. This desire to protect the ocean is why I got my Fisheries and Aquaculture Degree, and that's why I'm starting my Environmental Conservation Bachelor's Degree at Skagit Valley College in the fall--to protect the soothing sea that has embraced me for over half my life. Now it's my turn. I plan to work towards protecting the ocean with a scorching passion, specialized education, and personal knowledge that can only be learned firsthand. To be more specific, I plan to become an outdoor educator or natural resource manager, whichever is available sooner in this ever-competitive field. While working as a outdoor educator, I will be able to share my passion with the public, as well as my knowledge in an easily comprehensible, yet personal way. Additionally, I will be obtaining my Associates in Journalism Degree while taking courses at Skagit Valley College, and I will be able to use my knowledge I learn from such to better reach people. As a natural resource manager, I will be able to employ innovative technologies or indigenous knowledge to best enable the oceans to be protected and restored. This brings me to my final point in this essay. All of the plans and desires I have spoken about before are general goals to achieve. These things are wonderful and goals I will work toward, but they don't speak to what I hold close in my mind and heart; oysters. Oysters, I believe, are the key to restoring the ocean, at the very least in the Puget Sound, my home piece of the ocean. These creatures are shellfish which are astonishingly efficient at filtering out detrimental substances in the ocean. I remember when I was younger running along the beach with my little bucket in hand trying to find them to take home in eat, thinking to myself when I found one how beautiful they were. Once I learned about what they can do, I could not be in more awe. Using my degree and indigenous techniques, such as creating clam or oyster gardens, I will be able to help my local waters become clean again. When I am successful through doing this, I will push to have similar methods employed in other areas. I hope that one day the waters will become clear again where I live, and may they become the same way all around the world. With my degree, I will work to do that, one oyster at a time.

Five years. Three troops. One award. Through sweat, dirt, and only a few injuries, I achieved my Eagle Scout Award, becoming the first woman to do so in my county. To get the Eagle Scout Award, you must plan, lead, and execute a project that benefits your community. Everyone told me I should just get a kit and build a bench, or have it pre-made and install it on a concrete pad. However, I wasn't going to listen to them; I wanted to do something special, something different. Wanting to create something unique, I contacted the head park ranger and multiple representatives for the parks. As an avid lover of the parks and someone getting my bachelor's degree environmental conservation, I wanted to do something to benefit my local outdoor areas. After discussing for many months, I came up with hand-drawn drawings of designs for the benches. Raising all of the money I needed for my project during this discussing phase, I grew and sold plants to neighbors, friends, and my family's coworkers. These benches I designed were going to be made of primed steel and cedar wood, and I was going to cut, weld, build, and install it myself. I did just that. Once I had drawn the designs up by hand, I wanted to have them professionally done so that I could give the designs to Morse Steel and have them understand what type of material I would need. Strolling in with my Class A and green Scout pants, which look like cargo pants of sorts, I asked Morse Steel if I could buy the steel off of them. To my surprise, they told me not only would they donate the steel, but they would also cut it for me. Fast forward about four months, and we--I with my family and friend's help--had welded the bench frame together as well as grinded and primed it. Not too many months after that, I had cut, sanded, and stained the cedar wood. It was very heavy without the wood, and nearly immovable with it. Many months prior I had scouted out my installation site. The next time I went back there, it was to prep the site. I had sent out the invites a few weeks before, yet only one of my troopmates showed up for the first installation date. It was no matter; I had many friends come to support me instead. Overall, it took us at least sixteen hours to get the bench installed, not including the time it took for the concrete to dry. It was beautiful. Although the Eagle Project is arguably one of the most difficult parts of achieving the Eagle Scout Award. Despite the challenges, it is an amazing thing to achieve. Yet, it's not these difficulties that make getting the Eagle Scout Award memorable. No, it is the trials I faced while achieving it. It is the cheers of Scouts while taking my personal fitness test to get the required Personal Fitness merit badge--and me going back to run alongside those still behind me--that made it worth it. Yes, I did face issues with people trying to hold me back from completing my project or making it nearly impossible for me to complete some of my required merit badges. However, those people aren't the people I'm going to remember, and certainly won't let them hold me back. I will continue to do good things for my community and continue to use my leadership skills to better the environment. This is only the beginning.

"Don't you dare do a flip." My brother threatens me nearly every time we play Mario Kart. Smiling diabolically at him, I slightly shake my remote while taking a jump. "Oops." I say at him with a wink, boosting ahead and taking a turn at Coconut Mall. "You devil." Narrowing his eyes, he expertly takes another one of the corners we have played so many times before. He and I have played many, many games together. See, as siblings who both liked playing video games together, our options were very limited, usually being reduced to three games: Wii Sports Resort, Wii Ski and Snowboard, and Mario Kart. What made Mario Kart especially dear to my heart was the fact that my parents would play it with us, too. Although my brother and I played many games, my parents always seemed to struggle with the ones we showed them, even though they tried multiple times; we loved them all the more for it. Yet, of all of them, Mario Kart was the one that they could get the hang of and even better, we could play alongside them. Family game night usually consisted of hours of screaming uproariously at Scrabble tiles for missing the letter we desired and much honey-coated popcorn. However, at the end of it all, we always came back to good old Mario Kart to give us that extra bit of competitiveness, or in some cases, trying to help the parents figure out how to back out of a wall they ran into. While Mario Kart has gotten more complex as the years go by, it seems, it has always been a fun game for all of us to play together. Yet, I will always remember and cherish the memories of carefully jumping on mushroom tops in Mushroom Gorge or cursing at the cows in Moo Moo Valley.

Skeletons were everywhere. Worse, it was by my own design, and I had no idea how to keep them from killing me. The first time I played Minecraft, I was very young, and it was on my first ever Kindle way back in 2013. Back then, I had no clue what the difference was between "creative mode" and "survival mode" was. Only after my brother generously pointed out that I had switched myself to survival mode after spawning a glitch-worthy amount of skeletons did I know why I was dying all the time. Of course, this was only once I had denounced ever playing the game again. Strange how fickle a seven-year-old's brain can be, since there I was a couple of hours later tackling the game again. Once I learned how to spawn non-monster mobs, I was nearly unstoppable. Unless my mom decided to take the Kindle away, that is. Despite the rough start, I found my favorite part of playing Minecraft always to be using the spawning eggs. Sure, building things was fun, and I had many years of challenging friends to run through my incredibly long mazes. However, there is an inexplicable, undeniable, pure child-like glee that comes with spawning many animals in an area. Not only that, but I have seen the game progress over the years to include spawn eggs of creatures I never would have even thought they would add, such as salmon and dolphins. As someone who intends to major in Environmental Conservation and just finished their Associates in Fisheries and Aquaculture, those made me particularly overjoyed. Although these are what gives me a pure glee, it isn't why using the spawn eggs to spawn mobs resonates with me. No, it's because the spawned mobs were always the central point in all "creative mode" games I played with my friends. I have spent so, so many hours spawning the mobs to see what color cat you would get, or what color cat you would get from taming an ocelot, back in the old days when that's how it was done. Even more, I have spent hours playing "chase the chicken" with friends where you would spawn a chicken, then see how quickly you could catch it. Oh, the fights we had over who's horse was stronger, faster, or prettier. Of course, when I played with my brother, it was more around who can spawn more skeletons to kill the other person's dogs, or who could create the better home defense system to fight off the other's monster attacks. All the same, if Minecraft didn't have these spawn eggs, I wouldn't have created a quarter as many memories. Thanks to Minecraft and it's spawn eggs, I was able to find common ground with my brother and spend many hours being able to connect with him. The spawn eggs aren't any all too special feature or goal, but they made the game all the more special to me.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." --Mahatma Gandhi. When I talk to people, many of them say that they hate how negative, angry, and distrustful the world has become. Yet, when the opportunity is presented to them to take even only a minute to better someone else's day, they won't, saying that the other person wouldn't do such for them. Maybe they are right, maybe that person wouldn't do such for them. However, if no one ever stepped outside their personal box of beliefs, how are others to know they can do the same? I always told these people to volunteer with humanitarian groups and that it would positively change their outlook, or even life. Personally, I already volunteer with humanitarian groups, such as BP Reachout, regularly. These arguably make a positive impact on people in large way, but on a pinpointed, planned occasion. Although I get many raised eyebrows and eye rolls from people when I do so, I always ask them to join me and recommend that they volunteer themselves. Usually, they say they don't have enough time in their day to help out for a couple of hours. Still, I tell them so. When I do, I tell them that it will change you--and it will--in a good way. It teaches you compassion for others, gratitude for what you have, and gives you a community to rely on. For those who do join me, they tend to come back. As an Eagle Scout with the Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts), I already do my best to follow the Scout Slogan, "Do a good turn daily." This, in fact, has been a driving goal of mine and a key part of who I am and what people know me as. Believe it or not, even something as simple as saying "good morning" I would count as a good turn, although only after one experience I had. Every day, I used to come into my school office and say good morning to the lady at the front desk. Turns out, I was the only person there who did, and would say "please" or "thank you" to her. I didn't realize at the time what difference it made, especially since for me I considered that to be general courteous and respectfulness, until I had been gone for a few days. When the lady at the front desk saw me again, she burst into tears, because I was the only person who had been kind to her. When someone needs a partner, I volunteer. If you drop your books, I'll offer to help you pick them up. Should you look like you're having a bad day, I'll offer a compliment and a listening ear. This is all to say that I already do what I can to have a positive impact on people's lives. Yet, I know that I can still be better. I will become better. For years, I have been slowly setting goals to become certain principles, such as kind, friendly, or trustworthy, and have been building habits into my days that help me better the lives of myself and others. Even the field I am pursuing, environmental conservation, revolves around protecting and positively helping nature. As I continue to improve myself, I will do everything I can to continue to be a positive influence on those around me.

From urging her followers to donating to charities over Christmastime, to speaking out against magazines using photo shopping to make her body seem thinner, Zendaya has been an influential activist for years. Yet, what I admire most about her, is that she doesn't make that all that she is--she just wants to do the right thing. That very concept, doing the right thing, is something I believe all of us can relate to. Instead of hanging back and laying low, she stands out in the media's spotlight and speaks out. While her sense of fashion is undeniably spectacular, especially her Daya by Zendaya fashion line made of entirely gender-neutral garments, I personally feel that it is neither the acting nor the fashion that brings her the closest to her fans. No, it is her willingness to speak out; it is her humble confidence in her opinions. This confidence is infectious. Using her celebrity status, she is able to inspire the most people, and encourage many others to stand up and speak out. As someone who volunteers regularly with both environmental groups and humanitarian organizations, I have seen firsthand how crucial it is to have role models like this encouraging others to take a stance in their communities. If her telling others to donate to or volunteer with charities gets even only one more person to help another, I shall be a fan of hers until the day I die. That is, disregarding her acting talents, such as when she fabulously played the mysterious and observant MJ in Spider Man, or her fashion line, Daya by Zendaya. This is all to say that, simply put, Zendaya is like a rainbow. To focus on only one color is to ignore the fact that there are six other stunning colors, all of which blend together at certain points, coming together to create a jaw-dropping picture.

Three hours. I lay on my bed in the middle of the night, shaking, soaked in sweat, and feeling like I was being simultaneously choked and stabbed in the chest. For three hours I lay there, not able to make a sound. Eventually, I passed out from exhaustion. Although I didn't know it then, I was having the first of many panic attacks. On that night, I thought I was going to die. It was that thought--that fear--that was the catalyst for my decision to change. See, before that I was very depressed. People think that depression is someone being sad all the time, and maybe for some people, it is. It wasn't for me. For me, it meant that life was like a flat line. I could not feel happiness, joy, or even peace, nor could I feel anger, sadness, or hope. In simpler terms, as I like to tell people, flowers didn't bloom, the sun burned, the rain drowned, and food tasted like cardboard. Then I had my first panic attack, and it made me think, "If I died today, what would people say about me? Would anyone mourn my passing?" The answer to that question was bleak. And so, I decided to make a change. However, I couldn't just change who I was overnight, and I didn't really have a drive to. Then, my mom forced me to join band. I, at first, loathed it. Anxiously, I awaited the one-month mark that I was told I had to stay in it for. I have social anxiety, and back then it was horrible. For the first three months of band--after a few weeks I decided I loved it--the entire car ride there I would be shaking, soaked in sweat, and unable to breathe evenly. There were times where my vision would swim while I walked up to the building, my anxiety was that bad. Yet, I chose to do it. Not only because band gave me a sense of purpose, but because I could tell that my anxiety was lessening. Slowly, I became less and less nervous, until a year and a half later, I was able to walk into the building without shaking. Over this time, I learned how to laugh again, and how to strive to become better, because of my band. Band gave me something to look forward to; a home when home didn't always feel like it. After joining band and "waking up" again, I learned to recognize the little things that I didn't appreciate or notice before. My family still laughs at me today for such, but I take pictures of all the little weed's flowers that pop up in between the cracks in the concrete. When I eat a new food, or even a old, beloved one, I savor each texture and flavor that I can taste. Additionally, I found that my panic attacks were lessened when I at better and exercised regularly, so I decided to do so of my own accord, and have actively encouraged and convinced friends to do so. I was lucky. Yes, getting depression and having panic attacks isn't fun. There were days where I would stare out my window wondering if it was worth it to wake up the next day. Usually I had books I was reading through, so that kept me going. I like to say that during this time my soul was "asleep." Although I hope that not that many people are truly depressed, there are a vast number who are what I would call "half asleep." These are your average, everyday people. They wake up, go to work, scarf down some food during the day, then rinse and repeat. Yet, they are still not fully "awake." I was lucky because my panic attacks "woke me up." Because I thought that night was my last, there was an ever-looming fear of whether or not I would get a panic attack again. Would that be it? And so, I woke up. I learned to set goals for myself, not just to achieve physical, tangible things, but to also be better as a person. When I had my first anxiety attack, if you asked me what I thought of myself, I would have said that I was nerdy, timid, nearly friendless, and I didn't know what I wanted to be or do. After a lot of thinking, I decided on one thing I wanted to be: kind. So, I made it my goal to do one thing every day that was kind or nice from someone. After kind, I picked friendly, then trustworthy, then loyal, then most recently, cheerful. I'm not perfect. I'll admit that any day. However, I have done everything I can every day to use these principles in whatever I say and do. As I worked on becoming these things, I also set myself physical goals. Through setting habits for myself and holding myself accountable for them, I earned a 3.99 GPA, my Eagle Scout Award with the Scouts BSA, Distinguished Expert in rifle shooting, went to national shooting competitions, and am going through college as a high school-er. Yet, everywhere I go, I am not known for this. Instead I am known for three things: my drive, my kindness, and my positivity. I am deserving of this scholarship, not because of my panic disorder or because I had depression, but because I fought to get through it. Every time something made me start shaking or break out in sweat from anxiety, I took a step forward and faced it. Even when they laughed at me, I did what I needed to get past what I was going through, and I haven't stopped helping others get through it themselves since. I was lucky; my anxiety made me wake up. Now my question is, are you awake?

"God bless you." Three words, but they are enough to bring me to tears. Every year, I volunteer with a local humanitarian volunteer group that helps people who have fallen on hard times around the holidays. We bring them food and presents, and I have seen people fall to their knees crying because they thought they couldn't give their children food over Christmas. With as many "God bless you" blessings I have gotten from people, I should never have bad luck again in my life. Although I consider myself agnostic, it is their intention that means something to me. Many people tell me that volunteering or helping others is a waste of time, telling me that I could spend that time making money or pursuing my hobbies, making myself eventually be happy. Every time, I just look at them, smile, and say, "Join me then, only once. Then you can tell me it's a waste of time." Once they are surrounded by the smiles, dancing to the music while they wrap presents, they love it and have fun. But it's when they deliver the presents to people that they realize what difference they make--when they restore the people's hopes, faith, and dreams. More importantly, they come back. People will ask me how I can do it. That is, they ask how I can be a 3.98 GPA-holding student at a college while still in high school, hold a freelance job, exercise regularly, earn my Eagle Scout Award with the Scouts BSA, volunteer regularly, and continue to pursue my aspirations and hobbies. When they ask me this, I tell them one thing: set yourself a goal, then make the steps to achieve it a habit. Every day, do something to achieve that goal. If you can keep something for six months, then it will no longer be something you force yourself to do, but something you naturally do. Arguably the most important part of this idea is that it applies to not only your actions, but your thoughts as well. Every day, I am bombarded with news of wars; of people being hurt or angry; of families destroyed. Because of these things, many people will be become negative or angry, eventually becoming discontent with themselves and their lives. Although I am surrounded by these emotional bullets, I don't let them hit or affect me. Positivity is a choice, and one I chose to make and have been actively choosing to make for years. For every time that I have had those that surround me judge without reason, I have countered them. For every time that I have been faced with negative news, I have also found and voiced positive news. For every time that I have seen someone faced with underserved cruelty, I have reached out a hand. More than that, I have encouraged my friends for years to do the same. Because of my actions, I have seen friends who once lacked confidence fight their fears and become confident, kind, brave people. People who would once look on and say naught, decided to do otherwise. Where once they cared not to interact with those they didn't have to, they chose to say "good morning" or give them a compliment. I don't need any accolades for my accomplishments; I don't care about those. There is not a single award I could achieve that would ever bring me so much happiness as seeing a friend of mine improve and do something kind or hearing the three simple words, "God bless you" from a stranger. Thank you.

When you control your mind, you control yourself. This is one of the biggest underlying messages in the book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey. Mr. Covey's book is unique in the way that it teaches you to hold yourself to high standards, to choose to look at the world in a different way, and to choose what--and who--you spend your time and energy with. By the first chapter, he's already done this. For me, it was one of the biggest "ah ha!" moments I've ever had while reading a book. In the first chapter, he describes an experiment done that shows a paradigm shift, which, simply put, is when you see something through a different lens. Personally, the most profound example he gave was of a man who is at a train station. He has children being unruly, running amuck there and does nothing. You, the stranger seeing this, are annoyed. Possibly you think to yourself, "Why can't that man control his children?" But perchance, you decide to ask the man why he lets his children run wild. He tells you this: "We just got back from the hospital today. My wife passed away." Just like that, your perspective shifts. Now, you no longer think, "Why can't that man control his children?" but instead, "That poor man, he lost his wife." This is a paradigm shift, a change in thinking. I haven't thought the same way about others since. Because this is a book on interpersonal leadership, in a sense, he also gave how you should set rules on how others should do what you want them to do. In his book, he used a personal account of how he wanted his son to keep the lawn clean. When he first started out, he would get mad because it wasn't exactly how he wanted his son to do it. However, after some introspection, he realized something; his son wasn't him, but his own person. And so, he gave him guidelines, those being that the yard would be kept, "green and clean." This established trust. All this to say, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve themselves and anyone who wants to shift their outlook about themselves and others. It is a tough book to read, but an enormously impactful one.