I have always been surrounded by music. It lives in every aspect of my life, it's in my head and flows through my body, and is released into the world when I sing. In the first memory I have with my mother, she is singing me to sleep. In my best memories with my father, we sing 80’s rock in his car. Music has always embraced my life, and through singing, I have developed a connection to the art. I have participated in choral activities since a very young age. The feeling I get when my small ensemble constructs a cord in such a way that the overtones of our voices ring are one that no other activity has been able to recreate. Singing is how I express myself. I sing with my entire soul when I’m feeling hopeless or stressed. Music is one of the many things that I look forward to participating in every day. It establishes a sense of connection within wones self. It is the most powerful thing that I have experienced. I have been brought to tears multiple times by the beauty music possesses. The emotion that a song can convey is so deep that it opens doors for a deeper level of communication, and this aspect of singing has made me a more empathetic person. Being able to associate how others feel with a specific song or chord progression lets me better understand them as a person. Music unites people, it enables them to worship, gather, and celebrate. It is a language that almost everyone can understand. Even the deaf feel for the vibrations of music because music has a soothing effect on the individual's mind. Singing can make people feel closer together because in order to make good music you have to make a good community. Music has also allowed me to see the interconnectedness of different cultures. As I sing folk songs from Germany, or gossip songs from France, I can see the way those cultures connect. This way I too can feel more connected with them, which makes the world that much smaller. A smaller world allows for more understanding, with is something that we need right now. without an interconnected global community, we can lose sight of what it means to care about others, and music has shown me that meaning. Music is the great common denominator for everybody. I will forever owe the understanding of others to my exposure to music.

I feel it is necessary to uplift others because I have seen firsthand what it can do when someone doesn’t feel seen. In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life, and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, and he hung up on me. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that it was better that he was alive and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He confessed how sorry he was, and I simply hugged him. I always try to help others feel needed and loved, even when I don't feel that way. I make an effort to compliment someone at least once a day, that way they know that they are seen in a good way, I make an effort to have one meaningful conversation with someone every day, that way they know that they are heard. I make an effort to help somebody in need, with homework, or just carry their books, so they know that there is someone out there who supports them. I do these things every day to make sure no one has to feel the way I do, and that is what makes me feel worthy.

I have been told since I was little that tears were for the pillow and that if I wanted to talk about my emotions I should get a "shrink." My stepdad even told me to hold in my emotions because they were not important to him. So I kept it all in, I never told people how I was feeling and I would go to bed feeling lonely and worthless, thinking that no one thought the same things I did or felt the same things I did. I would walk the halls of my middle school, trying to contain my emotions, thinking that if I let them show on my face that people would see that I wasn't put together, that I was weak. One day, I heard a massive fight between my stepdad and mom, the doors were slamming and I could hear breaking glass. I opened my window, jumped out, and ran down the street, I went to a highway and contemplated running into traffic, I needed to get out, to escape, and not feel the things I was feeling anymore. Then I collapsed on the ground and screamed at the top of my lungs. I felt like I was weak like I had failed everyone by not being strong enough to hold it all together. I walked home, dragging my feet because I didn't want to hear their screams, I could not take it anymore. This feeling of hopelessness and a continued feeling of PTSD from my experiences has led me to understand the deep importance of maintaining good mental health and wellness. Staying strong is about more than openly helping others and taking on a huge workload, it is about being brave enough to help yourself when you are in need. Mental health is important because it is what allows you to help yourself. In order to make it through tough times, or simply time in general, one's mental health needs to be a top priority. The prioritization of mental health can help you help yourself and others. I maintain mental wellness through the use of meditation and organization, in addition to keeping myself clean and put together. when I look good I feel good, and that helps me cope with stressful situations. Meditation helps me work through complicated times in my life, and keeping myself organized allows me to feel stable and well-put together when my actual situation may not be that way. Maintaining my mental wellness is so important to me because it allows be to be human, and to be present, which are two things that I hold as top priorities.

During my first lockdown drill, I was in kindergarten, my teacher had spoken of these drills before but as a small child I never really processed what the actual drill would entail. I remember hearing my principal's voice over the intercom, and then a high-pitched alarm was ringing in my ear. I was terrified. I hid in the corner and for some reason, I couldn't process that it was just a drill. I sat there with my head in my lap until it was over. Then everything went back to normal. It was as if nothing had happened. These drills became a normal aspect of my schooling experience, In fact, it has become so normal that as the drills would go, in order to save precious class time my teachers just ignored the drill and kept teaching. These drills don't make me feel safer, nor do they make me feel prepared for when a shooter would come into the school wanting to kill others. All they really do is make me feel like my only worth as a student and a human being is the checks that the NRA puts in the back pockets of politicians. We spend our time, twice a month, sitting in the dark, preparing for the experience to be over, but what have these activities actually helped? The number of shootings has done nothing but increase over the past years. But what are we doing, we are spending our education, sitting silently in the dark. Other countries have taken action. In Port Arthur, Australia; United Kingdom; Utoya, Norway; and Christchurch, New Zealand all it took was one mass shooting for their governments to implement gun control. In fact, according to CNN health, “The 90 US mass shootings are nearly one-third of the 292 such attacks globally for that period. While the United States has 5% of the world’s population, it had 31% of all public mass shootings.” These sorts of statistics make me question the effort that the US government is putting into gun control. I would say that the necessary actions include gun control, but that is unreasonable considering the political climate of our current society. In honesty, I do not know what the solution is. My ask would be gun control. No shooter would be able to do as much damage as they do, with a knife. As a student, I can also make a difference. Most shooters, feel as though they are owed something from an institution, or that they couldn’t make a difference doing anything else. If I am able to make everyone feel as though they matter, as though they have a bigger impact on the community than they think. Everyone is deserving of love and everyone needs to know that. Allowing everyone to know that they matter could influence things on a grand scale, this solution, however, would be dependent on everyone, everyone needs to hold everyone up so that no one gets left behind. Throughout my career, I plan to emphasize the importance of gun safety awareness, in addition to stricter and more thorough background checks for gun ownership in every state. This problem needs to be addressed multilaterally, and with a united front, otherwise, it will continue to get worse. A few extracurriculars I am involved in include choir, through which I sing in community, various volunteer projects through which I get involved in my community, and poetry club, through which I unite my community in a love for poetry.

Our oceans are how we have been connected over many years. Before there were airplanes, phones, or satellites, we had the ocean to connect people and to communicate between countries, even families that had been separated by the ocean. Our waters have always been a human web, but there are other things in the ocean worth protecting. There are 66 large ecosystems, and there are 228,450 known species in the ocean — and as many as 2 million more that remain a total mystery. These ecosystems are incredible, diverse, and very fragile. The simple act of dropping a granola bar wrapper near a water source could make its way to the ocean, and kill multiple organisms in our oceanic environments. Our oceans provide us with energy, regulate our climate, and give us food, and even leisure, without them, we would not survive as a species. I have always been in awe of the ocean. One of my very first memories with my father we are sitting on the beach and staring at the sunset. We were watching sailboats glide past on the shimmering waters of the pacific ocean. He told me of his travels on the water, and how he used to work on a sailboat with his uncle and catch fish in Alaska. This story made me want to follow in his footsteps and learn how to sail. This memory has put a sense of admiration for the ocean in me. The ocean also holds significant cultural relevance for many people. The ocean has connections to every aspect of our lives. The ocean is represented by gods in every poly theological religion, and in the Christian bible water is one of the first things that the Christian god created in order to make the world more beautiful and accepting. The ocean is important in every culture and every society on the planet. I would make the ideal candidate for this scholarship because I have the drive to succeed, and I want to make the world a better place. I will not let anything stand in the way of my goal to be an environmental lawyer who fights for the environment and not the money. I hope to pursue a career as an environmental lawyer, and my degree will help me achieve that. The environment is so interconnected that every aspect of the environment affects the ocean and its many ecosystems and organisms. I plan on fighting for the environment and making sure that companies that harm it lose the ability to do so. I feel that we must protect the ocean because without it we will be nothing. I love the ocean, it is beautiful and needs to be protected by the legal system just as much as activism. This scholarship will help me to pursue my dream of finding more ways to be environmentally sustainable and to make the world a better place by establishing healthy practices for the ecosystem.

Our oceans are how we have been connected over many years. Before there were airplanes, phones, or satellites, we had the ocean to connect people and to communicate between countries, even families that had been separated by the ocean. Our waters have always been a human web, but there are other things in the ocean worth protecting. There are 66 large ecosystems, and there are 228,450 known species in the ocean — and as many as 2 million more that remain a total mystery. These ecosystems are incredible, diverse, and very fragile. The simple act of dropping a granola bar wrapper near a water source could make its way to the ocean, and kill multiple organisms in our oceanic environments. Our oceans provide us with energy, regulate our climate, and give us food, and even leisure, without them, we would not survive as a species. I have always been in awe of the ocean. One of my very first memories with my father we are sitting on the beach and staring at the sunset. We were watching sailboats glide past on the shimmering waters of the pacific ocean. He told me of his travels on the water, and how he used to work on a sailboat with his uncle and catch fish in Alaska. This story made me want to follow in his footsteps and learn how to sail. This memory has put a sense of admiration for the ocean in me. The ocean also holds significant cultural relevance for many people. The ocean has connections to every aspect of our lives. The ocean is represented by gods in every poly theological religion, and in the Christian bible water is one of the first things that the Christian god created in order to make the world more beautiful and accepting. The ocean is important in every culture and every society on the planet. I hope to pursue a career as an environmental lawyer, and my degree will help me achieve that. The environment is so interconnected that every aspect of the environment affects the ocean and its many ecosystems and organisms. I plan on fighting for the environment and making sure that companies that harm it lose the ability to do so. I feel that we must protect the ocean because without it we will be nothing. I love the ocean, it is beautiful and needs to be protected by the legal system just as much as activism.

leadership, to me, is guiding somebody on a journey that they didn't think they would be able to go on, and it is doing it in a selfless way that gives the guided a sense of accomplishment. a leader is a person who is willing to ask for help and be humble. Leadership is what is necessary to make the domino fall. In order to make a change, there needs to be a leader, someone who spearheads the ideals needed to make said change. If there is someone who is courageous enough to initiate a sustainable change, they are a leader, and I find it important that the term leader be held to a lower standard because being a leader does not require mass social change. A leader can simply be someone who influences others in a way that changes their lives. I feel that there is a great insecurity in our society that in order to be a leader you must be wildly impressive and make a significant change with a wide influence. That simply is not the case, people need to be comfortable with calling themselves a leader because that will make change more applicable. I was never comfortable calling myself a leader, and now it feels. It was not until this year when a friend of mine called me inspirational, that I allowed myself to say "I am a leader." She said this knowing my past, and knowing where I have come from, and she told me that I was inspirational and that I had influenced multiple decisions in their life and they felt as though I had made a significant impact on her life. Knowing that helped me to accept myself, and to realize that I had merit and that my actions did matter and that I didn't need to be a global phenomenon to be a leader I just had to be me. It was also at that moment that I realized how important it is that this "leaders change the world" narrative be changed. having the idea that in order to be a leader you need to be heavily influential leads people to believe that their contribution is less relevant, important, or influential. If we unite ourselves and change the status quo around leadership we can establish a more united community that accepts everyone and makes anyone feel like they can be a leader.

Most people go throughout their day, without a care for how their actions could affect the greater world. every once and a while they will see litter and remember that the earth is something worth protecting, maybe they will snap a picture and post it commenting on how awful humanity is, but a couple of steps later such concerns will be replaced by other concerns. It is this mindset that I have worked to avoid since I was a young child. I was raised in a household that prioritized the idea of a healthy earth. saying like "we only have one planet" have filled my childhood memories. I make an effort to limit my meat consumption to local suppliers, to only buy second-hand clothes, and to pick up litter whenever I see it. I take short showers and reuse as many goods as possible. I started a tradition with my family to have black-out days, where we use no electricity for the whole day, this is getting more and more difficult as we grow more technologically dependent, but it feels good to unplug for twenty-four hours and bask in the light of candles. I make sure to purchase as many household items as I can from eco-friendly companies and I advocate for earth-healthy practices in my school. I hope that my efforts to protect our home with have a positive impact on the environment but with all of my efforts, I know that I still do things that harm the earth's health. I live in a very rural area, so I drive thirty to forty minutes to town every day. I have individually packaged snacks that I pack in my lunch and I use a lot of paper during and outside of school. These more negative aspects of my daily choices are habits that I have developed over time and are perpetuated by my society. Even the things I try to do for the earth can end up hurting it. For instance, eating locally means that I am driving more to pick up meat and milk from local farms, which means I am putting more carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and not helping with global warming. In addition, using a lot of paper contributes to deforestation, and while it is true that one person can not be the cause of deforestation if everyone is using the same amount or more paper than I am, that has a substantial impact on such a huge issue. Throughout my school, however, I have used posters and mini-meetings, to discuss different ways to live sustainably with my peers. I put posters up in bathrooms, encouraging people to limit their paper towel use to one or two pieces, hence using less paper overall. I also encourage the use of reusable water bottles and silverware in an attempt to use less plastic in our school environment. By promoting these ideals as well as following them myself I hope that I am spreading the idea of living sustainably.

I am passionate about the environment, I find that it is the one thing all of us have the power to do our part in protecting and it is a common denominator between all people. I have lived in Montana all my life. I get to witness the beauty of a healthy environment every day, but it saddens me that some aspects of this beautiful environment are fading. We are slowly losing the beautiful glaciers after which our national park was named. I firmly believe that if we all work together, we can protect the lovely planet we live on, because we only have one. I plan to go into the field of law, specifically environmental law, and explore a career in the agriculture industry to find ways to be more environmentally sustainable. There is a serious epidemic, the agriculture industry has been detrimental to the environment, and this is primarily due to big business. Agriculture is the leading source of pollution in many countries. Pesticides, fertilizers, and other toxic farm chemicals can poison fresh water, marine ecosystems, air, and soil. They also can remain in the environment for generations. These attributes come from big businesses in the agricultural industry. My plan for my career is to better the environment by working with the agricultural industry to bring down the negative habits that have embedded themselves in our society. This will be a small contribution, but if everyone takes this as a goal, then perhaps we will be able to change the status quo. I only eat local, this way my local farms are funded and able to contribute to the community, but I also do this because I do not support the things that bigger coorperations tend to do in order to make money and not quality. I know my contribution is small, but I do it because supporting the local businesses betters the environment and lets their farms grow. I hope that with my career, I can work hand in hand with local cooperations to provide them with the support they need. This is one of the reasons I should be considered for this scholarship. I will use it to develop the world in a sustainable and earth-healthy way. I will use my education to better the construction industry in an ecologically sustainable way. The green industry is how we will be able to save our planet which is at risk. I love the idea of being environmentally sustainable, and I am very passionate about having a small carbon footprint. Agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to the carbon footprint in our world, so it should be the first thing we tackle.

I was diagnosed with mild asthma when I was 10 years old. One day I was packing for a trip to Nevada with my mom and brother, we were going to visit family and watch fireworks on the fourth of July. I didn't pack my inhaler because one, I forgot, and two, I thought it was mild. That was mistake number one. We woke up at one so that we could drive to Nevada and be there before a late dinner. For a while, it was really fun, we were blasting music, eating unhealthy snacks and screaming out One Direction at the top of our lungs, then I began to feel a bit unwell, I had a headache and my stomach hurt. I told my mom I was probably fine, just car sick, but as the trip went on I began to feel worse. I curled up in the back seat and put a blanket over my head, that was mistake number two, the blanket still had dog hair and dust on it, so as I slept I inhaled these allergens, which triggered my asthma. When we finally got to My Grandma's house, it was about 7:30. I was told to go straight to bed and I told my mom that it was hard to breathe. My Aunt luckily had a blood oxygen reader. She put it on my finger and it read 84, for the record, normal is 95 to 100 and below 90 is cause for concern. My mom panicked but for some reason didn't take me to the hospital until around midnight. In the emergency room, She read my blood oxygen again and it was at 78%, She immediately went to the Office and told them this, and I was rushed to a doctor. (Throughout this process, I think I lost consciousness because I have no recollection of being in the waiting room.) As soon as I was in the doctor's office I threw up. they put me on a bed and hooked me up to a heart rate monitor and made me use a nebulizer. It was a scary experience in my head but my mom told me that I kept laughing. Once my blood oxygen level was normal, the doctor had a serious discussion with my mother about the necessity of me having an inhaler at all times, and that perhaps my asthma was more serious than we had thought. This is one of the stories I tell people when they ask how bad my asthma is. Now of course it is more under control, but back then not so much. Throughout middle school, I was consistently made fun of for how bad I was at running and other cardiovascular activities. It was something I was very insecure about. I had been interested in basketball, but every card possible was stacked against me, I am incredibly short, I am nearsighted and have awful depth perception, and due to my asthma, I couldn't run as fast as the other girls on my team. It was my near miserable failure in basketball that lead me to discover my true passion, academics. It led me to focus more on my studies than sports. I loved being at the top of my class and being able to answer the teacher's questions because I felt as though that was "my thing". Basketball lead me to do something that I am good at and feel go doing, and for that, I am eternally indebted to the sport, even if it didn't work out as I had planned.

Making a community stronger consists of being there for it, volunteerism, advocacy, and simple kindness are a few ways I choose to do that. A stronger community is better for the individual and provides a way for others to get involved as well. A stronger community means that fewer people will suffer from things like loneliness or seclusion, which have become ever-growing problems as things like technology and social media become more prevalent. Even tiny engagements left lasting implications that were good and so supportive for other people. I do however see a problem in my community. I participate in speech and debate, and we often have to edit our speeches by cutting out trigger words that our community volunteer judges may find disagreeable. The examples of trigger words may be shocking, they include "Diversity," "Feminism," "Gun Control," "Queer," "Inclusion," "Privllage," and the list goes on. This mentality is seriously problematic. By catering to the extremist, we are shooting down the voice of the individual, and hence destroying the little hope we have for a strong and diverse community. There is a problem in our community and it becomes clear when the school is denied a much-needed levy to provide funds for our programs, it becomes clear when people are scared to wear things or cut their hair a certain way because they fear discrimination, it becomes clear when people are hurt and property is vandalized because of a difference in idealism. I believe that the main cause of this issue is the exclusion of diverse voices. My community is just one of many examples of how the lack of communal communication and interconnection can affect the strength of a community, and that fact is alarming. I found, however, that there is a way to improve this ever-growing problem. If we include everyone and communicate with everyone, we can develop a community that provides support for everyone. Imagine a world, where everyone has representation in a legal system, without discrimination, a world where instead of trying to block out diverse voices, we hand them a megaphone and allow their voices to be heard. This is why I do and will make it my goal to listen to others, and to teach others how to do the same, even if there is a conflict in opinion or belief. Making positive changes in my community can help pull people out of the dark that has so embedded itself in our lives. Suicide, self-harm, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and loneliness are just a few examples of things that plague my community and the world at large. I have started a group of people who support each other, and advocate for the little man, I hope that my efforts have improved somebodies life because life is the most valuable thing a person can have, it can be saved, threatened, stolen, and most importantly, then need to be protected. I plan to take on the initiative of helping and listening to those around me because being heard can change a life.

In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying "he wanted to die, that was all he wanted and I took that away," He said, "I was so close, I was unconscious and they woke me up, and you know what my dad said, he said he had wished it worked." I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, he ended the call with "Goodbye Nina" and he hung up on me. He texted me "I am so sick of you trying to be the hero all the time," and that was when I blocked him on social media. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that he was better alive and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He whispered again and again, I am so sorry, I am sorry. He walked me over to my couch and held me. I was crying so hard, then I pushed him away "I lost you! I almost lost you!" This is an example of a happy ending, an ending where there is no loss of life due to mental illness. In a time of virtual reality, loneliness, depression, and anxiety run rampant. It is for these reasons that I believe that increased awareness and engagement in behavioral sciences can help curb the growing issue of mental health in teens and adults. If we prioritize healthy behaviors and explain why they are important, it may help people priorotize themselves. Increased awareness can benefit society as a whole, especially as mental health becomes more and more of an issue.

Most people go throughout their day, without a care for how their actions could affect the greater world. every once and a while they will see litter and remember that the earth is something worth protecting, maybe they will snap a picture and post it commenting on how awful humanity is, but a couple of steps later such concerns will be replaced by other concerns. It is this mindset that I have worked to avoid since I was a young child. I was raised in a household that prioritized the idea of a healthy earth. saying like "we only have one planet" have filled my childhood memories. In my community, the natural resources in our environment are plentiful. I am surrounded by forests and lakes and rivers. I swim in the waters of this land during the summer. There is, however, a significant problem occurring in our world. Natural resources are beginning to be taken for granted. Our waters are being polluted by people who don’t care as much about the land as people like me do. Big companies are coming in and destroying the beautiful land that I call home. I believe that the most important issue related to natural resources is conservation. Making sure the land is just as protected as our children would be because we must look at it in the same way. Our natural resources are the lifeblood of our future and if we do not protect and conserve them, we will not have them anymore. My plan for the future is to become an environmental lawyer I want to protect all the different ecosystems of the world by exposing the lies perpetuated by the need for money. If honesty truly established itself as the best policy, then the world would be a much better place. I hope that I can use my life to serve others and to make this world a better place because the greater good is too often set aside for selfish desires, and I feel that the best way I can do this is by becoming a lawyer for the people. My desire to be a lawyer stems from the injustices that I see in the world. I often wonder why so few people are doing anything about it. I am the next generation, and I feel that it is my responsibility to be the one who says something. I do not want to lose the beautiful forests that I call home, I do not want to lose the Glaciers after which our national park was named, and I do not want to have to explain to my children or grandchildren one day why the earth's air is unsafe to breathe or why once green forests no longer provide us their beauty. By having a conservation mindset we can protect the future generations of our world. My knowledge and interest in STEM grow my desire for conservation because the more I learn about the environment, the more I realize just how interconnected everything is, and just how necessary it is to protect every aspect of the environment.

I am pursuing a full IB diploma, this is a very intensive course of study that leaves little room for anything else in my schedule. This wouldn't be a problem, is I wasn't also a music student. For the first three years of my high school experience, there were no conflicts in my schedule between music and academics. One day, however, at the end of my junior year, I got called down to the office by my counselor. I figured it had something to do with the Girls State application I had just submitted, so I was in good spirits going down to the office. When I got to her room, she invited me to sit down and she told me that there had been a scheduling conflict with one of my required classes... and choir. My heart sunk into my stomach. I had never expected this to be an issue, but now it was. My idea was to ask one of the IB math teachers if they would be willing to do a private course with me for money, I could do it after school and it would only need to be 30 minutes or so because it would just need to be review from that day's activities. To me, this seemed like a perfect solution, I would be able to go to choir, and go to IB math. Unfortunately, both of the teachers, the counselor, and the Vice Principal said that I wouldn't be able to do that because it didn't follow the contracts of the teachers. At this point, I felt like I should just give up, not do choir and take the math class. Then I had a small epiphany, the way the lunches are set up at my school, I would be at lunch for the tail end of the concert choir. I immediately rushed to my choir teacher and passed along the news, asking if it would be ok if I came in during my lunch period to go over the songs with my choir. She was cautious about the idea as it would leave me without a break in my schedule, but I was ready for the challenge, and that is what I have been doing ever since. This plan has worked out perfectly, I have managed to attend choir, do my required math class, and not fall behind in either. I found an unconventional way to solve a problem that otherwise would have been solved by no one else. Another problem I would solve if I had the money and resources to do so would be to solve the homelessness crisis in my community. I would Institute housing for people in safe areas of a community. The houses would be monitored by paid workers from the community. The houses would also assist in job searches, interview skills, and any other aspect necessary to help people get back on their feet. Food would also be provided, 2 meals a day with snacks through out the day. If those people have children or are under the age of 18 themselves then education plans would be instituted to establish a stable upbringing for those in unstable situations. There would be limits, for instance, if the person in need of housing is above the age of 18, then a plan would need to be provided detailing their plan to get themselves stable housing and income, assistance would be given when needed but independence would be the main goal in the end.

I have always been curious. When I was young, I always wondered what was out there. For a long time, I just assumed my valley was surrounded by mountains that went on forever until the ocean, I wasn't wrong, but there is so much more in the world than that. Discovering things about the world opens the mind and eyes to things that one would otherwise be ignorant of. I realized this at a young age. I went to Hawaii for the first time to visit my grandfather, I saw the wide variety of people that were in Hawaii. We went to a lūʻau and when I saw the variety of dances and foods that were provided I realized that my small town life wasn't all that was out there. This realization has followed me everywhere and given me the love to experience other things. It has also led me to make the decision that I wanted to go to an out-of-state college. I realize that this is the more expensive option, but I feel I will gain more from experiencing things outside of my small county in Montana. I hope to learn about my country in an in-depth way because it is my country that I want to dedicate my career, I hope to become a lawyer, in either environmental law or family law. The environment is at the center of my culture. I live in northern Montana, I was raised by the land, and I spend my summers in its waters and my winters on its hills. I have developed a bond with the environment. To see it being harmed gives me a deep sense of sadness. As an environmental lawyer, I hope to protect the land that raised me. I remember being told that I was the one that would have to negotiate the parenting plan with my parents and that was one of the most freeing yet terrifying days of my life. I was so frightened that I would make a parent upset. I would go from house to house worried that my decision would make one of them upset. I never wanted my actions to make it seem like I favored one person over the other. It was a very stressful time of my life and the only way I was able to escape this stress was by living with one parent full time. it broke my heart to choose one parent over the other and I mourned the loose of my life with them for a very long time. I remember thinking that I would never be able to wake up to the smell of their cooking or be confused by their random cleaning habits. I felt as though I was robbed of the opportunity to experience life as a normal child. No child should ever have to feel that way, not only is it stressful, but it also dampens the child's ability to focus on the gifts that they possess. Many gifted children lose the opportunity to express their gifts to the world. that is why I want to pursue a career in law. A career as an affordable familial lawyer could help families foster the well-being of their children while being able to navigate the difficulties of marital situations. As a familial lawyer, I will make it my soul objective to make sure this never happens to a child, I want to save as many minds as possible, because the child's mind is the mind of the future, without it, we are nothing.

A history teacher of mine once said, 'history is like a river, you can dip your foot in the same place, but it is never the same water," and for some reason that stuck with me. I have always loved learning and growing, and I feel that it is what unites us. This is one reason I love history, it teaches us things that can help us learn from our mistakes. History gives us a road map and tells us where the "dragons" are, what to avoid and what to adopt as policy. History gives us this road map, but it has to be our decision to use it, which seems to be something many refuse to do. I live in a very divided community. There is a company waving a trump flag, living across from a house with an LGBTQIA+ flag outside their window, and the hatred they hold for each other is palpable. During a Black Lives Matter gathering, car exhaust was blown into people's faces and they were screamed at. People were waving their confederate flags driving back and forth in front of the people yelling profanities and derogatory terms. When I saw these things and heard people's stories, all I could think was that "we have been here before! why isn't it changing." This seemed so similar to conflicts occurring during the freedom movements of the 1900s. I participate in speech and debate, and we often have to edit our speeches by cutting out trigger words that our community volunteer judges may not agree with. The examples of trigger words may be shocking, they include "Diversity," "Feminism," "Gun Control," "Queer," "Inclusion," "Privllage," and the list goes on. This mentality is seriously problematic. By catering to the extremist, we are shooting down the voice of the individual, and hence destroying the little hope we have for diversity in our community. There is a problem in our community and it becomes clear when the school is denied a much-needed levy to provide funds for our programs, it becomes clear when people are scared to wear things or cut their hair a certain way because they fear discrimination, it becomes clear when people are hurt and property is vandalized because of a difference in idealism. I believe that examining history and the mistakes we made in the past can lead us to a better future. In my career, I plan on being a lawyer, and on the principle that I have promised myself I will live by is to learn from the past. I will study history and be sure to not make those mistakes in the present.

Computers have always acted as the conduit for the intangible to become a reality. I became interested in the architecture upon which they were based around age sixteen. My interest sparked from Years with my siblings, dissecting and trying to understand how technology works. I would spend time taking apart old phones and computers and all of the things I discovered were mind-blowing. Each part of the computer could be interchanged or upgraded. The mere fact that the physical hardware, software, visual components, and inputs could all be altered to mirror the mind of its creator or user opened innumerable possibilities to my mind. Computers to me, are the way we connect people across cultures and across time. I can use technology to talk with my friends in Costa Rica and Europe, and also discover things about my deceased ancestors that I would not have otherwise been able to discover. This aspect makes me that much more interested in technology, having the opportunity to enhance those aspects of tech makes me feel as though I have a purpose in life. After my degree completion in Computer Science communications, I will immediately begin working on my Master's degree. I hope to learn as much as I can while in my career until I feel that I have the resources necessary to build a company that specializes in communication. The software firm will develop and maintain online intercommunication tailored either to specific issues or general security. The company will help to create new jobs within the growing STEM fields, especially for women like myself and will aid to close the deficit between the current workforce and those required to fill future career positions. One belief that I hold dear is that the lack of education is the root of most of the world's hate, ignorance, crime, lack of resources, and greed that is seen today. Computer Science is a growing field and resources for those that are uneducated are not growing at the same rate. Those that seek to make a difference in the world must first understand the world itself. If they are not properly prepared with the adequate tools and educational resources necessary for them to flourish, those same people will become victims, not leaders. I know that I am the best candidate for the Chris Jackson scholarship as I have a goal that reflects Chris' character. Throughout facing adversity I always make time to make sure the people around me feel heard and listened to. I know how important it is to keep people feeling like they are valued and through a career in copter science I can expand people's ability to be heard.

The movie that had the greatest impact on my life was Finding Nemo. It was my favorite movie as a little kid. I would watch it over and over again, just letting it replay because I loved it so much. Back then it didn't mean much to me, but now it does. There are a couple of scenes that inspired me and most of them were with Dory. In one scene she speaks wale to a stranger, in another she decides to ask for directions even though she is advised not to, then, when faced with troubles in another scene, she simply found a way around it by jumping on top of jellyfish. And when she was picked up by a group of turtles, she instantly made friends with them. She did all of this with a disability. I aspire to be Dory. She has taught me that it is ok to let go, to ask for help, and to find creative ways to solve problems even when others tell you you are crazy. She showed me the importance of blazing my trail. My entire life I had been extroverted and incredibly outgoing, then somewhere through middle school that changed, I started to be more anxious and self-deprecating. This shift led me to be introverted and not speak my mind as much. One day, my dad asked me to sit down with him and watch Finding Nemo, He used to watch it with me as a kid and it was nostalgic for us. As the movie went on, I started to compare myself to Dory, seeing how confident she seemed and how well she navigated life in the face of adversity, My comparisons lead me to realize that all of the things she was doing, I could do to. (I mean this figuratively as I am not a fish and don't plan on jumping on the tops of jellyfish any time soon.) Dory inspired me to realize that the only thing holding me in my way, was myself, and this changed my life. I started to ask myself "what would Dory do" while it seems childish, it worked, and I started to break out of the shell that I had created. Finding Nemo also taught me the importance of family, and how sticking together provides strength, but so does drifting apart and letting people grow on their own. My parents weren't as protective of me as Marlin was in Finding Nemo, but rather I was protective of them, I feared seeing them change or grow in a way that was different than what I expected. This was especially true with my mom as she had struggled with abusive spouses and drug abuse. I felt like I needed to protect her but watching Finding Nemo again with my dad opened my eyes to the idea that it was ok, and that I could let my mom grow in the way that she felt the most comfortable. These lessons are all things that impacted my life profoundly, this movie has taught me that life lessons are in the most unpredictable places, you just have to open your eyes enough to see them.

I live in a very divided community. There is a company waving a trump flag, living across from a house with an LGBTQIA+ flag outside their window, and the hatred they hold for each other is palpable. During a Black Lives Matter gathering, car exhaust was blown into people's faces and they were screamed at. People were waving their confederate flags driving back and forth in front of the people yelling profanities and derogatory terms. The scene was bordering on a battleground, and at some points, personal safety was in question. Now, this is not to the extent of other places in the country, but in such a small community, it was a shocking sight. I participate in speech and debate, and we often have to edit our speeches by cutting out trigger words that our community volunteer judges may not agree with. The examples of trigger words may be shocking, they include "Diversity," "Feminism," "Gun Control," "Queer," "Inclusion," "Privllage," and the list goes on. This mentality is seriously problematic. By catering to the extremist, we are shooting down the voice of the individual, and hence destroying the little hope we have for diversity in our community. There is a problem in our community and it becomes clear when the school is denied a much-needed levy to provide funds for our programs, it becomes clear when people are scared to wear things or cut their hair a certain way because they fear discrimination, it becomes clear when people are hurt and property is vandalized because of a difference in idealism. I believe that the main cause of this issue is the exclusion of diverse voices. My community is just one of many examples of how the lack of diverse voices can shape a public narrative, and the fact that it is one of a few is alarming. The good thing is that there is a solution, if we start appealing to the power of diverse voices, we can shift the idealism that our world has fallen into. As shown through my community, the exclusion of diverse voices can create a divided community, with diverse voices, we can completely alter the trends present in this world. This lesson teaches us that a world divided can not stand as strong as it could be united. This has taught me that things like unity and inclusion can lead to a better world overall. For example, the state of the environment is often a hot topic in divided communities, but if we focus on advocacy it can invoke the change necessary to cause change. While some will scoff and drive off when they see a sign advertising sustainable living, hopefully, a majority of people will take in the idea of sustainable living. If we can address the issue in such a way that encourages enough people to care, in a way that scares people into realizing how important it is to be environmentally aware, maybe we can encourage enough change to save our dying planet. For instance, in my school I have used posters and mini-meetings, to discuss different ways to live sustainably with my peers. I put posters up in bathrooms, encouraging people to limit their paper towel use to one or two pieces, hence using less paper overall. I also encourage the use of reusable water bottles and silverware in an attempt to use less plastic in our school environment. By promoting these ideals as well as following them myself I hope that I am spreading the idea of living sustainably.

I love the outdoors, they provided great comfort to me when my parents got divorced when I was young. They told me they were splitting up and that I would have to go in between their houses when I was five. As I grew up in that situation, the parenting plan got more and more difficult to follow, especially as my parents stopped being so agreeable. The reason we never updated the parenting plan was that a lawyer would be too expensive. I remember being told that I was the one that would have to negotiate the parenting plan with my parents and that was one of the most freeing yet terrifying days of my life. I was so frightened that I would make a parent upset. I would go from house to house worried that my decision would make one of them upset. I never wanted my actions to make it seem like I favored one person over the other. It was a very stressful time of my life and the only way I was able to escape this stress was by living with one parent full time. it broke my heart to choose one parent over the other and I mourned the loose of my life with them for a very long time. I remember thinking that I would never be able to wake up to the smell of their cooking or be confused by their random cleaning habits. I felt as though I was robbed of the opportunity to experience life as a normal child. No child should ever have to feel that way, not only is it stressful, but it also dampens the child's ability to focus on the gifts that they possess. Many gifted children lose the opportunity to express their gifts to the world. that is why I want to pursue a career in law. A career as an affordable familial lawyer could help families foster the well-being of their children while being able to navigate the difficulties of marital situations. Being torn between two parents leave a child without the emotional capacity to cultivate their skills and gifts. As a young one, the mind is incredibly impressionable and easy to change, this means that what happens to a child emotionally will affect them for the rest of their life. If a child is put under immense emotional stress, it can leave them less developed than they would be had they had a "normal" upbringing. As a familial lawyer, I will make it my soul objective to make sure this never happens to a child, I want to save as many minds as possible, because the child's mind is the mind of the future, with out it, we are nothing.

Finance is often the thing that supports a person's way of living. Without proper finance, in this world, it can be hard to do much without it. Unfortunately, that is the way of the world. If someone does not have finances, it can be hard to move up in the world, that is why it is so important to me to manage my finances early, as a student. My mom did not come from much, and she did not have anyone to teach her how to manage the little money that she had. She mostly lived off of the people she married, first my dad, then another man, and then my second stepdad. This relationship she had developed with these men was not always the best. With my dad, they divorced when I was five, my dad was a generous man and accepted my mom's needs. My first stepdad, however, did not take it so kindly. They got into arguments all of the time, he would call her a dirty whore, and a beggar. She eventually got a stable job at a school as a special education teacher, in addition to a summer job doing landscaping and working for the Child Developmental Center where she helped kids with disabilities. She worked herself as much as she could to make a life for me and my brother and tried her best not to need my stepdad, but sometimes it was not enough. They would get into more fights about how she was a leach. I barely saw my mom over the summer and when I did she was busy getting yelled at by her husband. She could not financially support herself without her husband. she had to force herself to manage her money, and when she got enough stored away, she was able to move, leave her abusive husband and make her own life. When she did this, we moved out of the lower half of a duplex. We lived across from a man who got drunk and passed out in his driveway and lived under a group of people who enjoyed their second amendment rights. It was not the safest environment, but it was an environment that my mom had bought with her own money. We ate cheap chicken and canned beans every night, but my mom had bought them with her money, that was what was important. Once she was able to support herself financially, she would frequently tell us how important it was to manage our money and to start managing it early. She gave both my brother and me management books that would help us record what we were, spending, and our goals for our savings and had a list of things we would need money for in the future, in other words, college. It was this advice that had guided my actions ever since I received it. Throughout college, I hope that my organization, and ability to manage my finances will keep me from falling under the immense stress of living paycheck to paycheck, and will help me stay above the flood line so to speak. Throughout my college career, starting early in managing my finances will have helped me establish healthy financial habits as well, which will also benefit me in the future. Since I was young, I have noticed the amount of homeless or impoverished people growing in our community, and it saddens me that these people are not getting the help they need to sustain a good lively hood. It is a great dream of mine to one day have enough funds to support those in need, rather that be through funding housing campaigns or simply providing food to those in need individually. There is often a misconception in our community that those who are homeless or impoverished are there because they chose to be, and this simply is not the case, they are just people down on their luck and unable to get themselves to their feet. Is it true that some people take advantage of welfare services, but the majority of people who need them will use them properly, and these are the people we should focus on. It is my hope o use my financial status to help those in need.

My life often gets very stressful, whether that is self-induced or caused by my environment, it can become overwhelming. Managing personal wellness is something I depend upon to keep myself sain. Right as I wake up, I go to my bathroom and wash my face, then I sit on the floor, light a candle and record what my goals are for the day, I also review my calendar so that I know exactly what I am taking on in my daily activities. once that is done, I get dressed in something that makes me feel comfortable, then I eat a breakfast of either oatmeal or cereal. I will also use this time to just sit in the dark and listen to science, it is a good way for me to mellow out my brain and prepare for the day. once I am done eating I make tea and brush my teeth. then I do my makeup, put on lotion and perfume, and make myself feel as good as I can. If I still have time before I need to leave, I will get some work done for the day while listening to music in a different language, preferably Spanish. This sort of chill morning routine helps me to not feel anxious while going into the day, it also helps me to feel grounded and focused on what will help me be productive. Throughout the day, it gets harder for me to maintain my wellness, I often get overwhelmed and stressed, but when I notice this happening, I will look at my planner and organize my life in a way that appears to be more manageable, this helps me to regain my center. I will also interact with other people positively to avoid self-depreciation or negative talk, this way I can train by rain to think positively. Once I get home, I usually do chores, make another cup of tea, and start on my homework for the day, taking a small break for dinner. During this time I will listen to another variety of Spanish songs, usually more chill and less energetic to train my brain for sleep. I make sure to have my planner with me at all times that way I stay as productive as possible. I will usually take a 10 to 15-minute break to read a book or simply sit and listen to music, this way my brain doesn't get over whelmed. Once I am done with the work I need to do for the day, I will settle down for bed. I start this process by brushing my teeth and then washing my face. I then put on pajamas and go to my bed, where I cross off another day on my bedside calendar and write down interesting things that happened during the day and things I was proud of myself for. I feel like doing this keeps me focused on the positive things in life and allows me to reflect on how my day went. Then I go to sleep. Maintaining this pattern of focusing on wellness helps me to stay positive overall, I have noticed that when I get anxious or stressed, I often become less productive than I would like. Focusing on the positive and maintaining a strict schedule helps me to stay productive and feel good about myself as a person.

In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying "he wanted to die, that was all he wanted and I took that away," He said, "I was so close, I was unconscious and they woke me up, and you know what my dad said, he said he had wished it worked." I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, he ended the call with "Goodbye Nina" and he hung up on me. He texted me "I am so sick of you trying to be the hero all the time, and that was when I blocked him on social media. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that he was better alive and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He whispered again and again, I am so sorry, I'm sorry. He walked me over to my couch and held me. I was crying so hard, then I pushed him away "I lost you! I almost lost you!" Although I saved his life that day, I was thrown into a depression, the neat loss of my friend scared me so much that I stopped interacting with people, I was terrified that I was to blame for his decision. This feeling went on for months until somebody asked me if I was ok. This seemed crazy to me, of course, I was ok, but the fact that they cared to ask changed something in me. I realized that rather than devoiding myself of human contact I could use my voice to help others. I make an effort to compliment someone at least once a day, that way they know that they are seen in a good way, I make an effort to have one meaningful conversation with someone every day, that way they know that they are heard. I make an effort to help somebody in need, with homework, or just carry their books, so they know that there is someone out there who supports them. I do these things every day to make sure no one has to feel the way my friend did. It is my sole purpose in life to encourage people to believe in themselves, and to believe in life so that they never give up.

Advocacy, if no one knows or believes that the climate is unhealthy, then they are less likely to do something about it, this is why advocacy can be so impactful. While some will scoff and drive off when they see a sign advertising sustainable living, hopefully, a majority of people will take in the idea of sustainable living. If we can address the issue in such a way that encourages enough people to care, in a way that scares people into realizing how important it is to be environmentally aware, maybe we can encourage enough change to save our dying planet. I was raised in a household that prioritized the idea of a healthy earth. saying like "we only have one planet" have filled my childhood memories. I make an effort to limit my meat consumption to local suppliers, to only buy second-hand clothes, and to pick up litter whenever I see it. I take short showers and reuse as many goods as possible. I started a tradition with my family to have black-out days, where we use no electricity for the whole day, this is getting more and more difficult as we grow more technologically dependent, but it feels good to unplug for twenty-four hours and bask in the light of candles. I make sure to purchase as many household items as I can from eco-friendly companies and I advocate for earth-healthy practices in my school. I hope that my efforts to protect our home with have a positive impact on the environment but with all of my efforts, I know that I still do things that harm the earth's health. I live in a very rural area, so I drive thirty to forty minutes to town every day. I have individually packaged snacks that I pack in my lunch and I use a lot of paper during and outside of school. These more negative aspects of my daily choices are habits that I have developed over time and are perpetuated by my society. Even the things I try to do for the earth can end up hurting it. For instance, eating locally means that I am driving more to pick up meat and milk from local farms, which means I am putting more carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and not helping with global warming. In addition, using a lot of paper contributes to deforestation, and while it is true that one person can not be the cause of deforestation if everyone is using the same amount or more paper than I am, that has a substantial impact on such a huge issue. Throughout my school, however, I have used posters and mini-meetings, to discuss different ways to live sustainably with my peers. I put posters up in bathrooms, encouraging people to limit their paper towel use to one or two pieces, hence using less paper overall. I also encourage the use of reusable water bottles and silverware in an attempt to use less plastic in our school environment. By promoting these ideals as well as following them myself I hope that I am spreading the idea of living sustainably.

I was diagnosed with mild asthma when I was 10 years old. One day I was packing for a trip to Nevada with my mom and brother, we were going to visit family and watch fireworks on the fourth of July. I didn't pack my inhaler because one, I forgot, and two, I thought it was mild. That was mistake number one. We woke up at one so that we could drive to Nevada and be there before a late dinner. For a while, it was really fun, we were blasting music, eating unhealthy snacks and screaming out One Direction at the top of our lungs, then I began to feel a bit unwell, I had a headache and my stomach hurt. I told my mom I was probably fine, just car sick, but as the trip went on I began to feel worse. I curled up in the back seat and put a blanket over my head, that was mistake number two, the blanket still had dog hair and dust on it, so as I slept I inhaled these allergens, which triggered my asthma. When we finally got to My Grandma's house, it was about 7:30. I was told to go straight to bed and I told my mom that it was hard to breathe. My Aunt luckily had a blood oxygen reader. She put it on my finger and it read 84, for the record, normal is 95 to 100 and below 90 is cause for concern. My mom panicked but for some reason didn't take me to the hospital until around midnight. In the emergency room, She read my blood oxygen again and it was at 78%, She immediately went to the Office and told them this, and I was rushed to a doctor. (Throughout this process, I think I lost consciousness because I have no recollection of being in the waiting room.) As soon as I was in the doctor's office I threw up. they put me on a bed and hooked me up to a heart rate monitor and made me use a nebulizer. It was a scary experience in my head but my mom told me that I kept laughing. Once my blood oxygen level was normal, the doctor had a serious discussion with my mother about the necessity of me having an inhaler at all times, and that perhaps my asthma was more serious than we had thought. This is one of the stories I tell people when they ask how bad my asthma is. Now of course it is more under control, but back then not so much. Throughout middle school, I was consistently made fun of for how bad I was at running and other cardiovascular activities. It was something I was very insecure about. I had been interested in basketball, but every card possible was stacked against me, I am incredibly short, I am nearsighted and have awful depth perception, and due to my asthma, I couldn't run as fast as the other girls on my team. It was my near miserable failure in basketball that lead me to discover my true passion, academics. It led me to focus more on my studies than sports. I loved being at the top of my class and being able to answer the teacher's questions because I felt as though that was "my thing". Basketball lead me to do something that I am good at and feel go doing, and for that, I am eternally indebted to the sport, even if it didn't work out as I had planned.

Most people go throughout their day, without a care for how their actions could affect the greater world. every once and a while they will see litter and remember that the earth is something worth protecting, maybe they will snap a picture and post it commenting on how awful humanity is, but a couple of steps later such concerns will be replaced by other concerns. It is this mindset that I have worked to avoid since I was a young child. I was raised in a household that prioritized the idea of a healthy earth. saying like "we only have one planet" have filled my childhood memories. I make an effort to limit my meat consumption to local suppliers, to only buy second-hand clothes, and to pick up litter whenever I see it. I take short showers and reuse as many goods as possible. I started a tradition with my family to have black-out days, where we use no electricity for the whole day, this is getting more and more difficult as we grow more technologically dependent, but it feels good to unplug for twenty-four hours and bask in the light of candles. I make sure to purchase as many household items as I can from eco-friendly companies and I advocate for earth-healthy practices in my school. I hope that my efforts to protect our home with have a positive impact on the environment but with all of my efforts, I know that I still do things that harm the earth's health. I live in a very rural area, so I drive thirty to forty minutes to town every day. I have individually packaged snacks that I pack in my lunch and I use a lot of paper during and outside of school. These more negative aspects of my daily choices are habits that I have developed over time and are perpetuated by my society. Even the things I try to do for the earth can end up hurting it. For instance, eating locally means that I am driving more to pick up meat and milk from local farms, which means I am putting more carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and not helping with global warming. In addition, using a lot of paper contributes to deforestation, and while it is true that one person can not be the cause of deforestation if everyone is using the same amount or more paper than I am, that has a substantial impact on such a huge issue. Throughout my school, however, I have used posters and mini-meetings, to discuss different ways to live sustainably with my peers. I put posters up in bathrooms, encouraging people to limit their paper towel use to one or two pieces, hence using less paper overall. I also encourage the use of reusable water bottles and silverware in an attempt to use less plastic in our school environment. By promoting these ideals as well as following them myself I hope that I am spreading the idea of living sustainably.

I was diagnosed with mild asthma when I was 10 years old. One day I was packing for a trip to Nevada with my mom and brother, we were going to visit family and watch fireworks on the fourth of July. I didn't pack my inhaler because one, I forgot, and two, I thought it was mild. That was mistake number one. We woke up at one so that we could drive to Nevada and be there before a late dinner. For a while, it was really fun, we were blasting music, eating unhealthy snacks and screaming out One Direction at the top of our lungs, then I began to feel a bit unwell, I had a headache and my stomach hurt. I told my mom I was probably fine, just car sick, but as the trip went on I began to feel worse. I curled up in the back seat and put a blanket over my head, that was mistake number two, the blanket still had dog hair and dust on it, so as I slept I inhaled these allergens, which triggered my asthma. When we finally got to My Grandma's house, it was about 7:30. I was told to go straight to bed and I told my mom that it was hard to breathe. My Aunt luckily had a blood oxygen reader. She put it on my finger and it read 84, for the record, normal is 95 to 100 and below 90 is cause for concern. My mom panicked but for some reason didn't take me to the hospital until around midnight. In the emergency room, She read my blood oxygen again and it was at 78%, She immediately went to the Office and told them this, and I was rushed to a doctor. (Throughout this process, I think I lost consciousness because I have no recollection of being in the waiting room.) As soon as I was in the doctor's office I threw up. they put me on a bed and hooked me up to a heart rate monitor and made me use a nebulizer. It was a scary experience in my head but my mom told me that I kept laughing. Once my blood oxygen level was normal, the doctor had a serious discussion with my mother about the necessity of me having an inhaler at all times, and that perhaps my asthma was more serious than we had thought. This is one of the stories I tell people when they ask how bad my asthma is. Now of course it is more under control, but back then not so much. Throughout middle school, I was consistently made fun of for how bad I was at running and other cardiovascular activities. It was something I was very insecure about. This led me to focus more on my studies than sports. I loved being at the top of my class and being able to answer the teacher's questions because I felt as though that was "my thing". My focus on studies lead me to be more interested in the liberal arts and I firmly believe it led me to decide on what I want my plans to be for the future. I want to go to a liberal arts college, study as hard as I can, and become a successful lawyer. That way I can help people in the best way I feel that I can, by studying documents and defending them in a court of law.

I have been told since I was little that tears were for the pillow and that if I wanted to talk about my emotions I should get a "shrink." My stepdad even told me to hold in my emotions because they were not important to him. So I kept it all in, I never told people how I was feeling and I would go to bed feeling lonely and worthless, thinking that no one thought the same things I did or felt the same things I did. I would walk the halls of my middle school, trying to contain my emotions, thinking that if I let them show on my face that people would see that I wasn't put together, that I was weak. One day, I heard a massive fight between my stepdad and mom, the doors were slamming and I could hear breaking glass. I opened my window, jumped out, and ran down the street, I went to a highway and contemplated running into traffic, I needed to get out, to escape, and not feel the things I was feeling anymore. Then I collapsed on the ground and screamed at the top of my lungs. I felt like I was weak like I had failed everyone by not being strong enough to hold it all together. I walked home, dragging my feet because I didn't want to hear their screams, I could not take it anymore. When I climbed back in through my window, the house was silent, and I let out a sigh of relief. This was not the first night I had experienced such inner turmoil, nor was it the last. We lived in that house until I was 13. The number of fights and curses I had heard was uncountable. I can still visualize the holes in the walls from airborne dishes being hurled at me, my brother, and my mother. What finally pushed my mom over the limit was when I came to her saying that my stepdad had been watching me change through my window. We moved into a rather shady neighborhood and my mom divorced him. Through all of this, the years of abuse and anger, fear and hopelessness, I managed to stay alive. I needed to stay alive for my little brother, to protect him from the hand life had dealt him. I needed to protect my mother, and keep her stable through the things she kept from us. On top of staying alive, I made sure no outsider knew what was going on, "Hey what was the yelling at your house" "Oh nothing we were just having some fun" or when people would see how tired I was it was always because of homework or being on my phone, Never that I had stayed up listening to an argument fearing that my mom would get hurt. My goal throughout my life was to go to college. I knew that I needed a good resume, so throughout this time, I prepared for high school. I made sure to stay ahead in all of my classes and be as ready as I could be. Going into high school, still haunted by my past, I worked myself as hard as I could so that I wouldn't meddle on the past. This was how I succeeded. I found strength where there was none, I made lists of the things I needed to do and prioritized success. I can now say I have been accepted into six different colleges and feel confident that I will be able to survive the next stage of my life.

When I get involved in my community, it is because when more people get involved in the community, it makes the community stronger. For instance, my little siblings go to a Catholic Elementary School called Saint Matthews. They were upset that the former art teacher wasn't coming back to run an Art Club and that the new principal and art teacher weren't starting one either. That was when I decided that I could do it. As soon as I got home that day I began organizing a proposal to the principal, it included possible times, a presentation of crafts, and a payment method for the club. I emailed the Principal and got a meeting set up in order to discuss the starting of the club. When she heard about it, she was beyond excited, she even took my proposal as the framework for other clubs. Suddenly, a school that had no after-school clubs had five, and I had been someone who got the ball rolling. The club went really well, and t was so rewarding to see kids smile at me as they figured out how to do a specific craft, or when they gave me a hug at the end of the day because they loved their craft so much. Even now, a year after I did the club, I get hugs from kids and as I do things like She-Ra, where I go and read with kids, or go to my little sibling's recitals they shout my name with so much excitement. It makes me feel so good to know that I made an impact on their lives. I was able to see friendships made through the clubs and kids growing in responsibility by helping more with clean up and assisting other kids with their crafts when they didn't understand how to do something. To me that is what it takes to build a stronger community, making an impact on other people's lives in a positive way. As a community gets stronger it gets better for the individual and provides a way for others to get involved as well. A stronger community means that fewer people will suffer from things like loneliness or seclusion, which has become an ever-growing problem as things like technology and social media become more prevalent. As seen at the elementary school, one tiny engagement left lasting implications that were good and so supportive for other people. The community can be made stronger on a global scale by enhancing the travel industry. By being the force that connects cultures, the travel industry has the power to make the community stronger.

In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying "he wanted to die, that was all he wanted and I took that away," He said, "I was so close, I was unconscious and they woke me up, and you know what my dad said, he said he had wished it worked." I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, he ended the call with "Goodbye Nina" and he hung up on me. He texted me "I am so sick of you trying to be the hero all the time, and that was when I blocked him on social media. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that he was better alive and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He whispered again and again, I am so sorry, I'm sorry. He walked me over to my couch and held me. I was crying so hard, then I pushed him away "I lost you! I almost lost you!" This is an example of a happy ending, an ending where there is no loss of life due to mental illness. I see mental illness as a raging storm on the horizon, if we let it drift to the back of our minds, it will sneak up on us and cause a level of destruction that no one is prepared for. If we prepare for the storm, we can save so many lives. Mental health needs to be at the forefront of everyone's mind because mental illness isn't something we can see it's not a problem we can avoid because it will sneak up on us. My community suffered a suicide cluster a few years ago and only then did things change, I say that it shouldn't have to take that. We need a change in the mindset now, not later, the goal should be to save lives. This experience led me to change how I interact with others. I make an effort to compliment someone at least once a day, that way they know that they are seen in a good way, I make an effort to have one meaningful conversation with someone every day, that way they know that they are heard. I make an effort to help somebody in need, with homework, or just carry their books, so they know that there is someone out there who supports them. I do these things every day because there is always a chance that someone I talk to is going through a rough time like my friend. If I can do one thing to save someone else's life I will do it, because that is what matters.

In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying "I wanted to die, that was all he wanted and I took that away," He said, "I was so close, I was unconscious and they woke me up, and you know what my dad said, he said he had wished it worked." I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, he ended the call with "Goodbye Nina" and he hung up on me. He texted me "I am so sick of you trying to be the hero all the time, and that was when I blocked him on social media. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that he was better being alive and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He whispered again and again, I am so sorry, I'm sorry. He walked me over to my couch and held me. I was crying so hard, then I pushed him away "I lost you! I almost lost you!" This is an example of a happy ending, an ending where there is no loss of life due to mental illness. I see mental illness as a raging storm on the horizon, if we let it drift to the back of our minds, it will sneak up on us and cause a level of destruction that no one is prepared for. If we prepare for the storm, we can save so many lives. Mental health needs to be at the forefront of everyone's mind because mental illness isn't something we can see it's not a problem we can avoid because it will sneak up on us. My community suffered a suicide cluster a few years ago and only then did things change, I say that it shouldn't have to take that. We need a change in the mindset now, not later, the goal should be to save lives.

Finance is often the thing that supports a person's way of living. Without proper finance, in this world, it can be hard to do much without it. Unfortunately, that is the way of the world. If someone does not have finances, it can be hard to move up in the world, that is why it is so important to me to manage my finances early, as a student. My mom did not come from much, and she did not have anyone to teach her how to manage the little money that she had. She mostly lived off of the people she married, first my dad, then another man, and then my second stepdad. This relationship she had developed with these men was not always the best. With my dad, they divorced when I was five, my dad was a generous man and accepted my mom's needs. My first stepdad, however, did not take it so kindly. They got into arguments all of the time, he would call her a dirty whore, and a beggar. She eventually got a stable job at a school as a special education teacher, in addition to a summer job doing landscaping and working for the Child Developmental Center where she helped kids with disabilities. She worked herself as much as she could to make a life for me and my brother and tried her best not to need my stepdad, but sometimes it was not enough. They would get into more fights about how she was a leach. I barely saw my mom over the summer and when I did she was busy getting yelled at by her husband. She could not financially support herself without her husband. she had to force herself to manage her money, and when she got enough stored away, she was able to move, leave her abusive husband and make her own life. When she did this, we moved out of the lower half of a duplex. We lived across from a man who got drunk and passed out in his driveway and lived under a group of people who enjoyed their second amendment rights. It was not the safest environment, but it was an environment that my mom had bought with her own money. We ate cheap chicken and canned beans every night, but my mom had bought them with her money. That was what was important. It was this experience with my mother that taught me how important it is to manage my money. I have managed to do this. I have a record book of all of my payments and gains. I do not have a bank account but my notebook is close enough to keep track of everything. I make sure to save my money for things I will need. I am thankful to my mother for teaching me the importance of managing money.

I open the doors Kick the snow off my boots Wave, laugh, say hello The hall is illuminated with light. Then it tilts, It happens quick a feeling sick No detection of reason Perhaps a change in the wind But my pulse begins to quicken. In-Out In-Out I breathe. My fists they shake - heart beats quick. In-Out In-Out. The lights get dim My legs move on their own. In-Out In-Out push it away Why do I feel this way What did they say How does this stop All is spinning All is blurring Nothing in Nothing out Walls are closing -- All seen is echos All heard is blinding What did they say, how does this stop Oh right "Just count" One. Two. Three. What comes next Numbers spin -- paint in a bucket Nothing in Nothing out Maybe I am halusinating A smile? A wave? My face fakes a grin They can't see -- they won't hear I can't No breath I squeeze my eyes shut In-Out In-Out Floor is collapsing and eyes are trailing I grab for something solid Perhaps this will be my final breath But as quickly as it comes it leaves And I smile.

I have always been interested in the environment. I was raised in Montana and ever since I can remember, I have always felt at home in the woods, going camping and hiking with my dad, going backpacking with friends, or simply taking nature walks to remind myself of the beauty I have the privilege of calling home. I love the outdoors, they provided great comfort to me when my parents got divorced when I was young. They told me they were splitting up and that I would have to go in between their houses when I was five. As I grew up in that situation, the parenting plan got more and more difficult to follow, especially as my parents stopped being so agreeable. The reason we never updated the parenting plan was that a lawyer would be too expensive. I remember being told that I was the one that would have to negotiate the parenting plan with my parents and that was one of the most freeing yet terrifying days of my life. I was so frightened that I would make a parent upset. No child should ever have to feel that way, that is why I want to pursue a career in law. My desire to be a lawyer also stems from the injustices that I see in the world. When I see statistics like, “less than 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions since 1988,” it makes me wonder why so few people are doing anything about it. I am the next generation, and I feel that it is my responsibility to be the one who says something. Statesman Edmund Burke once said, "all it takes, for the forces of evil to triumph, is for good men and women, to do nothing." I do not want to lose the beautiful forests that I call home, I do not want to lose the Glaciers after which our national park was named, and I do not want to have to explain to my children or grandchildren one day why the earth's air is unsafe to breathe or why once green forests no longer provide us their beauty. If I become a good lawyer, either environmental or family, I will be able to help those who aren't able to help themselves. This could include the earth itself and the families that have been torn apart. I want to do my part to help the children, to make their childhood last as long as it should, despite the misfortune that may have fallen upon them. I want to protect all the different ecosystems of the world by exposing the lies perpetuated by the need for money. If honesty truly established itself as the best policy, then the world would be a much better place. I hope that I can use my life to serve others and to make this world a better place because the greater good is too often set aside for selfish desires, and I feel that the best way I can do this is by becoming a lawyer for the people.

I live in the beautiful state of Montana and every day I am in awe of my surroundings. They are where I find peace when my life is chaotic. I love having constant access to the therapeutic feeling of the great outdoors. It is especially helpful when I feel the pain of losing my mother, not to death, or illness but to circumstance. In 2018, my mom married my stepdad, and everything was fine at first, but then he started to get weird. He was passive-aggressive or just plain aggressive and being around him started to feel like walking on eggshells. One day, they had a big fight and my mom came to me saying that she was moving out, when I left my room to talk to her she was nowhere to be found, and neither was my stepdad. The car was gone and I was scared. I immediately thought that she had been kidnapped. I called my dad and explained the situation and he said that everything was going to be ok. It was not until three hours had passed and it was dark outside that they returned, smiling and hugging as though nothing had happened, I was very confused. I messaged m dad and told him everything was fine, but that made him more concerned. The fact that a three-hour car ride with my stepdad had convinced my mom that everything was ok was scary and showed signs of manipulation. I confronted my mom about it, and she said she regretted even telling me she was thinking of moving out. I was shocked, she had seemed so sure that that was what she needed to do, but now she had completely changed. This was just one of many instances of My stepdad's manipulation, it got so bad that my dad told me that I had to move out of my mom's house. All I could think was that I didn't want to lose her. She was my best friend and I was so close to her, moving out of her house felt like a betrayal. When it finally happened I was devastated, I mourned my life with my mother, knowing that I would never again sit down to dinner with her, or wake up to the smell of her questionable cooking. I would be flooded with memories of her laying in my bed until three am because I was afraid to fall asleep, of her listening to my incoherent stories, and to my enlightened ramblings on certain topics. She was my emotional release and my emotional support, going to bed without knowing if I will ever see her again makes my heart ache. All I can think is that she is out there somewhere, living with an abusive husband from whom I am unable to protect her. To this day, I have not spoken or heard from her in 480 days, the loss of our relationship still feels fresh. She was there for me when I lost my best friend to suicide and when my sister went to a mental health hospital for self-harm, but she wasn't there when I got accepted to my dream school, when I got a 4.0 my senior year, or when I got into the choir class I always wanted to. All of my good moments now feel tainted by the fact that she isn't here with me. Losing her has led me to realize just how important every moment is with an individual. Every single second counts, because you never know when you will see them again. I now make it my goal to be present in every moment, to learn all that I can about the people I love, and to let them know just how much I appreciate them for their existence. I owe so much of myself to my mother, and it breaks my heart to know that I never got to tell her that, I do not know if I will ever be able to tell her that, and it breaks my heart to know that.

In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying "he wanted to die, that was all he wanted and I took that away," He said, "I was so close, I was unconscious and they woke me up, and you know what my dad said, he said he had wished it worked." I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, he ended the call with "Goodbye Nina" and he hung up on me. He texted me "I am so sick of you trying to be the hero all the time, and that was when I blocked him on social media. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that it was better that he was alive and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He whispered again and again, I am so sorry, I'm sorry. He walked me over to my couch and held me. I was crying so hard, then I pushed him away "I lost you! I almost lost you!" This is an example of a happy ending, an ending where there is no loss of life due to mental illness. I see mental illness as a raging storm on the horizon, if we let it drift to the back of our minds, it will sneak up on us and cause a level of destruction that no one is prepared for. If we prepare for the storm, we can save so many lives. Mental health needs to be at the forefront of everyone's mind because mental illness isn't something we can see it's not a problem we can avoid because it will sneak up on us. My community suffered a suicide cluster a few years ago and only then did things change, I say that it shouldn't have to take that. We need a change in mindset now, not later, the goal should be to save lives.

I have been told since I was little that tears were for the pillow and that if I wanted to talk about my emotions I should get a "shrink." My stepdad even told me to hold in my emotions because they were not important to him. So I kept it all in, I never told people how I was feeling and I would go to bed feeling lonely and worthless, thinking that no one thought the same things I did or felt the same things I did. I would walk the halls of my middle school, trying to contain my emotions, thinking that if I let them show on my face that people would see that I wasn't put together, that I was weak. One day, I heard a massive fight between my stepdad and mom, the doors were slamming and I could hear breaking glass. I opened my window, jumped out, and ran down the street, I went to a highway and contemplated running into traffic, I needed to get out, to escape, and not feel the things I was feeling anymore. Then I collapsed on the ground and screamed at the top of my lungs. I felt like I was weak like I had failed everyone by not being strong enough to hold it all together. I walked home, dragging my feet because I didn't want to hear their screams, I could not take it anymore. When I climbed back in through my window, the house was silent, and I let out a sigh of relief. I sat on my bed, in the dark, and felt something cold touch my leg. It was the mental spiral of my notebook. I turned on my bedside lamp and a pen. I started to scribble random words across the page, and eventually, those random words turned into sentences, and those sentences turned into arms that held me, and ears willing to listen to my words, they became the advice I needed to hear, and the release I needed when the pressure became too much. I wrote stories about little girls growing up in destructive houses, about little girls running across the street and being saved by angels because their life was not meant to be over. I wrote hopeful stories about children with happy parents and dogs who found the perfect home. These stories became my lifeline, and I held on to them as though I were in a raging storm and they were my raft out at sea. I began to get out of my shell, when I went into eighth grade, I felt like a confident individual with the strength necessary to take on social situations and it is a firm belief of mine that my writing gave me that strength. The paper was the ship, and the utensil was my ore, they guide me through the sea of life.

In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying "he wanted to die, that was all he wanted and I took that away," He said, "I was so close, I was unconscious and they woke me up, and you know what my dad said, he said he had wished it worked." I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, he ended the call with "Goodbye Nina" and he hung up on me. He texted me "I am so sick of you trying to be the hero all the time, and that was when I blocked him on social media. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that he was better off living and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He whispered again and again, I am so sorry, I'm sorry. He walked me over to my couch and held me. I was crying so hard, then I pushed him away "I lost you! I almost lost you!" This experience led me to understand just how fragile human life can be. I almost lost my best friend to his desire for death. His mental health had gotten so bad that he thought that leaving the earth was the only way out. This experience led me to believe that maintaining stable mental health should be at the forefront of everyone's mind. That way things like the suicide cluster that raged through my community could be avoided. Mental health has been associated in my mind with a dark cloud on the horizon, something that is in the back of everyone's mind when it should be something that we are consistently preparing for.

My educational goal is to graduate college with a Doctorate Degree in law so that I will be able to help people through difficult times in their lives. I have experienced many such times in my life... My parents divorced when I was about five and my mom immediately moved in with a new man. It was a significant shock for me as a kindergartener and I vividly remember breaking down whenever one of my parents would drop me off because I did not know who would be picking me up at the end of the day and that scared me. At my mom's house, my new stepdad wasn't the kindest, I would often fall asleep to the lullaby of screams and banging cupboards rather than the lovely sounds of the night. I remember asking my mom for help with my schoolwork, and my stepdad yelled at me, telling me that I could figure it out on my own... I was in first grade. I was so scared that I never asked for help again. Though I stayed ahead of my studies in school, I missed some vital stepping stones on my educational journey. I never learned my multiplication tables, nor did I learn to spell. I asked my mom how to spell a word for a paper I was writing and my stepdad called me an idiot and yelled the letters at me. My lack of bedrock in my learning has led to academic insecurity, but this was not the only aspect of insecurity that my stepdad embedded in me. Once I was taking my time in the bathroom, as any 12-year-old girl would do, and he told me to hurry up, that nothing would fix my face. He would comment on the cold sours I had, and the way my hair looked, he was even the one to tell me I needed a bra when I was 12 years old. His comments made me deeply insecure about my body. This degradation has left me consistently feeling lesser than others, less pretty, less intelligent, and less worthy of love. I find that I will hide my homework from people because I fear it will be deemed inadequate, I wear bigger clothes so no one will notice the way my body looks. I make an effort, every day, to change my face, or my hair, to distract people for fear they will realize just how unattractive I am. This anxiety has left me feeling less developed than others and less mature and it makes me so mad that my past has left a nearly permanent imprint on my future. My stepdad and mother did divorce when I was in 8th grade. And a year late he was arrested for beating his new girlfriend for not putting avocado on his sandwich, when I heard that news all I could think was that could have been me, or worse my mom. I find myself feeling anxious that I will see him at a grocery store, or on the street, and he will remember me. It fills me with so much anger knowing the fact that people like him get to live in society, it is this anger that motivates me to do the best I can in my education to be the best lawyer I can be to make sure people like him can not hurt any more people. I feel that everyone deserves a right to freedom, but when freedom is used to hurt other people, it is their freedom that should be confiscated, not the harmed person's freedom to happiness.

When I get involved in my community, it is because when more people get involved in the community, it makes the community stronger. For instance, my little siblings go to a Catholic Elementary School called Saint Matthews. They were upset that the former art teacher wasn't coming back to run an Art Club and that the new principal and art teacher weren't starting one either. That was when I decided that I could do it. As soon as I got home that day I began organizing a proposal to the principal, it included possible times, a presentation of crafts, and a payment method for the club. I emailed the Principal and got a meeting set up to discuss the starting of the club. When she heard about it, she was beyond excited, she even took my proposal as the framework for other clubs. Suddenly, a school that had no after-school clubs had five, and I had been someone who got the ball rolling. Even now, a year after I did the club, I get hugs from kids and as I do things like She-Ra, where I go and read with kids, or go to my little sibling's recitals they shout my name with so much excitement. It makes me feel so good to know that I made an impact on their lives. I was able to see friendships made through the clubs and kids growing in responsibility by helping more with clean up and assisting other kids with their crafts when they didn't understand how to do something. To me that is what it takes to build a stronger community, making an impact on other people's lives in a positive way. As a community gets stronger it gets better for the individual and provides a way for others to get involved as well. A stronger community means that fewer people will suffer from things like loneliness or seclusion, which has become an ever-growing problem as things like technology and social media become more prevalent. As seen at the elementary school, one tiny engagement left lasting implications that were good and so supportive for other people. I intend to pursue a career path as a lawyer. I will do this by getting a good education and working as hard as I can to do the best work that I can. It is of vital importance to me that everyone gets the best support they can and I feel that the best way I can achieve that goal is by becoming a lawyer. If I Become an environmental lawyer, I will make it my priority to protect the world we live in and hopefully bond with people who might not have the same beliefs that I do. If we can start educating people on the importance of awareness of actions and awareness of the world, we can start changing it, and hopefully reverse this spiral that we have created in our world. If enough people can know how to protect the land they live on, then we can prevent global warming, and preserve the only earth we have.

I was raised in Montana, specifically northwest Montana. Ever since I can remember, I have always felt at home in the woods, going camping and hiking with my dad. I loved the outdoors and found comfort in them when my parents got divorced when I was young. They told me they were splitting up and that I would have to go in between their houses when I was five. As I grew up in that situation, the parenting plan got more and more difficult to follow, especially as my parents stopped being so agreeable. The reason we never updated the parenting plan was that a lawyer would be too expensive. I remember being told that I was the one that would have to negotiate the parenting plan with my parents and that was one of the most freeing yet terrifying days of my life. I was so frightened that I would make a parent upset. No child should ever have to feel that way, that is why I want to pursue a career in law. My desire to be a lawyer also stems from the injustices that I see in the world. I see statistics like, 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, it makes me wonder why no one is doing something about it. I am the next generation, and I feel that it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund burke once said, "all it takes, for the forces of evil to triumph, is for good men and women, to do nothing." I don't want to lose the beautiful forests. if I become a good lawyer, either environmental or family, I will be able to help those who aren't able to help themselves. This could include the earth itself and the families that have been torn apart. I want to do my part to help the children, to make their childhood last as long as it should, despite the misfortune that may have fallen upon them. I want to protect all the different ecosystems of the world by exposing the lies perpetuated by the need for money. If honesty truly establishes itself as the best policy, then the world will be a much better place. I hope that I can use my life to serve others and to make this world a better place because the greater good is too often set aside for selfish desires.

Diverse voices can bring the whole picture to the conversation. With diverse voices, a wider birth of perspectives is included, and without them, a community can grow contriversial and divided. I live in a very divided community. There is a company waving a trump flag, living across from a house with an LGBTQIA+ flag outside their window, and the hatred they hold for each other is palpable. During a Black Lives Matter gathering, car exhaust was blown into people's faces and they were screamed at. People were waving their confederate flags driving back and forth in front of the people yelling profanities and derogatory terms. The scene was bordering on a battleground, and at some points, personal safety was in question. Now, this is not to the extent of other places in the country, but in such a small community, it was a shocking sight. I participate in speech and debate, and we often have to edit our speeches by cutting out trigger words that our community volunteer judges may not agree with. The examples of trigger words may be shocking, they include "Diversity," "Feminism," "Gun Control," "Queer," "Inclusion," "Privllage," and the list goes on. This mentality is seriously problematic. By catering to the extremist, we are shooting down the voice of the individual, and hence destroying the little hope we have for diversity in our community. There is a problem in our community and it becomes clear when the school is denied a much-needed levy to provide funds for our programs, it becomes clear when people are scared to wear things or cut their hair a certain way because they fear discrimination, it becomes clear when people are hurt and property is vandalized because of a difference in idealism. I believe that the main cause of this issue is the exclusion of diverse voices. My community is just one of many examples of how the lack of diverse voices can shape a public narrative, and the fact that it is one of a few is alarming. The good thing is that there is a solution, if we start appealing to the power of diverse voices, we can shift the idealism that our world has fallen into. As shown through my community, the exclusion of diverse voices can create a divided community, with diverse voices, we can completely alter the trends present in this world. Imagine a world, where everyone has representation in a legal system, without discrimination, a world where instead of trying to block out diverse voices, we hand them a megaphone and allow their voices to be heard.

Quarantine started during my freshman year. I had friends from multiple social circles, which was fine until I started to feel like I was in a box, unable to feel close to any set of friends, especially without seeing them every day. It was about June 2020 when I started to feel a strong sense of loneliness. I truly believed that to fit in and be accepted by these people, I had to do what they were doing, which often included substance abuse (as is sadly normal in Montana.) I tried to ignore my longing, but something changed over the summer, more people that I knew were taking their nicotine to school and using it around me, which compelled me to use it as well, which was a moment of weakness for me but it felt like the only thing I could do to belong. It didn't help that my boyfriend also used nicotine; I figured I had to do it whenever I hung out with him as well. I started to believe that smoking was the right thing to do because it seemed like everyone was doing it. In December of sophomore year, my boyfriend started smoking marijuana, and since mom was always home late I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted so I hung out with my boyfriend and friends. They said that marijuana was a way to cope, and since they were “right” about the nicotine, I figured they couldn't be far off about marijuana. With these people, I finally felt like I belonged to a solid group, one that I thought would have my back. I didn't care that my grades were slipping or that I was seeing my parents less, I felt included and happy. All of this joy, however, came to a head in early February, when I was staying after school and an acquaintance came and asked if I wanted to smoke. I barely knew him but I said, “yeah sure” anyway because I felt like I needed to be high to cope with my life. At the time I refused to admit that I might be addicted. We were almost done smoking when he told me he had laced the weed with dabs and some other forms of THC, he then left me in a shed and I had to stumble back to school by myself. I went to a good friend who turned me into the school resource officer. From there the truth was revealed and everyone was devastated, I had disappointed my parents. My dad and stepmom got me out of my mom’s house and set me back in my ways. I distinctly remember them saying that it wasn’t so much the action that shocked them, but the stark difference the action had with who I was just a year ago, I had been the girl with a 4.0, never skipped school, and never did drugs. Luckily, as time passed, and after I detached myself from the friends that I had and got sober, things began to get better; I started to become a more confident version of the person I was before. I made new friends and focused hard on my studies. I got my grades up and started to feel ok in my own skin. With these changes, I will be able to go to college, an idea that seemed impossible back then. I would like to use my education to communicate to others that mistakes don't define you, it is how you come back from those mistakes that matters.

Throughout my life, there have been a lot of people to inspire me. The challenges they faced and the way they overcame them are so incredible that it is nearly incomprehensible. For instance, my mom overcame much in her life, from an abusive relationship, both before and during adulthood, in addition to overcoming an economic barrier that few people can overcome. I love my mom and am appreciative of all she has taught me, but the person who I admire the most, my greatest role model, is my Step-Mom. She has never given up on me and always guides me in the right direction. In my sophomore year, I began to go down a faulty path, and it landed me in school suspension. My stepmom was there for me the whole time when my mom wasn't. My Stepmom guided me with a strong hand and led with a firm set of morals. I appreciate her so much. My stepmom has stood in the face of adversity and shot down anyone who dared underestimate her. She holds strong to her morals and expects others to do the same. She has high expectations for me but it is from the heart and done in a way that guides me in the right direction. When she found out my school didn’t have weighted GPAs or a system that supported students who wanted to go out of state for college, she immediately filled in that role and supported me through the college search and studying for entrance exam tests. She pushed me to find what I was interested in and taught me how to find colleges based on those interests. Had it not been for her, not only would I not be where I am today, I would most likely not have a sustainable future. In her career, she created an entirely new role for herself, she contradicted the norms of her institution and did what was best for her in a successful way, and for that, I will forever be in awe of her. In addition to the incredible things she has done in her career, she is also an incredible person. She is the mother of three children, including me, and the things that she most frequently advocates for are honesty and respect for others. Her goal is to raise children who are kind individuals who contribute to society at large and she takes this very seriously which is admirable. She is my greatest role model and I hope to be just as strong and influential as her one day.

Throughout my life, there have been a lot of people to inspire me. The challenges they faced and the way they overcame them are so incredible that it is nearly incomprehensible. For instance, my mom overcame much in her life, from an abusive relationship, both before and during adulthood, in addition to overcoming an economic barrier that few people can overcome. I love my mom and am appreciative of all she has taught me, but the person who I admire the most, my greatest role model, is my Step-Mom. She has never given up on me and always guides me in the right direction. In my sophomore year, I began to go down a faulty path, and it landed me in school suspension. My stepmom was there for me the whole time when my mom wasn't. My Stepmom guided me with a strong hand and led with a firm set of morals. I appreciate her so much. My stepmom has stood in the face of adversity and shot down anyone who dared underestimate her. She holds strong to her morals and expects others to do the same. She has high expectations for me but it is from the heart and done in a way that guides me in the right direction. When she found out my school didn’t have weighted GPAs or a system that supported students who wanted to go out of state for college, she immediately filled in that role and supported me through the college search and studying for entrance exam tests. She pushed me to find what I was interested in and taught me how to find colleges based on those interests. Had it not been for her, not only would I not be where I am today, I would most likely not have a sustainable future. In her career, she created an entirely new role for herself, she contradicted the norms of her institution and did what was best for her in a successful way, and for that, I will forever be in awe of her. When I told her that I was interested in Speach, she was overjoyed, I had always struggled with public speaking, and the idea of it often made me want to shrink down into the fetal position. The fact that I was interested in something that was so speaking-heavy was shocking and exhilarating. Her excitement made me that much more interested in joining, and when I did, it was the most fun I have ever had in a school activity. Almost everyone was so inclusive and kind, and when I wanted to do something outlandish they often supported it with the utmost excitement. It was this support that allowed me to feel comfortable coming back. Speech has changed my life in every way, I gained friends and confidence, and don't get nervous when I have to speak in front of others.

In my life, I have consistently felt lesser than others, less pretty, less intelligent, and less talented. I find that I will hide my homework from people because I fear it will be deemed inadequate, I sing quieter in the choir for fear somebody will hear me and realize that I am not supposed to be in the top choir at school. I make an effort, every day, to change my face, my hair, or my clothes, to distract people for fear they will realize just how unattractive I am. I do these things every day and it is exhausting. That exhaustion I feel reminds me that I do not want somebody else to have to feel the need to do that, so what makes me different is that I make an effort to compliment someone at least once a day, that way they know that they are seen in a good way, I make an effort to have one meaningful conversation with someone every day, that way they know that they are heard. I make an effort to help somebody in need, with homework, or just carry their books, so they know that there is someone out there who supports them. I do these things every day to make sure no one has to feel the way I do, and that is what makes me feel worthy, that is what makes me different. I have noticed that fewer and fewer people make an effort to help those around them and it breaks my heart. Fewer and fewer people honestly want to do good things simply for the sake of being good. At least in my community, there is a kindness deficit and it is something that causes me to lose faith in the future, if we continue this trend, the number of people who do things with malice intent or an ulterior motive will increase, and people doing good just to do good will decrease until the world is dark and dreary, and that scares me. That is why I am a troublemaker what I mean by this is that it is my job to lead by example and try to invoke change in the community around me. One way I intend to do this is by leading by example, if I do good for the sake of good, others may do the same. If I can help others in my community in need, maybe more people will follow my example, and that is how I plan to give back to my community. I don't have the resources needed to make drastic changes like providing homes to the homeless or food to the hungry, but if I can change the heart of one individual, perhaps that will be enough to set off a chain reaction and provide the help my community needs.

When I get involved in my community, it is because when more people get involved in the community, it makes the community stronger. For instance, my little siblings go to a Catholic Elementary School called Saint Matthews. They were upset that the former art teacher wasn't coming back to run an Art Club and that the new principal and art teacher weren't starting one either. That was when I decided that I could do it. As soon as I got home that day I began organizing a proposal to the principal, it included possible times, a presentation of crafts, and a payment method for the club. I emailed the Principal and got a meeting set up to discuss the starting of the club. When she heard about it, she was beyond excited, she even took my proposal as the framework for other clubs. Suddenly, a school that had no after-school clubs had five, and I had been someone who got the ball rolling. The club went well, and t was so rewarding to see kids smile at me as they figured out how to do a specific craft, or when they hugged me at the end of the day because they loved their craft so much. Even now, a year after I did the club, I get hugs from kids and as I do things like She-Ra, where I go and read with kids, or go to my little sibling's recitals they shout my name with so much excitement. It makes me feel so good to know that I made an impact on their lives. I was able to see friendships made through the clubs and kids growing in responsibility by helping more with clean up and assisting other kids with their crafts when they didn't understand how to do something. To me that is what it takes to build a stronger community, making an impact on other people's lives in a positive way. This is one example of my volunteer service, but I feel it has taught me the biggest lesson, that I can make a difference. Before I had run this club I felt that my ideas and contributions didn't matter, but seeing the smiles my work had put on people's faces changed that for me. I began attacking every day with the belief that what I do matters and can have a positive impact on other people, and that shift has been life-changing.

I am a Senioor in HIghschool. I live in the beautiful state of Montana and every day I am in awe of my surroundings. they are where I find peace when my life is chaotic. I love having constant access to the therapeutic feeling of the great outdoors. It is especially helpful when I feel the pain of losing my mother, not to death, or illness but to circumstance. In 2018, my mom married my stepdad, and everything was fine at first, but then he started to get weird. He was passive-aggressive or just plain aggressive and being around him started to feel like walking on eggshells. One day, they had a big fight and my mom came to me saying that she was moving out, when I left my room to talk to her she was nowhere to be found, and neither was my stepdad. The car was gone and I was scared. I immediately thought that she had been kidnapped. I called my dad and explained the situation and he said that everything was going to be ok. It was not until three hours had passed and it was dark outside that they returned, smiling and hugging as though nothing had happened, I was very confused. I messaged m dad and told him everything was fine, but that made him more concerned. The fact that a three-hour car ride with my stepdad had convinced my mom that everything was ok was scary and showed signs of manipulation. I confronted my mom about it, and she said she regretted even telling me she was thinking of moving out. I was shocked, she had seemed so sure that that was what she needed to do, but now she had completely changed. This was just one of many instances of My stepdad and his manipulation, it got so bad that my dad told me that I had to move out of my mom's house. Then I got suspended and was pulled out of my mom's house for good. My dad believed that it was my mom's lack of parenting due to the stress of her husband that lead me down the path I was on. I was devastated, I mourned my life with my mother, knowing that I would never again sit down to dinner with her, or wake up to the smell of her questionable cooking. Losing my relationship with her guided me to the decision that I never wanted somebody else to suffer the way I had at the hands of parental debacles and custodial arguments. That is why I wish to pursue a career in Family law, I believe it is right that a child not suffer the consequences of their parent's decisions. I will make it my job that a child does not have to be the middle man between parents. I haven't talked to my mother in over a year now, all I can think about is her being out there somewhere struggling just as much as I do with the loss of a child, so I also hope to protect a parent's right to their child as long as they deserve it. Family should be one of the most concrete things in a child's life, and I plan on making it my job to keep it concrete.

In the winter of my sophomore year, I got a message from my friend telling me that he was going to end it all, take his life and never have to wake up again. I was in a passing period and I instantly had a panic attack. The idea of losing one of my closest friends left me with a crushing sense of dread. I rushed to the office and showed the texts to one of the administrators and through my tears, I begged him to do something. He called the police. I remember feeling like the world was slipping through my hands, like his life, was slipping through my hands. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I knew that he had been struggling but I never knew how bad it was, I felt like the worst friend in the world. He then messaged me, and I felt like the sky had opened up. I was so overcome with joy that I hadn't lost him. I looked at the message and it said "Never speak to me again", he called me saying "he wanted to die, that was all he wanted and I took that away," He said, "I was so close, I was unconscious and they woke me up, and you know what my dad said, he said he had wished it worked." I was shocked, I couldn't even speak, he ended the call with "Goodbye Nina" and he hung up on me. He texted me "I am so sick of you trying to be the hero all the time, and that was when I blocked him on social media. I went home that day feeling so hopeless, I had to keep reminding myself that it was better that he was alive and mad at me than dead, but it still hurt. He was the closest friend I had ever had, we told each other everything. I felt as though he had punched a hole in my chest. I then heard a knock at the door, I didn't get up, my face was blotchy from crying and my hair was a mess from me laying in my bed, but they knocked again, this time more aggressively. I swore to myself and decided it didn't matter how I looked. I opened the door and there he was, he looked like he had cried just as much as I had if not more, he pulled me into a hug and held me. He whispered again and again, I am so sorry, I'm sorry. He walked me over to my couch and held me. I was crying so hard, then I pushed him away "I lost you! I almost lost you!" His head fell into his hands. He nodded and said, "I'm sorry, I was mad, I felt like that was my only option" "don't do it again." I then wrapped my arms around this and his whole body shuddered as he cried. That was one of the most painful days of my life, and I know that not everyone is as lucky as I was, some people are too late to save the ones they love. This day made me realize that I never wanted anyone else to experience the pain that I did or worse the pain of not calling in time. This day made me want to pursue a career in psychology. I want to be the person others can confide in, and help people know that they have more options and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I have had a lot of teachers in my life, but none as influential as my choir teacher Mrs. Stephens. I first had her my freshman year, and the first thing she did was smile at me when I walked into the room. I was an anxious little freshman and she provided a comfort that I could not refuse. When my choir sang for the first time, it was pretty bad, but she grinned and kept conducting anyway. That is the philosophy I want to take with me for the rest of my life, the kind of, smile and wave approach. I remember being really stressed about my grades, an A- was basically an F for me, so I came to her shaking and practically in tears asking if there was anything I could possibly do to get my grade up. She recognized my distress and told me that I could write papers and such to get extra credit, and I remember relief washed over me, because I loved choir, and I had no desire to drop it for a study hall. When quarantine hit, it was at the tail end of my freshman year and doing things for Mrs. Stephens's class was always a saving grace, I felt so much better after singing solfege or watching a video about some renowned producer or composer. Many other students saw it as busy work, I saw it as a saving grace when I felt as though the rest of my world was falling apart. My sophomore year was a rough one for me, My boyfriend was a jerk, and my best friend was becoming suicidal. On finals day, my friend sent me a video of him taking a whole bottle of pills. I took said video to the office hysterically because I didn't want to lose him. When I went to my choir final that day, Mrs. Stephens could tell I was upset, and she exempt me from the harder bits of the final. She said repetitively that everything was going to be ok, and that I did the right thing, even though my friend no longer wanted to speak with me because I had turned him in. She said the line I have heard too much "it is better to have an angry friend than a dead one" and that snapped me out of it. She convinced me that everything would be ok. When I got suspended for drug paraphernalia thanks to my boyfriend, she didn't judge or condemn me, she simply said, "good to have you back," and I smiled. For the rest of that year, I felt like I had a home at school. When I got into choral Airs, the elite group of singers from the advanced concert choir, she said that I would make a great addition, that comment changed my life because I had been honestly thinking that I wasn't much of an addition to anything, her saying that made me feel worthy of existing. I appreciate this teacher so much, for all that she has done for me, she changed my life for the better and made me feel wanted, and I will forever be indebted to her for that.

From a young age, I have had friends from multiple social circles, which was fine until I started to feel like I couldn't connect with them as deeply as I saw friends do in their own social circles. It was about June 2020 when I started to feel a crippling sense of loneliness. I believed that in order to fit in and be accepted by these people, I had to do what they were doing, which often included substance abuse or something rebellious. I tried to ignore my desire, but something changed over the summer, more people that I knew were taking their nicotine to school and using it around me, which compelled me to use it as well, which was a moment of weakness for me. It didn't help that my new boyfriend also used nicotine; I figured I had to do it with him as well to be accepted by him. I started to believe that smoking was the right thing to do because everyone was doing it. In November, I felt like my life had crumbled, my brother violated me in such a personal way that it was unforgivable. My mom didn't condemn his actions, which put a rift between me and her, and her and her husband. This led us to move houses and she brought my brother, with whom I could no longer be around. My mom continued to defend her son, which meant that he was around me whenever I was with her, and the only way I could escape this was by hanging out with my boyfriend and his friends. In December of sophomore year, my boyfriend started smoking marijuana around me. He promised me that he would never make me do it, but he would often make comments that lead me to believe otherwise, so I started doing it as well. With him and his group, I finally felt like I belonged to a solid group, one that I thought would have my back. I didn't care that my grades were slipping or that I was seeing my parents less, I felt included and happy. All of this joy, however, came to a head in February, I was staying after school and an acquaintance came and asked if I wanted to smoke. I barely knew him but said, “yeah sure” anyway because I didn't want to look "uncool". He encouraged me to smoke too much and then took me back to the school, from there the truth was revealed and everyone was devastated, I had disappointed and devastated my parents. My dad and stepmom took the initiative and got me out of my mom’s house and set me back on a safe path. I distinctly remember them saying that it wasn’t so much the action that shocked them, but the stark difference the action had with who I was just a year ago, I had been the girl with a 4.0, never skipping school, and never doing drugs. Luckily, as time passed, and after I detached myself from the "friends" that I had, things began to get better; I became a more confident version of the person I was before. I made new friends and focused on my studies. I got my grades up and started feeling like it was ok to be myself. These obstacles have led me to believe that I can overcome struggles that seem to overpower me. I have found a way to be introspective, and confidently take on adversity in the future.

From a young age, I have had friends from multiple social circles, which was fine until I started to feel like I couldn't connect with them as deeply as I saw friends do in their own social circles. It was about June 2020 when I started to feel a crippling sense of loneliness. I believed that in order to fit in and be accepted by these people, I had to do what they were doing, which often included substance abuse or something rebellious. I tried to ignore my desire, but something changed over the summer, more people that I knew were taking their nicotine to school and using it around me, which compelled me to use it as well, which was a moment of weakness for me. It didn't help that my new boyfriend also used nicotine; I figured I had to do it with him as well to be accepted by him. I started to believe that smoking was the right thing to do because everyone was doing it. In November, I felt like my life had crumbled, my brother violated me in such a personal way that it was unforgivable. My mom didn't condemn his actions, which put a rift between me and her, and her and her husband. This led us to move houses and she brought my brother, with whom I could no longer be around. My mom continued to defend her son, which meant that he was around me whenever I was with her, and the only way I could escape this was by hanging out with my boyfriend and his friends. In December of sophomore year, my boyfriend started smoking marijuana around me. He promised me that he would never make me do it, but he would often make comments that lead me to believe otherwise, so I started doing it as well. With him and his group, I finally felt like I belonged to a solid group, one that I thought would have my back. I didn't care that my grades were slipping or that I was seeing my parents less, I felt included and happy. All of this joy, however, came to a head in February, I was staying after school and an acquaintance came and asked if I wanted to smoke. I barely knew him but said, “yeah sure” anyway because I didn't want to look "uncool". He encouraged me to smoke too much and then took me back to the school, from there the truth was revealed and everyone was devastated, I had disappointed and devastated my parents. My dad and stepmom took the initiative and got me out of my mom’s house and set me back on a safe path. I distinctly remember them saying that it wasn’t so much the action that shocked them, but the stark difference the action had with who I was just a year ago, a 4.0 student, never skipping school, and never doing drugs. Luckily, as time passed, and after I detached myself from the "friends" that I had, things began to get better; I became a more confident version of the person I was before. I made new friends and focused on my studies. I got my grades up and started feeling like it was ok to be myself. My relationships have been different, not only having been tainted by my mistakes but also because I now see red flags when they might be going bad. These things have helped me to realize that It is ok for me to reject people, which can be lonely, but is also so fulfilling.

From a young age, I have had friends from multiple social circles, which was fine until I started to feel like I couldn't connect with them as deeply as I saw friends do in their own social circles. It was about June 2020 when I started to feel a crippling sense of loneliness. I believed that in order to fit in and be accepted by these people, I had to do what they were doing, which often included substance abuse or something rebellious. I tried to ignore my desire, but something changed over the summer, more people that I knew were taking their nicotine to school and using it around me, which compelled me to use it as well, which was a moment of weakness for me. It didn't help that my new boyfriend also used nicotine; I figured I had to do it with him as well to be accepted by him. I started to believe that smoking was the right thing to do because everyone was doing it. In November, I felt like my life had crumbled, my brother violated me in such a personal way that it was unforgivable. My mom didn't condemn his actions, which put a rift between me and her, and her and her husband. This led us to move houses and she brought my brother, with whom I could no longer be around. My mom continued to defend her son, which meant that he was around me whenever I was with her, and the only way I could escape this was by hanging out with my boyfriend and his friends. In December of sophomore year, my boyfriend started smoking marijuana around me. He promised me that he would never make me do it, but he would often make comments that lead me to believe otherwise, so I started doing it as well. With him and his group, I finally felt like I belonged to a solid group, one that I thought would have my back. I didn't care that my grades were slipping or that I was seeing my parents less, I felt included and happy. Not to mention, marijuana helped me forget my issues. All of this joy, however, came to a head in February, I was staying after school and an acquaintance came and asked if I wanted to smoke. I said, “yeah sure” because I didn't want to look "uncool". He encouraged me to smoke too much and then left me in the shed we were in, I managed to make my way back to the school and from there the truth was revealed and everyone was devastated, I had disappointed and devastated my parents. My dad and stepmom took the initiative and got me out of my mom’s house and set me back on a safe path. I distinctly remember them saying that it wasn’t so much the action that shocked them, but the stark difference the action had with who I was just a year ago, I had been the girl with a 4.0, never skipping school, and never doing drugs. Luckily, as time passed, and after I detached myself from the "friends" that I had, things began to get better; I became a more confident version of the person I was before. I made new friends and focused on my studies. I got my grades up and started feeling like it was ok to be myself. This experience showed me how easy it is to fall into the cycle of drug abuse. It doesn't always show itself in an obvious way but can sneak up on you.

When I get involved in my community, it is because when more people get involved in the community, it makes the community stronger. For instance, my little siblings go to a Catholic Elementary School called Saint Matthews. They were upset that the former art teacher wasn't coming back to run an Art Club and that the new principal and art teacher weren't starting one either. That was when I decided that I could do it. As soon as I got home that day I began organizing a proposal to the principal, it included possible times, a presentation of crafts, and a payment method for the club. I emailed the Principal and got a meeting set up to discuss the starting of the club. When she heard about it, she was beyond excited, she even took my proposal as the framework for other clubs. Suddenly, a school that had no after-school clubs had five, and I had been someone who got the ball rolling. Even now, a year after I did the club, I get hugs from kids and as I do things like She-Ra, where I go and read with kids, or go to my little sibling's recitals they shout my name with so much excitement. It makes me feel so good to know that I made an impact on their lives. I was able to see friendships made through the clubs and kids growing in responsibility by helping more with clean up and assisting other kids with their crafts when they didn't understand how to do something. To me that is what it takes to build a stronger community, making an impact on other people's lives in a positive way. As a community gets stronger it gets better for the individual and provides a way for others to get involved as well. A stronger community means that fewer people will suffer from things like loneliness or seclusion, which has become an ever-growing problem as things like technology and social media become more prevalent. As seen at the elementary school, one tiny engagement left lasting implications that were good and so supportive for other people. I intend to pursue a career path as a lawyer. I will do this by getting a good education and working as hard as I can to do the best work that I can. It is of vital importance to me that everyone gets the best support they can and I feel that the best way I can achieve that goal is by becoming a lawyer. If I Become an environmental lawyer, I will make it my priority to protect the world we live in and hopefully educate the people around me who do not have the same beliefs that I do. If we can start educating people on the importance of awareness of actions and awareness of the world, we can start changing it, and hopefully reverse this spiral that we have created in our world. If enough people can know how to protect the land they live on, then we can prevent global warming, and preserve the only earth we have.

If I could have everyone read one book it would be Firekeepers Daughter. It is a story from the perspective of a mixed white and native American who is struggling with addiction in her community. When she loses someone close to her because of this issue she engages in the investigation of the issue in the community. This book is, in my mind, a literary masterpiece. it is intriguing and beautifully written, and it also keeps people engaged and informed even if they don't come from the community. In addition, the book is provided entirely by a Native American in the community and provides insight into her tribe and community. It brings up traditions and cultural aspects of her life and how they interact with her scientific mindset. This book is so important for everyone to read because it shows the complexities of being a native American today. The book perfectly weaves together the abuses that are faced and the aspects of life for indigenous communities that are often forgotten by outsiders. The lives of indigenous communities are often seen as past tense and aren't recognized by the greater part of society, this leads to cultural and language extinction which is a plague in our world that very few people know about. This book also brings up the legal complexities that come with being a native American. These hardships are good for everyone to hear from an insider perspective because it brings attention to issues that make it hard to get justice for the awful things that happen to Native Americans, especially Native American women.

When I get involved in my community, it is because when more people get involved in the community, it makes the community stronger. For instance, my little siblings go to a Catholic Elementary School called Saint Matthews. They were upset that the former art teacher wasn't coming back to run an Art Club and that the new principal and art teacher weren't starting one either. That was when I decided that I could do it. As soon as I got home that day I began organizing a proposal to the principal, it included possible times, a presentation of crafts, and a payment method for the club. I emailed the Principal and got a meeting set up in order to discuss the starting of the club. When she heard about it, she was beyond excited, she even took my proposal as the framework for other clubs. Suddenly, a school that had no after-school clubs had five, and I had been someone who got the ball rolling. The club went really well, and t was so rewarding to see kids smile at me as they figured out how to do a specific craft, or when they gave me a hug at the end of the day because they loved their craft so much. Even now, a year after I did the club, I get hugs from kids and as I do things like She-Ra, where I go and read with kids, or go to my little sibling's recitals they shout my name with so much excitement. It makes me feel so good to know that I made an impact on their lives. I was able to see friendships made through the clubs and kids growing in responsibility by helping more with clean up and assisting other kids with their crafts when they didn't understand how to do something. To me that is what it takes to build a stronger community, making an impact on other people's lives in a positive way. As a community gets stronger it gets better for the individual and provides a way for others to get involved as well. A stronger community means that fewer people will suffer from things like loneliness or seclusion, which has become an ever-growing problem as things like technology and social media become more prevalent. As seen at the elementary school, one tiny engagement left lasting implications that were good and so supportive for other people.

I was raised in Montana, specifically northwest Montana. Ever since I can remember, I have always felt at home in the woods, going camping and hiking with my dad. I loved the outdoors and found comfort in them when my parents got divorced when I was young. They told me they were splitting up and that I would have to go in between their houses when I was five. As I grew up in that situation, the parenting plan got more and more difficult to follow, especially as my parents stopped being so agreeable. The reason we never updated the parenting plan was that a lawyer would be too expensive. I remember being told that I was the one that would have to negotiate the parenting plan with my parents and that was one of the most freeing yet terrifying days of my life. I was so frightened that I would make a parent upset. No child should ever have to feel that way, that is why I want to pursue a career in law. My desire to be a lawyer also stems from the injustices that I see in the world. I see statistics like, 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, it makes me wonder why no one is doing something about it. I am the next generation, and I feel that it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund burke once said, "all it takes, for the forces of evil to triumph, is for good men and women, to do nothing." I don't want to lose the beautiful forests. if I become a good lawyer, either environmental or family, I will be able to help those who aren't able to help themselves. This could include the earth itself and the families that have been torn apart. I want to do my part to help the children, to make their childhood last as long as it should, despite the misfortune that may have fallen upon them. I want to protect all the different ecosystems of the world by exposing the lies perpetuated by the need for money. If honesty truly establishes itself as the best policy, then the world will be a much better place. I hope that I can use my life to serve others, and to make this world a better place because the greater good is to often set aside for selfish desires.

to me inegrity is doing the right thing, and the good thing, even when no one is watching, and just doingit for the sake of beeing good. When presented with a chalenege integrity means taking it head on, with out using any foul play. For isntance one time when I had to take a test after school, the teacher had to leave prompty and she left me in the room by myself. I had any reasource i could have wanted, but out of respect for her, and respect for myself, I did not cheat. Honor is respect for others and respect for yourslf in a way that is right. for instance, doing such small acts of kindless, like waking to a teacher or administrator in the halway, are small ways I show honor in my community. In addition, when ever I have time to my self, I do some self meditation, and I have an inner montra of, "how can I use this day to help others, and how can I use the gifts that I have to the best of my ability." Keeping those aspects in mind every day help me to be the best and most honorable person that I can be. with that mind set, as I see people struggling, I am sure to help them, becasue I never know how there day has been, or how their week has been.

I intend to persue a career path as a lawyer. I will do this by getting a good education and working as hard as I can to do the best work that I can. It is of vital importance to me that everyone gets the best support they can and I feel that the best way I can achive that goal is by becoming a lawyer. I want to speciallise in enviromental law. I was raised in Montana, and I am constantly surrounded my natural beauty, and it is amazing. The only downside, is being surrounded by it means that I see the speed with wich it goes away. I first saw this when I went to the Sperry glacier, The first time I went, I was bafffled by its size and beauty, then when I went there 2 years later, around the same time of year, it was still beautiful, but it was clearly getting smaller. The lakes had grown underneath it and it was clearly melting. Now a carreer as an enviromental laywer isnt going to directly stop this, but if I am abel to stop companies from harming the enviroment becasue of possible ilegal actions, I will leap for the oportunity. In addition, as I walk the streets of our beloved glacier park, I could make a dog house from the amount of garbage I find. It saddens me to think that people do not care about the enviroment in the way thay should, and it saddens me further to have conversations with people who do not believe that their actions habe any conequence. I had a conversation with one of my classmates, and he said flat out htat companies should be able to do what ever they want because they are helping the economy. It is shocking to me how little people know about the enviroemtn and the effects that polution has on it. If I Become an enviroemntal laywer, I will make it my priority to protect the world we live in, and hopfully educate the people around me who do not have the same beliefes that I do. If we can start education people on the importance of awearness of actions and awearness of the world, we can start changing it, and hopfully reverse this spiral that we have created in our world. If enough people can know how to protect the land they live on, then we can prevent global warming, and preserve the only earth we have.

From a young age, I have had friends from multiple social circles, which was fine until I started to feel like I couldn't connect with them as deeply as I saw friends do in their own social circles. It was about June 2020 when I started to feel a crippling sense of loneliness. I believed that in order to fit in and be accepted by these people, I had to do what they were doing, which often included substance abuse or something rebellious. I tried to ignore my intense lonliness, but something changed over the summer, more people that I knew were taking their nicotine to school and using it around me, which compelled me to use it as well, which was a moment of weakness for me. It didn't help that my new boyfriend also used nicotine; I figured I had to do it with him as well be be accepted by him. I started to believe that smoking was the right thing to do because everyone was doing it. In November, I felt like my life had crumbled, my brother violated me in such a personal way that it was unforgivable. My mom didn't condone his actions, which put a rift between me and her, and her and her husband. This led us to move houses and she brought my brother, with whom I could no longer be around. My mom continued to defend her son, which meant that he was around me whenever I was with her, and the only way I could escape this was by hanging out with my boyfriend and his friends. In December of sophomore year, my boyfriend started smoking marijuana around me. He promised me that he would never make me do it, but he would often make comments that lead me to believe otherwise, so I started doing it as well. With him and his group, I finally felt like I belonged to a solid group, one that I thought would have my back. I didn't care that my grades were slipping or that I was seeing my parents less, I felt included and happy. I didnt realise that I had gotten addicted to not oly my "friend group" but also the drug aswell. All of this joy, however, came to a head in February, I was staying after school and an acquaintance came and asked if I wanted to smoke. I barely knew him but said, “yeah sure” anyway because I felt like I needed to get high. He encouraged me to smoke too much and then took me back to the school, from there the truth was revealed and everyone was devastated, I had disappointed and devastated my parents. My shift from a life of relative rebellion to a life at home, and never going out, esspecially cince I nologer had acsess to the drugs I had been using regularly. I struggled with myself for a long time, unable to understand why it was so hard for me. I also felt lonlier than ever, I couldnt be with the new "friends" I had made, and I had been rejected my alot of my old ones. The good news is, now two years later, I have made new friends, and have gotten my life back on track. I still feel the urge to smoke, but years of therapy and hard work have given me the ability to say "no" and i am infinatly proud of myself for that.

Femminism is Believe that men and women deserve equal rights and opportunities. It is important that the idea that femminism is "man hating" be irradicated form the coneversation becasut that naritive has made men, unable to join in that conversation. The inclusion of men in the story of feminism is important, especially when one considers the lack of social acceptance regarding men's emotional responses and capabilities. For instance, there is a lack of representationgiven to fathers for their childrens upbringing even though fathers and mothers tend to make an equal contributions to their childrens life. This applies to women because it is a reference to the stereotype that women raise children alone, yet this also resonates with men, especially the fathers that are stereotyped as uninvolved in the lives of their children. When I was in elementary school it was my dad who would drop me off. All the moms and some of the teachers would look at him weirdly as he gave me a hug and a kiss goodbye. He was the only father who was in the parking lot dropping off a child. Another example of the serious negative side effects of excluding men from the fight for gender equality is my step day, he had been told all his life that men are meant to be strong and never show emotions that make them look “flowery” or “frail”. He turned to alcohol as a side effect of this narrative and often conveyed the same ideals to my little brother, that emotions make you weak, so don't show them or else you will be deemed inadequate by society. This perspective is passed down from generation to generation and is one of the many reasons that a true deffinition is so important, because it makes an attempt to stop this toxic masculinity that has embedded itself in our world. An Inspirational person for me is my step mom. She is ready and willing to put a stop to sexist behaviors, both for the sake of female well being, and male well being. It is a goal of hers to get rid of all sexist behaviors in her workplace, as a doctor, and she has done this very effectivly. I once over heard a conversation between her and my grandfather, someone had ignored her and went straight to him for directions, even though he had no idea. He asked her if that happens frequently and she said, "yes I will always be nurse Annie." That comment has always resonated with me, because even someone as strong and qualified as her, is often regarded as less qualified because of her gender. In my community, I have made it a goal to emphasise both genders in femminism. For speech and debate, I am delivering a speech by emma watson, and in my introduction, I make a point to emthasise that emma watson is not saying that we need to bring down men, but give them more freedom to be sensitive, because as she says "If men do not have to be agressive in order to be submissive, if men do not have to control, women will not have to be controled." I try to convey this idea in every day life, by breaking down the stigma that men are strong, and women are sensitive, because that is not always the case.

Ever since I was a child, there has always been somthing a bit different with the ralationsips I made. Every friend I have had, even most of the adults I have been with, seem to suffer from some sort of mental illness. It started when I was young. My mother and father got divorced and my mom stopped speaking as much, she did not do much of anything really, I was not aware of it at the time but she had fallen into a depressive state. Right after the divorce we moved in with her new boyfriend and he wasnt helping much either. My moms boyfriend was an alcaholic with anger issues, and instead of going to bed with the beautiful sounds of the night, I would drift off to screaming and the throwing of glass. At school, my best friend, though we did not know it at the time, suffered from anxiety and depression, she would often run and hide, even from me, because she was so anxious about social relationships. She and I went through everything together and she was the only one at school who knew about what I was hearing at home, but she was never quite there all the time, she would dissociate in the middle of conversations and I would just have to wait for her to come back. It was my relationship with her that really showed me how important it is to hear people, and though I didn't know it at the time, I had become her unofficial therapist and age six. As I grew up, things didn't get much easier, my mother's boyfriend got more and more unpredictable, he began drinking at noon instead of 4 and I would come home to an unstable ghost of a man, who disliked everything unpleasing, which included me. The aggression got so intense, that even a noise at school would cause me to jump in fear. He never physically touched me, but he did threaten it and would often throw objects at me instead. These shifts in my home life led to shifts in me at school and at my father's house, I began to disconnect from everyone but my friend, she always lent a shoulder when I needed it and I did the same for her. In middle school she finally got diagnosed and was put on the proper medication, she was at my house all the time and remained the only person outside of my family who knew what was going on. As I grew older, even after my Mom moved out of that house, I still see parts of myself that were concocted in that environment. I am more anxious and stressed than I believe I would be had I not been exposed to such violence so young. It was these experiences, however, that taught me how important a helping hand is. My friend being there for me very well saved my life, and I am eternally grateful. Mental health and self-care are vitally important things to a person, and when help is not offered to those struggling with things like anxiety and PTSD, they will most often go to a much darker place. These experiences lead me to believe that helping people is the most important thing someone can do. That is why I wish to pursue a career as a lawyer, where I am guaranteed to help someone in need.

I practice self-care by having a positive attitude and putting myself first. It is so important to keep a positive mindset with everything in your life. There have been times in my life when I have mainly had a pessimistic and very negative and it affected my entire life. It prevented me from trying new things and doing what I loved because of the fear my negative outlook would bring me. I had missed out on a lot of opportunities that would have brought me great joy had I simply tried and not immediately thought I would fail. With having a positive thought process and self-talk, I have completely changed my life for the better which is no exaggeration. I am so much happier with my life and who I am. Putting myself first has also turned my life for the better, while it is good to help people with what they are going through it is also important to know yourself and what you need. There have been many times in my life when putting others' needs before mine has led me to dangerous and unhealthy circumstances. When putting myself first, I feel free to say no when people need something from me that isn't in my best interest. It also reminds me that I am important and deserve to say no and put myself first. This mindset has changed my life because now I feel like I am bettering myself as a human being.

My favorite way to help others is to simply give someone a random compliment or a card. While this isn't necessarily "helping" them with anything physical it is helping their confidence and every compliment I can give will add another smile to the world which helps others through a rough time. Getting a compliment, I believe, is better than getting a gift because compliments are often freely given without any prompt from a birthday or another form of celebration. This makes them so valuable and something that is free. It doesn't cost anything to simply compliment a hairstyle or an outfit or even a smile. this will leave the person walking away feeling supported and loved by someone they do not even know. especially in a school or a small community, it can lighten the tone of the building or environment and it brings people together, especially in a time such as this. So many people are divided and complimenting people, no matter their beliefs or their backgrounds, lifts them up and I think that is the best way to help others.

My dream life starts off with graduating from college, hopefully with at least a master's law major and a minor in psychology. From then I would find a job as a lawyer, hopefully in New York, London, or Madrid. I really enjoy the Idea of successful big city life. Going out to a coffee shop or sitting in my apartment and looking at the view while studying my papers and files would be a dream. I would want to be somewhat successful but I also want to help people. I want to make good impressions in my future, teach young women that they can become whatever they want to be, and get people to where they need to go. Overall, My dream is to be a big city lawyer and live in an apartment with a view. I'd like to be somewhat successful and achieve my goals. I want to make impressions on people that last and be easy to talk to so that my clients can get to where they need to be because I want to help others in my future, that is the dream.

Educational inequity is something we should all stand for because everyone deserves to have a full education in their decided subject of study. With the higher prices of college tuition and the growing canyon between the pauperized and the wealthy, it's becoming clear that fewer and fewer people can afford college; therefore fewer people are attending. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, in fact, college graduates earn an average of 61% more than non-college graduates. This is an important problem to be addressed in society because without a form of further education, it is harder to get a higher-paying job, therefore continuing the pattern of an economically unhealthy wealth gap. If we were to solve this inequity, it would pique the interest of the youth. Lower tuition would make college a more accessible option for the future, especially for students who come from unhealthy families. About 29% of U.S. households make under 26,000 a year, 26,000 is the median household income in the US; In addition, those in that lower-income pew often make less than one-third of the median household income. If a teenager is coming out of that household and being told to go to college where the tuition can be more than 6,012 a year, they would roll their eyes at the very idea. This means that at simply hearing the cost of college, students often give up on reaching that potential. that is why we should stand against educational inequity because students deserve a full education.

The wisest thing I ever heard was said by my 7-year-old little sister. At the time she was five years of age and she said something that changed my perspective on life. For some added context, we were sitting at the kitchen table while I was doing my homework. I was writing a paper that was limited to 600 words, I made the comment that 600 was probably the most I could do anyway and she piped up and said something wise beyond her years: "making limits with what you can do is just a way of quitting." I was taken aback because she was right, when one limits themselves to a certain amount of what they can do, they are basically giving up. I've taken what she said very seriously and applied it to every part of my life. Whenever I am meant with a challenge that I don think I can do, I remember what she said. All in all, I'm not so certain that she knew the influence of the wisdom of the words she said that day, But I do think that she knew it would help, and It has. She was only five but she spoke words that should ring for everyone. how I interpreted it was, You should be wear of yourself and what you can do, but never let your limits be permanent, or you are quitting before you've begun. This is so valuable and important to understand and I carry it everywhere I go.

Generosity, it is a word that many people of today roll their eyes at and think, "ok we get it, be generous." But to me, generosity means so much more than just giving, but it also means caring. It means giving something more than a lot of money, while that can be very helpful. Generosity means caring about what you give and making it mean something to whoever is receiving it. Generosity is having an open mind to the possibilities of what you can do. Although most think just throwing a penny in a bucket or just waving to somebody in the store would not be considered very generous, but a simple act can make someone's day so much better, and that is what I think the act of being generous is all about. It is making others happy and giving even simple things that can do that, which Is what I consider generosity. All in all, I see generosity as, not only big money gestures and huge donation projects, which again are not a bad thing, but that is not all generosity is limited to. Generosity can be giving small things, like a high five or a smile. All that matters is the care that you put behind it. If there is no care then would it really be considered generosity or is it just an empty gesture to make you look like a nice person?

My favorite scientist is Marie Curie because she was one of the first respected women scientists and won many rewards for her amazing work.

Elizabeth Schuyler is someone I greatly admire in history. She was a woman of the 18th century, and the wife of the founding father, Alexander Hamilton. The part about her that I admire the most is that she made a name for her self that was separate from her husbands. She stayed strong when she faced his adaltry, her sister Peggys death, and later the death of her son Phillip, then Hamiltons death which was closely followed by her fathers. She suffered so much loss and still managed to grow and make a difference in her community and the country of America. She established the firs tprivate orphanage, spoke out against slavery, raised funds and organized Hamiltons story. she perserviered and had a substantial influence in her life and after she died. I look up to and admire her because she is the Iconic model of what a woman can achieve. She strived to make a name for her self that was unconnected to her husbands in such a way so she would be recognized as Eliza not Mrs. Hamilton. I think this is such an important Idea for young women and, really for everyone. She shows us that people don't need to be held in the box of a stereotype. People can find their own way of creating a difference without belonging to a certain group or "type" of people. Over all, I admire Elizabeth Schuyler because she shows that women are strong and hold importance. She was strong in a time when women weren't respected half as much as they should have been. She also showed that stereotypes dont define you and that you can make a difference by just being yourself.

Having a mental illness can be scary, It often causes a feeling of loneliness and fear. An example I have of this is an incident that happened with my friend. We were both hanging out at school, in a pretty quiet and empty area of campus. She started to act really strangely and looked like she was about to panic. I figured it was just a random face she was making but I was sorely mistaken. She crumpled to the floor and started hyperventilating. I rushed to her side and asked her what was wrong, she looked at me and all she could say was, "I'm alone, I'm alone," over and over again. I held her and told her she was not alone and that I was right there. After a while, she calmed down enough to tell me that her mom had sent her a text saying she was going to work late and that she was to go home and make dinner. That seemingly small thing had caused her to fall into a panic attack. There were many other instances of these attacks and they happened more often when she didn't take her medication. These instances of heightened anxiety often caused insecurities for her, she saw herself as weak and insignificant. The thing that most reliably calmed her down was that she was not alone and, that other people often felt the same way. I hope that everyone knows that they are not the only does who feel that anxiety and depression, often these feelings come on full force for no apparent reason. Overall, how I want to use this experience to positively impact the lives of those struggling with mental illness is to say that they are not alone and are completely justified for feeling lost, alone, and scared. I want to convey the importance of seeking help because people would be lining up to provide assistance because you deserve to be happy and feel safe.

I want to continue to pursue higher education because I want to be able to make a difference with my extra knowledge. I want to go into social justice and law so that I can make the world a better place and higher education can help me achieve that goal by me going to law school and taking courses that better my knowledge and understandings of the justice system and overall help me find inequality that I can help fix. Although right now I do not know everything about how this world works; however, I do know that when it comes to gender, sexuality, race, religion, and many other supposedly "dividing" lines, there are a lot of problems. With gaining more knowledge in higher education as to how to fix things peacefully and effectively I can make a change in this crazy and potentially beautiful world we live in. I am participating in choir and hopefully theater. I love to sing and express myself and my thoughts through music, it always helps me through rough times in my own life. By writing and creating music with a unique texture, I can really show my authentic self in a way that only music can let me do. I also love theater and acting because it is an opportunity to really step into another world and another perspective. Good actors always portray their character as if it were themselves by stepping into that character's shoes. That whole idea seems really cool to me. Currently, I am most passionate about true self-love. Not just every once and a while saying that you are a good person or that you are pretty, but genuinely meaning it in a raw way that lasts more than just a few minutes of euphoria. I am passionate about finding my own self-love but also helping others find a way to love themselves. I've noticed over the last few years that people don't see themselves as worthy of existing or worthy of love. They will assume that they are a burden or an inconvenience just for existing. I am very passionate about changing that: first by changing my own mindset towards self-love, and then by helping others see that they are amazing and beautiful people who deserve so n=much more than just falling behind everyone else and into the shadows. By being passionate about finding my own self-love I hope I can spread that. Overall, I want to pursue higher education so that I can learn how to fix the injustices of the world peacefully and effectively, I am participating in two extracurriculars: choir and theater, and I am most passionate about finding self-love for myself and others.

I do not have any in-use social media platforms. I am proud to be in the LGBTQ+ community because it's who I am and I am always accepted. When I first realized I wasn't straight I was super internally homophobic, but when I found out I wasn't alone, I embraced who I was and I'm so much more comfortable in my own skin because of it.

"Everybody's a genius, but if you judge a fish, by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." ~ Albert Einstein Ever since I was young (like kindergarten level) peers have told me I was not smart enough to do well at anything. I had a girl once tell me that I was retarded and that I should just drop out of school before I embarrass myself. I also had my (now ex) stepdad tell me I was stupid because I couldn't spell muscle right. In addition, I couldn't really read well until about third grade and I wasn't the greatest at math. and just because of these little differences, I was viewed as stupid. Then in fourth grade, I decided to read "Fish in a Tree" in which I read the quote, "Everybody's a genius, but if you judge a fish, by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid," by Albert Einstein. That made me realize that could be and was good at things. I Began trying to prove them wrong, to prove that I could be more than they expected, not for them, but for myself. As I started working hard, I started being viewed as smart rather than stupid. now in #64 out of 350 sophomores at my high school, and I will keep on trying and growing in my knowledge. Now, I will swim rather than climb, and I will excel.

"Everybody's a genius, but if you judge a fish, by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." ~ Albert Einstein Ever since I was young (like kindergarten level) peers have told me I was not smart enough to do well at anything. I had a girl once tell me that I was retarded and that I should just drop out of school before I embarrass myself. I also had my (now ex) stepdad tell me I was stupid because I couldn't spell muscle right. In addition, I couldn't really read well until about third grade and I wasn't the greatest at math. and just because of these little differences, I was viewed as stupid. Then in fourth grade, I decided to read "Fish in a Tree" in which I read the quote, "Everybody's a genius, but if you judge a fish, by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid," by Albert Einstein. That made me realize that could be and was good at things. I started working on what I was good at, like science and writing, and with those, the places where I fell short also started improving. As I started working hard, I started being viewed as smart rather than stupid. now in #64 out of 350 kids in my grade at my school, and I will keep on trying and growing in my knowledge. Now, I will swim rather than climb, and I will excel.

Going to London without parents for the first time ever. This is a picture I took from across the River Thames during my first time outside of this continent, and without my parents. It was an eighth-grade trip on which I enjoyed myself very much. We toured London, went to places like the White Castle and Stonehenge and it was very educational but I was very nervous.