I have been drawing and painting since I was four years old thanks to my dad's great influence on me. We have grown apart over the years due to me moving 800 miles away, but I still carry this passion with me and create artwork that I find meaningful and beautiful to look at. I know he is proud of me and wants me to continue growing my talent, and I want that for myself as well. Only recently did I start painting realistic animals, and I can say that with the right amount of patience, they have been turning out unexpectedly satisfying. At first, I did a few commissions, which included my boyfriend's late cat, my cousin's beloved Chihuahua, and my old friend's two dogs (all gifts, free of charge). After noticing my improvement with small details and painting animals in general, I realized I would be extremely happy with a picture dedicated to one of my own, created by myself. Therefore, one of my most prized pieces of art is the one attached; a portrait of my dog, Bentley. The seriousness in his face is ironic as he is usually the most playful dog out of the three I have at home. I consider him to be one of my best friends and I know he could never do anything to upset me--in fact, all he does is make me happy, whether that is by licking me until I stop crying about whatever insignificant mishaps are going on in my life or by sitting there with his adorable underbite, causing me to shower him with kisses due to what I call "cute aggression." I don't know what I am going to do when he leaves my side and I don't think I will ever be ready. He follows me everywhere I go and cries at my door when I leave the house for an amount of time he's not used to. I would like to say the main reason I created this painting was to capture his beauty through a tangible item, not digitally, so that I can have part of him with me when the time does unfortunately come. Picturing living without him is very difficult and upsetting, but I am going to have to do just that as I will be staying in a dorm this upcoming academic year at my desired university. Unfortunately, pets are not allowed, so I will have to go a large amount of time without him--larger than I am ready to process. So, he is my motivation to apply for as many scholarships I can get. I know that any extra money I obtain after paying for school can be used to visit him whenever I miss him (which will likely be every night), and I would resent myself for not visiting him enough if something does happen within these next years of my life living on campus. With this scholarship, I could pay for around 15 trips to see my baby boy within the 9 months I will be at school (Yes, I did the math). This would mean the world to me considering how much Bentley means to me, and I would be extremely grateful for whatever help I get.

I am hoping to pursue a degree in biology to begin my future education and career in the medical field. Something I am especially hoping to learn about is the process of how life itself comes to be. For example, a human egg getting fertilized and having the ability to grow into a physical body. It sounds like a simple concept, but what I mean is that I desire a better understanding of how exactly such a tiny egg can store all of the cells that would later become a brain, heart, nervous system, etc. I have always been fascinated with the topic of reproduction in that sense because I am extremely curious as to how everything that I am now, was once a microscopic egg inside of my mother's body. I once saw a video on TikTok where a girl expressed how crazy it is that while our mothers were playing as children, we were already in their bodies, becoming the lucky egg later in their lives, therefore meaning our mothers have always been carrying us with them. This made me feel a deep connection with my mom, as well as think about the fact that this applies to me as well. I, too, have eggs in me that contain my future children. I just can't grasp the full understanding of this concept. How does a tiny cell contain human organs? A personality? A reproductive system? How far does the concept from the TikTok video go back? In other words, did my mother's mother have my mother's unfertilized egg in her, which also had my and my siblings' eggs, as well as my future children's, and so forth? Is it an infinite system? This is so unfathomable to me that it, at times, makes me question my existence to an extent. It also makes me appreciate how lucky I am to live in a reality where simply living is possible. It makes me realize how beautiful life is and how rare it must have been for the possibility of me living beside my loved ones to occur out of all time, all realities and all parts of our universe. Many years ago, this may not have even been a topic of consideration that humans would think about, or even a topic that was possible to study. So, I'm especially lucky to be living in a time when it is possible to learn about these things. I would be very grateful to use my time in the medical field to get an understanding of this concept, purely out of curiosity.

Drug addiction is a horrible thing that takes over people's lives and is harder to overcome than some may imagine. I have had a very unfortunate indirect experience with both drug and alcohol use, both by the same family member, my older sister who is about 8 years older than me. I don't remember seeing her much when I was younger up until I was about 13 when she came down to Florida after we had moved her the previous year. Considering I barely saw her even as a young kid, I was so used to it that I never questioned where she was. Once she moved here, it was different having her around again. I was finally old enough--by my mom's judgment--to learn the reason for my sister's absence all those years. I learned that my sister became highly addicted to heroin at a young age. Eventually, she became sober which I can assume was extremely difficult. She found a new boyfriend, moved into a house with him, and created a beautiful baby girl. But soon after that, she developed an autoimmune disease called Sjögren's syndrome, which rid her of her walking abilities for about a year of her life. Once the doctors finally gave her the diagnosis and the medication needed, she was starting to do better, until she wasn't. For a few months, my mother started getting weekly calls from my sister where you could obviously tell she had been drinking alcohol. She would be crying or screaming or even hitting her boyfriend which would always result in us having to pick up the baby and have her stay with us. This happened too many times to count, so of course CPS became involved. Unfortunately, nothing was ever done by them about the state of intoxication she was always in. However, the pills that my sister was prescribed for her disease were what made everything worse. It took us longer than it should have to find out that she was doing things like crushing her pills and snorting them, and mixing them with alcohol. When she was in this state she would frequently neglect and hurt her baby without even remembering it once she became sober, get into fights with everyone around her, and lie nonstop. This was a terrifying and miserable time, and I can definitely say it has affected my life greatly. Being around this has changed my whole viewpoint on alcohol and drugs--I realized the terrible effects they have, especially when used by the wrong person. Seeing the way my sister treated everyone including myself and mainly her daughter who is not only my niece, but goddaughter as well, made my recently healing and blooming relationship with my sister go right back to what it was before, but worse. I despised her for what she did and how she was ruining her family's life. I hated having to go with the story that she "fell in the shower" rather than got into an altercation with her boyfriend while drunk and having to agree to stop at the drugstore for her to buy alcohol. I feel like I have become a lot more mature and aware than I was before due to all of the responsibilities I had and still have, including taking care of my niece every day now. I have even considered going into a counseling type of job, or something to do with children because of the neglect and mental instability I have had to witness. I wouldn't wish a direct or indirect experience like this on anyone in life.

I have a great amount of experience in being the caregiver of my 2-year-old niece, Gabby. I have the honor of being her godmother, but I never thought I would begin taking care of her so soon. My mother gained custody of her due to a drug problem with the parents, so I have spent about a year or longer living with Gabby. However, my mother still has to work a very busy schedule, which is why I would consider myself Gabby's main caregiver. Aside from bringing her to daycare and picking her up most days, I pretty much do everything that a mom would do. I bathe her, brush her teeth, change her clothes/diapers, wake her up/put her to sleep, take her on walks, and feed her all throughout the week. I also spend enough time with her to be able to teach her things. She's very behind on speaking for her age, so I am always trying to help her build her vocabulary and learn to do things on her own. I have taught her numerous words and actions and it feels amazing seeing her putting them to use, knowing that I made that impact on her abilities. For example, I have taught her how to point to herself and say "me", say "hi baby" and "bye baby" to her dolls, say our dog's name, and draw a circle, and she even loves to help me put dishes away. These may not seem like much for her age, but once again considering how far behind she is due to her past experience with neglect, I feel that I can be proud of her for learning these things and proud of myself for teaching her a good amount of it. I've even introduced her to healthy foods you would usually see a child reject, like spinach. Knowing that I've been through all of this and am continuing to go through it, I can say the experience has definitely had a great impact on many aspects of my life, starting with my knowledge of what raising a child in the future will somewhat be like. According to my personal goals in life, I believe taking care of Gabby has surely influenced my desire to create a family of my own in the future. Sometimes I reconsider that dream when I realize how messy and loud it can be, but for the most part, she has shown me that I 100% would love to finish my education and reach a comfortable point in life at which I can start a family. Gabby makes me excited to one day be a mother and give my child the best life I can give him/her. Ever since Gabby was born in November of 2021, when covid was just starting to die down, I knew I was going to love getting to know her and what it's like to take care of a baby, but I didn't assume I would be taking care of her to the extent that I do now. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but it has definitely had a huge impact on my life journey and my identity. Since the beginning of sophomore year, I feel that I have become a lot more mature, cautious, and patient than I was before. Over that time, I have learned about the seriousness and fragileness of life and how quickly and drastically life can change. I am extremely grateful to be maturing and learning in this way at this age because I know that it will continue in my future.

Being a first-generation college student influences my career goals because it encourages me to do the best I can in order to show myself and my family what I am capable of when it comes to creating a successful future. None of my siblings, parents, or grandparents went to college, so I know that they are counting on me and will be proud when I finally accomplish something they may have thought no one in our family would be able to accomplish. Not only do I strive to prove myself to my family this way, but it also brings me joy knowing that getting an amazing education at whatever college I end up going to will ensure that I can achieve my future life goals. In my eyes, getting at least my bachelor's degree is very necessary for me to reach those life goals, which, for me, include starting a family in an amazing house in a beautiful area of the country. It excites me to know that I have the opportunity to accomplish this dream of mine, and it would be an even greater opportunity if I was able to attain even just one scholarship because I know that it would aid my single mother in her attempts at financially supporting my college career.

Something that is unique about me is that I am an observer. I like being a listener/watcher rather than a talker when it comes to large groups, and not only because I get nervous in groups of people. The reason I find this unique is that I haven't met many others like me who like to listen to others' conversations without contributing much. Most people I know have no problem speaking in groups, or if they do, enjoying listening to others' conversations is not quite a trait they have. I enjoy doing this not only because it is entertaining but also because it sparks my interest and brings new ideas into my mind. You learn a lot when you actually take time to listen instead of thinking about what you want to say yourself. I find that I have a creative mind, but it takes a lot of inspiration to come up with ideas sometimes, so although it may seem odd to enjoy watching and listening in on others' conversations, it's not all that bad and can be beneficial to our minds if we try it. Another trait I possess that I find unique is my giant range of interests/hobbies. Most people I know have one or two specific hobbies that they stick to, or they switch hobbies every once in a while. For example, some of my friends have a passion for playing games, but it is all they do. Another example is my brother, who enjoys fishing, but rarely tries out new things. On the other hand, I like having multiple hobbies at once. I enjoy painting, drawing, making crafts, taking photos, and making jewelry, and I am soon adding crotcheting to that list, something that I did when I was younger but stopped doing for a while. All of these things are fun for me to do, of course, and at the same time, they can even help others. Therefore, I can give back to my community by using my passions to create things for others, whether I make gifts for loved ones or custom-made things for anyone who requests it. It makes me happy knowing that I have more than one hobby that allows me to create things for others because I can make projects that fit almost anyone's desires, and it makes me extremely happy to see something that I did make someone else happy.

As a student, managing finances is a necessity and is very beneficial to not only your daily life but also to your future. It is important to know how to remain financially stable through time because it can help you avoid reaching a point at which you have little to no extra money for things outside of school and necessities. It can teach you the importance of having a comfortable amount of money at all times so that in the future there won't be any worrying about having to scrounge up your leftover change after not paying attention to how much money you have been spending. No one wants to find themself at the end of the week with barely enough money left in their wallet/bank account. A lot of us like to spend our money worry-free while telling ourselves that we have enough so we'll be just fine. This doesn't always work, however, because when you carelessly spend money on things for your enjoyment, it can result in you running very low on money, depending on the last few dollars you have until your next paycheck. If we learn how to manage our money efficiently while we are young, it helps us avoid reaching that point of living paycheck to paycheck. As students in high school and college, we have various things that we may be responsible to pay for on our own: gas for our cars, food and appliances for those who stay in a dorm, insurance, future payments like a car or college, taxes/bills, etc, and when we grow into adults that list will get even longer. Considering these responsibilities, we need to have strategies that we can use to save our money. Everyone has different ways they like to save their money. Some people exclusively save their change in something like a piggy bank or jar. Others may set aside all of the one-dollar bills that they acquire. Some people may set aside every 20 they get or every hundred or something similar to that pattern. Considering I don't have a job at the moment, I don't attain money very often. But with the money that I do get, I usually take all of my smaller bills like the 1s, 5s, and 10s, and keep them in a safe place. I tell myself to never touch that money unless I come to the point of an emergency and need it. So far I have a few hundred saved and I have not had to use any of it due to spending all of the money that I do allow myself to use (I try to spend as little money as I can to help me save even more money). I believe that if I keep using this technique to manage my finances, it will benefit me greatly and assist my future self.

I live in a single-parent household with my mother. She and my father got divorced when I was about four years old, so there's not much to remember from when they were together, but ever since then, I have always looked up to my mom as a role model. She has answers to all my questions pertaining to life and is a strong woman who manages her own company by herself with the help of my siblings and me occasionally. So, my mother is the person who has supported me the most throughout my educational journey and she still does. My mother supports me by encouraging me to keep my grades up while also taking college courses through dual enrollment to help me lower my future costs of college. She also pushes me to stay in school as much as possible by trying not to skip days, and she wants me to wait to get a job until summer so that I can keep my focus on school for now. Although I may seem stubborn and unwilling to follow her wishes when she presents them to me, I do agree that doing these things will help me in the long run when it comes to my educational needs and future financial stability. I have always put effort into getting the best grades I possibly can, even during the pandemic which made it extremely difficult to find the motivation to do work and retain information. Now that I'm a Junior and I'm getting closer and closer to graduation, I'm proud to admit that I have continued my goal of getting straight 'A's through this year and even my whole Sophomore year with the exception of a single 'B'.Thanks to my mom and all of the times she has pressured me to get the best grades possible, I expect to end my high school career with an amazing GPA that can hopefully impress the college I wish to go to. As for being enrolled in dual enrollment, when my mom first proposed the idea I was horrified at the fact of being a high schooler taking college courses. While I knew it would make me feel a bit more academically confident in myself, I was afraid of how difficult the courses might have been, how harsh the professors might have graded assignments, and how negatively the courses would affect my free time that I already didn't have much of. However, now that I'm enrolled in my third trimester (My 5th and 6th credits with dual enrollment), I am aware that it is not as bad as I expected, plus I get to take them online so I don't have to worry about having a ride or any free time for my personal life. Even if these were true, they don't overrule the fact that these courses can help me save huge amounts of money. So, although I was upset at my mom at first for even suggesting for me to take these classes, I am beyond grateful that she cares enough about me and my future to encourage me to do not only these courses but everything else mentioned before.

Over the past year, I believe I have grown in a huge way that others may not feel the need to do for a while longer. Considering I am in high school, everyone grows--physically and mentally--but I feel that the effort I put into my own growth and change is underrecognized and I hope that others realize that it is never too late to change for the better. To start, high school involves a lot of drama, judging, and talking down on others. Everyone judges another at some point, but the amount of it you see at a high school is upsetting. I used to somewhat be a part of the crowd who enjoys being a part of the drama at all times or at least knowing what the drama is and who is involved. This didn't do me any good and I soon realized that it is not like me to spend my time obsessing over what everyone else is doing. It is immature and a waste of time. Now, I have found my own unique personality and have become mature enough to dismiss and type of drama that comes my way. If I hear someone say something bad about me, I used to try to come up with the pettiest response just to feed the drama. But now, if I hear that anyone is still talking negatively about me or my life, I simply laugh it off and forget it because I now know that if others are still choosing to waste their time talking about me, that is totally up to them and it just shows who they are as a person. Aside from all of the drama I have learned to exclude myself from, I have also grown into a version of myself who understands that I don't need to have the most friends in order to be happy. I used to feel that if I didn't have a lot of friends I would seem weird and I couldn't be content in life. However, I now realize that quality is most definitely over quantity. At one point I had a group of friends who I enjoyed hanging out with but they would subtly judge every little thing I did and make fun of me behind my back. Ever since I cut them out of my life and kept my few closest friends, I have become much happier, learned to find my self-worth and stop caring about how others feel negatively about me. Although I have grown over time with the help of many more aspects than those, these two are what really stuck with me and make me proud of myself and the person I have become.

Adversity is a difficult feeling that many families and individuals experience, and can be seen in a variety of situations. It could be a family which has very unlucky circumstances in terms of money, addiction, or diseases like cancer. In my case, my family has experienced adversity in a few different ways. To start, my mother has to make a living with her own company for her three kids including myself. Considering the fact that she has many other bills to pay and it is expensive to live in South Florida, it is difficult to find enough money to set aside for me to go to college in the future, let alone afford other luxuries like vacations or non-necessities. Another factor of adversity within my family is mental illness. Both my brother and sister have depression, and while I have not had the chance to get close enough with them to know their full story, I still feel for them and understand that it is hard for not only them but the people around them. Finally, addiction is a misfortune my family takes part in as well, which includes alcohol, nicotine, and even a history of heroin. I am lucky to say that I was never introduced to these drugs in a bad way and I am educated on the effects, so I am grateful to know I won't have to experience this, but I still feel horrible for my close ones and anyone else who goes through this. I have overcome adversity in my life by understanding that even after experiencing all of these horrible misfortunes and more, I need to be grateful that we are still here and remember that it could always be worse. I try to find positivity in the hardships my family and I go through because I understand that whatever I do have, I am lucky to have and I am lucky to be where I am today. My siblings, parents, and a good amount of my extended family did not make it to college, so if I am able to get there myself, I know it would make my family and myself proud. I feel that whatever I get counts, even if it is a little amount. It would make me happy knowing I'm able to help my mom as much as possible when paying for my school, as well as complimenting my wish for academic validation.

I love math because I see it as a great way to challenge the brain and keep it active. Learning new things in math requires a lot of attention and effort because at first it can be very difficult to get a hang of it. However, once you understand the process of what you are learning and memorize all of the steps and formulas needed to complete it, it makes it so much easier and personally I sometimes even want to continue to do more problems that I'm not even required to do. I have despised math all my life mainly because I wasn't able to bring myself to pay attention in class enough to understand it. I had little motivation to do good in it and thought since everyone else hated it, I should too. But, now that I am in high school I have come to a realization that math isn't as bad if you simply put the effort in. I have people telling me all of the time how hard their class is and how they don't understand what they are learning and in my head I am just thinking they probably think that because they aren't listening to the lessons and trying hard enough. Although it took me all the way until my sophomore year to realize how simple it is, I am glad to finally understand that simply paying attention and trying can get you very far. Aside from me loving math because I can finally understand it, I also love it because it keeps my brain active. When I'm doing problems in class and I fully understand the steps, I enjoy going ahead and trying to do them all really fast to challenge myself and put my new knowledge to use. It keeps my brain going, which is much needed when I am feeling very tired on certain days.

Feminism means to care greatly and be willing to stand up for women's rights no matter the circumstance. If someone is a feminist, they wish to see a positive future for women around the world and they take time to support and empower other women. Even in the case of possibly disliking another girl or having an issue with their lifestyle, a feminist will still wish nothing but positivity and fairness for that girl and all others. Feminism is important because some females may not feel like they are deserving of having fair opportunities and positive mindsets about themselves or they are not capable, but feminists are there to lift those negative assumptions off those women's shoulders, and that is very important in ensuring a positive future for women and their self-importance. Someone who is an inspiration to me and has impacted my view on feminism is the singer known as Lizzo. Her songs and her mindset in general is very supportive and encouraging for all types of women. It is clear that Lizzo is a feminist based on the way she speaks so highly about women in her songs, which mostly promote things like body positivity, self love, and women empowerment in general. In one interview talking about what the media sees as a 'perfect' woman, she said, "unfortunately the media portrays them as perfect, and I think that even those women struggle with having to live up to a body type or stereotype and probably suffer from a lot of depression." Lizzo believes these women have imperfections just like anyone else does, but rather than bashing them, she is understanding that even women who have the more ideal look can suffer just as much as women who don't. Anyone can be insecure no matter how many people say they are perfect. Since Lizzo is popular and is able to promote this mindset with her music, interviews, and social media posts, she is able to impact how others and myself see feminism. Lizzo makes me see that women should not put each other down because even if they have wrong-doings in life, everyone make mistakes and everyone has struggles that aren't always seen, so we should lift those women up and encourage them that they are important and special. I am contributing to the feminist movement in my school by taking other girls' hidden struggles into consideration before deciding to dislike them for doing something I didn't appreciate. I understand the fact that if a girl bothers me, I should not make a huge thing out of it because if I try to one up her, I could be going too far without knowing it and she might take it very personally. I know this because I would do the same, knowing how sensitive my feelings are. So, I always have empathy for girls and their situations that they don't tell anyone about (even if my brain judges them a certain way) because I have been there and know that if I was struggling and no one knew, I would hate for someone to bring me down and just make my self-acceptance worse.

My plans for college are to go to Florida Atlantic University and pursue my Bachelor's degree while also staying close to home so that I can maintain my close relationships and prepare for when I move further after college. I will either stay at home with my mother or eventually rent an apartment close to the college with a close friend. I would like to save as much money as possible to ensure my success-filled future. That being said, a goal I'm currently working on is to manage my money in a smart way, so that in the future I'm not worried about using what I have left. I do this by putting money aside that I choose not to spend unless it's absolutely needed. I also try to tell myself every time I go out that if I don't need something I'm interested in, I don't need to buy it, especially if it is overpriced. So, since I'm currently unable to get a paying job, I try my best to save money because I know that it will pay off in the future. Another goal I'm working on that doesn't relate to college because it is more of a side hobby, is improving my art skills. I have done self-taught drawing and painting since I was four years old, and I believe for my age I'm pretty good at what I do, but I'm still humble enough to be aware that there is always room for improvement. There are a lot of things I could work on so in my free time I practice current and new skills so that I can someday reach my goal of more satisfying work. Finally, one last thing that I'm working on in my personal life is my self-esteem. I see myself as a very humble person, but sometimes I believe I may be too humble. I tend to worry a lot about what people think of me--way more than I should. Over the past two years, I have improved in this a lot. But, I still wish to become less worried about how people judge me. Worrying as much as I do results in me holding back my feelings and keeping in my thoughts and actions. I know that this isn't good and that I need to work on understanding that the only person really judging me is myself. Once I am finally able to reach this goal and be my true self around the people I wish to show that side of me to, it will fill my life with so much more relief and content.

One of my main goals for the future is to have a career that allows me to make great money while also keeping me content and entertained in daily life. This will make my plans for a successful future easier to accomplish, considering I plan on someday purchasing my own house and starting a family. I work towards this goal by ensuring that I have outstanding grades so that colleges can recognize them, meaning I always try my hardest in school, whether that is on tests, extra credit, and even assignments that may seem to have little to no impact on my grade. Another thing I do is take college courses through dual enrollment. I have experienced hardships in taking college courses because they are very advanced and sometimes due dates interfere with my high school classwork, but I've still been able to pass these classes despite them requiring more work and thinking skills than what I'm used to. Also, choosing to go to a college close to home in addition to applying for scholarships and taking dual enrollment courses will surely help me to save a huge amount of money during college, which will have a great impact on my future. Finally, as for staying happy and entertained with my career, as of now, I'm sure I have that taken care of, considering I would like to study forensics and become a detective or something similar, and I'm going to be taking a Forensics class my whole 11th and 12th-grade years. A hardship I've experienced was a portion of my life where I almost convinced myself I didn't want to continue my participation in my school's medical program (which would have now not allowed me to take Forensics class) or even go to college. However, I of course eventually refuted those thoughts, which brought me to where I am today. My other main goal for my future is to have a support system at all times that includes friends and family who show care and respect toward me. I believe it is a necessity to always have people around you who are willing to appreciate you be there for you. To work towards this goal, one thing I do is make sure I'm always on good terms with my close family. There are definitely hardships in this because sometimes I might get into fights with siblings, I'm angry at a family member, or I simply just don't feel as close to my parents as I wish I was. Although these may happen, I get over it pretty fast because, at the end of the day, family is very important. Being aware of this will help my future goals because I know that I will always have someone to go to if I don't have a friend to talk to. Another thing I do to ensure this future is being the best friend I could be. Making people understand that they are cared for and have valid feelings is very important to me, and even though this doesn't result in me having a large friend group at the moment, I know that it will be recognized in the future and someday I will experience the same. A hardship I sometimes experience in this is that I tend to let my current feelings override my perception of others, but soon enough I remember that they could have it worse than me and may need to be reminded of their importance. Having this mindset ensures me a future filled with people who appreciate and care for me the way I do them.

My best back-to-school tip is that people should understand that it is possible to maintain good grades while also enjoying their life. I have heard many people who don't have the best grades in school complain about how if they did do well in their classes it would take away from their free time and they would have a boring life. On the other hand, it is noticeable that a lot of the students that seem to never be at home because they are always out with friends, don't let themselves focus on school, so they end up not doing so well in their classes. These types of students don't realize that it is possible to balance the two out and have both. School isn't as hard as people think it to be; it's just a matter of actually paying attention to lectures and putting the effort into work. It's not difficult to keep up with work and get it done on time so that you can have free time throughout to week and on weekends to do amusing things with friends. I want people to understand that you can get amazing grades and still have a happy life! Instagram:@marlnawem