I used to question everyone. Not literally, but I wondered what other people were thinking; constantly. I worried about every word I said, the way I breathed, the pitch of my voice, and my mannerisms. When I was in middle school, if someone looked at me a certain way or laughed with their friends near me, I would question every fabric of my being. I would think, "What did I do?", or, "Why do they hate me?" I never got any evidence of my thoughts being factual, but I took everything to heart. I doubted myself. I constantly thought about the opinions of my peers instead of appreciating the support I had from my family. Thanksgiving, my sophomore year of high school, changed this idea of mine. No matter how early or how late somebody was, they were always welcome at my grandparent's house for Thanksgiving. There was always time for family. At my grandparents’ house, Thanksgiving "starts" after all the guests have said what they were thankful for that year. I'm not a traditional person, but this is a tradition I love. People thanked their family, and so did I. I began to realize nobody was thanking their classmates or coworkers for how they shaped them into better people. We gave thanks for what we had instead of worrying about what we didn’t have. The last person of the “appreciation circle”, was my Grandpa. He described his gratitude for the diversity and the unity of our family. The “support our family gives to each other”, he said, was something to be “forever grateful” for. Connected by blood, by marriages, or by friendships, we are family. At Thanksgiving, I was reminded that I had a support system, and I should also be a support system to others. I didn't need everyone to approve and applaud everything I did. I realized the world is more significant than my fear of disapproval, especially my peers' possible "disapproval." It was ridiculous to care so much about the opinions of people who couldn't care less about me. People I barely knew. I needed to realize that I should focus on working on myself for myself and the people there to support me. Worry was my conqueror, and it needed to be dethroned. I had found the support system ready to fight by my side. Sure we may critique each other, but my family and I also encourage and hope for each other to be happy and successful. I realized if I spent the time that I was worrying about how people who didn't know me thought of me and used that time to support others' (specifically my family members) growth, I could help make the people around me, (and myself ) more confident motivated, and most importantly, genuinely happy. Support from others can help contribute tremendously to self-growth and self-acceptance, but continuously worrying about getting support does more harm than good. Thanksgiving allows me to reflect on memories of mutual support. I bring those memories into my awareness with gratitude. I connect my reflections to action of how I can show my love and support towards others, to better their lives, the way realizing finding a great support-system helped mine. My experience was beyond eye-opening. Because of it, I gained the confidence to grow a more profound appreciation and self-motivation for achieving all aspects of my day-to-day life. I don't know what's next for me in this life, but I acknowledge the personal support I have to help me get there. My family.

1. I love to sail. I always heard adults talking about scholarships, and I was fascinated by what it would be like to have one. I've been in a friendship and played battleship, but a scholarship, that's next level. A scholarship will allow me to truly explore my horizons. 2. Well, I don't play soccer, so I'm unsure how to answer this. The closest thing to a goal that is "academic" is the door to my psychology classroom. It wouldn't be too hard to score...depending on what department the goalies are from. I would hope for a communications professor; I heard they give out a lot of points. 3. I was running in my Physical Education class. And there it was.. a hurdle. I had to jump over one hurdle to go back to the locker room and change. I took a deep breath as I ran towards the hurdle towards the finish line and jumped with both feet, true technique. My foot got caught, and my head hit the cement. As sweat dripped down my face, a girl asked if I was crying. I told her no... I was dripping in finesse. She didn't get the joke. Needless to say, I'll never let an obstacle defeat me.

My high school did not feel like a safe place for me. The amount of hate on campus was astronomical. If you were to look up my former high school, you would see articles about teachers who hung up Nazi flags, swastikas being carved on the baseball fields, and a Jewish students locker, and even an "anti-black" people policy. The most significant parts of my social identity are being black and being Jewish. As these events happened over the years, I struggled mentally. I was placed in the school district's home hospital program for months because of how severe my depression became. Changing schools wasn't an option, so I found another way to overcome adversity and get to a better place. I did everything I could to move past the most challenging times. I took summer classes, woke up at 5:30 for zero periods, and took additional online courses to fulfill my graduation requirements. As a result, I was able to graduate early, at 16. What I learned from this was not to let hardships crush my spirit. Even if clouds cover a vision for a better future, trust those around you that it will get better. When I would go to school, constantly on the verge of tears, I felt weak. I realized the drive and trust I had to have a better future was a testament to my strength. Through COVID-19, mental health issues, and loss, I worked diligently not just to graduate early but to graduate early at the top of the class, with a 4.17 GPA. This experience helped me believe what I thought was once impossible. With hard work and persistence, Maya Moseley can do anything and everything she sets her heart to.