"You know you live in the best country in the world, right?" my boyfriend casually mentions to me over dinner. Since birth, I've been a proud American but it wasn't until I started dating a Belarusian immigrant that I truly came to appreciate just how amazing America is after all. If I did not live in this amazing country, my goals and aspirations for the future would look entirely different so for that, I am extremely grateful to be an American. "Capitalism is literally in your blood, Kenna," my boyfriend often jokes. Although it sounds funny, this is absolutely true. As early as I can remember, I've sold whatever I can to anyone with money. When I was just 4, I sold the neighbors rocks I'd found outside. When I got slightly older, I started to sell lemonade. All these entrepreneurial endeavors have brought me to where I am today, the owner of a small jewelry business. I've sold over 800 pieces of jewelry to this day, but I am nowhere near done. What started as a fun side hustle has turned into a massive dream of mine. I've spent hours daydreaming about my future store where I sell my handmade jewelry as well as plants and artwork. I've planned just about every single detail of this store down to even the music I will play. Some people say this is overkill and a waste of my time, but thanks to my amazing country, I know this dream is possible. America is truly the best place to be an entrepreneur. Small business is the backbone of America and for that, I am extremely proud. I absolutely love the fact that America is full of opportunities and support to start a business. If I lived in a different country, I would be hesitant to chase after my entrepreneurial dreams but here, I know it is a worthy effort. Although I am extremely proud of America and all the businesses within, something I am not a fan of is tipping culture. I've always found it wonderful to tip service employees who do a great job such as hair stylist or nail techs. Recently, we've seen a shift where everyone wants tips. I find this to be very disappointing and anti-consumer. I believe that the employer should pay a fair wage while consumers may tip for exceptional service. Now, many businesses are set up to ask for tips after an employee does their job, such as scooping ice cream. Consumers, knowing that the employee is likely underpaid, feel guilty and therefore responsible to tip for services unworthy of gratuity. As a future business person, I plan to effect change by paying my employees and not relying on tips for them to be fairly compensated. I believe this will lead to an all around better business as customers won't feel the need to tip unnecessarily and my employees will be more satisfied since they are receiving fair compensation. I hope other business owners will see this working and adopt the same policies. The most beautiful part of America is the power consumers hold with their dollar. The people truly have the power to enact change in poor business practices by boycotting and taking their business elsewhere. This makes me hopeful that this change will be successful as long as consumers and business owners like me work together. I could not be more grateful to be an entrepreneur in the most amazing country in the world and can not wait to see what my future in business holds.

“Trust me McKenna, this will take a small amount of your time but it will make a MASSIVE impact on their lives,” my mom explained as we were on our way to meet her special needs friends. At first, I did not understand or agree with her at all. How could an hour of my day change the course of their week? Although it didn’t make sense to me at first, meeting Chad and Marnie taught me very quickly what a big impact I could make after all. Chad and Marnie are fifty-one and fifty years old. They have a very rare disease called CDG (Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation) which prohibited their spinal cord from attaching to their brain. They are both in wheelchairs and have the cognitive ability similar to an early elementary student. Only twenty people in the US have this condition and they are the only people with Type 1A that can talk. As you can imagine, they are very unique, special people. My apprehensiveness to meet them melted away when I saw immediate excitement light up their eyes when they opened the door. Chad and Marnie quickly led us into their bedrooms and talked to me like we had been friends for a lifetime. Smiles illuminated their faces with every story they shared. When I saw how big of an impact that short visit made on them and to my surprise, on me too, I learned a very important lesson. Even small acts of kindness can make such a large impact on others’ lives. This seemingly small moment completely changed my mind on volunteering and before I knew it, I was asking to go back to visit with them once again. Now, a year later, my family has become the legal guardians of Chad and Marnie, making them family both in law and our hearts. My connection with Chad and Marnie and the difference I’ve made in their life inspired me to connect with other special needs people in the community. This year I also began eating my lunch with students apart of the Paths Program at Emerald Campus. From this, I have formed two new friendships that have extended beyond lunch time. I now frequently text with my new friends and occasionally hang out with them outside of school. This experience has much such a positive impact on my life as well as theirs, so I absolutely plan to join a similar program in college and hope I can make a difference in my next community similar to what I have done in Dublin.

College search is known as one of the most stressful times ever for teenagers. Essays, test scores, and hours of Common App... it is an extremely dreaded process for many seniors. Although, for me, it has not felt like that at all. From a young age, I've known I am ready to leave Ohio and jump into my Southern dream for college. As soon as I stepped off the plane for my first campus visit this year, it was like I could hear the beat of Welcome to New York playing in my head. College of Charleston is completely different than New York, but my heart still beats like the drums in Taylor's song when I'm in the city. To me, Welcome to New York is about starting a new life, extremely similarly to what college will be for me. It's about finding a new town, new people, and a new place to call home where you fit in. This is absolutely the way my heart felt when I was at College of Charleston. It was the easiest decision ever to make Charleston my new home and attend college there. As I toured a whole new city, the lyrics "the lights are so bright but they never blind me," played on repeat in my head. College is a big change with endless opportunities. It is easy to let that blind you and become completely overwhelmed, but I know I can handle it. I am ready to start my new life in my version of New York and experience all the lovely changes a new city will bring to me. College will change life as I know it completely. It's as if I'm changing the genre of my life from Midwestern to Southern charm. It will be a huge change, similar to when Taylor went from country to pop with her album 1989. I am looking forward to switching up my brand similar to Taylor Swift when she dropped her best album yet, 1989. Although I'm "searching for a sound I haven't heard before", in Charleston, I immediately felt at home when I was there. When I heard Taylor's music playing all over campus, I knew I'd fit in. College of Charleston is a complete Swiftie campus and I absolutely cannot wait to find my people in my new place. College of Charleston is a new soundtrack, but I know I can dance to that beat forevermore. I absolutely could not be more excited to make my life feel like 1989 and live the Welcome to New York life every single day.

When Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was announced, many people were astonished. How could she possibly go through all those different types of music in just one concert? Is it going to be her upbeat music so the fans can dance or her heart breaking, sad songs for the fans to cry along to? Surely such dramatic waves of emotion can't be all included in one show, right? Well, after opening night, we discovered that it is absolutely possible for Taylor to put us on an emotional roller coaster like that. Unfortunately, my summer would have intense ups and downs similarly to the Eras Tour, ultimately teaching me lessons of how to let go and prepare for what life will throw at you next. When presale codes were sent out and I did not receive one, I was crushed. "How could I not get one?" was a constant thought in my head. I had been a Swiftie for a decade up to this point, so my heart was broken. It was even sadder when the show sold out during just presale. My chances were over, I thought. The Eras Tour is just not for me. While I thought the worst part of the summer had passed, I was pulled into a whole different reality when my grandma tragically and unexpectedly passed away. I entered a dark and lonely depression, hiding in my room for weeks. My grandma was my next door neighbor and like a mother to me, so I was absolutely crushed. I was so sad that I didn't listen to music at all for two weeks, not even Taylor Swift. As my cloud of depression slowly began to clear, I discovered Taylor's song Marjorie. It was about losing her grandmother as well, so I found solace in knowing my idol has gone through similar pain. All I wanted at this point was to get the chance to hear Taylor sing this in person. I scoured the internet obsessively for days but unfortunately, I was unable to come by resale tickets and attend the Eras Tour after all. At first, I fell back into my depression, finding it completely unfair I didn't get to hear Marjorie live. After a few more weeks of sulking, I realized something extremely valuable. Taylor doesn't let the sadness of Marjorie end her show. She keeps going, fighting, and ending with something upbeat. As hard as it is, I need to do the same thing for myself. Although my heart was crushed from losing someone so valuable in my life, I needed to continue to battle and pull myself out of this depression. How sad would it be if the Eras Tour ended on a sad song? While they're destined to be a part of the show, it's important to end on the highest note possible. I began listening to more than just the song Marjorie again, started spending time out in the sun again and even started seeing my friends. While life will never feel the same, I must do my best to live the happiest life I can. Even though I never stepped foot inside an Eras Tour show, it gave me unexpected hope and a whole new perspective on how I should continue living my life. The world is full of highs and lows, just like the Eras Tour. What matters most is what we do after and how we continue to pull ourselves back up again.

"You know Kenna, I used to have lemonade stands when I was your age too! Do you see how far it's brought me?" Grandpa tells me. It's the year 2012 and my six year old self is looking for any and every way to make a bit of money. From lemonade stands to selling handmade art, the entrepreneurial bug bit me very early in life. Almost all of my earliest memories consist of me and my brothers trying to sell things to anyone who could possibly buy from us. I did not know this back then, but working on my entrepreneurial skills from such a young age would prove to be extremely beneficial later in life and open doors I never imagined. Many people ask where my extremely early drive to be an entrepreneur comes from. I come by this honestly, as I have a long line of entrepreneurs above me in my family. All the way from my great-grandfather starting his own pharmacy to my mom selling houses, unique entrepreneurial skills have run through my family for many generations. From a young age, I became fascinated with they idea of making something creative with my own two hands and selling it for a profit. As soon as I sold my first homemade cookie at my lemonade stand, I was hooked. As I grew up, I tried to create many different businesses. Some stuck for a bit, while others were complete failures. I tried everything from making slime to selling chocolates, anything that people were willing to buy from me. Even through failure, I still felt excitment about success being within my reach, so I continued to persist. I eventually discovered my best idea yet, which turned out to be selling handmade jewelry. I founded my business, Dazzle by Kenna, in September of 2020, and before 2022, I had reached 800 sales across 16 states. Through consistent sales, I have learned how to manage inventory, communicate professionally with customers, and I have even designed my own website. During my junior year of high school, I joined a new program my school was offering, known as the Entrepreneur Academy (EA). I was ecstatic to surround myself with like-minded people and learn valuable lessons from other business owners. I quickly became a student ambassador for the program in order to spread my passion with other students. During a presentation about the EA, I had a young student ask me for advice on how to launch her clothing business. After giving her some advice and confidence, she launched her business within the month and quickly found success. I felt a deep sense of accomplishment when my business knowledge inspired a young entrepreneur and immediately decided to help as many people as I could. I asked my teacher to put me in contact with other prospective EA students and helped give three more students advice I wish I knew when starting my business. All of them are now a part of the academy and I feel very proud of my impact on their journey to joining the class. Today, my goal of helping fellow entrepreneurs remains strong. My hope is to get a business degree and find even more success, creating a full-time business. I hope to continue to spread my knowledge with other business people but even more, I hope I can find enough success in my business to be able to invest in other entrepreneur's start-ups. Entrepreneurship has brought me many valuable mentors and even friendships. My biggest dream is to continue to spread love, advice, and connection among the entrepreneurship community.