My career goal is to become a behavioral therapist in schools for kids on the autism spectrum. My plan to achieve this is to first finish my associates of applied sciences in early childhood education at Grayson community college. Because of my dependant status and my parents making too much money I have to find school funding on my own or through my own pocket. To achieve this I work two jobs and work side jobs over the weekends cleaning people houses. Once I have gotten my degree, my plan is to apply to the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas and start my bachelors in applied behavior analysis. Hopefully by then I will receive more government funding for school as I will be married and not applying as a dependant under my parents. I will then get my masters in ABA at the University of North Texas as well. With all of my degrees I should be able to then seek out a school or company in need of a behavior analyst and can start building a case load and helping the children in that area. During my school years i will be working as a teachers aid at a montessori school. Though it is not ABA related it will keep me in the ABA field and around school age children to learn the ebbs and flows of teaching and guiding small children to success. Once I have my degrees and I am able to get an ABA job, i plan to learn how the companies work and are constructed to eventually start my own ABA company. Through trial and error with different companies I have come to learn that ABA companies vary and can be totally different each time you walk in. i want to build a place of learning and compassion. A place where kids can come to learn and grow with others kids, but also a place where technicians and teachers can come together and feel supported by their company. There is a 70% turnover rate for BCBA's in the state of Texas, and 75% for RBT's in Texas. This can affect not only the companies but the children as well. Kids on the spectrum do not understand why they have a constant rotating schedule of teachers. Most of the time this is caused by burnout from not being supported or heard in the field and wanting out. I want to create a place where they feel heard and seen, where we can take their concerns into consideration and mold our company around them. In turn the technicians would not feel so lost and unheard an would be able to better work with the kids. My company would not be big. It would be small enough to make an impact, but small enough to keep an eye on everyone and not let cases or concerns get lost in the flow of people.

To begin, you can make a huge impact on the world with love. I was raised in a family with lots of love, so I have so much more to give to others. My future goal is to become a ultra sound technician. This way I can spread my love and kindness through the people and patients I see every day. Love and kindness can go a long way for someone going through the stresses of holding and creating another life inside of you. The pregnant moms and expecting dads need unrelenting and unconditional support. I want to be able to make an impact in that medical field, and make people feel more seen, heard, and comfortable going into a doctors office and having an ultrasound. Now, faith might be harder for me to make an impact with. My faith is new and young. I spent years denying my faith and denying there was any greater being because it did not make sense to me. I was also angry at whatever god existed for taking away so many people from me, and putting me through all I have endured. But as I got older, and I learned more of Christianity and God, I came to realize that it was not the fact that I did not 'believe' in God. It was the fact that I was to scared to believe in someone so strong and mighty that I had never seen before. I was scared to give myself over to religion and let God show me my path. In the last year I have prayed more than ever, worked on myself daily, and in the last year I have come to be a servant of God. Though I do not go to church, I do not follow every single rule or think I am completely without sin, I know that God walks with me every day. I know that he will stand with me as I try to spread good throughout my position as an ultrasound technician. Community service can be classified as so many things. I have done traditional community service like helping out at marathons and Dia De Los Muertos celebrations. It felt good to go out into my community and help them set up and maintain something so cool and fun that involved culture and so many people around. But there is also community service in the form of small acts like fixing something in your community, creating something to help the others around you, or even going to the local nursing home and spending time with some old souls who could use some good quality company. Community service is not only important to help others, but to also help yourself. It can make you feel better about yourself, to know you did some good today with no reward needed besides the self satisfaction.

I think my greatest achievement to date is not dropping out of school and getting to my senior year. This may sound like something that isn't really an achievement at all. But to me, after all I've been through, fought through, this is a huge achievement for me. After years of being the odd one out at school, the tall girl, the chubby girl, the teachers pet, school becomes hard. After 5 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 3 high schools, finding friends becomes hard. There were so many times I just wanted to give up. I didn't want to deal with the bullying, or the loneliness, or even the feeling of being isolated from everyone else. In the middle of my sophomore year I lost my great-grandmother and three months later, I lost my childhood best friend of 7 years at the time. This completely broke me, and I missed 75% of the school year that year. Though I was still making a solid 3.9 average in school, I was mentally drained and almost gave up. Around the end of my Junior year I realized I couldn't give up everything I have worked for in school because of my mental health. I needed to work on myself, get better, and get back to a normal life chasing my dreams. I upped and moved states back home to Texas with my family, got a new job, and got ready for my senior school year. Saying my senior year has been easy would be the biggest lie ever, it has been one of the roughest years of my high school career. Through testing, scholarships, college applications, essays and more, it has been a very hard year. Through the support of my teachers, family, and my partner, I have been able to get to the end of my senior year in the top ten percent of my school, all A's, and ready to get accepted into any school of my choosing. My goal is to become an ultrasound technician. I want to work with mommas and babies and make a small difference anywhere I can in the world. My dream has always been to go to college and get my degree, to go and make money to support me and my family the same way they have supported me through everything. I have worked for years to get where I am today and I am not going to stop. My greatest achievement today is being as strong as I could be and finishing my high school career. My biggest achievement is not giving up and pushing forward every single day with one thought on my mind, my future. I want to be successful, happy, content, and with a full and loving family under my roof.

I have always been inspired by people in the medical field and in health care. I have met many people in the field, including my close uncle, and have heard of the things they handle every single day. I think people in the healthcare are some of the strongest people on earth. They handle such intense and tragic situations with calm minds and open hearts to anyone who needs it. They are completely dedicated to making people's lives better and easier in any way that they can. I aspire to be that person. I want to be the person who changes peoples lives. I want to go to bed at night knowing that somehow I helped someone that day, and that I made a little change in our world today. When I was younger, around 5 or 6, I had a serious brain injury. I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma from an electric drill incident. This was a very scary time for me as I was transferred through multiple doctors, and two different hospitals. Not to mention the amount of needles that I saw, with a huge fear of them weighing down on me. The nurses were some of the nicest people I have ever met. Though they had to hold me down to get my IV in, they were super accommodating and realized I was in a tough time at such a young age. They showed me multiple games and toys to keep me distracted, they stayed with me in the middle of the night when my bandages came off and I could not sleep, and they were just all around the best people I could ask for in that time. As I grew older I realized helping people was my calling, it didn't matter what route I went or how I did it, I would help people and somehow change their lives in the best way possible. I want to be a role model for younger women wanting to go into healthcare but are too scared of the responsibilities or competitiveness. I want to wear pink scrubs to work, be as bright and nice as I can be, and show people that no matter how girly you are, no matter your gender, you can do whatever you want to. I want to work with pregnant women and babies by becoming an ultrasound tech. One day I feel I might try to move farther with my career into healthcare with women and babies. I want to be their comforting peace like those nurses were for me.

If you're like me, when you read a book you see your own movie in your head. Watching the scene develop as the words are described on the page, using the tiniest details that are given to you to put together a vibrant picture in your mind. Book-to-film adaptations have never been good in my opinion. They miss too many of the details that made me fall in love with the books. I also never liked the idea that I couldn't be in the main characters mind, knowing what they are thinking and planning in their head. The only book-to-film adaption I would go down fighting for is the Harry Potter series. Not only where the books so incredible filled with fantasy, fighting, a little romance, and a lovely found family trope, but they brought to life and incredibly story. The movies displayed that story perfectly. Reading about how Harry was treated by the Dursleys was difficult, for I hate neglected kids. But watching it happen on the screen, and how the actor showed his pain and grief and acceptance on his face really brought it to life for me. Being able to watch as light and magic was thrown across the screen as Harry fought Voldemort was so intense and magical and breathtaking. Reading it is one thing, being to read all the little details as to the size of the spells, how they felt, what Harry was planning as he fought Voldemort. But watching as they threw spells at each other, parried around in each other looking for the best way to defeat the other for their own reasons was so amazing. It brought to life the kid inside me who read the books for the very first time. I think the correlation between the directors vision and the actors completely dive into their roles is what made the series so amazing and equal to the books. The actors captured the feelings and thoughts of the characters in the book, on screen. They made you believe this world is full of magic and beasts and people could be real. The craze over the books and the films caused fan groups to form, an amusement park, stores, merchandise. And even since the books were finished publishing in 2007, and the last movie released in 2011, people still obsess over this world. To this day parents make their kids watch or read Harry Potter in hopes that they will understand and love this fantasy world as they do. I will show my children the books and the movies, hoping for the same. This is why I think Harry Potter is the best book-to-movie adaptation.

Being a first generation college student is not the easiest task. My parents can't answer questions I have about college, they don't know how to apply for any scholarships or colleges and FAFSA is the biggest pain they have ever encountered. As these questions come up I have to find other resources for answers. This could be a quick internet search, or an email to my school counselor. But, being a first generation college student also has it's benefits. I get offered a lot of things that someone else wouldn't get. Things like scholarships, programs, and grants that are specifically for first generation college students. I was graced with the opportunity from freshman to junior year to be apart of the College Upward Bound program in Ogden, Utah. This program is made specifically for first generation college students. It was created to help us with schoolwork, questions we may have, volunteering opportunities, and even paid vacations with my peers. I learned so much from them, and I cherish every lesson they taught me and I use it in my everyday life. As graduation day comes closer and closer I realize how nervous I am to start college and start my own path. I have always had my family for me to lean back on in hard times, but when I go off to college I will be on my own and I need to know what to do by myself. I know college can be hard and scary, especially going into a science field where there is so much to learn. I want to pursue some type of STEM degree in college so I can attend medical school after I acquire my bachelors degree. Though I have not completely decided on what my future job will be, I know I want to be in the medical field helping people in some way. Paying for schooling has always been my parents biggest worry. They always wanted what was best for me and they wanted me to go far in school and whatever career I chose. I received a letter, informing me that I was chosen to be inducted into the National Honors Society. The honor means so much to me, and it will help me go far in college applications and getting into a great school. I am giving it my all to go into the medical field and make a difference in the world. I want to be able to focus on college and my work instead of how I am going to pay for everything I need. My family does not come from money, they make just enough to support themselves and my siblings. Any scholarship, grant, or any type of financial help will mean the world to me and my family. It would quiet literally be the deciding factor between me getting a degree or not.

Anxiety is actually quiet new to me. Or at least it was never a big enough of a problem to focus on. But early in January this year I finally got on anxiety medication. It was something I was dreading doing, as I didn't want people to think less of me for taking medications to help me handle my emotions. After talking with my doctor and her explaining that medication these days is normal and sometimes necessary, I felt more comfortable to try the medication. It's been 3 full months of taking it now and I can feel changes. My heart doesn't start pounding out of my chest out of nowhere anymore, and I have less anxiety attacks, especially at night. Education has always been my life, focusing on my schooling and my grades for as long as I can remember. Even before credits and grades mattered. I was labeled an 'academic weapon' which felt good. People were proud of my accomplishments and my hard work. I developed a need for academic validation. That need for academic validation and the need for my grades to be absolutely perfect, caused me to gain a really bad anxiety disorder. I started to have panic attacks after getting grades below an A- or missing assignments, it became a serious problem for me. I always kept a handle on it though, never really talking about it and pushing all my feelings away to get what needed to be done. As my senior year started, I realized I couldn't keep a handle on it like I used to. I was struggling focusing on my school, my job, and my own mental health. I ended up switching to a less stressful job and got onto medication to help calm my anxiety. It has been a roller coaster for sure but never once stopped me from working towards my goal. To keep continuing and pursuing my education instead of letting my anxiety get the best of me and quitting before I've actually done anything important or made an impact. Going to college has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I've wanted to make my parents and family proud as I become a first generation college student and get multiple degrees. I have not completely decided what career I want to pursue as I go into college and decide on majors, but I do know I want to go into the health care field and help people get back to their own lives as they wish to. Getting a college degree means I am trained and ready to help people in the best way that I can, without causing any harm or confusion for anyone.

I had not had much financial education aside from my mom giving me 'tips' up until my senior year of high school. I was put into a financial math class where I have learned tons and tons of new and useful information. We have an online simulator where we have apartments, cars, bills, student loans, a credit score, and we get paid once a week. I have learned how to handle money, where to put it, and all the different kinds of bank accounts I can have. I plan on getting a credit card with a secure savings account to help me build credit and also start saving for college. On the simulator for school I have a credit score of 838. I have been keeping my score up all year, and plan on using this practice of putting payments on my card and paying them off before the due date in the future with my real credit cards. I learned about different types of savings accounts like certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and traditional savings accounts. We have also practiced applying for things like credit cards, loans, cars, and apartments or houses. We had to go through the process of putting money down, making payments, getting our credit score checked, etc. Knowing all of these money skills can seriously help me in the future, most especially going into college. Growing up, my mom had a spending problem and by my sophomore year of high school she was thousands of dollars in debt and having to apply for bankruptcy. Watching the stress that put on her growing up helped me realize that going into debt is scary and hard to get out of. I never want to be put into that kind of situation like that. I want to get to a point financially in my life where I can support me and my family where no one wants or needs for anything. I also want to make sure I always have the necessary resources on hand to make sure if some emergency ever happened we would be prepared in every way possible. My goal is to be able to retire early with my partner, make sure our children and grandchildren always have what they need, and to have a comfortable and safe life where I am not worrying about every penny spent and if I can feed my family or not.

I had a best friend, his name was Jesus Melendez. He was the best spirited boy you would ever meet in your life. He was kind, funny, caring, thoughtful, strong willed, and always there to protect me as his own sister. We spent many years together, growing up together and getting into trouble. One summer he decided he would try to swim across our local lakes inlet, without a life jacket on. On his way back, he grew tired and unfortunately drowned and died in the lake. That night his mom called me to inform me of the news and what had happened. I was utterly heartbroken. My brother had been taken from me, from his family, and from life decades too soon. For months I was mainly bedridden, if I was not in school. I was depressed, I missed my friend and brother and I did not see the point in going on. It took countless breakdowns and many days where I wished for everything to stop, that I realized I had to keep going. All he ever wanted to do was live, he wanted to fulfill his dreams and lead a life of happiness and adventure. I couldn't give up now that he was gone, it was just more of a reason to keep going and to do and see as much as I possibly could. In hopes that he is watching down on me and happy to see it all. Losing him so early and so young really set off a trigger in my mind. I wanted to help people. I wanted to help save people's lives, and be there for the families that lost someone. I decided I would go into the medical field. I still haven't decided whether or not I want to be a nurse or a doctor, but I know I want to spend my time on earth helping as many people as I can. Trying to make some type of change in the world, even if it is only a little one.

For only being alive for a measly 18 years, I have seen more death than people I know who are 80 years old. And though I understand that death is apart of life and is inevitable, it never made the pain any easier to handle. Having people that were very close to me pass on affected me in so many ways, but it also helped push me to be stronger and helped solidify my goals and aspirations. Even though I have not completely decided on a pathway, I know I want to go into the medical field and help save others lives, in honor of the ones I have lost. At 13 years old, I experience the pain of losing a family friend to suicide. At the time I was confused and had so many questions, as many people do when something tragic happens like that. Since the years have passed I realize that at my age I could not have done anything, but I could do something about it as I grow up. I want to be able to help people in any way possible. I want to be the person people come to when they need anything and everything, because no one should feel alone or like they have no one to turn to in a time of need. At 15 years old I lost my great grandmother to Alzheimer's, and I lost my life long best friend a couple months later in a tragic drowning accident. This caused me to fall into depression for months, and at the end of it I had only decided one thing. I needed to go into the medical field to help people. I needed to go and find ways to help people. I want to help patients in hospitals get through some of the roughest times of their life, or the happiest, and I want to help see that they leave better than when they came in emotionally and physically. Because people's mental and physical health is so important. I want to make it my life's mission to help as many people as I possibly can, before I can't even more. For the last couple of months I have been on the edge for my career. I can't decide if I want to go the nursing route, or the doctor route. I know I don't have to decide yet, and I need to research both routes way more before I decide what I want to do. But what I do know, is that I am going to spend the rest of my life helping people. I want to dedicate everything I am to finding new ways to help people.

In 17 years of being alive, and almost 12 full years of schooling, I have been to 10 different schools. Five different elementary schools, two different middle schools, and three different high schools. This means I have met hundreds of kids, tons of whom I became friends with, almost all of whom I never talked to again after leaving the school. This partially has to do with my matters, and partly because it's hard to keep in touch with friends in other states and schools when you are just a kid. As a little kid in elementary, a new school sounded fun and exciting. I could meet more kids and get to see a brand new school, but as time went on I realized it made me sad when I made really good friends, and I had to leave them. My last elementary school in Ogden, Utah was where I met some of my best friends that I am still close with today. Even after I switched schools and cities eventually, we were all able to still keep in touch and they have impacted my life dramatically. They have taught me that real friends will stick with you no matter what, and will put in the effort to continue to talk to you and see you. Switching high schools was the hardest one of them all. High school is already hard, with hundreds of kids, opinions, cliques, and new curriculums that change with each school. Unfortunately, I developed serious social anxiety as I switched schools more and more. I didn’t want to continue making new friends and then losing them. This made me a sort of hermit throughout high school, and currently in my senior year this still stands. I am a new student at Sherman High School, in my second term, and have talked to three whole students. I know I need to just speak up and make friends, but it is hard. As for my future goals, being the new kid led me to the track I am on today. In my first year of middle school, I met an amazing librarian who introduced me to books and the world of reading and pushed me to find something I wanted to do when I grew up. After going through classes like Health Science, Certified Nursing Assistants, and meeting people who were going to college for nursing it pushed me to that path. My goal is to become a pediatric nurse in the NICU and care for the babies who need it the most. Being the new kid is not necessarily bad, but not good either. It has perks like new people, new places, and lessons you learn everywhere you go. But of course, it also has its cons like possible mental health issues, friend losses, and a deep feeling of loneliness.

If I could have everyone in the world read just one book, it would be Uglies by Scott Westerfield. This book is the first book in the Uglies series and I read it for the first time in the seventh grade. I did not enjoy reading back then, but a librarian recommended it to me. The book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and I enjoyed it. I think the book tries to demonstrate how you do not have to be perfect to be pretty, and what the world might come to in the direction we are heading. There is some romance in the book, some action, and everyone loves a good book where they take down the government. Uglies is also an easier book to read, it is not difficult and it is not very long either. It is easy to keep up with and remember the details of the story. It would be unfortunate if they did not read the books after, but hopefully, it would push people to continue reading and to read this incredible story I came upon as a kid. In a world full of phones, the internet, dating apps, and stereotypes it is hard to feel like you fit in. It is even hard to feel like you are pretty with everyone else around you who looks so different, but everyone is beautiful in their way. And you only need to "fit in" with the people who care for you and love you most in the world rather than for looks and status. I feel like that is what the book tries to convey as they try to take down the system and the government.

#BookTok has seriously impacted my life. It is a platform that allows me to look at other books that I’m actually interested in, that real people have read and give their actual opinions on. My ideal bookshelf is filled with science, fiction, fantasy, and, of course, a little romance. A court of thorns and roses, shatter me, throne of glass, and twisted love are all book series that I found on #booktok and have changed my life. There are books like they both die at the end or the song of Achilles that have truly made a difference in how I see the world. #booktok is a super important community because it allows thousands of book readers all around the world to talk about these books and discuss deeper meanings. Some books stay with you forever, and some books you read once, and may never remember again. But it’s nice to talk about those books with people and on. #important community because it allows thousands of book readers all around the world to talk about these books and discuss deeper meanings. Some books stay with you forever, and some books you read once, and may never remember again. But it’s nice to talk about those books with people and on #booktok you are allowed to do that openly and freely. I love watching people make videos of book recommendations of certain genres. My favorites are the romance or science fiction recommendations. They both die at the end was a book that was recommended on TikTok around a year or two ago, and after reading that it leaves an emotional impact on you. Going into comment section, and seeing what other people had to say about the book was really nice. There are lots of people who thought that the book was very sweet and Very sad at the same time. But there were also people that had a lot of controversy with the book and about how it ended or the meaning behind it. But the ability to be able to talk about books like that, in that depth, online with other people is truly a privilege, I also think it helps people in real life have conversation, because they practiced online with others . Reading books is one of my favorite things in the entire world. I like the idea of being thrown into another world and getting to live in it through somebody else’s eyes. My ideal bookshelf, would also have lots of little decorations and commemorates to characters throughout the books on the shelves.