I believe that everyone has a story, and I believe that anyone can overcome their past or circumstances faced. I am a student from the Islands of the Bahamas. I moved to Miami in my sophomore year of high school without my parents, to acquire a better educational opportunity. Keeping up with the tsunami of new and divergent people was a lesson in itself. At the age of fourteen, leaving behind a life I once knew, to being swept into a new reality of my life was extremely challenging.  In September 2019 Hurricane Dorian struck my home island, of Grand Bahama. I felt powerless knowing that my parents were in the Bahamas and I was in Miami watching the whole ordeal on the news as my home was torn apart. My family and I lost everything that day; I lost loved ones and classmates still on the island. It seemed as though their lives stopped, and mine continued. Being separated from the ones I loved in that time of pain and sorrow, took a toll on my mental health. While dealing with the devastation and still not being able to see my family I was still handling the demanding life of a student with an IB curriculum. I was depressed for months at a time and became callous towards the ones currently around me; my life was changed forever.  Foundational columns with no walls and no roof stood before me. A broken home washed away by a hurricane, all that was left of my childhood now indistinguishable except my brother's urn. As my parents literally picked their lives off the ground, they found comfort that they had at least found my brother’s ashes. The destruction was so great, that from the clothes in the closet to the dishes in the kitchen everything had been whipped away, but my brother was still here. At that moment, gratitude filled my heart, because I was still alive and so were my parents. We then picked up the pieces and kept going.  This tragedy is how I discovered what my career goals were, and wanting to major in environmental science gave me the motivation to start focusing more on my academic life. I found a new sense of appreciation for the environment in which I am surrounded. Nature is such a miraculous concept that I believe must be sustained and nurtured for our future generations. After hurricane Dorian, I came to the realization that hurricanes are only getting worst over the years, and climate change is the main cause of this. I want to inform and educate others about the environment, and the urgency of needed change. I plan to open my own Law Firm in the Bahamas and in the United States for Environmental Law practices, to invoke a new generation of thinkers and achievers for the environment. Lessons learned from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. I have now positively changed my perspective on hurricane Dorian as a gift to my life instead of a tragedy. It made me trust that there is a purpose behind my obstacles, and how I have grown from them has defined my character. In life, the journey it takes to get to a destination is sometimes more important than the destination itself. Nowadays, throughout every trial and tribulation, I know that the result would have been worth the struggle. In closing, I would like to leave you with a quote that further solidifies what I wrote, "Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful", best stated by Joshua J.

 I believe that everyone has a story, and I believe that anyone can overcome their past or circumstances faced. I am a student from the Islands of the Bahamas. I moved to Miami in my sophomore year of high school without my parents, to acquire a better educational opportunity. Keeping up with the tsunami of new and divergent people was a lesson in itself. At the age of fourteen, leaving behind a life I once knew, to being swept into a new reality of my life was extremely challenging.  In September 2019 Hurricane Dorian struck my home island, of Grand Bahama. I felt powerless knowing that my parents were in the Bahamas and I was in Miami watching the whole ordeal on the news as my home was torn apart. My family and I lost everything that day; I lost loved ones and classmates still on the island. It seemed as though their lives stopped, and mine continued. Being separated from the ones I loved in that time of pain and sorrow, took a toll on my mental health. While dealing with the devastation and still not being able to see my family I was still handling the demanding life of a student with an IB curriculum. I was depressed for months at a time and became callous towards the ones currently around me; my life was changed forever.  Foundational columns with no walls and no roof stood before me. A broken home washed away by a hurricane, all that was left of my childhood now indistinguishable except my brother's urn. As my parents literally picked their lives off the ground, they found comfort that they had at least found my brother’s ashes. The destruction was so great, that from the clothes in the closet to the dishes in the kitchen everything had been whipped away, but my brother was still here. At that moment, gratitude filled my heart, because I was still alive and so were my parents. We then picked up the pieces and kept going.  This tragedy is how I discovered what my career goals were, and wanting to major in environmental science gave me the motivation to start focusing more on my academic life. I found a new sense of appreciation for the environment in which I am surrounded. Nature is such a miraculous concept that I believe must be sustained and nurtured for our future generations. After hurricane Dorian, I came to the realization that hurricanes are only getting worst over the years, and climate change is the main cause of this. I want to inform and educate others about the environment, and the urgency of needed change. I plan to open my own Law Firm in the Bahamas and in the United States for Environmental Law practices, to invoke a new generation of thinkers and achievers for the environment. Lessons learned from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. I have now positively changed my perspective on hurricane Dorian as a gift to my life instead of a tragedy. It made me trust that there is a purpose behind my obstacles, and how I have grown from them has defined my character. In life, the journey it takes to get to a destination is sometimes more important than the destination itself. Nowadays, throughout every trial and tribulation, I know that the result would have been worth the struggle. In closing, I would like to leave you with a quote that further solidifies what I wrote, "Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful", best stated by Joshua J.

 I believe that everyone has a story, and I believe that anyone can overcome their past or circumstances faced. I am a student from the Islands of the Bahamas. I moved to Miami in my sophomore year of high school without my parents, to acquire a better educational opportunity. Keeping up with the tsunami of new and divergent people was a lesson in itself. At the age of fourteen, leaving behind a life I once knew, to being swept into a new reality of my life was extremely challenging.   In September 2019 Hurricane Dorian struck my home island, of Grand Bahama. I felt powerless knowing that my parents were in the Bahamas and I was in Miami watching the whole ordeal on the news as my home was torn apart. My family and I lost everything that day; I lost loved ones and classmates still on the island. It seemed as though their lives stopped, and mine continued. Being separated from the ones I loved in that time of pain and sorrow, took a toll on my mental health. While dealing with the devastation and still not being able to see my family I was still handling the demanding life of a student with an IB curriculum. I was depressed for months at a time and became callous towards the ones currently around me; my life was changed forever.  Foundational columns with no walls and no roof stood before me. A broken home washed away by a hurricane, all that was left of my childhood now indistinguishable except my brother's urn. As my parents literally picked their lives off the ground, they found comfort that they had at least found my brother’s ashes. The destruction was so great, that from the clothes in the closet to the dishes in the kitchen everything had been whipped away, but my brother was still here. At that moment, gratitude filled my heart, because I was still alive and so were my parents. We then picked up the pieces and kept going.  This tragedy is how I discovered what my career goals were, and wanting to major in environmental science gave me the motivation to start focusing more on my academic life. I found a new sense of appreciation for the environment in which I am surrounded. Nature is such a miraculous concept that I believe must be sustained and nurtured for our future generations. After hurricane Dorian, I came to the realization that hurricanes are only getting worst over the years, and climate change is the main cause of this. I want to inform and educate others about the environment, and the urgency of needed change. I plan to open my own Law Firm in the Bahamas and in the United States for Environmental Law practices, to invoke a new generation of thinkers and achievers for the environment. Lessons learned from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. I have now positively changed my perspective on hurricane Dorian as a gift to my life instead of a tragedy. It made me trust that there is a purpose behind my obstacles, and how I have grown from them has defined my character. In life, the journey it takes to get to a destination is sometimes more important than the destination itself. In closing, I would like to leave you with a quote that further solidifies what I wrote, "Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful", best stated by Joshua J.

The summer of 2019 I studied abroad in the Bahamas. I attended a S.T.E.M camp called Bahamas Engineering and Technology Advancement Camp (BETA) for young adults. I was granted a scholarship to broaden my knowledge about different aspects of Engineering, and given the opportunity to win an award. In the three week camp, I developed different engineered projects and experiments which I presented to the CEOs of the organization. For an example, I created a prosthetic leg from materials I gathered, eco-friendly and advanced life vests, and a water bottle demonstration of buoyancy and how a submarine sinks and rises.

I am a seventeen year old foreign exchange student from the Islands of the Bahamas. I moved to Miami my sophomore year in high school without my parents. I’ve lived with a legal guardian for 3 years now and my life could not be more challenging. With keeping up with the rules of my guardian and to staying in touch with my parents, my years of high school were very stressful and tedious. Especially my junior year of High School. September 2019 marks the date in which the catastrophic hurricane named Dorian struck my beautiful Island of the Bahamas. I was devastated, my parents being in the Bahamas and myself being in Miami watching the news as my home was being torn apart was truly heart breaking. My family lost everything that day. My parents lost their house and all of their belongings. My family lost loved ones and I lost classmates that I left behind. It seemed as though my family and loved ones life stopped and mine kept going. Being apart from the ones I love in that time truly took a toll on my mental health. I was depressed for months at a time where I didn’t want to do anything, I became callous towards the ones currently around me. It wasn’t until one day I got on my knees and I gave God thanks. That day I had gratitude in my heart, I had both parents still breathing and a support system around me that cared; a bright future. This is when I discovered what my career goals would be in the near future. I found a new sense of appreciation for the environment I lived in. Mother Earth is such a miraculous place and we must take care of it. After hurricane Dorian I came to the realization that hurricanes are only getting worst by the years, and climate change is the main cause of this. My career goals would be, to become an Environmental Lawyer so I can instill laws and regulation to ensure the survival of our planet. One day I also plan on opening my own Law Firm in the Bahamas for Environmental Law practices. I want to inform and educate other about the urgency we must take on the environment. I am currently in the Environmental Club in my high school, where we perform consecutive cleanups all over Miami and especially on beaches. We bring about awareness to others on ways they can lessen their ecological footprint. I will continuously educate myself on what I can do to make this world a better place to live in and to always encourage others to do the same. I am currently a senior in my high school and the President of Diversity Club. This is special type of organization where we bring together people of different cultures, skin colors and beliefs. I help educate young students of my school how to welcome a new way of thinking. That being prejudice or bias towards someone based upon their color or beliefs shouldn’t be the norm. To invoke a new generation of thinkers. Everyday I work on the way I think towards others and the way I perceive different cultures and beliefs. How I can improve my social skills to be successful in my career and in life as a whole. I am a loving student, daughter and friend, I enjoy being compassionate to others and helping others learn something new each day as I learn something new also.