Authors dream of their work being seen by hundreds, admired, and understood. Dream that their progress and hard work are recognized as worthy by their peers and audience. They create books that dare to break barriers, standards, and stereotypes within genres. The authors I read are no different. In a way, I’m no different than them either. Typically, I gravitate towards psychological genres that inspire my mind to think outside the box and create a world that goes against the norm. Reading these kinds of novels has strengthened my ability to create ideas that are unlike any other. Horror author Junji Ito has had the biggest influence on my mind and the work I produce. Ito is known for his unique twists on common occurrences in everyday life. Situations such as getting a haircut, taking a shower, buying ice cream, and more have been spun into a tale that was unimaginable before. I’ve read every novel of his, and he never ceases to leave me in awe, wondering how he could create something out of essentially nothing. I’ve been envious of his ability, but I believe I cannot live my life envious of others who have a skill that I can learn; Trying to turn my envy into something useful. Throughout university, I have encountered many classes where my grade is based on my ability to think and produce unique ideas. While I was skeptical about my abilities, I looked back on Ito’s works and used similar methods to create something that can still stand out in a sea of inventive minds. Use what’s around you: images, thoughts, how it makes you feel; start small and build outwards. Any idea is better than no idea. Once I used this method for assignments, I noticed how open my mind has become. I’ve always struggled when it came to believing that I could create my own unique ideas. As I read books with unique takes on everyday instances was the start of having faith in my abilities. Alongside my projects in university, I finally figured out what I wanted to focus on next. One and a half years into university, I discovered my calling: journalism. Taking my classes, I didn’t naturally get the hang of coming up with interesting story ideas or openings to articles. I struggled often. During that time of truly wondering if I had it in me to follow through with my goal of getting into journalism, I found myself going back to Ito’s books. I reread familiar stories, finding that initial spark, the one that pushed me to be confident in myself. After each session of re-reading the novels, I’ve noticed that I would branch out of my comfort zone and try something new. Within the past two years, I have read all twenty-six of his books each summer. Not too long after, I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried new things that require a creative mind. Things that I wouldn’t have had faith in myself to accomplish before. Since then, I have become a student reporter for my university’s newspaper, written thirty-plus articles, and have become a member of the newspaper's editorial board. Whether it’s a coincidence that I branch out and try new things after rereading Ito’s books, or if, secretly, I purposefully read his work in hopes I’ll try something new. I can say with certainty that Junji Ito’s books have given me confidence to be bold, daring to push myself. I dream of people seeing, admiring, and understanding my work. And I know I’ll have reread Ito’s books just before it happens.

In November 2020, I came across my first K-pop group, TXT. I was scrolling through TikTok during COVID-19 and came across a color-coded lyric video of 'Blue Hour'. Immediately, I was infatuated and have been since. The most important characteristic of a MOA is loving. I have interacted with hundreds of MOA's and I've noticed a common trait. We are not only kind to one another and TXT, but are full of love and positive energy. It is easy to spot a MOA, they have a beautiful aura that radiates off of them. It's a trait that TXT would want us to have, and it's also just a trait that comes naturally with MOA's, I've noticed. There's a saying among K-pop fans that your bias is someone you see yourself in, and I resonated with that once I realized how much we have in common. Huening Kai has been my bias and ult bias for 6 years. Besides the fact that we both have many different laughs and our obsession with collecting stuffed animals, I think that mentally and emotionally, we have a lot in common. What helped me realize that was the clips of him hiding his face or criticizing his looks. Self-image issues are something that we all deal with, myself included. Those clips were reminders that even someone I cherish and respect deeply can view themselves differently, even though we're physically in different situations and moments in our lives. While he has always been my favorite, his vulnerability reminded me that we are all humans. It might be a common answer, but one of my favorite TXT songs is 0X1=LOVESONG. This was the first album that I was a fan of before it came out. I remember being in a motel after visiting family in Georgia. I had just convinced my younger cousin to become a MOA. I remember staying up late in the hotel room waiting for the music video to drop, my mom yelling at me to go to bed as it was late at night. Though the moment is so small, it's something I will always be reminded of when listening to 0X1=LOVESONG. My first ever K-pop concert was actually TXT, their Lovesick tour in 2022. Being from Illinois, I also had to see their first-ever Lollapalooza performance in 2022, and also them being the first K-pop group to headline Lollapalooza in 2023 (See attached photo). It may be unpopular, but one of my favorite concepts was the Drama 2020 Japanese version release. As an anime fan, the volleyball theme reminded me of my favorite nostalgic anime, Haikyuu. I feel like the concept was very unique and reminded me of something that I cherish deeply. I am currently unsure of my payments for school. I have been unlucky to get accepted for loans, private and federal. I am working 3 jobs over the summer but unfortunately, the money is not enough to pay for school. My parents and I have been discussing selling our life insurance policies, but those topics are in the air. This scholarship will help pay for most of my classes, taking a huge amount of pressure off the shoulders of my parents and I. Allowing me to shift my focus to paying for school supplies and groceries. TXT has influenced me in ways I didn't expect to be influenced. There have been many dark aspects in my life where the only people I've been able to rely on were TXT, and I don't want others to go through what I've experienced. TXT is one of the biggest reasons as to why I focus on spreading joy, understanding others, and why I aim to be someone that people can rely on. As a journalism major, the biggest part of our role is to spread awareness and truth to those who are unaware. I look forward to being in a position where I can inform the uninformed about all situations around the world. Whether it be political issues, the biggest trends, or TXT's newest album release. The public deserves to be shown the truth of the world, and I will forever stand by that belief and will forever fight for that right.

Somehow, a simple book about drugs, alcohol, mental illnesses and death has helped me figure out which path in life I truly want to take. While the prompt says books, I can only think of one book that changed and helped shape my current goals. Only about a year ago I discovered a manga, created by Junji Ito, that was made from the novel 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai. Before reading the novel, I truly had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I only knew I wanted to go to college. I didn't have any goals at all. No life goals, relationship goals, or academic goals. Nothing. I have always been an in-the-moment kind of person. So, I never really thought of a future or anything I wanted to accomplish. I was and am a fan of Junji Ito's manga, so I tend to buy them without reading the back or inside cover of the book. So I bought his depiction of 'No Longer Human' and started reading. The beginning was rather boring but as I got further into the book I realized how different everybody's life is. I know it is cheesy but my life was so different than the main character's life that it was eye-opening. It truly had a different impact than a normal book because it was drawn, so I had no choice but to see the emotions of the main character. I would see his horrible decisions whether I liked it or not. And his decisions were also in-the-moment decisions, the type of decisions that I would make. These were the only similarities we both had. Once I reached the end of the novel I had to take a second and think about my life and what I am doing with it, or what I am NOT doing with it. The main character made horrible decisions and had no goals in his life to push him to become the best version of himself. He would drink, take drugs, commit horrible acts and would ignore his priorities which lead to him living a horrible life. Regretting everything that he didn't do when he was older. While I did tell myself I will never do horrible things such as drugs or a crime, I wouldn't consider that a goal. But a year or so after reading that novel I do have goals. Those goals are to continue my schooling and move up to college. Something that the main character in 'No Longer Human struggled to do. While it may be hard to think that a manga can change someone's whole perspective, it was very simple. It's the fact that the story is so realistic that it isn't that hard for it to make me think about how I need to push myself to become a better person and set goals for myself. Now instead of just going to college, I made myself work to find which college I want to go to. I've set up interviews for jobs. While I can't list all of the goals I've set up to help myself, I've also set up goals for myself to try and help my family. Such as working on scholarships so they won't have as much to pay for when they try and help me pay for college. This novel has changed my single goal into multiple goals. I work harder to complete these goals so I don't become the main character in that novel, struggling because he did not have the right goals that would push him in the right direction.