Asking what someone has learned from books they've read is nearly impossible. Even before we can read on our own, we are being taught from books. While many read fun fictional stories with clear messages, myself included, we should include the lessons from the books that we don't expect. Most of the books that people read in school will be from their English and Literature classes. We learn the story and the lessons that they're meant to teach, but that's not where the learning ends. By spending time analyzing a story, you are strengthening your media literacy, a necessary skill in this day and age. While more difficult for some than others, the more books you read and break down, the easier concepts become to understand. Personally, I found the Iliad to be very difficult to read and follow at first. Often times, I had to read that night's passage aloud to my mother so that we could figure it out together. After finishing that section of the class, I noticed an improvement in my general comprehension. I had not particularly struggled with reading comprehension before, but my skills did improve. With the fall of literacy rates across the country, comprehension is a skill to nourish. Many of the things we learn from our history books are obvious (the dates, the people, the sequence of events), but what about the underlying lessons? For example, during a lesson about the Second Red Scare, our teacher mentioned that a large wave of accusations were made by Roy Cohn, McCarthy's lawyer, after the soldier he had been writing letters to abandoned him for a woman. The information I just provided is something that I learned, but the underlying message could be to not let your emotions control unrelated decisions. Even your math books teach you lessons that don't directly pertain to the subject. Like many others, I have struggled in certain levels of math. There were some subjects that required so much more effort for me to understand than others. To me, math books represent my ability to do difficult things. Yes, I struggled and had to ask for help a lot, but I still did it. I passed those classes and I understood those concepts. Proving to yourself that you can do hard things is invaluable in life. Reading a book you don't like can be a really valuable tool. During a college English class, we were assigned to read "We Are The Weather" and discuss it in class. Unanimously, the class pointed out that, even if the message the author wanted to convey was important, his writing strategies were incredibly ineffective. We used the book as an bad example of persuasive writing in order to improve our own. Books can teach us so many more lessons that we first think. It's important to spend time reading anything that you find interest in. I know that all of the lessons I've learned from books are easily adaptable to my future. My goals are attainable because I can do hard things. I can stay on track because I won't let temporary emotions make large permanent decisions. Every book you read can be a tool if you let it.

Not knowing is not your fault, but the refusal to learn, is. Instead of ruminating on what might happen, your first question should always be "how can I support you?". The answers to these questions will look different from person to person. Your friend may ask you to continue as normal or to make small changes in your relationship. A friend of mine confided in me that she was worried that she might experience psychosis for the first time, and no one would know how to help her. She offered me small bits of advice, but I wanted to be able to offer her the best help. A few weeks following this conversation, I found a second-hand book discussing how to help people like my friend. Not only am I learning how to assist someone having a psychotic episode, but how her condition affects her everyday life. Both this friend and a close family member of mine had spent time in an inpatient facility without my knowledge. Finding out the reality months or even years later is a feeling that is odd to describe. You feel better knowing that they felt well enough to tell you, but horrible that there was a time they weren't. You're glad that they got help, but sad knowing that they needed it. Learning about the ways in which those close to you struggle opens you to a new world of emotions and instincts. It may be tempting to start treating your loved one like they're made of glass, but that can do more harm than good. Especially if this person is a teenager or adult, you don't want to start treating them like a child or wild animal. Knowing about your loved one's mental health can also help you understand other aspects of their personality and their habits. While not excusing hurt they may have caused, it helps leave room for empathy. Many people who struggle with mental health, those I know included, pick up habits like smoking in an attempt to "self-medicate". Unfortunately, nicotine can be quite affective against stress and anxiety while it is in your system. The same can be said for alcohol, weed, and other recreational drugs. Suicidal attempts and ideation are probably some of the most frightening parts about having a relationship with someone who struggles with mental health. The thought isn't always there, but it occasionally plagues your mind, urging you to check in. I started to rely on semi-regular communication with certain friends, not only for the companionship, but to ease my concerns. To be clear, these concerns were often unfounded and were a result of my perception of mental health at the time. Unfortunately, sometimes your anxiety is right. I had sent a text to a friend of mine but had not gotten a response after several days. This friend in particular had always responded within 48 hours, so I began to worry. Despite assurances from my family, I texted her again, asking if she was ok. This text message turned green and did not show "delivered", worrying me even more. A while later, her mother texted me from her phone to let me know she would be in the hospital for a few days. I was beyond thankful that I listened to that horrible feeling in my gut and that she was getting help. You won't always be able to help in the ways that you see on TV, but you can help in the little ways. Provide them with a sense of normalcy, comfort, and compassion.

I started working at Raising Cane's just after my freshman year of college. I was able to pay for the first year of tuition with money that had been set aside, but it was not going to last. I knew that summer and winter break were going to be the best times for me to work and save as much as possible to prepare for the coming semesters. Once the fall semester started, I had to balance my work, classes, and sports throughout the week. I scheduled my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays because those were the days that I had practice. This way, I wouldn't have to worry about being late to school or work due to double scheduling. It also meant that I didn't have to go to rugby practice after having worked in a hot kitchen for five hours. The spring semester, however, brought in a new challenge. I had taken up coaching my high school's track team in order to get involved and gain a little more income. This meant that I had to block off a few more hours of the days that could be spent working. It was not uncommon for me to go from Cane's to track, still in my work uniform. Track also meant that I barely worked on Saturdays because track meets are always on Saturdays and usually all-day events. My rugby matches were also usually on Saturdays, which blocked my work even more. During the spring semester, I took on a commissioned art job. My grandparents commissioned a large mural in their backyard, meaning I had to figure out how to fit that into my schedule too. All of these activities left me with a fairly packed schedule. I would work at Cane's on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays since I didn't have rugby those days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I had classes in the day and practice in the evening. Every Sunday I was able, I would drive down to my grandparents to work on the mural. Saturdays were either a track meet, a rugby match, work, or a rare free day. Every weekday afternoon, except Friday, I would coach track for 2-3 hours. That spring semester was the most challenging in terms of scheduling. I managed to keep up and get through by making sure that every day was planned in advance. I keep a large whiteboard that I use as a calendar in my room, which gets updated regularly. Anything I agreed to was put on the calendar in a specific color for easy legibility. Blue for work and coaching, green for school, purple for rugby, red for appointments or family commitments, and finally black for assignment due dates. Anytime my work schedule was updated, my hours were written on the board as soon as possible. The most important part was getting used to saying no. I had to skip some social outings or work opportunities to ensure that I wasn't overlapping responsibilities or putting too much on my plate. Unfortunately, the school that I was coaching for closed down in May, meaning I won't have that opportunity for secondary income. I am currently working as much as I can to save as much as possible for the coming semester. I want to do my best to ensure I won't have to take student loan payments into my post-college life and career.

I made a digital drawing of a Therizinosaurus, a therizinosaurid from the Late Cretaceous. This dinosaur is my favorite for a few reasons, the main one being its 3-foot-long claws. When the Therizinosaurus was first discovered, the paleontologists assumed that the claws were the ribs to a large turtle. Honestly? I just find the unique trait to be really cool. Drawing this dinosaur is difficult, because we don't know much about them and how they looked. A Stegosaurus is much easier to depict with the multitude of fossils we have. However, this also means that I had a lot more creative freedom with this drawing. While this dinosaur might have been feathered, it is unlikely that it would have been fully feathered due to its environment. Instead, I decided to draw proto-feathers, a hair-like predecessor to feathers. I also chose this path because most large therapods, a group which Therizinosaurus falls under, had some sort of proto-feather or feather covering. While we do know the color of some dinosaurs, Therizinosaurus is, sadly, not one of them. However, I find that paleo art is much more fun when unusual colors are used. Since we don't know the color, why not use purple? There is no evidence showing that it is or is not purple, so why not have fun? I absolutely love dinosaurs. It has been a long-standing interest of mine, enough to have written an 11-page senior paper about them. As much as I love dinosaurs and I love creating art, I don't combine them very often. Cash's story has pushed me to draw dinosaurs more often and include them in my stories. I know that most media pertaining to dinosaurs is fairly inaccurate, it's what I wrote that paper. Maybe I can be the one to bring more scientifically accurate dinosaurs to TV. I'm currently going to Arizona State University for animation, and I hope that one day I can help create something that inspires kids like Cash.

I am Oceana Sams, a sophomore animation student at Arizona State University. Generally, when people think about leaving a positive impact on the world, they immediately think of scientists, engineers, medical professionals, and civil rights leaders. While these positions are crucial to changing the world, I want to highlight the importance of the arts. Humans have been creating art for thousands of years. The oldest cave paintings were found in South Africa and dated back at least 75,000 years. For art to have persisted for millennia, it must have a positive impact on humanity to some degree. Personally, I think that art has so many uses and applications that it would be silly to try and narrow it down. In times of joy, people often express that joy tangibly in some way, this results in art. During tumultuous times, people use their artistic ability to vent their emotions and share their struggles with others. Art has been a crucial step of nearly every civil rights movement to date. Their use of shocking images and language draw attention to their cause. Medical textbooks are full of artistic renditions of the human body, surgeries, and simple procedures for the next generation of medical professionals to learn from. Even if we ignore the practical aspects of art, the emotional impact it can have on people is incredible. Many people are often surprised at how connected they can feel to an animated film directed towards children. The stigma surrounding animation suggests that animated content is just for small children and should not be taken seriously. Directed towards children or otherwise, these films should be taken seriously as works of art. Many of these films and TV shows have changed the way people look at the world and influenced how many of us grew up. While not always intentional, many movies in the past 30-40 years have expressed a distain for the current system in which we live. It has prompted hundreds of people to question the status quo and rebel against it. I want to create animations that make people feel things. I want to make at least one person in the world feel seen when they feel they've been brushed aside. Even if the story doesn't move a person, I want to create art that people can simply enjoy looking at. The impact that the arts can have on the world cannot be overstated. By creating art, we can change the world for the better. The positive impact I hope to leave may not be tangible in the way some may think, but it is an impact that is just as important.

My name is Oceana Sams, and I am currently a sophomore at Arizona State University. It was here, at ASU, that I found a women's rugby team, and I was so excited. I had known about rugby before, but I had no idea that there were college teams in the States. Since starting to play, I have realized that I want every girl to find a sport that makes her feel supported and powerful. These women have supported me and helped me through so much and I cannot thank them enough. In particular, two of my teammates, Rachel and Sunday, guided me through the most difficult points of my rugby journey. As I came to find out, rugby is a very complex sport with a lot of confusing rules. During my first year, 2024, I was really struggling to understand what I was supposed to be doing and where I was supposed to be on the pitch. One night, it all came to a head, and I could not stop the tears from pouring down my face. Rachel came over to let me know that no one knows what they're doing their first year and encouraged me to talk to our coaches when I was confused. She later went on to take me as her rookie, all because of that one practice. In November of that same year, I sustained an injury to my shoulder during a rugby tournament. While I am unaware of the mechanism of injury, my right shoulder subluxated causing a lot of pain. Obviously, I was not allowed to participate in rugby for a month or so, leaving me to spend the entire time worrying. I have looser connective tissue than the average person, so I was worried that my body might not be able to continue playing rugby for much longer. I vented these concerns to my teammate, Sunday, who also happened to be injured at the time. Sunday's injury took her out of rugby for much longer than mine did and she related to my concerns. Just knowing that there was someone else on the team who had the same worries as I did, made me feel better. Sunday is someone who has always been there for me and I am so grateful to have met her. My plan is to continue to play rugby alongside my schoolwork for as long as I can afford it. Unfortunately, the rugby team is a club sport at the moment, meaning that I have a fair amount of fees to pay in addition to my tuition. The addition of this scholarship could mean the difference between continuing to play the sport I have fallen in love with or having to drop it in favor of finances. Thank you for the opportunity to help me pursue my education and livelihood.

Currently, I play rugby for ASU's club team as a lock. The community I have found through this sport cannot be understated. I have never been on a sports team that is so supportive of, only my advances in rugby, but in my academics and hobbies. Rugby has given me a sense of confidence that I didn't know I was missing. These women make me feel so strong and I cannot thank them enough. I will never forget the teammates who helped me through the most difficult part of my rugby journey so far. I know for a fact that I have a lot of people in my corner if I ever need a hand. I'm studying animation in the hopes of one day working for a studio as a character animator. Animation is another place of support that I wasn't quite expecting. Everyone always talks about how competitive arts majors can be and I was a little worried. However, I've come to find that most people in my major only have supportive words to say, even if what their saying is a critique. The number of times you hear in a classroom "That's beautiful, how did you do that?" or "Oh my gosh, I love this so much" just lifts my spirits. These people genuinely want others to succeed along with them, and I think we need more of that in the world. It is these two communities that make me want to continue my education more than anything. Unfortunately, the rugby team is only a club team at the moment, meaning that I have fees to pay. That, in addition to my tuition, creates a very stressful experience as a student. As much as I want to pick up more shifts to ensure that I can meet my payments on time, I simply need that time for school and other commitments. This scholarship might allow me to be able to enjoy my summer and winter breaks instead of working so often just to catch up for the next semester. I will not lie, I do not enjoy my current job, but it's what pays my tuition and fees. Any assistance I can get could mean the difference between graduating debt free and years of loans to pay off. I am trying my best to make sure I can graduate without taking out any loans and I know that I can, but I want to enjoy more of my college life. I want to have more freedom before I start the rest of my life working.

In the summer of 2024, I came across the Arizona State University women’s rugby’s TikTok page. I was set to attend ASU that fall and was so excited to find out that there were college rugby teams in the States. I am currently in my second year of playing and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I will admit, I struggled a lot my first year. Rugby is a very complicated sport, and I was fairly new to the concept. I knew that rugby was a contact sport similar to football, but that’s where my knowledge ended. In particular, the pod structure our team runs confused me my first semester. I had missed an important practice in which the coaches gave everyone tentative positions to play and talked about where they needed to be on the field. When I came to the next practice, we ran a drill for this structure and I was so lost. I was so frustrated with myself and confused that I started tearing up. My teammate, Rachel, noticed that I was having a hard time and told me that everyone has a hard time learning this sport, it’s difficult. This is when I really realized just how kind these people were. I had played sports before where almost everyone was talking behind each other’s backs but playing nice to their face. This is one of the spaces where I feel genuinely uplifted by all of my teammates. Rachel would later choose to adopt me as her rookie, introducing me to the rugby family. That November, my shoulder subluxated, which took me out of practice for the rest of the month. Even after I was cleared to return to practice, I was so worried that it would happen again. I know that I have looser joints than the average person, meaning I am more likely to experience subluxations and dislocations. Whilst sharing these worries with my teammate, Sunday, she provided me with a lot of comfort. Sunday had also been injured, but hers had taken her out for much longer, several months to a year if I remember correctly. She didn’t offer me empty remarks like “No way, that won’t happen” or “Everything is going to be ok”. Instead, she validated my feelings and told me that she felt the same way. We were both worried about how long our bodies would keep up with this sport and that made me feel better. In the most recent game that we played, I ended up scoring my first try ever. We were so close to the try line, but my teammate ended up on her back holding the ball instead of in a proper ruck. Since I was getting up from contact right next to her, I grabbed the ball and touched it down. Even though we didn’t end up winning that game, it is still such a happy memory for me. What made that moment even better was how excited so many of my teammates were for me. I love being part of a team that is so enthusiastic about everyone’s accomplishments. This sport has given me so much confidence and pride in myself. I never thought that I would say that I enjoy running around and hitting people for 80 full minutes, but here I am. Playing allows me to momentarily leave my troubles on the sidelines and just have fun. I hope to continue playing rugby past college, if possible, I’d hate to leave this beautiful community.

For a while, I really wanted to play football, that was until I found rugby at ASU. In high school, I wanted to play football, but because I was a girl, I would only be allowed to be a kicker. Instead, I joined the wrestling team my senior year. A few weeks before my first semester at ASU, I came across the ASU women's rugby TikTok page. I was so excited; I had no idea that there were college rugby teams in the States. As much as I loved the sport and the players, my first year was rough. I struggled to understand the plays, my passes were a shot in the dark, and I got frustrated really easily. One practice, we were practicing our pod structure, and I was just so confused I started crying. It was that night that I started to understand the rugby family. Rachel noticed that I was having a hard time and asked me what was going on. She was so patient and helpful and let me know that everyone struggles at first, it's a complicated sport. Later that year, Rachel chose me to be her rookie, her rugby daughter. Around November of that year, my shoulder subluxated at Scrum by the Sea in San Diego. I was out of rugby for a while and lost a good bit of confidence. I knew that I had looser joints and was terrified about my body not allowing me to play the sport I loved. It was my injured teammate, Sunday, who let me vent about my worries and offered her own support. Rugby has shown me an amazing community of incredible women that I am thrilled to have had the privilege of meeting. I have an amazing support system of people who know what I'm capable of and are cheering me on. Despite what some may think, there are few places where I feel safer than with my rugby team. I don't feel the need to shrink myself or hide away, because I know that they will be there regardless. We're all a rugby family. Playing rugby has not only improved my physical health, but drastically helped my mental health. Since I commute to school, I don't see my friends very often unless they are in my classes. Even rarer is seeing my friends who do not attend ASU. Rugby allowed me to interact with people who genuinely want me around for several hours of the week. It gives me a reason to leave my house that gets me excited. If time and body allow, I would love to continue playing after college, no matter the level. I hope that by continuing to play rugby, I will further build my community and myself.