An investment in my community is worth tenfold over a selfish investment, and I live through that principle. In my community, I have served through many different outputs, including my school, band, beach, church, and other outlets. At my high school, I participated in the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and National Social Studies Honor Society in my junior and senior years, all of which connect with local organizations to serve the community and employ students regularly to help those in need. In my band, I was part of the concert, jazz, and marching bands, in which I assisted in organizing community events for the fine arts and prepared/participated in local parades. On the beach, I affiliate with the Keep North Myrtle Beach Beautiful organization in order to clean my own 'adopted' beach access and organize groups to do beach sweeps monthly. As a freshman in college, I do my best to keep up with the access over breaks and long weekends. In my church, I participate in the Hope's Kitchen Ministry, which provides a variety of needs and services to those in need. I also aid in weekly service and program preparation. Outside of formal programs, I also ran my own mini program of delivering food for drama kids with strict practice hours so that production practices could run more smoothly. Now that I am in college, I am attempting to keep a pulse on this new community by participating in community service alongside my University 101 class, where we regularly practice community service together (primarily trash pickups) in hopes to win a service competition against the other classes. In all aspects of my life, I do my best to incorporate community service in order to make a positive impact.

I see college as one of my primary ways to receive a return on the investments that I have put into the world around me. I also see college as a place of opportunity to explore and to make the most of the hotspot of investment and connection that is college education. Because of this, I have put much thought and consideration into how I plan to use my time and resources in college. Part of this preparation includes the years of forethought and conspiring with reliable leaders to start investments to college as soon as possible. In high school alone, I managed to write off a year's worth of classes in AP and Dual Enrollment programs. Outside of the classroom, I have also found groups and societies to commit to in order to garner experience and credit from my investments into myself and my community. I have poured countless time and effort into these groups and communities, as well as that of my church. Through these opportunities, I have learned to be a leader and critical thinker when working in group or solo situations. I have also learned how to work with a wide range of people through ministry, community service, and partnership. Most of all, I have learned how to carve a path and see it to completion. I have proven that I do well with the few resources that I'm given, presenting reliability and responsibility for future resources to come. In the future, I aspire to become a civil engineer and architect. Furthermore, I wish to use my degree and occupation to restore and repurpose historical buildings and structures both nationally and internationally. As well as this, I have a well-developed plan for how I wish to pave my way through college in terms of degrees, licenses, and internships, which I credit to the support that I have received from my school counselors, parents, and friends; I first plan to go to the University of South Carolina (USC) for my Civil Engineering degree, because USC has had a recently booming engineering school. With USC's connections to alumni and nearby companies, I plan to find opportunities for internship to build my engineering resume. USC also has a thriving arts department that will allow me to continue my musical involvement. I plan to obtain an EIT certification that will set me up for a PE license, which comes by the way of Civil Engineering. After obtaining that degree, I plan to go on to Clemson University in order to obtain a Master's degree in architecture. This degree pairs nicely with civil engineering because it acts as the theory-based sister-study to the concrete concepts of civil engineering. Along with this, Clemson has many closely connected construction companies to offer internship programs along with my study. Once obtaining both degrees and many work experiences, I will be able to move into the professional world with strong qualifications. Many local communities in South Carolina—as well as the majority of Britain—are looking to preserve historical buildings and repurpose them with new infrastructural uses, meaning that I have a large market to start my own firm in the future with that specific focus. In summary and as presented, I have a strong and maneuverable plan for my future that is well into development, deeply thought out, and already in motion.

Dogs and cats are known to not get along. Because of this, most people assume that you can’t peaceably own a cat and dog in the same household. In reality, households that have both of these animals often yield more peace than ones exclusively with one animal or the other. Similarly, people often believe that a person who devotes themself to working hard is less capable of being a kind and genuine person, while someone who prioritizes being nice will not have room to work as hard. The little known truth behind this duality is that, like domestic households, human minds and lives thrive from diversity. What I have learned in my AP classes is exactly that: those who strive to be both nice and hard-working are the strongest individuals. In my very first AP class, the room was split between those that wanted to survive by camaraderie and those that wanted to succeed by diligence. I, on the other hand, continued business as usual by trying to keep balance between the two. In the following four years, those that have succeeded to the top of the class were those that thought like I did; we created a community of AP students who knew how to work hard and did not forget to enjoy our time along the way by being kind to each other. While I was not incredibly confident throughout the entirety of my AP journey, my resolve was bolstered by the excelling performance of myself and my friends. Pouring from our cup into others gave us the drive to do great things, while the hard work gave us the facility to exercise the motivation that we built. By going through this experience of AP classes where strong minded individuals find their place, I’ve been able to live in a way that makes being nice and working hard both natural and intuitive. On the topic of financial struggles, I have often had to make difficult decisions and efforts in order to dedicate myself to education. From the very start of my education, my parents have reminded me that every second that is put into that education is an investment that will pay itself off. A large reason for telling me this is the fact that higher education is extremely expensive; in order to pay for college, I have heavily invested into every corner of my school, so that scholarships may notice my effort and invest in me as well. Without absolute security about being able to afford higher education through the support of scholarships, there is no other way that I or my family would be able to sustain a college degree to completion. I dug my heels in the course of education through the practice of kindness and hard work in many AP classes with the hope and trust that others will see my path of success and invest in it.