There’s a small community in Southeast Texas referred to as Hamshire Fannett, population of just over 10,000. I was born and raised here which means this community is near and dear to my heart. To have a good community, it takes many people and a lot of time giving back through good deeds. I choose to give back in as many ways as possible to my community. It is through volunteering that you have an opportunity to play a role in changing other’s lives and helping people who may not be able to help themselves. While volunteering I have been able to not only give back to my community but learn important life lessons along the way like leadership and teamwork. When I think of what leadership means to me several words come to mind like integrity, motivation, success, and impactful. These qualities are what I strive to have in all parts of my life. It is not always easy to be a leader, it can be challenging. I want to be the leader that not only my peers, but the younger students look up to and respect. There are many ways of being a leader others look up to, like getting involved and giving back. Some ways I have chosen to volunteer my time are with a few non-profit organizations that helped me along the way, like HF Little Dribblers, HF Little League, and CJC Girls Softball. As an athlete myself I can appreciate all the hard work that goes into building these organizations and what the youth get out of it. I want the kids in my community to have the same experiences I had growing up while playing basketball and softball. It feels so good to help the younger kids gain a sense of accomplishment when they hit the ball, make a good throw, or make a basket, anything that makes them feel good about themselves! Every little bit counts and together we can achieve so much. So even if it’s just working the scoreboard for this game, or helping stock the concession stand before a tournament, all these things contribute towards the success of the organizations. Not only do I believe it is about giving back to the organizations in our community that have helped me, but also organizations that give to those in need. I have been part of the Tishy Role Model Team for 3 years. This team was developed by a photographer and local high school students are chosen who have excelled academically, athletically, and personally. Each month we have volunteer events and work at organizations like the Humane Society, Food Bank, and homeless shelters. Another opportunity I’ve been given is to help through the organizations I am involved in like Student Council, Honor Society, and FFA. This includes a variety of things like helping at graduation, helping at school orientation, leading school events, and doing science demonstrations at the Elementary School. Many organizations in my community helped me become successful, therefore I want to give thanks to them by giving back! It will never get old seeing the happiness on others' faces knowing that you made them smile by helping, or knowing that a pint of blood is saving lives, or those can goods you are distributing could be someone’s next meal. It is an experience that cannot be bought with any amount of money, and I am forever thankful for it.

There's a small community in Southeast Texas, population of just over 10,000, referred to as Hamshire Fannett. I was born and raised in this small town where everyone knows everyone. Right on the outskirts of town, I was lucky enough to grow up on a farm where I've gotten to interact and raise different animals my entire life. This is where I found my love for animals and began dreaming of becoming a Veterinarian. This passion for animals pushed me to join the FFA organization where I now hold the Vice President position for my High School. The FFA organization and 2 summers of working with animals, introduced me further into my dream of studying Veterinary Medicine. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be the best at everything I put my time into. I found out early on to be successful this would take setting boundaries and making sacrifices to accomplish the many goals I set for myself. These sacrifices include staying up late to finish work or studying for a class, putting in extra time with my teachers, or saying no to hanging out with friends even if it meant it wasn't "cool". From this, I've set priorities and learned what matters most, as each decision and sacrifice has helped me get that much closer to achieving my goals. Throughout High School, I have been elected to many student officer positions that have given me opportunities to develop leadership skills. During my Senior year, I will take on two of my biggest leadership roles yet, Student Body President and Honor Society Vice President. I am beyond excited to hold these positions during my final year in High School. I know it will be very busy, but I always welcome a challenge! There is one other passion of mine that has shaped me into the person I am today, playing softball. I found my love of the sport when I was only 5 years old. I have not only made some of the best friends and memories but learned some of the most important life lessons along the way. Some of these lessons include the value of teamwork, how far you can go with commitment, never giving up, and how important attitude is. Softball is a chapter in my life that will come to an end next year, but the experience will last a lifetime. Even as important as softball has been, my academics have always been number 1, so I push myself extremely hard to remain at the top of my class. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s always been worth it. I have set the highest goals for myself and always felt "the sky's the limit". Each of these experiences has helped shape me into who I am today and prepare me for one of my most important life goals, College! I am proud to say I will be a first-generation college student. “Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.”

There’s a place that has become my second home for the last 13 years. It’s not a home like you would think of, it’s not my best friend's house or my grandparents’ house. It’s the softball field. This second home has not only shaped me into the person I am today but has taught me some of the most valuable life lessons and built lifelong friendships. I discovered my love of the sport when I was only 5 years old. I found the sport has been my go-to and mind releaser when life has been hard or people give up on me, softball hasn’t. As as soon as I step on the field my mind erases whatever is going on and it’s a time where I can forget my worries and problems. There is nothing in life that has given me the feeling of stepping up to the plate and coming in “clutch” for my team. One of these times specifically I will never forget. It was my sophomore year while playing our rival High School team for the District Championship. It was the 7th inning, and the game was tied 0-0. It had been a pitching duel all night and I was up to bat. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, this was the biggest moment I had been in during High School! I took the first pitch to see what she had, but the second pitch was mine. I made hard contact right up the middle and drove two runs in to secure the win for my team! This feeling right here is the reason I love softball so much! Those moments don’t come with every game and there are some incredibly difficult days as well, but there’s never been a day it wasn’t worth it. A hard day doesn’t just mean a bad game. I have stayed up countless nights studying or finishing homework after a game. Even as important as softball is, my academics have always been number 1. I push myself extremely hard to remain at the top of my class. If you see one playing sports for their school, for many it’s so much more than that. Or as they say, “It’s harder than it looks”. Softball season leaves little time to study or do homework, which has taught me to use my time wisely and stay focused. Being an athlete in school has many challenges, but also benefits. My biggest challenge with balancing sports and academics could also be my biggest benefit, as it teaches me how to manage my time, and how far you can go with hard work and responsibility. To be successful I found out early on this would take setting boundaries and making sacrifices to accomplish the many goals I set for myself. Many years of playing softball, it has taught me about setting priorities and what matters most, as each decision and sacrifice has helped me get that much closer to achieving my goals. I am sad to say softball is a chapter in my life that will come to an end next year, but I am forever grateful for the memories and life lessons the sport has given me. These experiences have helped me to grow and prepare for the next chapter, college! “Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.”

As I sit down and reflect on the past experiences our community has been through, there is one that stands out to this day. This is major flooding due to storms. This tragedy is something that our community has been through more than once and is something that has destroyed our homes, belongings, businesses, and schools. Therefore, the one negative thing I would change in my environment is to make a change that would prevent this from ever happening again. I would build a pumping system and more canals surrounding our community. This could make a significant impact, in attempts to help prevent future flooding. I have seen first-hand the damage caused by flooding and would do anything to prevent it from happening again. My community has done so much for me and to see four floods come through destroying homes, just in the past 8 years, is something I would do anything to change. During those four floods, it was the most devastating thing I have lived through. My own house was destroyed and torn apart multiple times. People in our community lost pets and vehicles, and most importantly lost special memories of things that are not replaceable. One item I remember is a stuffed animal my great-aunt got me right before she died. It was washed away in the flood and was never seen again. Others as well lost many non-replaceable items during this devastating and disastrous time. Also, during two of these floods, our schools were destroyed and school life as we knew it became much different. These are just a few reasons why I would build a system to give the water somewhere to drain and help pump the water to the canals. This means the water wouldn’t sit our yards and homes, but rather route back to the Gulf of Mexico. I believe this would work great during a hurricane, tropical storm, or major flood. This would not only help one or two people, but rather our entire community and environment that means so much to me. This drainage system project would have a positive impact on everyone. Even if some people’s homes didn’t flood, they have felt the effects as businesses and schools were greatly impacted as well. I would build this system to help the people that not only mean so much to me but also the people that have done so much for the community. I love to give back and help others, and I can’t think of a better way to help the people I love so much and the environment we live in. Therefore, if I could change one negative thing in my environment, I would build this drainage system to help prevent our community from going through such a devastating thing again.

There are so many movies that I have seen multiple times just for the thrill or laugh, but some movies have much more meaning than just a good laugh or thrill. One show that has always brought a lot of meaning and many good lessons “Is Grey’s Anatomy”. Grey’s Anatomy has inspired me to not only be courageous but always chase my dreams! Having courage doesn’t just happen to all of us. After watching Grey’s Anatomy, it made me want to be courageous and never stop fighting. As Meredith Grey says in the movie, “When the ground gives way and your world collapses, maybe you just need to have faith. And trust that you can survive this. Maybe you just need to hold on tight and no matter what, don’t let go.” Sometimes all it takes is somebody to tell you or show you that you are strong enough and you do have the courage to fight through anything. That is what Grey’s Anatomy taught me, not only through this quote but throughout the whole movie as I watched Meredith Grey be courageous even though she was scared sometimes. She would perform surgeries that terrified her, but she learned to believe in herself and finish strong. Her character is what showed me that during hard times you must stay strong and believe in yourself. There’s a lot of courage inside of each of us that we might not even know! Before watching Grey’s Anatomy, I would avoid every conversation that has to do with becoming an Engineer when I was older, as I doubted if I was “smart enough”. As I watched Grey’s Anatomy it showed me believing you can do something is a huge step and you miss all the chances you never take. The possibilities of what you can become should outweigh your fears. This thought ran through my mind as I would watch the doctors on the show care for their patients, save lives, and overall give people a better life. Grey’s Anatomy showed me through dedication, courage, and strength one person can save hundreds of lives and make a difference to not one but many families. Now this is not to say that there weren’t some very tough days that the doctors had. However, by staying strong and fighting through the bad days it gives the doctors another day to save someone else. Therefore, all in all, Grey’s Anatomy helped me see the person I wanted to be and not because I felt it was admirable, but because I wanted to be the strong person the doctors are on the show. It has also helped give me the courage to chase my dream of becoming an Engineer, no matter how hard it might be. That is why Grey’s Anatomy is the movie that inspired me the most. It showed me how far you can make it through your strength and course, no matter how hard it might be!

When I think of what leadership means to me several words come to mind like integrity, motivation, success, and impactful. These qualities are what I strive to have in all parts of my life. It is not always easy to be a leader, in fact, it can be challenging, but through commitment, it shows good character in one. After 12 years of being in school, I believe I have continually developed my leadership skills through various organizations, officer positions, and athletics. I want to be the leader that not only my peers, but the younger students look up to and respect. One thing I believe it takes to be a good leader is having a strong work ethic, motivation, and integrity. Integrity is one of the utmost important characteristics of a leader in my opinion. This means always doing the right thing, even when others aren’t around. This means being someone that others know they can trust. A leader with a high drive for success inspires their followers motivated to work hard as well. These qualities can set a good example for others and bring high success rates of leading others in doing the right thing, even when doing the right thing might not always be easy. The biggest leadership role I have been given I believe is being voted Student Body President. This means I am the leader of the entire student body and leading the student council members toward doing more for the community and our school. In this role, it is extremely important that I set a good standard for my peers and lead by example. Some might not realize it, but leaders are constantly being observed by followers. As a leader, you can set the tone of success and drive others to be motivated and have high morale. A leader should always be aware of how they are acting and what they are saying. This makes me think of one of my favorite movie quotes from Remember the Titans, “attitude reflects leadership”. I truly believe a leader can make or break an organization. As Student Body President I must embody the characteristics I described above to be a successful leader. I know it will be a very busy job, but I look forward to expanding my leadership skills to the next level as President. I believe being a leader can be very rewarded and drive a sense of self-accomplishment. Being a leader is not only about your success but helping others to be successful as well. This has been very important for the past four years that I have been on the Varsity Softball team. I think my leadership has reflected on the softball field as well. Something important to me is to keep my team motivated, driven, and focused. If the team sees me being negative, or not giving it my all, then that is the tone I set for the rest of the players. Attitude is contagious, and a leader that has a poor attitude feeds this down to the team. This can be a huge contributing factor to a team’s success rate. After all, we win and lose together, as one team. I believe after a successful Senior year in High School all this experience will be extremely helpful in the “next chapter”, college. I anticipate using and growing these leadership skills as I begin the journey of obtaining my degree and becoming a successful Engineer!

When I think of what leadership means to me several words come to mind like integrity, motivation, success, and impactful. These qualities are what I strive to have in all parts of my life. It is not always easy to be a leader, in fact, it can be challenging, but through commitment, it shows good character in one. After 12 years of being in school, I believe I have continually developed my leadership skills through various organizations, officer positions, and athletics. I want to be the leader that not only my peers, but the younger students look up to and respect. One thing I believe it takes to be a good leader is having a strong work ethic, motivation, and integrity. Integrity is one of the utmost important characteristics of a leader in my opinion. This means always doing the right thing, even when others aren’t around. This means being someone that others know they can trust. A leader with a high drive for success inspires their followers motivated to work hard as well. These qualities can set a good example for others and bring high success rates of leading others in doing the right thing, even when doing the right thing might not always be easy. The biggest leadership role I have been given I believe is being voted Student Body President. This means I am the leader of the entire student body and leading the student council members toward doing more for the community and our school. In this role, it is extremely important that I set a good standard for my peers and lead by example. Some might not realize it, but leaders are constantly being observed by followers. As a leader, you can set the tone of success and drive others to be motivated and have high morale. A leader should always be aware of how they are acting and what they are saying. This makes me think of one of my favorite movie quotes from Remember the Titans, “attitude reflects leadership”. I truly believe a leader can make or break an organization. As Student Body President I must embody the characteristics I described above to be a successful leader. I know it will be a very busy job, but I look forward to expanding my leadership skills to the next level as President. I believe being a leader can be very rewarded and drive a sense of self-accomplishment. Being a leader is not only about your success but helping others to be successful as well. This has been very important for the past four years that I have been on the Varsity Softball team. I think my leadership has reflected on the softball field as well. Something important to me is to keep my team motivated, driven, and focused. If the team sees me being negative, or not giving it my all, then that is the tone I set for the rest of the players. Attitude is contagious, and a leader that has a poor attitude feeds this down to the team. This can be a huge contributing factor to a team’s success rate. After all, we win and lose together, as one team. I believe after a successful Senior year in High School all this experience will be extremely helpful in the “next chapter”, college. I anticipate using and growing these leadership skills as I begin the journey of obtaining my degree and becoming a successful Engineer!

If I had to picture my dream self in the future, one word comes to mind, success. I would be successful in a career field that I love. This career would also give me a sense of accomplishment through helping others in my job.

My name is Madison Bundick. I am extremely excited to be entering my Senior year of High School and will be a graduate in the Class of 2024! I am proud to say I am ranked #2 in my class, Student Body President, FFA Vice President, National Honor Society Vice President, and 3-year Varsity Softball with All-District awards. One thing about me is I've always wanted to be the best! This leads me to be driven, focused, and goal-oriented. I give my all and strive to be someone others can look up to and make my parents proud. Being a leader in many student organizations and being a well-recognized face at Hamshire Fannett High School is not always easy. At times leadership comes with having to make tough decisions and sometimes even sacrifices. To be a good leader it takes a strong work ethic, motivation, and integrity. All of which I strive to be. In my many roles, it is extremely important that I set a good standard for my peers and lead by example. Early on I became passionate about Math and found the problem solving in it intriguing and challenging, and I love a good challenge! I look forward to using these skills in college in my pursuit to having a career in Engineering. When I think of a college education it provides so much more than just “a piece of paper”. To successfully obtain a college degree one must remain focused, dedicated, and goal-oriented. I believe if you work hard to accomplish things you learn appreciation more knowing the dedication and hard work it took to achieve success. All of which I have learned in High School. I have spent the last 12 years dedicated to my education and athletic goals to become the best version of Madison I can be. There are a few colleges I am particularly interested in and look forward to finding the right university for me that will help me prepare for my dream career. This scholarship could tremendously help by making it possible for me to take the next steps to further my education. By making it financially possible to attend a major university this will allow me to start the journey of becoming an Engineer. There’s no doubt, college is expensive. This is just another reason I have tried to work so hard in school in hopes of being awarded scholarships to help with the financial side of college. I have been preparing well for the next chapter, college, and if awarded this scholarship I commit to making you proud!