Growing up in a town with only two stop lights has its benefits and drawbacks. Choices for everything from restaurants to shops are remarkably limited; however, this arrangement does allow for many social opportunities. A graduating class of around 60 people means that anyone who is interested in the few extracurriculars available has the opportunity to participate in multiple activities. I chose to join the chorus, marching band, and trivia team when I was around 14 years old. These activities allowed me to discover my passions and build lasting friendships. By the time I entered my junior year, I had become the president of my chorus, the captain of my color guard, and the captain of my Scholastic Bowl team. Through these roles, I have had to learn to deal with everything from shattered pickle jars on the floor to missing uniforms to younger students crying before a performance. Because my own captains had taught me kindness and resilience at a young age, I am able to approach these situations with level-headedness and empathy. Outside of school, I have been an active member of my church. Through my church, I have participated in numerous community service activities. These range from packing bags of food to feed low income students in my community to building gardens to help people living in cities grow their own source of fresh food. I have had the opportunity to work with people as far away as Tampa, Florida. I hope to extend this passion for both service and travel in college. I will be pursuing a double major at James Madison University. I plan to study both vocal performance and English literature. In college, I am going to push myself to learn as much as I can. I believe that a higher education has the ability to give me the skills I need to succeed in my chosen career path. Both the academic success and the social skills learned from college will be invaluable as I venture out into the job market. Once I complete college, I hope to find a job that will be compatible with both of my interests. The thread that links my vocal major and my English major is the storytelling element of both of them. Music and novels both have the ability to transport an audience to another world; I hope to embrace this idea and craft stories of my own. I know from personal experience that stories can provide solace to people in dark times. They can pull out the deepest of human emotions and help us connect to one another. I want to foster this sense of humanity and community in others through my art. In order to achieve this goal, I have been working hard to accumulate enough money to afford college. My mother is a teacher, and my father is a pastor. While my family lives comfortably, we are not able to afford the full cost that it would take for me to attend college. Therefore, I am funding my own education. Earning this scholarship would allow me to be one step closer to making college a reality. With enough determination and perseverance, I know that I will be able to pursue my dream of attending college and embracing my passions.

Jack Terry's story inspires me through his perseverance. He experienced true horrors that few people can understand, yet he still managed to find the strength to keep going. His accomplishments, both professional and personal, over the course of his life are only made more impressive by all of the factors that were working against his success. This story of overcoming insurmountable odds reminds me that it's possible to keep working towards a goal even when simply giving up is a more enticing option. While I haven't experienced any adversity near the level that Jack Terry did, my life hasn't been without hardship. Over the past several years, I've developed multiple chronic illnesses and have been labelled disabled. The first diagnosis that I received was a neurological condition called dysautonomia. This chronic illness means that a person's autonomic nervous system doesn't function properly. The symptoms of this include lightheadedness, weak legs, fainting spells, and general fatigue. I'd been dealing with the symptoms of dysautonomia on and off ever since I was fifteen. It first appeared when I was in the middle of a color guard practice. I'd just caught my flag, and, as I went into a spin, I fell to the ground. A sudden sense of dizziness had washed over me without warning. For the next several years, these attacks would come at random. They were infrequent enough that I managed to believe that the issue wasn't that serious. However, after I developed a kidney stone within the first month of my senior year of high school, my symptoms became so much worse. I went to the doctor and received the diagnosis of dysautonomia. In order to combat it, I was told to consume larger amounts of salt and water in my diet. Changing my diet has been quite difficult for me to achieve because it requires commitment day in and day out. This has only been made worse by the complications from my other chronic illness. I've been experiencing consistent abdominal pain for several years, but it has become debilitating enough that I've been unable to eat full meals for the past ten months. After a long process of medical testing and procedures, my doctors are still trying to determine what exactly has been causing this. I've always been a high performing student in my school, but these issues have made me reevaluate how I approach my work. Due to my chronic illnesses, there have been many days where I'm completely unable to even get out of bed. Because of this, I've learned to focus on prioritizing the important assignments in my life while still taking the time to rest my body. These skills have been invaluable as I plan to head off to college. I come from a low income family, but I've always known that I want to go to college. In order to afford this I've been working to save up my own money wherever possible. I want to go to college in order to double major in music and English. I've always had a love of stories. Whether it be through novels or film scores, I find a great deal of enjoyment in following the grand adventures of fictional characters. Through my college education, I hope to gain the skills necessary to craft stories of my own that can evoke positive emotions and leave a lasting impact on the people who experience them. I refuse to let my chronic illnesses get in the way of this dream, and I will continue to grow and adapt no matter what struggles my body may face.

Music has always been a part of my life. Whether it was through listening to my parents' favorite songs on the radio or becoming enthralled by the film scores enhancing my favorite movies, my love for music goes back as far as I can remember. When I reached middle school, I chose to explore this interest by joining my school's chorus. I slowly grew more comfortable in the chorus setting and continued to take the class into high school. I come from a small town where the middle school and high school are housed in the same building. Because of this, my middle school chorus teacher was the same person who taught the high school chorus class. I was a shy child, but in high school I began to come out of my shell. I grew to truly love the chorus, and I wanted to be a part of every group that my school offered. I signed up for the show choir and musical. I tried out for every solo that was offered and even managed to win a few. I am most proud of the fact that I have been a member of my school's audition-only small group for the past five years. All of these experiences helped me explore more aspects of music, and I discovered which parts of it I enjoyed and which parts I was not as drawn to. For example, I learned that I am not a huge fan of dancing or acting, but I love to sing. This discovery pushed me to audition for more groups. I managed to make it into my local district chorus every year of high school. These events allowed me to work with guest directors and expand my knowledge of choral singing. Each director brought their own unique perspective and flair to the teaching, and I quickly found something new to learn at each choral event. Throughout my years of attending district chorus, I also auditioned for all-state chorus. I practiced my audition song for hours each year in the hopes that I would at the very least gain some useful skills from preparing for the audition. My hard work paid off, and I was able to attend the all-state chorus in my junior year. Singing with so many different people over the course of my high school career helped to solidify my desire to study music in college. However, the final straw that pushed me to pursue music as a career was the positive environment of my own local high school chorus. I have been the president of my high school chorus for the past few years, and this role has allowed me to connect with the members of the chorus on a personal level. I have gained many friendships through music. Everyone in the chorus has been so encouraging to me during the difficult time of college admissions. I auditioned for several schools, and I have been accepted to James Madison University's School of Music. I am going to attend there in the fall with a double major in vocal performance and English. Whether I go on to work on musicals, film scores, or something in between, I will always be grateful for the remarkable chorus that instilled a permanent love of music in me throughout my high school years.

There are certain careers that appeal to every small child. Ask any kindergartner what they want to be when they grow up, and you are likely to get an answer such as a movie star or the president. Whenever I was asked that particular question, my answer was usually that I wanted to be a singer when I grew up. I always loved music, and I dreamed of taking to the stage in the same grand way that the musicians featured in my favorite movies did. Like most young children, I was unable to fully grasp the challenges of my desired career. As I grew older, I developed the unfortunate worldview that many people have by believing that any job in the arts was simply not a viable career. I heard about struggling artists and broke musicians. I learned that most singers had to work second and third jobs to get by. Most devastating of all, I discovered that many singers never have their big break and are forced to live out the rest of their life without meeting any of the goals they built their career on. Because of this knowledge, I contented myself with delegating my singing to a hobby. I still became involved in my school’s chorus and had a strong passion for being a vocalist, but I came to terms with the reality that I would have to find a different job when I got older. For many years, I believed that I would be perfectly happy with only exploring singing in my free time. However, as I got more involved in my chorus, my opinion started to change. In my sophomore year of high school, I started taking vocal lessons. Thanks to the skill of my vocal coach, I was able to greatly expand my range and dive into all sorts of exciting new musical genres. Additionally, my role in the chorus continued to grow. That same year, I was given the position of a section leader in my high school chorus. The next year, I was promoted to the president of my chorus. This additional involvement allowed me to really understand every aspect of singing at my school. I was involved in every ensemble that was available. As I participated in more and more concerts, I became certain that I wanted to sing for the rest of my life. I am now a high school senior. I will be double majoring in college, and one of those majors will be vocal performance. Over the course of the past year, I have decided that I want to commit to music as a future career. In college, I hope to obtain the skills necessary to become the best musician that I can be. Despite the financial worries that my younger self harbored in regards to this career, I have come to the conclusion that I would rather live a life that lacks luxury if it means that I can pursue what makes me truly happy. Additionally, the friends and connections that I have gained through my chorus program have all shown me that it is possible to create a life out of being a musician. I can’t wait to dive into my lifelong dream, and I know that the little five year old version of myself would be delighted to know where my life is headed.

I am pursuing a double major at a four year college. I plan to study both vocal performance and English literature. In college, I am going to push myself to learn as much as I can. I believe that a higher education has the ability to give me the skills I need to succeed in my chosen career path. Both the academic success and the social skills learned from college will be invaluable as I venture out into the job market. Once I complete college, I hope to find a job that will be compatible with both of my interests. The thread that links my vocal major and my English major is the storytelling element of both of them. Music and novels both have the ability to transport an audience to another world; I hope to embrace this idea and craft stories of my own. In order to achieve this goal, I have been working hard to accumulate enough money to afford college. My mother is a teacher, and my father is a pastor. While my family lives comfortably, we are not able to afford the full cost that it would take for me to attend college. Therefore, I am funding my own education. With enough determination and perseverance, I know that I will be able to pursue my dream of attending college and embracing my passions. Growing up in a town with only two stop lights has its benefits and drawbacks. Choices for everything from restaurants to shops are remarkably limited; however, this arrangement does allow for many social opportunities. A graduating class of around 60 people means that anyone who is interested in the few extracurriculars available has the opportunity to participate in multiple activities. Unfortunately, the same people rotate through said activities, so it is impossible to avoid anyone or hide in the crowd. I chose to join the chorus, marching band, and trivia team when I was around 14 years old. At the time, I was an incredibly shy, quiet student. Whether it was my hesitance in auditioning for a solo or my fear of taking a misstep in marching band, my social anxiety manifested as a lack of confidence. Like any social issue within a tight-knit community, this did not go unnoticed by my peers. Despite my own insecurities, my fellow members in all these organizations welcomed me with open arms; I quickly began to feel I belonged. They gave me a space where making a mistake was viewed as a learning experience. As the years went by, my focus shifted to teaching new recruits. By the time I entered my junior year, I had become the president of my chorus, the captain of my color guard, and the captain of my scholastic bowl team. Through them, I have had to learn to deal with everything from shattered pickle jars on the floor to missing uniforms to younger students crying before a performance. Because my own captains taught me kindness and resilience at a young age, I am able to approach these situations with level-headedness and empathy. I plan to give back to my community through volunteering. As I learn more about music and literature, I hope to bring my knowledge back to the organizations that I have previously been a part of in order to help lead the next students at my school. Additionally, I hope to make my community proud by advancing in college, so I can spread all of the positive aspects of my hometown to the rest of the world.

"Dysautonomia." This chronic illness means that a person's autonomic nervous system does not function properly. Instead of distributing blood throughout one's legs like it is supposed to, the autonomic nervous system does not facilitate blood flow; this results in many symptoms. They include lightheadedness, weak legs, fainting spells, and general fatigue. This is the diagnosis that the neurologist gave me when I visited them at the very beginning of my senior year of high school. I had been dealing with the symptoms of dysautonomia on and off ever since I was fifteen. It first appeared when I was in the middle of a color guard practice. I had just caught my flag, and, as I went into a spin, I fell to the ground. A sudden sense of dizziness had washed over me without warning. For the next several years, these attacks would come at random. They were infrequent enough that, although I was concerned, I managed to believe that the issue was not that serious. However, after I developed a kidney stone within the first month of my senior year of high school, my symptoms became so much worse. I went to the doctor and received the diagnosis of dysautonomia. In order to combat it, I was told to consume larger amounts of salt and water in my diet. Implementing this in my everyday life has been easier said than done. Changing my diet has been one of the most difficult things for me to achieve because it requires commitment day in and day out. Over the past several months, I have had to adapt more than my diet. I have always been a high performing student in my school, but this diagnosis has made me reevaluate how I approach my work. Due to my chronic illness, there have been many days where I am completely unable to even get out of bed. Because of this, I have learned to focus on prioritizing the important assignments in my life while still taking the time to rest my body. These skills have been invaluable as I plan to head off to college. I want to go to college in order to double major in music and English. I have always had a love of stories. Whether it be through novels or film scores, I find a great deal of enjoyment in following the grand adventures of fictional characters. Through my college education, I hope to gain the skills necessary to craft stories of my own that can evoke emotions in the people who experience them. I refuse to let my chronic illness get in the way of this dream, and I will continue to grow and adapt no matter what struggles my body may face.

My high school chorus has been the single most impactful organization in my life. Through my chorus program, I have learned valuable life skills, such as determination and hard work. I have developed a firm work ethic and embraced a spirit of collaboration. Through all of this, I have cultivated a love of music. This was made possible by the environment of my chorus. My peers are all encouraging and always engaged in whatever we are doing. From late night rehearsals to early trips on the school bus, I have bonded with the people around me and embraced a sense of community. This experience is what has driven me to pursue music as a major in college. I have learned just how alive and included music can make people feel. Because of this, I hope to reach as many people as possible with my music. I am a vocalist who is majoring in performance. Once I get my education, I plan on performing, both by myself and in ensembles. In this way, I hope to connect with other musicians and share my love of music with them. I hope to bring new ideas to musical conversations and, in turn, get to learn from the people around me. When it comes to the audience, I hope that my performances will be able to move them. Music has the amazing capability to bring out all sorts of emotions in people. I aspire to reach a level where my performances are able to uplift a person for the rest of their day. Music is a highly collaborative business. As a performer, I know that I will have to work with all sorts of people. They can range from tech crew, to sound mixers, to instrumentalists. When interacting with them, I plan to create a spirit of excitement. Music should be thrilling, and the behind the scenes process should be no different. I want to keep everyone that I work with feeling energized when coming into work. Whether that is through a comforting smile, a little extra help around the studio, or simply a quiet conversation when someone is feeling down, I dream of helping the people around me feel comfortable and supported enough to push the boundaries of their own creativity. More than anything, I hope to help the people around me succeed in all areas of life. If one person experiences a win, then we all will feel the benefits. This is a core tenant of any aspect of the music industry, and one that I will work towards in the future.

I wandered into the library with the rest of my fourth grade class. The fluorescent lights flickered and the air conditioning unit hummed around me as I took my seat in the stiff wooden chairs. Despite the rather uncomfortable environment, I could hardly sit still. Library day was the best day of the week because, for that single hour, I had uninhibited access to all of the books within the building. The moment the librarian allowed us to exit our seats and browse the shelves, I leapt up and raced across the room to the fantasy section. Fantasy was, by far, my favorite subject, so I was a frequent visitor. My small hands stroked the spines of the withered books lining the bookshelf. The plastic jackets crinkled and crunched under my fingers as I browsed for my next source of entertainment. My movements suddenly stilled as a collection of thick novels caught my eye. Crouching down, I extracted one of those books and wiped off the thin layer of dust that coated it. A bright dragon gleamed on the cover. Intrigued, I checked out the book and took it home. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. Dragon-riders and elves flew off the page, and I finished the entire series in less than a month. While looking into the origin of the series, I discovered that the author wrote the first book in the series at the age of sixteen. This revelation inspired me. I felt that if another young person was able to create stories, then there was a chance that I could too. As I grew older, I dabbled in storytelling and continued to explore all sorts of literary genres by reading whatever I could get my hands on. Now, as a high school senior, I have chosen to pursue storytelling as a career. While I am still unsure of what exactly my job will be upon graduating from college, I have chosen to major in English. When combined with my future studies in music as my second major, I hope to discover new ways to craft stories, both on the page and through songs. It is thanks to my history of literary exploration that I have discovered my passion for fantastical tales and have felt empowered to create them.

Getting a degree is obviously a major component of attending any college. It is one of the major reasons that I wish to pursue higher education; however, it is far from the only reason. In college, I hope to gain a greater understanding of the world around me. I have lived in a small town my entire life. Growing up in West Point has granted me many advantages, such as a greater appreciation for my community and the beautiful land around me. Despite my appreciation for my home, I wish to see more of the world. My parents instilled a love of travel in me at a young age by allowing me to travel outside of Virginia. I have traveled from the swamps of Florida to the redwoods of California, but there is still so much in the world that I wish to see. In college, I plan to expand my knowledge of the world through both my education and my extracurricular activities. I hope to travel around campus and discover all that it has to offer. Additionally, I would greatly love to study abroad one day and see even more of the vast world around me. This expansion of knowledge is one of the main things that I hope to gain. Whether it be through joining clubs, signing up for classes simply because I am intrigued by the topic, or attending social functions with my peers, I plan to explore as much as possible. Part of this exploration is made possible by the social opportunities of college. I am thrilled by the idea of being able to meet all sorts of new people. Every person carries their own unique stories with them. By meeting people from all sorts of different backgrounds, I will be able to expose myself to all sorts of fascinating perspectives and cultures. Many colleges I have looked at have a greater number of students than the population of my entire town. I can’t wait to immerse myself in an environment where the chance to build social connections lies around every corner. Additionally, I look forward to the idea of making friends with people who are passionate about the same things that I am. I believe that collaboration is often key to success in any task. As a vocal major, I know that I will be working with numerous students who all hold a desire to make music. This thought excites me because I will be able to trade ideas and grow as a musician by learning from my peers. Overall, I am excited to explore both the world around me and the social environments that I find myself in.

It was a gorgeous day outside as I stared out over the green competition field. The energy was palpable as members of my high school marching band frantically moved equipment into position before running to their own spots. For my part, I’d just finished helping line up all of the flags for the color guard section before taking my seat on the sideline. I made eye contact with each of my color guard teammates, my gaze briefly sliding over the spot where I would normally be standing on the field. I gave them an encouraging smile before the music began and the performance was in full swing. I participated in color guard for four years. By the time I was a senior, I was a captain determined to have my best year of marching band yet. However, life is unpredictable. Halfway through that marching band season, I started having health issues. During the weeks where my health was at its lowest, I was unable to actively participate in several color guard practices. It would’ve been easy for me to stop coming to practices altogether; however, I knew that I’d made a commitment to my team. Even though I couldn’t actively demonstrate the choreography, I was able to help in new ways. I spent more time watching the rest of my team. Because of this, I was able to give them each personalized help. I offered words of encouragement and positive critiques to help them become better performers. Even though these practices weren’t necessarily “productive” for my own color guard skills, my participation in them let me make my teammates feel more confident and prepared. They showed me there are multiple ways to lead. Eventually, I got my health under control, and, by that time, competition season was just beginning. I was thrilled by the idea of getting back out on the field and competing with all of my teammates. Throughout my illness, I made sure I memorized every beat of the choreography. I knew our show like the back of my hand, but knowledge can’t always replace experience. I hadn’t anticipated the difficulties that would come with integrating myself back into the group. I didn’t have the muscle memory the rest of them had. I realized that if I competed on competition day, there was a strong possibility that I would be the weakest link on the field. I approached my coach and asked if she would be willing to let me sit out for that particular performance. She agreed that it was the best option. As much as I wanted to be out on that field, I was willing to sacrifice my own performance time if it meant that my team had a better chance at success. While it may sound cliche, I believe that my experience is best encapsulated by Mark 12:31, “...love your neighbor as yourself.” This experience taught me that when you are a part of a team, you are a part of something bigger than yourself. Watching all of them succeed was the reward for me. As my health improved and I rejoined my teammates on the field, I used the lessons I’d learned from my experience sitting out to connect with my teammates and improve my own leadership skills. There is a great value in actively helping and encouraging other people just as Jesus told us to. Not only does it benefit the people around us, but it makes us into the people we were called to be. In my case, God shaped me into the leader that was needed for my community.