My best back-to-school tip is this: establish your schedule BEFORE school starts. Start going to bed and waking earlier, and start using your time during the day to finish schoolwork or apply to scholarships or write college essays. Getting yourself into that schedule of completing work during the day and getting full nights of sleep will be immensely helpful in adjusting to the beginning-of-year changes. It's difficult to suddenly get into that sitting-still-for-eight-hours mindset, especially after a summer of fun. Not to mention, most teens naturally follow a late to bed, late to wake sleep schedule during the summer, so slowly easing oneself into a school-like schedule works wonders. I have done this for the past several years in high school, and it both helps me get caught up on summer work (that I may have procrastinated...) and to ensure that I'm fully prepared for the challenges school brings. My Instagram handle is @meg_meinert.

I have been interested in STEM - the science and engineering parts, specifically - since I could even grasp what it is. Consequently, it surprises most people when I tell them that my involvement in the Moon Area High School Drama Club is perhaps the most important factor in my major of interest. When you look at student actors, they may have an interest in science, but there aren't many students in the cast who intend to be biologists. Many of them are interested in literature, studying theatre more professionally, creating art, or perhaps getting a music degree. Pull back the curtain. You'll still find the future English majors behind the scenes, but looking at the spotlights or that group of kids painting the set's façade, plenty more of those want to go into construction or neuroscience or actuarial science. In my case, it's aerospace engineering. However, I didn't know that before I joined the stage crew. In my freshman year, I joined the stage crew because I thought it'd be a low-commitment way to be involved in my school's community (and see my friends more often). I have never been more glad to be so, so wrong. Stage crew turned out to be the biggest thing I'd ever committed to. I dedicated hours upon hours every week to building and painting sets, and in the week building up to our shows it became a full-time job in all but name and pay. I had always been terrified of committing to things, but as I fell in love with working hard and seeing the fruits of my labor with my own two eyes, I realized that commitment might be a risky investment, but it's a risk that's worth it. Even if it that investment yields nothing... which is exactly what happened when our production of Little Shop of Horrors was cancelled on March 13th, 2020, five days before opening night. Everything I'd feared about commitment had come true; it was all for nothing. Except, I realized it wasn't. I loved building and painting sets and contributing to these shows, and it hurt that nothing had come of it, but I loved the process anyways. Until that point, the only careers I had considered were ones that I knew I would not fail at, like office jobs and library careers, even though I also knew I would not be very interested in them. When stage crew started up again that fall (with plenty of changes to our process to make it COVID-safe), it hit me. I could handle let-downs. I could handle disappointments and still stand back up. What I would always regret, though, would be if I had not pulled myself up, if I had not gone back to the drama club. Maybe I would regret it, too, if I didn't consider other careers, even if they were challenges. So, I asked around - what were all the upperclassmen, in both the cast and crew, considering for future careers? Much of the answers were what I listed above, but when a couple members from the cast and crew told me about engineering, it led me down the path to aerospace engineering. Stage crew is incredibly meaningful to me, and I truly would not be who I am today without it. People do not expect theatre to be how I got interested in engineering, but it taught me that being passionate about something is worth boldly facing the fear of failure that haunts me. Studying aerospace engineering will be difficult, but I am not going to let my fear stop me.

My parents have always told me that I need to be healthy and active. Both of them have struggled with being overweight for years, so they've always encouraged me to get into good habits while I am young so that I can face less struggles than they have once I grow older. It's important to me to live a healthy life so that I don't have to face the same challenges my parents have, so I can be as strong and healthy as possible for my future career, and so that I can continue a lifestyle that I can enjoy. My parents have embarked on journeys to improve their diets and exercise more often, and I have a front row seat to watch how difficult it is. One of the things I've noticed most is how challenging it is to wean oneself off of large amounts of sugar, especially since it's in so many foods. I know that sugar is necessary in some quantities, but the large amount of food that has sugar in the US makes it difficult to avoid eating too much. I am trying to lead a healthy life now because I don't want to struggle with trying to decrease my sugar intake once I am older. I am doing this by planning the meals that my parents don't cook for me with healthy alternatives that include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, rather than quick meals that are filled with more sugars than nutrients, like pop-tarts and fast food. I also want to live a healthy lifestyle because my dream job is becoming an astronaut, which requires not only a successful engineering career, but also being in peak physical shape. Astronauts have to pass several fitness tests to qualify, so I have begun working out regularly to ensure that I get into a habit of working out that will continue throughout my life. Hopefully, having already started means that I will become very fit and maintain that fitness until I finish my master's degree and finally apply to become an astronaut. Finally, I have a lifestyle where I enjoy eating delectable desserts and also trying out difficult, unique experiences caving and rope courses. I don't want to give up either of those parts of my life because they're important to me, so staying healthy enough to continue splurging on the sweet parts of life and challenging myself is incredibly important.

In elementary school, I thought there were still people going to the moon. I had an intense fascination with space, especially the moon and my favorite definitely-a-planet, Pluto. I knew that the Apollo 11 was in 1969, but part of me figured that NASA had kept sending people to the moon, and that other countries had done the same. It took me until middle school when I found out that the last manned mission to the moon was in 1972, and I was immensely disappointed. How is humanity supposed to explore the universe if we're not even continuing to explore our own orbit? I spent several years just thinking, "what a shame," but my fascination with space faded as schoolwork took up more and more of my time - until suddenly, I had nothing else to do. The shutdowns of the early pandemic left me listless, lonely, and struck with a deep boredom that not even Netflix could fill. What did fill it was my reignited fascination with the stars and spacecraft and especially the Mars Perseverance Rover. The day I watched Perseverance lift off on the way to its dusty red new home was the same day I knew I had to do something just like that - the only question was how. I could not decide what major to pursue - biology or astrophysics? Electrical engineering or chemistry? Computer science or geology? There was so much to choose from, and I struggled to pick one - until one day I realized I didn't have to pick just one. When I attend college, I will major in Aerospace Engineering, so I can be one of the people who build rovers and rocket ships and space stations, but I'm also going to choose another major, because learning about the universe that surrounds our little planet takes more than engineering. Besides, I will not let myself be limited to just one discipline. I want to learn as much as I can, and use that knowledge to help wherever I can. No matter whether my second choice is geology or atmospheric science, I will enjoy it.

Ever since I was a child, my mom has always listened to finance podcasts. Whenever I get in the car with her, without fail, there's financial advice filling my ears, whether it's Dave Ramsay or an NPR finance podcast. After being exposed to stories of financial ruin and success for that long, I have been on the receiving end of a lot of what to do and what not to. I've followed a lot of that advice (so far), such as "never go into debt" or "make a budget that accounts for every dollar you make," but the advice that I have found the most helpful is this: the 50/30/20 rule. Any time I make money, whether that's a paycheck from an after-school job or some money for dog-sitting, I first take 20% of that and move it to my growth and savings account. Then, I take 50% of my money and use it to buy whatever I need. I'm a high school student, so my needs are mostly covered by my parents - that means I get to put whatever remains of my "need" money into savings, because I know I will need to cover more of my needs once I reach college. Then, I use the remaining 30% for stuff I want. If I didn't follow this rule, well, let's just say a lot more than 30% would be used for the stuff I want. Because of this, I've been saving up money. It's not a lot, but it's a good start, and it'll continue to be a good basis when I have to be more responsible for my needs in college and beyond.

I don't remember it, but my parents have told me that the first job I ever dreamed of having was "Santa's Money Man." I'm not sure if three-year-old me meant the person who funded Santa's toy operation or Santa's accountant, but it was the first career goal I've ever set. My career goals have changed several times since then, though. I have always had an interest in "space, the final frontier," but I never used to consider astronaut or aerospace engineering as a career path. However, in 2019, my mom told me about NASA's new 2020 Mars Rover, later named Perseverance. I quickly became obsessed. One day, while I was watching a live stream of NASA rocket scientists working on Perseverance, I decided that I would persevere like that not-so-little robot and become one of the people on the first manned mission to Mars. I told my parents, and they encouraged me to go for it, though it would take hard work. That day, I made a twelve-year plan that outlined my education and career goals, and how I will achieve them. I eventually want to be one of NASA's astronauts, and I worked backward from there. To become an astronaut, I will need a master's degree and at least two years of relevant work experience. If everything goes according to schedule, I should graduate with my master's degree in 2029. For a while, though, I was unsure about what STEM field I would get my degrees in. Biology and chemistry fascinated me, but they never felt right. Then, I took AP Physics, and despite my classmates' dislike of the class, I found it both challenging and fascinating. My friend also encouraged me to go on a field trip with them to learn about engineering, and I became enamored with aerospace engineering. I wouldn't have considered it if my friend hadn't been interested in engineering themselves. We've made a deal to hold each other to our decisions and become engineers together. Once I knew how the end of my goal plan should work out, I made sure to set up the steps I'd have to follow to get there. The first step is exactly what I'm doing now - getting good grades and applying to as many scholarships as possible. I don't want student debt to hold me back at any point in my plan, after all. My grades will help with scholarship applications, but they'll also help with getting into college. That leads to my next step, making a list of colleges and later applying to them. I'm still a junior, so I'm not into the applying phase yet, but I do have a list of my dream schools and schools that I have a good chance of getting into. Whether I stay on the ground using my future engineering skills or become an astronaut, I hope to one day make space more accessible. I could walk into any room full of people and there would probably be at least one person who's dreamed of going to space one day, but right now that's something reserved for only the most skilled scientists and the wealthiest people in the world. I think that humanity's future is in the stars, so I want to make it more cost-effective and more environmentally friendly for us to go there. And who knows, maybe if I do become a well-paid aerospace engineer, I really will be able to become "Santa's Money Man" for kids who need a little extra joy on their Christmases.

Ever since I can remember, I've been staring towards the sparkling, swirling starlight in the sky. When I was a kid, I wanted to know about constellations, and then I wanted to know about stars and black holes, and nebulas. When I was fourteen, I began following the building and naming process of the Mars 2020 Rover (now called Perseverance). When I watched it launch, I decided that one day, I would follow Perseverance. Space IS the final frontier - so I want to become one of the many who explore it. Being an astronaut is a common dream shared among children, teens, and adults alike, but it is going to be more than a dream for me. I hope to become an aerospace engineer where I will at least help work on the technology that will lead more humans into space, but if my twelve-year plan happens the way that I've planned it to, then I will become an astronaut. Not only do I dream of becoming an astronaut and going to the stars, I dream to be one of the astronauts on the first mission to Mars. I want to see that dusty red planet with my own eyes, not just through the lens of another robot (though I do love the robots!). I don't want my career to be "going to space," though, I want to make it easier to go to space. I want to learn as much as I can about space and about engineering to make blasting off in a rocket use less fuel and be less complicated. I want to go to space, but I also want to clear the way for those after me to go to space, too.

My favorite piece of art is an illustration by Ilya Milstein called The Muse's Revenge. It portrays a woman, who appears to be a young adult, confronting and, well, getting revenge on the man she was once a muse for - a painter with gray hair and a beard. At first glance, the illustration immediately points the viewers' eyes towards the woman, who is mostly in the center. She is not facing the audience, but rather facing the painter on the floor, while her outstretched arms point a gun at him. Throughout the background of the room are portraits of the woman, and she's naked in every single one. The painter is leaning (or rather cowering) against several broken paintings, and there are broken plates on the floor. I love The Muse's Revenge because of the subject matter, but also because of the details. The story of a young woman who was used just for her body taking back her autonomy and getting revenge is so compelling. The piece doesn't show just one story, but many stories, of women creating art being dismissed more than their male counterparts while their bodies are not. It reminds me of the stories I've read of the women who used to be Picasso's muses, who were young aspiring artists that he dated when he was much older than them. I've also noticed several details, like how the young woman's dress appears to be blowing in the wind in the direction of the painter, and flowing away from the open door where the wind is likely coming from. I also love the intricate patterns on the walls and the contrast between the cool walls and the warm colors of the paintings, the woman, and the painter. I just adore how much effort Milstein put in.

I am the person I am today because of how those around me have shaped me and my experience. My family is the reason I'm an avid follower of hockey, and my closest friends are the reason I have a positive outlook. I share an interest (show, movie, book) with most of those people. Every teacher I've had since preschool has been the reason I strive for excellence, though that often becomes perfectionism. Another one of my friends is out and proud - because of her encouragement, I am, too. Most importantly, my twin sister is the reason I'm never lonely, even when I'm alone.

I used to think certain people were good at making a lot of friends and maintaining relationships, and those who just... weren't good at friends and interpersonal relationships. I was a little bitter, jealous, and self-deprecating. I thought, surely this is just how I am, I can't change that, other people will just sometimes be better friends to each other and have better relationships, right? Wrong. So, so wrong. It took some time to learn how wrong that was, and even longer to change my mindset on that. I learned that maintaining and strengthening relationships with friends isn't something people can be inherently good at, just like nobody's inherently good at doing math or painting or playing football. It's a skill, and nobody can get good at it without putting in the practice and the effort to do that. Not only that but comparing one relationship to another is fruitless. It never helps, only causes jealousy and hurt. When I realized that, I put more effort into my friendships. I wasn't perfect, and I'm still not perfect, but now I put more effort into communicating and spending time with the people I care about, rather than sulking like a child. Also, I stopped comparing my friendships to other friendships that I would see. My outside perspective is exactly that; outside. I won't know how much effort somebody put into that seemingly effortless perfect friendship, or how many problems I don't see. Since then, my relationships have flourished because of mutual effort, rather than the chemistry I used to think was the basis of lasting connections. The love, sweat, and tears I put into caring for my friends and my family are mine, from my hard work, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My bucket list isn't very long, but I've been working on it for years. The first thing I ever ticked off my bucket list was to visit another country - I had that on a bucket list of sorts before I even knew what the term bucket list was, and I checked it off when I went to Canada for a hockey tournament in elementary school. The rest of my bucket list includes; visiting every continent, going on a road trip with my friends, going camping with my friends, seeing the Grand Canyon, graduating college, going to space, falling in love, and writing a book. Not necessarily in that order, of course. I'm making progress with visiting every continent because I will hopefully be going on a school trip to Germany this coming summer. One of the things I'm most excited about is seeing the Grand Canyon because I've been planning and fundraising for a trip there with my Girl Scout troop for the past year. We're gonna do it the summer after I graduate, right around the time I'll be aging out of Girl Scouts. I've still got a lot to do for the rest of the things on my bucket list, but I know I'll do it. Maybe I'll organize my road trip with friends for next spring break, and maybe I'll develop all the ideas I have for books into actual drafts next November (National Novel Writing Month!). I hope to graduate college with my bachelor's degree in 2027, though that doesn't seem like a real year to me yet. I don't know when falling in love will come in, though I might be able to argue that I've already fallen in love - with space, with exploration, with whatever I'll do next.

Ever since I was a child, my mom has always listened to finance podcasts. Whenever I get in the car with her, without fail, there's financial advice filling my ears, whether it's Dave Ramsay or an NPR podcast. After being exposed to stories of financial ruin and success for that long, I have been on the receiving end of a lot of what to do and what not to. I've followed a lot of that advice (so far), such as "never go into debt" or "make a budget that accounts for every dollar you make," but the advice that I have found the most helpful is this: the 50/30/20 rule. Any time I make money, whether that's a paycheck from an after-school job or some money for dog-sitting, I first take 20% of that and move it to my growth and savings account. Then, I take 50% of my money and use it to buy whatever I need. I'm a high school student, so my needs are mostly covered by my parents - that means I get to put whatever remains of my "need" money into savings, because I know I will need to cover more of my needs once I reach college. Then, I use the remaining 30% for stuff I want. If I didn't follow this rule, well, let's just say a lot more than 30% would be used for the stuff I want. Because of this, I've been saving up money. It's not a lot, but it's a good start, and it'll continue to be a good basis when I have to be more responsible for my needs in college and beyond.

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown is an emotional story about love, grief, art, and perseverance. I've lost track of the number of times I have read it, but I know that I first read it shortly after it was published, the summer of 2019. That summer, I was beginning to grapple with (and beginning to deny) the fact that I was a lesbian and my queer relationship with womanhood. That year was also the year that I started criticizing my own artwork so harshly that I lost motivation to create. The Meaning of Birds is structured in chapters that take place "before" and "after." It follows the main character, a teenager named Jess, as she finds her first love, loses her, and learns to keep living and keep creating in the "after." It's a moving novel; it's been nearly a year since I read it last, yet I'm tearing up as I write about it here. In the book, Jess loses her motivation to create art after her girlfriend dies, but, after some trouble at school, she ends up taking an after-school job working with a metalworking artist. Jess began to create artwork again alongside her mentor, who is an older married lesbian. Jess's journey as she found out how to live without the girl she loved while also finding her passion inspired me to begin painting again. Art is an outlet for me, and when I started creating again in my own free time rather than just for a grade at school, I looked inward and began to accept myself. Not only that, but reading about queer people loving and losing and just existing without angsting over being true to themselves inspired me to begin accepting myself and being true to myself, too.

I have always struggled with motivation. The motivation to wake up at the ungodly hour of 6:00 AM for school. The motivation to begin my homework, even when it's something that will only take a few minutes. The motivation to work out instead of staring at a blank wall for hours. That well can run dry occasionally (or often), but when it does I always remember that I need to dig deeper. Sometimes digging deeper means I need to provide myself with a short-term goal and reward. If I'm struggling to begin my calculus homework, I tell myself that if I just take out my textbook and calculator, I can eat a fruit snack or snack on a chip with queso. Then, I keep going; I reward myself for each question or each set of questions I complete. Writing down my long-term goals and the rewards I will receive if I achieve them is another way to dig that well of motivation deeper. I work out every day because my long-term goals of maintaining health and building muscle tone motivate me to follow through. Motivation isn't an inherent thing some people have, and some people don't have. Some people struggle to reach motivation more than others do, but in my experience, motivation is a self-reinforcing cycle. By keeping myself motivated in the present, I ensure that I will continue to be motivated in the future.

1. If I don't win this specific scholarship I will drop out of school and never reach any of my dreams. (/j) 2. To literally crash and burn the second I step out of college. My career will be like SpaceX's starship prototypes whenever they were trying to land. 3. I'm absolutely terrified of driving, and I've barely driven, even though my permit expires in several months. Worry not, though, I found a solution! I convinced all my friends to get their drivers' licenses, so now I don't have to drive anywhere.

I am going to be one of the first people to set foot on Mars. Space exploration is part of the future of humanity. Humans are naturally curious, and we've explored most of Earth and part of our solar system. I want to be part of the next stage of exploration as actual humans go to Mars and develop technology to learn even more about our universe. Of course, it's not going to be easy. I'm going to reach my goals, though, no matter what it takes. I'm going to study physics or aerospace engineering in college or perhaps both, and then I'm going to work where I can look out into the universe and learn more about it, or where I can provide support for space exploration. Then, I want to follow where my heart is pulling me. I hope to go to space, one day, not for the novelty of it, but so humanity can learn more about the beautiful, star-filled void that surrounds us. Two years ago, I watched as NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover began its six-month journey to its new home. My love of all things space had started long before then, but that day sparked an unquenchable ambition to go further in my heart. Two years ago, I made my "Twelve Year Plan To Become An Astronaut" that outlined everything from the CHS Statistics class that I will take my Senior year of high school, to how long it will take me to complete my degrees, to when I will begin applying for the job of an astronaut at NASA. Two years ago, I decided that nothing is going to stop me from laying my own two eyes and stepping my own two feet on that dusty, red planet.

Finding simple pleasures never used to be easy for me. Making my way through sophomore year of high school during the pandemic had me constantly stressed and overwhelmed, but it got better as I found ways to unwind. Every Wednesday, through late spring to early fall, my township hosts a Farmers’ Market at the park. On those days, I take a walk through a large field bordering my neighborhood, rain or shine (it’s mostly “shine” though). Sometimes, I bring a friend. I challenge myself not to look at my phone and to just enjoy the nature and, once I get to the market’s location, the community. Most of the time, I just stroll through the market. I talk to some of the vendors: the kind old couple selling pie, the funny woman selling glass art pieces, a family friend who works at the parks department. Farmers’ Markets are simple pleasures, and that’s exactly why I love them. It’s domestic, like the other simple pleasures I find in sitting in my best friend’s car or going to the movies with my sister or baking with my dad or watching tv with my mom.

I don't want to just leave a mark on the world. I want to leave a mark on the universe. Space exploration is part of the future of humanity. Humans are naturally curious, and we've explored most of Earth and part of our solar system. I want to be part of the next stage of exploration as actual humans go to Mars, and we send robots even further out in the galaxy. Of course, it's not going to be easy. I'm going to reach my goals, though, no matter what it takes. I'm going to study physics or aerospace engineering in college or perhaps both, and then I'm going to work where I can look out into the universe and learn more about it, or where I can provide support for space exploration. Then, I want to follow where my heart is pulling me. I hope to go to space, one day, not for the novelty of it, but so humanity can learn more about the beautiful, star-filled void that surrounds us. Most importantly, though, I want to make scientific discoveries and explore the galaxy to encourage other girls, boys, and children to follow me. I want to leave my mark in the stars so that in the future, humanity can go further.

When I was in 7th grade, I began to expand my group of friends. I was an 12 year old closeted lesbian, so when I met a girl in my Family and Consumer Sciences class who was the most out girl I’d ever met, I instantly tried to become her friend. Now, I didn’t tell her I was gay - or anybody else, for that matter, but it was still constantly on my mind. It was on my mind the day we got grouped up with a boy in our class to bake a cake. He was a former bully of mine, but we’d grown to have a friendly relationship. It was a wonderful cake, but the experience was soured by his words. I don’t remember how the topic of gay rights came up, but I do remember what he said about it - “The gays should die and go to hell.” Four years later and I still remember those words. I know he was probably just echoing what his parents taught him, and I don’t hold any grudge against him. Still, that hurt. It was the first time I’d ever experienced homophobia. The part I remember most about that day wasn’t my pain, though. It was my friend’s reaction. She didn’t stutter or back down. She stood tall. Proud. That day, I decided that I would do the same. I came out to my friends and my family in the year after that. Instead of letting hatred pull me deeper into the closet, I let solidarity help me out, so I could stand with my friend and be proud.