The Nintendo Wii has been a staple in my household for years. I can remember growing up playing Mario Kart, Super Mario World, and Mario Super Sluggers with my family on game nights and having tons of fun. However, my most memorable session was when my mom and I competed in the Michael Jackson Experience game. In my family, anything can turn into a competition, especially when it comes to earning high scores on our favorite video games. I was very close to owning the high score on all the songs, but for some reason, I could not beat my mom's high score for "Thriller'", which was well over 10,500 points. As a result, I wanted to change things up and I challenged her to play the song with me. That gave me the push I needed to turn on my competitive engine. I began to string together a series of perfect moves and took the scoring lead by the song's halfway point, despite my mom lagging closely behind. Other than the sound of Michael Jackson's voice over the beat, the room was silent as neither of us echoed a word as we were locked into our competition. After a while, the song was reaching its end and our scores were neck and neck. I thought to myself that if I wasn't even able to beat my mom in a head-to-head matchup, I would never beat the high score. Things were looking grim until one fateful opportunity appeared for me to take advantage of. Like all songs in the game, "Thriller" featured its own set of "gold moves" that gave players extra points for successfully performing the move. It was my one chance to put my score over the top, and of course, I took advantage of it much to my mom's dismay. Once the song was over, the scores began to appear on the screen and I waited patiently to see my final score. Suddenly, five stars jumped onto the screen next to a number well over 10,800. Once I saw my score, I began to jump up and down with excitement as I was the owner of all the high scores on my favorite game.Today, I can proudly walk around my house knowing I hold all of the high scores on the Michael Jackson Experience!

A few years ago, my family and I, along with a group of people, volunteered at the local food bank to pack and send food and other essential items to families in Africa who were in need. I had previously volunteered in other places before and had great experiences providing a bit of my time to do good for others. This would be my first time volunteering at a food bank though and I had no idea what to expect. On the surface, I thought it would just be another fun volunteering opportunity to give back to people in need, but it was so much more than that in the end. There were two different kinds of packages that volunteers were able to choose from to put together. The food packages included easily accessible and non-perishable food items that were able to be shipped away in large quantities without losing quality. There were also hygiene packages that included biodegradable toothbrushes, toothpaste, and kits to properly wash up. Packing rice, bottled water, dried fruits, and more helped me realize that this was a real-life opportunity to give back to a real issue that has been hurting the population in poverty in many of Africa's nations. During the time at the food bank, we were shown video testimonials from some of the people who were eventually going to receive the packages that we worked so hard to prepare. Working together with my family also put it into perspective for me. It made me realize how blessed I am to have access to food and shelter and to give back to others. I know this volunteer experience may not be as groundbreaking as others, but I learned a great deal from it. It taught me to be more mindful and considerate of what other people may be going through and to acknowledge that not everyone is as fortunate as I am. A few weeks after the experience at the food bank, they sent us an email with statistics showing how many packages were put together while we were there. Over 1,500 hundred packages were able to be shipped to various places in Africa and I am proud to know that I was able to contribute to such a great cause!

When I was just 3 years old, my mom and dad divorced each other. I don’t even remember having my mom and dad under one roof because my dad moved hours, leaving me and my mom alone by ourselves. To provide for me on her own, my mom picked up multiple jobs and side hustles just to make ends meet for us. We had to get rid of our house and we moved into multiple apartments before we finally settled down. Because there was no one else to watch me when my mom was out working, my grandma often took care of me. Even having my grandma watch me was difficult for my mom because her house was 30 minutes away from my mom’s job and it was out of the way, but there was no other choice. My grandma didn’t have it great financially so it was hard for the both of them. It was this way for many years until my mom finally got a new job where she could support me without the stress of additional jobs and depending on others to watch her child. This is why my mom is the most influential person in my life. Over the years, I’ve watched her work tirelessly to make the best life possible for me. She’s taught me what hard work and resilience mean. Even through her trials and tribulations, she has always set time aside to be my emotional support though it wasn’t easy. She has been someone that I feel comfortable going to whenever I have problems and is an excellent listener. She also gives great advice and has raised me into the young man that I am today. I want to repay her for her sacrifices by doing my absolute best in the classroom and making her proud. She has always pushed me to be my very best in school and developed me to be a successful student and person from a young age. Due to this, I want to continue my education by going to a college or university, but I do not think it would be fair to my mom to have to take on the expensive burden of paying for it. If I am blessed enough to receive scholarship money for college, I will continue to embrace my mom’s teachings because I believe they can set me up for a bright future and one that my mom would be proud of.