I am going to be a junior at the University of North Alabama this Spring of 2025. I'm pursuing a Bachelor's in Accounting with a minor in Professional Management, and have already interviewed for an internship at a top 100 accounting firm for an internship in 2026. I have several dreams and paths opening up as I continue my education, which I hope to continue into my Master's of Accounting and work towards a Certificate of Public Accounting to further open up my opportunities. Some of the paths I am most interested in include: 1) Becoming a public accountant for businesses, especially contract companies seen in abundance in the Huntsville, AL area. 2) Using the knowledge of finances, accounting, and management to open up my own business in the sewing/fashion industry, following in my grandmother's footsteps. This past October I was extremely fortunate to win the Gilman Scholarship awarded by the US State Department to attend a study abroad to Kolding, Denmark to represent America and compete in an international business pitch competition at the International Business Academy of Denmark, where I placed 2nd overall! While performing really well was a surreal and lifechanging experience, I am most grateful for the revelation I had while there: business and entrepreneurship is a path I want to take. With that knowledge, I strive to finish my education while maintaining my 4.0 and working throughout to come out of school debt-free. So far, I have managed to do so with two jobs and lots of studying. However, what I was not anticipating, was coming home from my study abroad trip to my little sister struggling with serious health problems. At the time of writing this, I have accompanied her to Vanderbilt's hospital, to the ER late into the night, and have caught her from falling during her seizure episodes. They are very scary, but the worst part is despite the numerous trips to hospitals and specialists, they have no idea what is wrong. On top of this, not long after my sister's medical events began, my dad was laid off - which made the past few months very difficult for our family as a whole. I have picked up more shifts to help my family through this, but I know once the spring semester begins, I will struggle to balance my classes, traveling back and forth from college and home, two jobs, and all the payments I am helping out with. I have experienced emotional weakness in my life on several occasions, the hardest being the loss of my mom, and I have overcome all of it. I know I will rise above this period stronger too. However, I have also learned from my past experiences, that there is nothing wrong with looking for help when you need it. So now I write to you, for any financial aid offered will be a weight lifted off not just my own, but my entire family's shoulders.

The United States as a whole has come very far in destigmatizing many different taboos and stereotypes in the last few decades. Thanks to the help of social media and the internet, destigmatization has worked at lightning speed thanks to the sharing of information at our fingertips. That being said, there is still much work to be done, especially in the South - as I myself have experienced much prejudice because of my own mental health, and choosing to prioritize it. I have diagnosed anxiety disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder. There was a time in my life where depression ruled over my every thought, and I am very happy to say I have worked through it and have come out on the other side of the storm. Although it was tough, I am grateful for the experience because it has taught me a lot about myself, and how to help others who struggled as I did. I believe step one is eliminating the idea that mental health is "bad" or that someone should be ostracized if they suffer from psychiatric conditions/disorders, especially in the Black community. You would not shame someone for being diagnosed with cancer, so why is it okay to shame someone with depression, anxiety, or even more serious conditions like bipolar disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder? It's not, and the more people who refuse to tolerate hearing others bullied/shamed for their mental health, the less we will see it occur as a whole. I believe this is a large contributor to stigmatization, and it seems to be very present in the Black community. Step two is education. Not only on mental health disorders and conditions to look out for in yourself, but also identify in those around you. It is often said that those smiling the brightest, are the darkest inside. Asking questions, reaching out, doing small check-ups on your friends and family are all crucial to ensuring no one is left behind struggling on their own. Just because someone doesn't LOOK depressed or anxious, doesn't mean they don't feel that way. It's also important to remember that mental health is not only affected by trauma - people leading ordinary and content lives can still deal with mental hardships. And that is okay. We are all riding the waves of life, and sometimes rogue waves come and knock some people overboard. It is up to us on the ship to send life-rafts to those in need. One of the most important steps to destigmatizing mental health and enhancing it's accessibility is building confidence. Confidence in yourself to identify and help others in need, and confidence in being able to find that help in someone else. Having access to good counselors and therapists at school or a private therapist office is key to opening the door of communication on mental health. Unfortunately not everyone has the ability to see therapists or counselors. Luckily technology has provided many great options for those in more rural areas or those who are homeschooled -- like BetterHelp, online therapists, thousands of support groups on different social media platforms, and hotlines for those seriously in need. Mental health taboos have come a long way in just the past thirty years, through these steps and more, but mainly through giving people access to care, the confidence to reach out, and the reassurance they won't be judged for doing so. This applies to not only the Black community, but all people, across the world. When we connect to others from different walks of life, we can all walk forward, together in unison.

I have taken multiple classes in the past two years in environmental science, weather, and climate, and the topic of sustainability in today's society is more important now than ever. International trade is a huge step forward in the global and domestic economies, but that comes with sacrifices to the environment companies are willing to make for profits. However, it is in a company's self-interest to sustain the environment in order to increase the longevity of their business. Not only does it keep them in business for longer, but it increases the quality of life of everyone on the planet. Even today you can see the impact of carbon emissions in Los Angeles, California by the temperature inversions that now occur due to massive carbon emissions and geography. The carbon footprint is a global problem due to the global transportation required to move inventory from one place to the next; this is largely due to supermarkets and society's need for fast-fashion and cheaper product options. Unfortunately, the carbon footprint is only increasing in size every second, so what can we do today? In recent years philosophers concerned with the ethics of business have determined all businesses have a corporate social responsibility (CSR). This means that becoming environmentally sustainable is the sole responsibility of the companies themselves; largely because governments do not have the capabilities to enforce those rules without restricting free markets. Businesses must implement sustainable practices in order to reduce their carbon footprint and add years back to the Earth's life. Supply chain management is an immediate way companies can reduce their emissions. On average, two-thirds of a company's carbon footprint comes from suppliers and the process of making products, shipping products, selling those products, and then the products' lives after being sold. In retail, a business can reduce carbon emissions by using new/different materials, using new sustainable strategies, recycling, and focusing on products in sustainable markets or second-hand products. If you implement sustainable changes to control your supply chain, you will instantly reduce your carbon footprint and emissions. Companies should also operationalize and build a foundation to integrate and manage sustainability initiatives. They can do this by optimizing their operations to take less time, use less resources, use less energy. They can also switch to using renewable energy to power their operations, such as solar power, hydropower, or wind power. Nuclear power would also be a great switch, however, nuclear power is not 100% sustainable due to the use of uranium needed to power the controlled explosions, but it is much better than oil or coal power. These sources of energy also are determinate on the location the businesses are operating in, so they may not be viable; but solar panels can be installed on a roof anywhere, which can reduce some emissions. Companies should seek to switch materials to ones that consume less time and energy to make, and which are renewable. We live in an age where plastic dominates, but if we replaced it with renewable sources (like metals), we'd reduce emissions by almost half in production. Plastic cannot be easily recycled the same way metals and other materials can, the process of breaking it down is much more costly and energy-consuming. Metals are easily melted down and reshaped to create new products. If companies switched to more sustainable resources, they would decrease their carbon footprint. These practices can be costly and time-consuming at first, but they are a necessity if we want to create an eco-friendly and sustainable world. There is no business if there is no us.

Mental health has been a very taboo subject for practically the entire length of human existence on planet Earth; only recently has massive progress been made at addressing the problems with how mental health is viewed and treated. However, there are still a lot of barriers in the way of helping heal the United States of the many mental health issues Americans are dealing with every day. Luckily, there are clear steps that can be taken to continue the progress of diagnosing and treating mental illnesses. Providing psychiatrists, therapists, and mental health professionals to everyone for a much lower price than currently available is necessary. The American healthcare system is very flawed in the ridiculously high bills for the smallest of treatments; the markups on life-saving medicines are usually around 1000%. I had to quit going to see a mental health therapist myself because of the enormous prices and rigid insurance companies that refuse to aid the millions of mentally ill patients across the country. Decreasing the bills for lower-middle-class Americans will address the crisis on a national level, and the accessibility achieved from that will affect every citizen involved. Allowing those unfortunate enough to afford health insurance or pay the massive bills access to the care they need is crucial to treating the mental health crisis in America. Providing a health care professional in schools across the country will give students and children an important pillar of stability to lean on if need be. Counselors do not have the same levels of knowledge gained by psychiatrists and therapists, and having one on hand at schools (especially since children ages 12-15 are experiencing many body and hormonal changes) will greatly impact the students there. Not only will it spread awareness of different mental illnesses, but it also diminishes the taboo surrounding mental health at a young age and encourages the younger generations to speak up and seek help when they need it. One of the largest problems with the mental health crisis is the cause: people are not obtaining help when they need it most. If there is an easy way for children to access professional help, they will become much more comfortable asking for help in the future as adults. Additionally, children can seek help if they face conflicts at home, and be put in contact with a social worker. The first step to solving a problem is recognizing there is one. It is very easy to use escapes from your current life to pretend your problems do not exist. These escapes can be social media, TV, and even hobbies. Reading and art sound like great activities to do, but when you focus on escaping reality as a way to procrastinate your issues or needs, it is a huge problem. Many people who suffer from depression or anxiety, often abuse escapes and disregard their health by not eating, ignoring hygiene, pushing off deadlines, and isolating themselves from friends and family. Like all things in the world, only the perfect amount is healthy; too much or too little of anything is what causes problems. People have an idea in their heads of what mental illness is supposed to look like, when it can look entirely different for every person. Six-hundred words are not enough to dive deep into solving the massive problem of mental health in America, but there are simple things we can do on a national, state and school, and personal level to understand ourselves and mental illness. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and people must have these conversations.