Love is more than just a feeling. This is one of the most important life lessons I have learned, and one that I believe more people should learn. One of my favorite mentors in high school described love as "willing the good of the other." This blew my mind at the time, but I believe, in a romantic sense, this is the difference between fifty-year-long marriages and divorces after just ten years. Feelings come and go, and they are important to an extent, but if to truly love someone means we want what is best for them, the idea that we should love everyone we meet suddenly does not seem so crazy. Moving forward with this new idea, I have had to essentially rewire my thinking. The concept that I could dislike the girl sitting next to me in math class but still love her by willing her good still feels like a backward concept. However, it is a much easier request than asking everyone to honestly like everyone they meet because that really is not feasible. It is much more likely that I can dislike someone but still ultimately love that person. Sometimes I need to remind myself that this philosophy is not asking me to be best friends with every person I meet, but it helps me be a more kind, considerate person. This lesson has helped me a lot with my friendships and relationships. It allowed me to think about my situations both objectively and subjectively. I still believe that in friendships and relationships, at the end of the day I need to go with my gut. What this philosophy has shown me, though, is that one bad day, or even one bad week, does not mean that person is no good for me or I am no good for that person. It just means we had a hiccup, but that does not mean that we stopped wanting the good for each other. This has helped me grow in all my different relationships in life because I know now that relationships with people are more about what I feel with my emotions. Similarly, it has made it more clear that all types of relationships need give and take. If my friend is going above and beyond to show she wants my good, but I am barely lifting a finger, that is not fair, and I am cheating my friend out of a full, authentic friendship. This is an interesting pill to swallow. I do not think it is a hard pill to swallow because, when broken down, it really makes a lot of sense. I just think that most people have spent their entire lives believing that love is merely a feeling of great passion, but it is so much more than that. We must choose to love every day because if we do not, our world will suffer from it.

As I go into the next state of my life, college, I plan to major in Aerospace Engineering. Our knowledge of space and what we can do with it and in it, is all still very new to humanity. For me, pursuing this degree means expanding not just my own knowledge, but possibly the knowledge of all of humanity. I know that the more we develop our aerospace technology as a human race, the more each of us can begin to personally connect with the Universe itself. What could be more exciting than that? I also believe that connecting with our universe will allow us to answer one of the most pressing questions of all time: What is our purpose here. A degree in Aerospace Engineering means a lifetime of new discovery and awe because there is always something new to learn and grow from. In addition, I hope to be an example to everyone in my life, particularly young women, that each of them has a place in the STEM and engineering community if they wish to pursue it. The universe is so much more vast than we could ever understand. There will always be a job for somebody. Ultimately, I hope to work for NASA and the continued research for and process of the Mars Missions that will be happening over the few decades. I just cannot wait to spend every day working in a field I love.