Some days are harder than others. Some days will be great and I feel like I've never been happier, but then other days are just those days, they're the hard days. I can feel when I start to spiral, and I can usually tell when it's going to be a bad one, I can't explain it to you, but it's just how it is. It can change in an instant, or it can be a gradual thing. Besides those days, I've got my usual cloud of worries and anxieties that like to follow me around. I do my best to beat them back, but some days they win. On the rougher days, I don't really like to interact with people, and it can be hard to feel motivated, especially with my school work and the things I have to do. But I have a 4.0 to maintain, goals to attain, and people I can't let down- I can't afford to stop, so I push through as best as I can. There are some things that help me get through those days though. My art is one of them. Lately the project that's been getting me through those days the best has been this articulated frog model that I've been working on. I've been lucky enough to be able to take some Independent Study Art courses in school, where I get to teach myself whatever I want at my own pace, and my most recent project has been my frog model. It makes me feel better whenever I have it, and I've taken to carrying it around with me most days, but especially whenever I'm not feeling the best. It helps me stay motivated and makes me smile, it makes me smile even thinking about the silly little model. I've named it Fred, and the project is going really well. Having Fred with me reminds me of things that I like, and all the good progress I am making toward my goals, it's encouraging. Fred also helps me feel better when I'm talking to people. Having Fred around has helped me be more willing to express how I'm feeling. I know that sounds silly, but it's really just how it is. Since I was little, genuinely as far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to make toys. I want to make toys that spark people's creativity, joy, and hope- no matter how old they are. Objects like toys can be comforting things, almost like a friend who's always there, and that's what Fred has become for me. I've always been comforted by things like that, stuff that I know will always be there. For me, it's usually been my stuffed bear that I've had since I was a baby, he's gotten me through some rough times, and recently it's been Fred the frog. I would love to create something that can do that for other people, and maybe help them smile a bit more and feel a bit better. I think art's like superheros. We believe in what we need to, and we find heroes when we need them the most. With art, we create what we need to see, to hear, or to feel. Art is a way to express what we're feeling, and show how we view our world. So in the case of mental health, I think we create things that help us feel better. Maybe that's part of why Fred is around, maybe that's part of why I love creating toys so much. But whatever it is, my art is my superhero, now and always.

It’s my personal belief that most people know exactly what they’re meant for. We all know what keeps us up at night, what we see in everything everyday. Everyone has their one thing that won’t leave them alone, no matter how much they might wish it would. We all have our one “impossible” seeming dream. But is it that it’s impossible, or that we’re too scared to admit what it is? And what makes us admit it? I’ve loved art since I was little, and, when I was eight, I decided I wanted to make toys someday. I talked myself out of it. I felt dumb, it felt like a silly dream, so I tried to forget about it. But that silly little dream ended up becoming my One Thing. Every so often, even though I’d try to ignore it, I’d have an idea, something that I thought would be cool to make. It went like that for years- think of something, ignore it, think of something else- until highschool. Going into Junior year, Ms. Kelly helped set me up with Independent Study classes. I spent a few doing big projects, and brainstorming my 3rd project was monopolized by the diorama I’d just finished. It looked like a dollhouse, like something my cousin would’ve played with, with her princess dolls. And I got sucked into the idea, I wanted to make toys. Nine years of ignoring it, and I suddenly didn’t have a reason to tell myself “no” anymore. There was absolutely no reason I couldn’t do it. But I still couldn’t bring myself to admit it, or go for it. I decided I’d test the waters, just once. I brought it up to Ms. Kelly, just in passing, that I might be interested in learning to make toys. Ms. Kelly is the entire reason that I make toys. She's part of why I’m pursuing art and theatre in college. And a big reason I’ve gotten through the last four years. Ms. Kelly has taught me so much more than just art. I’ve been lucky enough to have her as my advisory teacher, and as my actual teacher in around eight classes. She’s taught me taught me a lot about life, and myself. She’s one of my biggest role models, and she’s pushed me not only to start making toys and push my art further, but to do my best in everything. To believe in myself, and my goals. And to keep trying. I don’t have the words to describe how much her support means to me, and there's no way to ever properly thank her, but I’ll never stop trying. She made me believe in my One Thing, she gave me the opportunity to focus on theatre and learn to make toys. She helped me through every trial and error along the way- in theatre, creating toys, college application struggles, and everything else. Someone once said that a good teacher's influence can’t ever be erased, and I know that Ms. Kelly’s influence on me won’t ever go away. I will never be able to think about highschool, college, art, or my toys without thinking about her. And I’ll never be able to fully explain why I make toys, or why I’m pursuing what I am, without talking about her. She’s been an incredibly influential person in my life, and I strive everyday to deserve how much she believes in me. I hope that I can make her proud, and I hope that someday I can find the right words to say “thank you” the way I want to.

I have this little frog doll I made, his name is Fred. He is my original model for the toy line I've been working on for the last nine months. I've wanted to make toys since I was eight, but it always seemed like a sort of impossible dream. I didn't believe that it would ever really happen. That is, until my opportunity literally sat right in front of me. I'd been taking independent study art classes, and had just finished my third one. The first two were spent working on sets for the school musical, and the third one on an eight month diorama project where I created a version of the West Wing and dungeon from the animated "Beauty and the Beast". When I sat down to figure out my next project, I couldn't stop thinking about how much the "West Wing" looked like a dollhouse, and, to be honest, while creating it I'd thought a few times about turning it into a dollhouse too. I was stuck. I wanted to make toys for my next project, but I still felt silly about it. It was something I'd given up on years ago, wasn't it? It was just a little girl's dream. Well, I've always been a big believer in signs, and I don't believe that I'd have found an opportunity if I wasn't meant to take it. How could toys have been so prevalent in my life and art since I was eight if making them wasn't what I was meant to do? So I dipped my toes in the water- I asked my art teacher what she thought. She loved it! Her vote of confidence was what I needed to help me find my courage. I'd spent almost ten years not believing that I'd ever make toys, and because of Ms. Kelly- who setup my independent study classes- I not only had an opportunity, but I had confidence in the idea for the first time! So, in short, I took the leap. That's what I really admire about Mr. Terry's story, he continued to find the courage to try, to keep moving forward, despite everything against him. I've often been plagued by self-doubt. I don't feel good enough to try most of the time, and I let my sadness and doubts stop me. I'm tired of letting it stop me. Fred was the first step out of that hole, the first time I've held a toy I've designed, and the first time I really saw my childhood dream as doable. Fred has gotten me through a lot, and reminds me every day of the future I'm fighting for. A future I saw when I was eight. My dreams began with a toy. Growing up, my dolls were my window to another world. Barbie says, "You can be anything." I believed that, I loved it, I still do. My toys were the spark to this dream, and the toys I create now continue to inspire me everyday. I hope that someday they'll inspire other kids too, just like Barbie and Disney once did, and still do, for me. Toys are the first way we picture ourselves in the future, and one of the first ways we express ourselves. I'd like to help bring that joy, entertainment, creativity, and inspiration to others. I'd like to be like Mr. Terry. To never stop moving forward, to never stop trying to light a path for others, to never let my own doubts, sadness, and past get in the way of my future. To have the courage to take the leap.

I would imagine the movie would be called "Story of my life", and not for the most obvious reason. "Story of my life" would, of course, be an on-the-nose name for a movie about my life, and it could also just be that it's a saying I've heard from time to time. But it's neither of those things. For me, there's two reasons. First, it's the first thing that popped into my head when I thought about it. Second, it wasn't the words "Story of my life" that popped into my head. It was the song, "Story of my life" by One Direction, my favorite band. It's a song that I really enjoy, and One Direction has a lot of songs that are really important to me. The title, because of how it makes me feel and what I think of when I read the words, feels fitting to me. As for the opening scene, I've always liked the sort of chaotic ones that are filled with little details and "Easter eggs" of sorts. I think mine would show my room, in all it's disastrous glory, me running around somewhere (probably late for something), the walls of my room, me tripping and spilling my bag, revealing my toy mock-ups, crumpled papers, pages and pages of notes, books, and my extensive collection of band-aids and medical tape. Then, it would cut to my room again, maybe my desk and shelves. There'd be a scene in there somewhere of me with my teammates and friends for sure, laughing about something and goofing off. Cuts to backstage of the school musicals, sitting in a classroom, filling out assignments and applications late into the night, an alarm going off early and getting shut off for five more minutes of sleep... Those kinds of things. The soundtrack would be a mix of what was happening in the scenes, background music, and other noises demonstrating my emotions at the time of each scene. Whispers, laughing, crying... whatever fit best with each snapshot of me at that moment. I think that kind of opening would show a lot about me, and give someone an idea of who I am. I'm not sure what kind of impression it would leave, but I feel like the more chaotic it seems, the more accurate it would be. If my life was a movie trailer, it wouldn't be clean cut with a clear storyline, because that's not what life is. Life is messy, and chaotic, and full of good and bad. The only way to showcase who we are as individuals is to show individual things about ourselves, the good things and the bad things. Mine might show my anxiety, sleepless nights, running from meeting to meeting, my perpetual "tardiness" to class, and my reoccurring feelings of sadness, but it would also show having fun with my friends, working on my art projects, the feeling after I've done well on an assignment, how I feel when I mascot and the sideline shenanigans with my team. As my AP Euro teacher, Mr. Pond, taught us the other day, "Sturm and Drang", Storm and Stress. Life has its ups and its downs. I'd want my opening scene to capture that. But as for my vision for my future, that's why it would focus on my desk, shelves, and contents of my bag. Backstage of the shows, college and scholarship applications, the bits and bobs of toy parts floating around in my life. My future is in theatre, and it's in toy design. I will be going to college in the fall for theatre arts, where I will learn as much as I can and apply it to designing my first toy lines. While theatre is a more recent dream, I've wanted to make toys since I was eight years old. I live and breath art, and can't go a day without either theatre, history, reading, or making something. Fred, my original model for my first toy line, would get his own intro, as would the stuffed bear I've had since I was a baby. Without being able to see the fundamental parts of who I am, there's no way anyone could understand me. And what my life is, is chaos. A tornado, as my friends have told me I am. I don't stop moving, I've got goals, motivations, and more ideas than I can keep up with. I'd want to be able to watch the opening scene and say "Yep, that's my life." The story of my life, is living my life. How I live it, more so than what I'm doing, is what I'd want to show. Things throughout it would give you an idea of my bigger picture. As Louis Tomlinson once said, "Live fast, have fun, be a bit mischievous."

This is Fred. He is my original model for the toy line I've been working on for the last nine months. The first image shows him sitting in my hand, so you can see how big he is (about nine inches tall), and the second image shows him surrounded by his face iterations. He is wearing the face design I've settled on. I chose to show you Fred, and my painting and diorama because I think they say a lot about me. I decided I wanted to make toys when I was eight, but didn't have the confidence to start making them until I was seventeen. I'd been taking independent study art classes, and had just finished my third one. The first two were spent working on sets for the school musical, and the third one on an eight month diorama project where I created a version the West Wing and dungeon from the animated "Beauty and the Beast". When I sat down to figure out my next project, I couldn't stop thinking about how the "West Wing" looked like a dollhouse! To be honest, while creating it I had thought a few times about turning it into a dollhouse too. I wanted to make toys for my next project, but I felt silly about it. I decided to bring it up to my art teacher and see what she thought. Talking to her about it was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence and take the leap. I'd spent almost ten years not believing that I'd ever make toys, and because of Ms. Kelly- who setup my independent study classes- I not only had the chance to make toys, but I had confidence in the idea for the first time. Since Fred was created, I have done 3D modeled and printed versions of him, but I chose to submit original Fred instead. The 3D printed versions might be cleaner, more proportional, and less likely to lose a limb, but I wanted to show you my favorite version of him. This Fred was the first step, the first time I've held a toy I've designed, and the first time I really saw my childhood dream as doable. This Fred has gotten me through a lot, and reminds me every day of the future I'm fighting for. A future that starts with Fred. I will be attending college this fall for theatre arts. While in school, I will continue to work on and improve my toy line, hopefully reaching my release goals for the line. Once I've graduated college, I will be working in stagecraft professionally while I continue to grow my toy company. Over the last four years of participating in musical theatre as a part of the set crew, I've learned a lot of applicable skills for toy design, as well as gained a love for performing arts. A theatre degree might not seem the most applicable to toy design, but it really is. I plan to someday work on sets for movies, TV shows, and larger musicals, as well as grow my toy line to a place where it is competitive with other brands, like Mattel, Hasbro, and Disney. My dreams began with a toy. My dolls growing up were my window to another world. As Barbie says, "You can be anything." I believed that, I loved it. My toys were my inspiration for a toy design future. And the toys I create now continue to inspire me everyday. I hope that someday they'll inspire other kids too, just like Barbie and Disney once did for me.

Highschool is hard. Life, in general, is hard sometimes. I like how music sort of says the things I'm thinking and feeling but can't actually find the words for. I never really listened to music a lot until I was in highschool, and sometimes I wonder if that's part of why. I needed a way to express how I was feeling, even if it was only to myself, and music was the best way to do that. Songs, lyrics, and melodies don't judge. I have kind of a hard time with anxiety a lot. I always feel bad and I hate it. Most of the time I feel like what I'm feeling isn't right, like I shouldn't be feeling it and it's wrong. But when I listen to music, it doesn't matter if what I'm feeling isn't "right", it's just what I'm feeling, and the songs seem to understand those feelings better than people can sometimes. Music drowns out what I'm feeling, the noise around me, and the voices constantly battling for attention in my head. When I'm feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated, music is one of the first places I know I can turn to. Throughout the last four years, I've participated in school musicals actively. I did set crew for "The Music Man" and for "Beauty and the Beast" my freshman and sophomore years, respectively. As a junior, I was given the opportunity to participate more in the show as the stage manager for "Mean Girls", and again this year for "The Wizard of OZ". We just finished the shows for OZ this past Saturday, and will be finishing up strike and having the cast party this Wednesday. I've really enjoyed participating in shows and I love the community that's built through them. I've learned so much and been able to interact with so many different people who I normally don't have the opportunity to get to know very well. I will be going to college for theatre arts and hope to someday be able to work on sets for larger productions, and maybe even write my own someday. I think music, in all its forms, brings people together. I've had the opportunity to engage with and work with all sorts of different people through musicals, and I've been able to express myself in different ways through the music I listen to. My school participates in the Americana Project, and I love watching their performances. I have several friends who participate in the program, and it's really fun to see their talents and how they express themselves musically! I try to incorporate music into my own art. My most recent project is a toy line that is set in the 80s. I'm working on pieces that are 80s music items, like Walkmans, Boomboxes, Cassettes, and Jukeboxes. I would love to figure out how to make them play music, especially the Jukebox! The line is pretty centered around music themed stuff. There will be musical themed sets, dance themed sets, and music accessories and props, like the Walkmans and Cassettes! I love music, and I hope to be able to continue to find new ways to appreciate and incorporate it into my life and my own artworks everyday. Thank you for this opportunity.

In the first image, you'll see Fred. He is my original model for the toy line I've been working on for the last nine months. The first image shows him sitting in my hand, so you can see how big he is (about nine inches tall), and the second image shows him surrounded by his face iterations. He is wearing the face design I've settled on. I am still playing a bit with the colors and the eyes, but the shape and proportions will stay the same. I decided I wanted to make toys when I was eight, but didn't have the confidence to start making them until I was seventeen. I'd been taking independent study art classes, and had just finished my third one. I'd spent two spending hours a day working on sets for the school musical, and the third one on an eight month diorama project where I created a version the West Wing and dungeon from the animated "Beauty and the Beast". You can see it in the 3rd and 4th images below. When I sat down to figure out my next project, I couldn't stop thinking about how the "West Wing" looked like a dollhouse! To be honest, while creating it I had thought a few times about turning it into a dollhouse too. I wanted to make toys for my next project, but I felt silly about it. I decided to bring it up to my art teacher and see what she thought. Ms. Kelly is one of my biggest role models and I've learned a lot from her. She thought my toy idea was great, and said to go for it! I know that seems really simple, but her response was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence and take the leap. I'd spent almost ten years not believing that I'd ever make toys, and because of Ms. Kelly- who setup my independent study classes- I not only had the chance to make toys, but I had confidence in the idea for the first time. I started by doing a lot of research and sketching before I came up with an idea I really liked. That idea was Fred, an anthropomorphic frog doll. My first version of him was made of modeling clay, and only consisted of his torso, upper leg, and lower leg. It was multicolored rainbow vomit, and super sticky. I still have that version. His second iteration was the Fred you see below. I spent weeks working on him. He's made of translucent polymer clay, masking tape, tinfoil, and wire. His face plates came next and are molds of his head. I used more of the polymer clay and then painted them with acrylics. The six faces show the process I went through deciding on a design. I went from flat, to trying the lip, to deciding on paint colors. I wanted Fred to be perfect and, while he's definitely not, he's very special to me. Since Fred was created, I have done 3D modeled and printed versions of him, but I chose to submit original Fred instead. The 3D printed versions might be cleaner, more proportional, and less likely to lose a limb, but I wanted to show you my favorite version of him. This Fred was the first step, the first time I've held a toy I've designed, and the first time I really saw my childhood dream as doable. This Fred has gotten me through a lot, and reminds me every day of the future I'm fighting for. And that future starts with Fred.

This is Fred. He is my original model for the toy line I've been working on for the last nine months. The first image shows him sitting in my hand, so you can see how big he is (about nine inches tall), and the second image shows him surrounded by his face iterations. He is wearing the face design I've settled on. I am still playing a bit with the colors and the eyes, but the shape and proportions will stay the same. Fred is my favorite art piece because he means a lot to me. I decided I wanted to make toys when I was eight, but didn't have the confidence to start making them until I was seventeen. I'd been taking independent study art classes, and had just finished my third one. I'd spent two spending hours a day working on sets for the school musical, and the third one on an eight month diorama project where I created a version the West Wing and dungeon from the animated "Beauty and the Beast". When I sat down to figure out my next project, I couldn't stop thinking about how the "West Wing" looked like a dollhouse! To be honest, while creating it I had thought a few times about turning it into a dollhouse too. I wanted to make toys for my next project, but I felt silly about it. I decided to bring it up to my art teacher and see what she thought. Ms. Kelly is one of my biggest role models and I've learned a lot from her. She thought my toy idea was great, and said to go for it! I know that seems really simple, but her response was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence and go for it. I'd spent almost ten years not believing that I'd ever make toys, and because of Ms. Kelly- who setup my independent study classes- I not only had the chance to make toys, but I had confidence in the idea for the first time. I started by doing a lot of research and sketching before I came up with an idea I really liked. That idea was Fred, an anthropomorphic frog doll. My first version of him was made of modeling clay, and only consisted of his torso, upper leg, and lower leg. It was multicolored rainbow vomit, and super sticky. I still have that version. His second iteration was the Fred you see below. I spent weeks working on him. He's made of translucent polymer clay, masking tape, tinfoil, and wire. His face plates came next and are molds of his head. I used more of the polymer clay and then painted them with acrylics. The six faces show the process I went through deciding on a design. I went from flat, to trying the lip, to deciding on paint colors. I wanted Fred to be perfect and, while he's definitely not, he's very special to me. Since Fred was created, I have done 3D modeled and printed versions of him, but I chose to submit original Fred instead. The 3D printed versions might be cleaner, more proportional, and less likely to lose a limb, but I wanted to show you my favorite version of him. This Fred was the first step, the first time I've held a toy I've designed, and the first time I really saw my childhood dream as doable. This Fred has gotten me through a lot, and reminds me every day of the future I'm fighting for. And that future starts with Fred. Thank you.

I wanted to make toys. I was eight, we were living in southern California, I was sitting on the floor with a box of craft stuff open in front of me and my dolls lined up behind it. I was making an ugly accessory for them, and thinking about what story I should play out with them. And that's when it hit me, it would be so cool to create my own doll line someday! Unfortunately, I gave up on that dream pretty quick, or so I thought. I was convinced that I needed to find a "real" career and dream for my future. Making toys was silly, there was no way I could tell someone that's what I wanted to do when I grew up. I didn't even know anyone who still played with toys! Even my twin sister had moved on from dolls. So I started thinking about what I could actually do. Being a teacher sounded good, I loved art and history, so maybe I could teach one of those? That was my tentative idea for a while, but it didn't really sit right with me. I just didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted it to have something to do with art for sure, or history at least. And then I got to highschool. I took every art class available by the end of my sophomore year but I still wanted to take more, so my art teacher, who's one of my biggest role models, brought up independent studies. I took three my junior year, learning about set design and spending eight months on a diorama project. I love theatre, and set design started sounding pretty good! At the end of the year, I started to think about what I would do for the independent studies I was planning to take my senior year, and I found myself stuck. The West Wing, my diorama project, had been so much like a dollhouse. To be honest, I had thought several times about turning it into a dollhouse too. But it was just a silly little girl's dream... right? I wanted to make toys, I wanted to make a doll line. But I couldn't, it was ridiculous! But I could. The opportunity was, quite literally, handed to me. It was sitting in front of me on a silver platter, all I needed to do was take it, to jump in headfirst. As silly as it is, I'm a big believer in signs and things happening for a reason, and I really, really believe that this dream wouldn't have found me twice if it wasn't what I was meant to be doing. I don't think it would've been so prevalent in my life since I was eight if it wasn't what I was meant to be doing. I don't think I'd have found my opportunity if it wasn't what I was meant to be doing. So I dipped my toes in the water. I asked my art teacher what she thought, and she was 100% on board. It was the confidence boost I needed, and I finally took the leap. I am now eight months into making my childhood dream happen, and I've got big plans for it. I will be entering my first doll line into an art competition at the end of April that I hope it will do well at! I will be going to college for technical theatre while working on the line- Leap Year: 1984. My reminder that, sometimes, all we have to do is jump in.

I have pretty severe "seasonal" allergies and dry skin issues. I'm pretty dependent on allergy medicine, and I have to take it everyday consistently or I'll be sick all day. Skipping days is a major inconvenience, but it's not the end of my functionality, mostly because I refuse to let my allergies get the better of me. I've got too much going on to let allergies take me out. It's not fun though. Usually, missing doses just makes me feel like trash and everyone thinks I'm sick, but sometimes, even with the medicine, I'll end up with rashes that make it hurt to move. My fingers will swell painfully, I'll have swollen welts all over my arms, legs, and face, and I'll feel almost like I've got a cold or the flu all day. I just ignore it as much as possible. I've gotten used to functioning when everything hurts and when I feel sick, because I do get "sick" quite a bit from my allergies. The hardest thing to workaround is when my hands swell, but I've learned to function when they hurt because even if they aren't swelling, they're split, cracked, and bleeding, so I've really got no choice but to keep moving. This year they've been splitting much worse than usual, and I've had to learn how to properly use medical tape and wrap my hands to contain the bleeding. The weather, season, and where I am really affect how bad my allergies are and how badly my hands chap. When my sister and I went to Atlanta for a competition a few summers ago, we got back and I was beyond sick for weeks from allergies because of the different pollens. It probably didn't help that I slept on the floor for a week because my little cousins wanted to have a "sleepover", or that I was outside all the time, but it is what it is. The last time I got really sick from allergies was last April and May. I'd just finished up a cheer season, months of 11+ hours a day working on the school musical, and was coming to the end of two AP classes and the SAT season. During this time I was also dealing with an injury to my foot that left me unable to walk properly for six months, and I needed to do some community service for a few of my honors societies. This also happened to be right at the start of spring, yay! I ended up doing two days at track meets for the 12 hours I needed. I was crazy sick and could hardly move. I ended up staying home for a day before and a day after the two meets, but I got all my hours done! I don't like letting my allergies or issues with my hands dictate what I do and don't do. I love art and cheer/mascoting, and I'd have to give those up if I was going to let medical stuff win. But those two things are a big part of my future, and I don't want to give them up. I've just earned a mascot position on the cheer team at the college I really want to go to, as well as their art scholarship. I plan to earn a BA in theatre from them, before going into technical theatre professionally while building up my start-up toy company. I've spent the last four years participating in musicals, contributing as the stage manager for the last two years, and I've spent the last 8 months developing my first toy line.

In "Keeper of the Lost Cities" Mr. Forkle said "Never underestimate the power of the page." I feel like that's really true. Written things have come to mean a great deal to me. Books and scripts and songs... Those are three of the most defining things in my life right now. I love how words create things. We can build worlds, express feelings, tell stories, and build people up with just a few little words. That's kind of crazy to think about. How can something so small as marks on a page come to mean so much? I think the answer to that is what they make us feel. Books, songs, and scripts all have the same things in common; They tell a story and they make us feel things. Comfort, joy, sadness, anger, frustration, fear, and so many others. It's something I'm a bit fascinated with. I like to write, though I can't say I'm any good at it really. I've been working on some stories and short stories for years, but haven't yet found the story I want to tell. I know the story I need to tell, I just don't know how to tell it, but I'm working on it. Words have gotten me through a lot, and I'd love to see the words I write have an impact on other people. I think my favorite part of writing is writing about settings. I love world-building, character creation, and dialogue, it's just all the in between stuff that gets me tripped up. I'm very inspired by my favorite books, songs, and plays. Especially "Harry Potter", "Six of Crows", "Saint Anything", One Direction, Smith and Thell, and "Beauty and the Beast" the musical. I loved doing the "Beauty and the Beast" show because the dialogue and narration really carried and told the story, it was very well written. "Harry Potter" and "Six of Crows" have such incredible worlds, characters, and dialogues that I love going back to over and over again.And "Saint Anything" and One Direction are just full of words that create so much feeling. I plan to continue writing in college because it brings me a lot of joy. I like being creative and telling little stories. I'm hoping to write scripts for musicals and shows one day as well as publish books. I write as often as I have time, which, because of my crazy schedule, typically means every other Monday at my Creative Writing Club meetings at school. Usually I just write out some ideas, but some meetings I get a good idea for a short story or small scene in one of my projects! I also like going to the meetings because I get to talk to other people about what they're writing, including one of my best friends! Two of my best friends are working on books right now and I love hearing about them. I can't wait to read them someday! Writing is a really big way people express themselves and it's really cool to see what other people put on paper. Even though I don't think I write that well, or that my stories are very good, I really enjoy it, and I know that the best way to get better is to keep writing. So I'll keep writing. And I know that someday I'll find the story I'm meant to write, and find the way to tell the one I want to. As Jane Green said, "The best things in life always find us when we're not looking for them." Thank you for this opportunity! Have a good day.

I ended my junior cheer season with my first season of competition cheerleading under my belt and 2 Varsity awards. I spent the last few months of the season juggling mascoting basketball games and going to practice with around 5 other clubs and organizations I had competitions for, responsibilities in, and leadership to fulfill. My biggest club commitment was the school musical. I was stage manager last year and was spending upwards of 11 hours a day 5 days a week on the stage working on sets, props, and everything else our directors needed me to do. Academically, I had 2 AP classes, a massive 8 month long diorama project to finish for an independent study, and the SAT to study for. I managed to do decent on my AP tests and the SAT while maintaining a 4.083 GPA. During this time I also garnered an injury to my foot from the cheer season that left me unable to walk properly for 6 months. Despite my injury, I spent the summer between my junior and senior years helping fundraise for kids to go to the Junior Olympics (including my twin sister), attending my grandpa's wedding, working estate sales, and opening a small business. I practiced for the quickly approaching cheer season as much as I could, but most days I could hardly stand, much less practice. As my injury finished healing up, I began practicing every night. My form was awful, and my tumbling was an embarrassment but I was determined to get a good position on the comp team. I practiced and practiced and practiced; getting together with my teammates outside of preseason practices to work through dances and tumbling, going to the gym with my dad and sister... Anything I could. I spent the whole comp season getting put into things and then pulled out of them. I was learning a new position everyday and doing things I'd never done before everyday. I never really complained, I'd just go with it because at least I was getting to participate and learn more, but it really sucked to be working so hard just to get yelled at everyday for not knowing my brand new positions while people who spent all of practice talking trash about the other girls got good positions. But rather than quit, as so many girls wanted to, I just worked harder. I resonate with that in Mr. Tindall's story. Being willing to work hard is a big thing, and having the resilience to keep going when it's hard is how I got through last year. Plus I enjoyed what I was doing! (Most of the time) I ended up earning an official spot as a back, flyer, and tumbler throughout the routine and my teammates have told me that I'm the reason they stuck the season out. That makes me feel good, I've always tried really hard to be helpful and nice to everyone, especially freshman, because I very much understand what it's like to be ignored. A lot of the time I don't feel like I'm doing a good job, and my anxiety follows me everywhere. I'm scared to disappoint people or make them mad. And, to be honest, part of why I did what I did through the musical last year was because I very much had something to prove. To everyone, but mostly to myself. I don't know if I will ever be able to believe I've succeeded, but I know that I will never, ever give up.

My biggest dream has always been to create a toy line. But, for a long time, I didn't feel it was possible. There was nothing that said it was any sort of doable dream, and at 8 years old, everyone else I knew wanted to be a doctor, a firefighter, or a teacher. I couldn't very well stand up and say "I want to make toys" could I? So I tried to forget about it. As I got older, I couldn't deny that I wanted to do something with art. I tried a few times to start a shop, and finally officially opened this past summer. Currently I'm pre-revenue, but a start is a start! When I hit high school, I had the opportunity to learn about art through more than just YouTube. I zoomed through all 5 core art classes by the end of my Sophomore year. I still wanted to keep learning, and was given the opportunity to take independent studies. I could learn and practice whatever skills I wanted to! While I pretty much was just learning on my own, I was able to have access to proper equipment, supplies, and tools and there were some things I could learn from my teachers and directors. I'm currently on my 5th independent study. Study one was an 8-month diorama project that I ended up winning an award for, and the next two were spent learning as much as I could about set design and stagecraft. For 4 and 5, I was back at the drawing board. As I sat in front of the blank pages of my sketchbook I kept thinking back to the diorama. It was a massive "replica" of the West Wing and dungeon from "Beauty and the Beast". It was viewable from all angles with plenty of hidden details; like a treasure room and working lights. It was built like a 1/6 scale dollhouse. I was stuck, I couldn't get away from the idea. It could have been a dollhouse. Sets are just dollhouses for people to walk through... And then I knew. To be honest I kind of hated myself for it. I struggle a lot with anxiety, and that dream wasn't one I'd ever expressed to anyone. I'm 17, how in the world can a 17 year old make and care about toys? I was scared. What would my friends think? Would I get laughed at? How could I tell the teacher I respect so much that THAT'S what I wanted to do? It's crazy, it's ridiculous! But... I'm a big believer in the nonexistence of coincidences. I truly, truly believe that this silly childhood dream wouldn't have come to me twice, that I wouldn't have had the perfect opportunity dropped in my lap, if it wasn't what I was meant to do. So how could I ignore it? Seven months later, and I've got nearly finished prototypes for a full doll line, with plans to launch a production campaign this September. I've gotten a lot of support for it. I know I'm going to be successful in this. I believe in this childhood dream, I believe in myself. The world is telling me that this is correct. I was tentative to step through the door, but now that I have I'm running with it. This path might be a long one, and it might be a hard to find, overgrown road, but I'm going to find my way to the other side of it. And when I do, my toys will be the ones inspiring some other little kid with big dreams.

I don't believe in coincidences. There are so many quotes about things that are meant to happen, happening regardless of what we do or don't do to make them happen. A particularly powerful one for me is "Whatever is real, whatever is meant for you- will be yours. You will know because everything in the universe will echo its name at the heart". I really believe in that one, because I've been shown it's true. When I first knew that I wanted to make toys, I was pretty little- somewhere around the second grade. I remember the day well; I was sitting in the room I shared with my twin sister, a craft box open in front of me, and a few dolls next to it. I was making some sort of "beautiful" accessory for my dolls to go along with whatever "genius" story-line I'd come up with. That's when I decided it, I was going to make a doll line of my own someday. And just as quickly as it was thought up, that dream was stamped out and pushed to the side. It wasn't viable, it wasn't a real career, how could I say that when someone asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Toys and dolls were little kid things, I needed to grow up. Easier said than done. Fast forward to the end of my junior year of highschool and I've got the opportunity to take my 3rd Independent Study for art and I'm trying to figure out what I should do. I had no ideas. I was so stuck on my last project, the "West Wing", and how much it had been like a dollhouse, and how much I had wanted to make it one. And suddenly that childhood thought came back. Toys, why not make toys? I could do it, I know it could, I know I could make it work. Now's the opportunity. What's stopping me? I don't believe that this dream would have found me twice if it wasn't what I was meant to be doing, so I trusted that feeling and took the leap. Micheal Jordan once said "If you can't stop thinking about it, don't stop working for it." So I started working for it. As of March, I will have been working on my frog toy line (Fred the Frog) for 8 months. By May 1st I'll have finished the line, and plan to launch a Kickstarter on September 2nd to help fund the production of the line. I will be selling them by the end of the year, making it 16 months to create, produce, and launch the line. From there I plan to work on some new lines- I already have some ideas in the works! So why toys? Toys inspired my biggest dream, and they still make me happy today. "Toys not only entertain, they also build minds, instill goals." (Narendra Modi) Toys are everyone's first outlets and first windows to envisioning our futures. I want to help create those windows. My art is my way of doing that. If my dolls and crafts made me dream of creating a toy line, and a dollhouse scale diorama inspired me to actually start chasing that dream... I like to think that maybe someday my toys and art will have such a profound impact on another young dreamer. I'll work very hard to see that happen. "Some things are meant to be and if it was, you will know it." (Alex Rodriguez) I know it. And this time, I'm not letting myself ignore it.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" We all know the question, we all used to hate being asked it. I used to make up valid answers to it. I have been creating and putting together a toy line since last August, by this May I will have finished and created a final version of the 5 dolls, playset, and fashion and accessory packs. I will be launching a funding campaign on September 2nd with the goal of a full launch of the line by the end of 2025. From there, I will continue to expand and create new toys. In fact, I've already got some ideas for the next line! Through college, the closest I can get to a toy design degree, for the skills I'm looking for, is a theatre degree. Personally, I view stagecraft as an extension of toy design- Instead of building dollhouses for dolls we build dollhouses for people! The skills are pretty applicable and I've learned a lot through my school's musical theatre program. Theatre stagecraft will be my main career, as I plan to pursue toy design independently, and I intend on writing and working backstage for different shows! A degree in stagecraft will open doors to the set design industry for me. I've loved being a part of crew for my school's musicals the last 4 years. It's been an amazing experience and I'm very excited to continue to pursue that passion professionally! So why toy design? Why theatre? Though it sounds very cliche, I have always loved toys and art. Toy design has been my biggest dream and goal since I was very little. I think the first time I realized that was when I was around 8. I was sitting on the floor of my room with an open craft box, pretend monologuing to my dolls and stuffed animals as I crafted absolutely terrible clothes and food for them. We're talking lots of glue, small bits of paper, and bad color choices. I am proud to say my artistic abilities have improved slightly since then. But that was the first day I'd said it out loud; I'm going to create a doll line someday. Shortly after that, I began to give up on toy design. It was ridiculous. A toy line? Me? When's that ever going to happen? That's not a real goal, that's not a real and viable career option. Fast-forward 9 years to highschool, and I had the opportunity to take specialized art courses. I started with some different projects, but my 4th one found me stuck on the idea of a dollhouse. The idea of making toys. So I decided to finally chase that childhood dream. Toys are outlets for creativity, I want to be a part of creating those outlets. The things that are meant to happen aren't ignorable. I believe in this dream because I don't believe that it would have found me twice if it wasn't what I'm meant to do.

I was born in Washington. My family lived there until I was 1 or 2 before we moved to Southern California, where we stayed until my twin sister and I were 11. We moved a few times while we were in California, but right before the 6th grade my family moved to a small town in Colorado to be close to my grandparents. I like where we live now, and I like being so close to my grandma and grandpa, but I miss all the city lights and noises at night. I finished elementary school in California and did middle and high school in Colorado. I never had a lot of opportunity for art in elementary school, and only a limited opportunity in middle school, but my high school has a really good arts program, both musical and visual, and I was able to be heavily involved in the different programs and classes. By graduation this June, I will have taken around 13 art classes at the high school, which is almost all of my electives. I will also have participated in National Art Honors Society and musical theatre for four years, holding a variety of leadership roles in both organizations. Those including president of NAHS senior year and stage manager for the musical as a junior and senior. I love art, and have often told people I pretty much grew up with crayons in my hand since the time my chubby fingers could hold them. I've enjoyed trying different mediums and forms of art through the years, and have acquired a variety of different skills. I bring art into everything I do. With my sisters and my Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) projects from freshman to junior year, we created digital animations that we were actually able to bring to the Atlanta, Georgia National Leadership Conference our sophomore year. I also, as a little kid, would bring art into playing with my toys. I loved making things for my stuffed animals and dolls! And that actually sparked one of my biggest dreams, to create a toy line. It’s a dream that I’m slowly turning into a reality. I’ve made toys since I was little, but I’ve never attempted a true “toy line”. In high school, I had the opportunity to take specialized art courses, where I could focus on specific skills. This was thanks to my high school art and homeroom teacher, Mrs. Kelly, who is also one of my biggest role models. It was her idea to set up these Independent Study courses and she's always pushed me to do My very best and create something special and new. I always want to try and make her proud, and she's been one of the people who majorly kept me believing in my dreams of creating a toy line. Some of the biggest projects I've done under her encouragement are the “West Wing” diorama, and the creation of sets for our spring musical. The “West Wing”, inspired by “Beauty and the Beast”, started out small but became a massive diorama of the West Wing, dungeon, and treasure room- complete with working lights. Two set design classes allowed me to spend 11+ hours a day working on sets and learning about theatre. But when I began brainstorming for a new project, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much the “West Wing” was like a dollhouse, and that’s when it hit me: Why not make toys? I started with a few ideas that didn’t work out, but eventually found something really special! I was inspired by Mattel’s “Gorgeous Creatures” from 1979 (Four dolls with animal heads), and Hasbro’s abandoned “Trashion Alley” (Anthropomorphic rat dolls). During my research, I noticed that almost every animal doll line is just animal heads on human bodies, and there’s never been a playline frog doll before. This made me determined to push the idea of an anthropomorphic doll further, and make something new. And so, “Fred the Frog” was born- he’s the articulated clay model of my frog dolls. Currently, I’m learning how to 3D model the frogs from my sister. In college, I will continue to pursue toy design while studying theatre. I want to study theatre because, to me, it’s an extension of toy design. Instead of building dollhouses for dolls, we build dollhouses for people! Over the last four years, I’ve learnt a lot about theatre and stagecraft through my participation in school musicals. I love helping bring shows to life with the cast and crew, and I love building sets. As a junior, I had the opportunity to learn more about the acting and directing sides of the show while working with a different group of people as the Stage Manager. Previously, I had mainly interacted with just the crew, so it was interesting to see another side of the show by working with the cast! I learned a lot from them and from our directors. I will be SM for “The Wizard of OZ” this year. Toys and theatre have a lot in common but one main thing they share is that they’re both about creativity and storytelling. As I’ve pursued both, I’ve learned a lot about collaboration, problem solving, and perseverance- skills that will help me as I work toward my goals. I hope to someday create sets for big shows and maybe even write my own! College is my next step towards that goal, and I’m very excited to continue exploring and learning about art in a new setting! I want to be an artist because art is my way to share parts of myself and things that are important to me with other people, and maybe even inspire them through that. Toys are our first outlets, the first ways we start dreaming of our futures. What firefighter didn't have a firetruck or hate or something as a little kid? And what teacher didn't set up their stuffed animals to be their class? What musician never played with a flute or piano toy? Toys help us imagine our futures, and I hope that my toys someday do that for people as well. I don't know if that will ever happen, or if my toy line will even go anywhere. But Disney started with a mouse and a dream. My toy line started with toys, art projects, and a little girl's big dream. If I never try, then it's 100% that nothing will ever happen. But if I try, then maybe, with a lot of work and time, I'll get to find out how far that dream can go.

A form of technology that really inspires me is animation. I've done a lot of research around how the first animated movies were created, and especially a lot of research around the start of Disney. I think it's super interesting and it's crazy to look at how animation started and how it has evolved into what it is today. It's a pretty big testimony to me about how technology just evolves and gets better. I know animation isn't the most profound thing ever, but I find it really inspiring and I would love to learn how to 2D animate! I know a bit about 3D animation because my sister and I have done a Digital Animation for our Future Business Leaders of America project for the last three years, but there's still so much more I would like to learn about it. I've done a lot of research about how Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks movies are made, and my sister and I actually ended up using the same software that Pixar uses to create our Digital Animations. The software is Blender, Pixar used it on Toy Story and some other movies. I think that art is a way that the world becomes a better place, and animation is something that reaches millions of people. We all grew up watching Disney movies and having our favorite heroes and villains, and those characters taught us a lot about behavior and how the world works. I learned a lot about what a good person looks like, and a lot about courage and bravery from my favorite animated movies. My favorite is still "The Black Cauldron" (Fun fact, it's the movie that almost bankrupted Disney!) and I love Eilonwy and Taren's story so much! I think that the animation industry is due for an overhaul though, Disney is going downhill fast and we need some more classic movies and shows made, things that actually taught us things as kids, not just the politically motivated things we are seeing now. In my opinion, animated movies really do affect how kids grow up, and through that they really do make the world a better place. As Chuck Jones said, "Animation isn't the illusion of life; it is life."

I can't explain it very well, but the best way I can put it is to call them spirals. I can't tell you when I first started to have these spirals, but I can tell you that some days are much harder than others. Some days will be great and I feel like I've never been happier, but other days are just those days, they're the hard days. I can feel when I start to spiral, and I can usually tell when it will be a bad one, I can't explain it, but it's just how it is. It can change in an instant, or it can be a gradual thing. Besides those days, I've got my usual cloud of worries and anxieties that like to follow me around. I do my best to beat them back, but some days they win. On the rougher days, I don't really like to interact with people, and it can be hard to feel motivated, especially with my school work and the things I have to do. But I have a 4.0 to maintain, goals to attain, and people I can't let down- I can't afford to stop, so I push through as best as I can. There are some things that help me get through those days though. I like to watch movies and silly TV shows on YouTube, read books and graphic novels, listen to music, and work on art projects. I also look forward to when my family has spaghetti for dinner, that always makes me feel better. Overall, I try my best to take it slow and not get discouraged by things. Lately the thing that's been getting me through those days the best has been this articulated frog model that I've been working on. I've been lucky enough to be able to take some specialized art courses in school, where I get to teach myself whatever I want at my own pace, and my most recent project has been my frog model. It makes me feel better whenever I have it, and I've taken to carrying it around with me most days, but especially whenever I'm not feeling the best. It helps me stay motivated and makes me smile, it makes me smile even thinking about the silly little model. I've named it Fred, and the project is going really well. Having Fred with me reminds me of things that I like, and all the good progress I'm making toward my goals, it's encouraging. Fred also helps me feel better when I'm talking to people. Talking to my friends about how I'm feeling is really helpful sometimes, because a lot of what I'm currently stressed about they're stressed about as well since we're all going through a lot of the same things, like senior year and college decisions. However, I have a hard time expressing those feelings most of the time, and I usually don't. But having Fred around has helped me be more willing to express how I'm feeling. I know that sounds silly, but it's really just how it is. I also have some things I like to tell myself: "Some days are harder than others" because it reminds me that just because today was a bad day, doesn't mean tomorrow will be too. "You can't see a rainbow without a little rain" and "You can't see the stars unless it's dark" because it reminds me that there are good things in every bad or hard thing, we just have to know where to look for them.” But since I was little, genuinely as far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to make toys. I want to make toys that spark people's creativity, joy, and hope- no matter how old they are. In fact, I would really like to create a line of doll/action figure type toys for teenagers and young adults that can be used as kind of comfort things, a friend who's always there, because that's what Fred has become for me. I've always been comforted by things like that, stuff that I know will always be there. For me, it's usually been my stuffed bear that I've had since I was a baby, he's gotten me through some rough times, and recently it's been Fred the frog. I would love to create something that can do that for other people, and maybe help them smile a bit more and feel a bit better. Having outlets is really important. I've been very lucky to be able to find people who I can call or walk up to and talk to about whatever I need to talk about, people who know me so well they can tell when something is bothering me sometimes even before I can figure out what's bothering me. I've had countless days where I've called up one of my best friends or just walked up to them and asked for five minutes, sometimes I don't even say anything. Not that long ago I called my friend and just asked her to talk (She ended up reading me "Percy Jackson" for a few minutes) and that helped me feel better and calm down. I never told her what was bothering me, and the nice thing is that I didn't have to, she just understood and helped how she could. And I like knowing that they will all come to me if they need something similar too. It makes me happy to know that we are all there for each other, especially when sometimes it feels like no one really does. Something I've learned is that sometimes the simplest things help immensely. A short conversation, a hug, a short call that's just nonsense or book lines, something that means a lot to you that someone gave you, or just something you like. I would love to create things that bring that comfort to others as Fred has to me. Thank you for this opportunity, I hope you have a great day!

My name is Olivia, I have a twin sister, a 4.083+ GPA, and a fascination with toys. I've known my whole life that I wanted to make toys. One of my biggest dreams as a little kid was to someday have my own doll line, and since elementary school I've known that I wanted to start my own business. I believe the idea first occurred to me when my school did a holiday bazaar fundraiser. I ran a table with my sister where we sold bracelets and pom-pom animals that we had made. We called our little booth "Twins Toys" and did really well. Since then, I've plotted and schemed about a toy business- and tried several times over the years to startup and begin selling things, but have never been successful. My first business attempt was actually when I was 8 years old, I tried to sell bracelets I had made, and actually sold some at a garage sale eventually, though the Etsy store I created fell through. But this past summer I was given the opportunity to try again. I applied for a $250 grant, which I used to reopen my business. I changed the name of the store to "Twins Toys" and began making small animal plushies, stickers, and toy chocolate frogs to sell. So far I am pre-revenue but have sold some stickers in an antique store where I live. My goal for my business is to someday turn it into a toy company where I can produce and sell stuffed animals, articulated dolls/action figures, and other toys. I'm passionate about this dream because, as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam once said, dreams aren't the things that we see when we're asleep, they're the things that don't let us sleep. I can't go a single day without thinking about making toys, and I've spent so many nights sitting in my room thinking about designs and ideas when I can't sleep. I'm happiest when I'm making something, and my favorite projects have always been the ones that are toys. Over the course of high school, I've had the opportunity to take art classes where I've been able to teach myself a lot of interesting things. From 11+ hours a day building sets for our spring musical to 8 months building a 3D sculpture of the West Wing and Dungeons from "Beauty and the Beast", I've danced around toy design, and implemented a lot of toy-ish aspects into my these projects. And with my current class, I'm finally working on an actual toy for my project. My goal with this current project is to have a finalized mock-up by this May, and be producing and selling them by the end of 2025. I want to be an entrepreneur because it's the best way to share the things I make with other people. How am I supposed to share the toys I make with people unless I'm selling them somehow? I've already learned so much about business, but I've got so much more to learn. In college I plan to study art while I work on my business and produce my toy line. I will be studying business independently as I grow Twins Toys. I know that a toy company might not seem like the kind of thing that will have a big impact on the world, but Disney was started with a mouse. My goal is to inspire and bring joy to people through my toys, and it's all going to start with an articulated frog. Thank you for this opportunity! Shop + Shop Social: https://twinstoysstore.etsy.com https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562958544765

For as long as I can remember, I've known I want to do something with art. Opening a business, building sets for movies, TV, or theatres. Making toys for a prominent company, or owning a company- Whatever it was, it was going to be art. And, since the time I could wrap my chubby little fingers around a crayon, I've lived and breathed it. I pull a lot of things from the world around me into what I make. Whether it's just a flower based on one in my yard or actual plants and found objects, I like looking for things that inspire me in some way. My phone camera roll is a complete nightmare of picture after picture of absolutely everything and blurry pictures of nothing. I collect leaves and dried flowers that I like to give to people as gifts. You can see this influence from the natural world in most of my work, but I also like the man-made aspects of the everyday world, and I use those as inspiration too. My Pinterest boards, search history, and camera roll are filled with pictures of cool buildings, or things from certain time periods. Lately I've been especially inspired by the 80s, and the concept of the frog you'll see below is 'frog people in an 80s nature world'. You will also see an, almost, lifesize cardboard octopus and a diorama rendition of the West Wing and Dungeon from "Beauty and the Beast" that I spent 8 months working on. I wasn't able to showcase much of the project in the picture, but hopefully you like it anyway! The frog doll is my current large project, and the picture you'll see is my model mock-up named Fred. I'm excited to continue to build him, his friends, and his world!

I have mascoted for four years and been a Varsity competition cheerleader for two, I will be pursuing competitive and sideline mascoting in college. And I think that the way I participate in athletics might give me a slightly different perspective on this question. There are a lot of challenges with juggling commitments for most student athletes, we have grades to keep up, family responsibilities, and other clubs and activities we are committed to. Sometimes it takes a lot to show up to every practice and every game and perform. There are days where we don't really have our heads or our hearts in the game, and that makes it hard. On my team, we face a lot of drama and issues. We've struggled with people fighting, wanting to quit, quitting, starting rumors, and generally not getting along over the last few seasons. But all the problems on the team have really taught me a lot. When people don't want to get along, there has to be someone who tries to keep everything together, and I try really hard to be that person. As someone who isn't really seen as a part of the team, I make it my goal to make sure that the new people on the team, and in everything I'm a part of, always feel included. Not everyone is going to get along or like each other, but we've got to work together and be kind. And it's very cool to see how everyone comes together and puts everything aside to perform together. It's a good lesson for life, I think. I've also learned a lot about hard work and perseverance. I've spent a lot of time training and working hard to learn my parts and positions, only to be placed as an alternate. It hurts to feel like I've put in immense amounts of work for nothing, but, as Joe Namath said "If you aren't going to go all the way, why go at all?" So I get back to it, I work harder, I fight for it, and I earn a position, and I'm better for it. Because of the way I've been alternated through groups and positions, I've learned every position on the team. I can fly, base, back, assist/spot, jump, and tumble as well as tumble, jump, and fly in the mascot costume. I can also proudly say that I have never dropped a flyer, and I get along fairly well with every person on my team and both of my coaches. I really enjoy practices and being around everyone. Part of that lesson has also been juggling my extensive commitments list. I will be graduating this May with a 4.083+ GPA ranked 3rd in my class with high honors, a stack of college credits, and a proud member of three honors societies, FBLA, creative writing club, Knowledge Bowl, Youth Advisory Council, and the musical theatre department (to name a few). I volunteer at events in my community throughout the year, including at middle school and highschool track meets, and I hold several leadership positions and honors in different clubs. Some of which are stage managing the musical two years running, President and 3 time officer of our NAHS chapter, and FBLA Nationals attendee and 3 time State champion of Digital Animation with my twin sister. I also run a business and apply to scholarships and colleges on the side. Overall, I've learned a lot about who I am and the person I want to be through my journey with athletics, and I'm excited to continue that journey at the collegiate level!

As A. P. J. Abdul Kalam put it, dreams aren't something we see when we are sleeping, they're something that won't let us sleep. Like most people, I have a lot of goals for my life. I have things I want to do, places I want to see, and people I want to help. But unlike most people, the path I want to take isn't a road I can follow, because it's a road that doesn't really exist. It's a road, buried in weeds and trees, that only a few people have ever tried to follow. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to make toys. But not toys as you would probably think of them. I'm not talking about cheap plastic, pretty fashion dolls, and baby toys that fall apart in a year- I'm talking about something that means something, and not just to little kids. I want to make toys that spark people's creativity and joy, no matter how old they are. Toys that mean something real, that help people, and inspire people to go for their own goals. Something more rooted in art. I started out small, with making things for my own toys. Dresses for my Barbie's, making my own stuffed animals- the normal stuff. But as I got older and started having more opportunities to learn and teach myself, I began by fueling my passion with bigger and bigger projects. Eight months on one, 11 hours a day for four months on another. And somewhere down the road it occurred to me; why am I not making toys? And down that path I went. I started with a few ideas that failed spectacularly for one reason or another, started trying to sell some of the better ones, and gained a renewed determination to make something great, and I came up with a pretty cool new idea. I started out slow; drawing, proportioning, and dreaming- figuring out the logistics of my idea before moving to a clay mock-up. It's the first of my toys that could be considered a true doll or action figure that I've ever been able to hold in my hands this way, and I'm pretty proud of where I've gotten it to, but there's still a lot more work to be done. I am currently deep in prototypes and 3D modeling, and I actually have a lot of growing interest in my toy line! My goal is to be able to produce and sell them through my Etsy store by the end of 2025. It might not be the most realistic goal, but I really believe that I can make it happen. Art has been a part of my life since I was old enough to hold a crayon. I've always known what road I'd be going down in life, and I know that art isn't the easiest of career choices sometimes. But I also know that when I get to where I want to be, when I get to that place where I get to see how happy my toys make other people, it's all going to be worth it. I heard somewhere that if you really want something to happen, you've got to have the courage to say it out loud, and then the drive to work hard and make it happen. Well I've said it out loud, and now I'm going to make it happen. As they say in "The Matrix", "You stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

I'm a fan of Wicked because of the messages of the story, like standing up for what we believe in even when it's going to hurt us, the ideas of what people value, and the messages of not giving up. "Defying Gravity" really was a powerful song for me. A lot of the time I feel like I don't know how achievable my dreams and goals are, because of the seemingly endless amount of roadblocks. I struggle a lot with other people's perceptions of me and what I'm trying to do, and I find it hard to believe in myself sometimes when other people don't believe in me, so finding something with characters who are working past those is really cool to me, and I think the whole show is a really good reminder that we have to work for what we want to achieve, but that some times the things we want do change and that's ok. Every line in "Defying Gravity" really sells that for me. But my favorite line is probably, "To late for second guessing, to late to go back to sleep, it's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes, and leap!" I am also a fan of Wicked because of the sets for the musical. I will be pursuing technical theatre professionally, it's what I will be going to college for in the fall, and the sets, costumes, and choreography are just amazing. I love watching and trying to figure out how they made something, thinking about the different artistic choices that were made, and thinking about what I would have done for the sets and costumes instead. Some of my favorite pieces are the clock background and the scene when Glinda is floating down to the stage from a set piece. I think that the layering of the sets is a very cool choice and it gives the stage a lot of depth! Wicked overall is just something that is kind of inspirational for me. I would love to work on musicals that are book adaptations and help bring them to life, and I feel like Wicked is proof for me that that dream can be a reality. I also really love the Wizard of OZ, and the kind of twisted, from the perspective of characters who weren't the hero, take on newer stories is really fun! I loved the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch in the original movie, and it's fun to see a reimagining of OZ from their perspectives with their backstories. I will be stage managing my high school's rendition of the Wizard of OZ for our spring musical this year and I'm very excited to help bring the story to life! It will be my second time stage managing a show and we are going to have a huge cast and crew this year, probably a record number of auditions for my school I think, which will make this show even more fun! I'm excited to work with a big group and see how our new director decides to choreograph the show and I'm looking forward to bringing some of the magic of OZ to our audience in March. :)

Basic as it might be, "Harry Potter" is still one of my all time favorites, both the books and the movies. I first read the books in the 3rd grade, and the Wizarding World quickly became very important to me. I've read the whole series countless times, including all the extra books like "The Cursed Child" and the Hogwarts Library collection. Some of them were great, some of them were not, the original seven books will always be the best. My favorite books are definitely "The Prisoner of Azkaban" and "The Sorcerer's Stone", however the "The Goblet of Fire" movie is pretty epic. I feel like the movies give more immersion into the Wizarding World, and I love that the story doesn't just stop because Harry's journey has stopped, the world itself is what so many people come back for over and over again. The movies were also done really well, and I love all of the visuals and things in the movies, it makes it feel more real, like Hogwarts and Diagon Alley are actually places in our world. But "Harry Potter" isn't just important to me because it's a good story and I love the world, it's important to me for a lot of different reasons. It reminds me to look for magic, we might not have wands and potions and spells, but we've got little miracles all around us everyday, and it's important to look for them and believe in them. "Harry Potter" is also important to me because of the characters. I think that Hermione and Ginny are the first female characters I'd ever really read about who were more than just a female side character/love interest. Harry never would have survived Voldemort without Hermione. In fact, he and Ron would have died in "The Sorcerer's Stone" without Hermione. And Ginny, while in the movie was portrayed as more of a female side character and love interest and not much more, in the book was an excellent role model for standing up for what you believe in. I learned a lot of important lessons from the characters in "Harry Potter". Ron showed us what a good friend really looks like. Harry showed us that being brave, doing what's right, and being kind are always worth it, he taught us that we aren't what's happened to us, we are what we make of ourselves, we are our actions. Alternatively, Neville taught us that there are different kinds of bravery. James taught me that we are always someone's villain, and it doesn't matter how good we become, we can never take back our past actions and words. And there's so much more I learned from so many other characters as well, too much to put in this essay, though I wish I could. Above all "Harry Potter" is what made me want to create and share my own worlds with people, in any way I can. The words on the paper are like constant friends, always there, even if you're not looking at them, while the movies are like a physical window into Harry's world. I would love to someday be able to share my own stories in that kind of way, and have them really mean something to people. I don't know if anything I write or create could ever be as good as Harry's story and his magical world, but who knows? As Ginny Weasley once said, "Anything is possible if you've got enough nerve".

Like most people, I have a lot of goals for my life. I have things I want to do, places I want to see, and people I want to help. But unlike most people, the path I want to take isn't a road I can follow, because it's a road that doesn't really exist. It's a road, buried in weeds and trees, that only a few people have ever tried to follow. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to make toys. But not toys as you would probably think of them. I'm not talking about cheap plastic, pretty fashion dolls, and baby toys that fall apart in a year- I'm talking about something that means something, and not just to little kids. I want to make toys that spark people's creativity and joy, no matter how old they are. Toys that mean something real, that help people, and inspire people to go for their own goals. This goal of mine started out small, with making things for my own toys. Dresses for my Barbie's, making my own stuffed animals for my friends and siblings- the normal stuff. But as I got older and started having opportunities to learn and teach myself, especially in high school through my extra art courses, I began by fueling my passion with a large, 8 month, diorama project and building sets for the spring musical I was spending 11 hours a day working on. After the show finished and I'd completed my diorama, I started to think about a new project, and it occurred to me; I can teach myself whatever I want, why am I not making toys? And down that rabbit hole I went. I started with an idea that failed spectacularly and made me realize I might need to start at the basics. So I came up with another idea, figured out how it would work, and then realized it was something that's been done a thousand times before and junked it. After that, I was determined to make something great, and I came up with a pretty cool new idea. I started out slow, drawing and proportioning things, figuring out the logistics of my idea before moving to a clay mock-up to see how everything would work. It's the first of my ideas I've ever been able to hold in my hands this way, and I'm pretty proud of it. Currently, I am knee deep in prototypes and 3D modeling lessons from my lovely twin sister, and I actually have a lot of growing interest for my toy line. My goal is to be able to produce and sell it through my Etsy store by the end of 2025. I don't know if that's a realistic goal, but I'm working hard to make it happen. The path I'm on is a long and complicated one, and I know it's going to be hard sometimes, but I also know that when I get to where I want to be, when I get to the place where I get to see how happy my toys make other people, it will be worth it. I heard somewhere that if you really want something to happen, you've got to have the courage to say it out loud, and then the drive to work hard and make it happen. I've said it out loud, now I'm going to make it happen. As A. P. J. Abdul Kalam put it, dreams aren't something we see when we are sleeping, they're something that won't let us sleep.

Like most people, I have a lot of goals for my life. I have things I want to do, places I want to see, and people I want to help. But unlike most people, the path I want to take isn't a road I can follow, because it's a road that doesn't really exist. It's a road, buried in weeds and trees, that only a few people have ever even looked for. Since I was little, genuinely for as long as I can remember, I've wanted to make toys. But not toys as you would probably think of them. I'm not talking about cheap plastic, pretty fashion dolls, and baby toys that fall apart in a year- I'm talking about something that means something, and not just to little kids. I want to make toys that spark people's creativity and joy, no matter how old they are. This dream started out small, making things for my own toys. Dresses for my Barbie's, making my own stuffed animals- the normal stuff. But as I got older and started experimenting with art more, I started having opportunities to teach myself whatever I wanted to learn during my art classes in school. And after a while, I started to think, I can teach myself whatever I want, why am I not making toys? And so the rabbit hole began. I started with an idea that failed spectacularly, came up with another idea, figured out how it would work, and realized it was something that's been done 1,000 times before and junked it. After that, I was determined to make something great, and I came up with a pretty cool new idea. I started it out slow, drawing and proportioning things, figuring out the logistics of my idea before moving to a mock-up out of clay to see how the pieces all needed to fit together. I am currently knee deep in prototypes and 3D modeling lessons from my sister, and I have a lot of interest growing for my toy line. My goal is to be able to produce and sell them through my Etsy store by the end of 2025. I don't know if it's realistic, but I'm working very hard to make it happen. So why is all of this relevant? Well, the path I'm seeking out is a long and complicated one, and I know it's going to be hard sometimes, but I also know that when I get to where I want to be, when I get to the place where I get to see how happy my toys make other people, it will be worth it. I heard somewhere that if you really want something to happen, you've got to have the courage to say it out loud, and then the drive to work hard and make it happen. I've said it out loud, now I'm going to make it happen.

I, like most people, have a lot of goals for my life. I have things I want to do, places I want to see, and people I want to help. But unlike most people, the path I want to take isn't a road I can follow, because it's a road that doesn't really exist. It's a road, buried in weeds and trees, that only a few people have ever looked for. Since I was little, genuinely as far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to make toys. But not toys as you would probably think of them. I'm not talking about cheap plastic, pretty fashion dolls, and baby toys that fall apart in a year- I'm talking about something that means something, and not just to little kids. I want to make toys that spark people's creativity and joy, no matter how old they are. In fact, I would really like to create a line of doll/action figure type toys for teenagers and young adults. This dream started out small, making things for own toys. Dresses for my Barbie's, fake food for my stuffed animals- the normal stuff. But as I got older and started experimenting with art more, I started making my own toys. Some small stuffed animals, cloth and yarn dolls, houses for my dolls, and things only grew from there. Once I hit high school I had the opportunity to start taking Independent Study Art courses that could be whatever I wanted to learn. I started out with building sets for the "Mean Girls" musical and spending 8 months making a dollhouse sized diorama of a scene from "Beauty and the Beast" before I started to think, I can teach myself whatever I want, why don't I start making toys? And so the rabbit hole began. I started with something that, in hindsight, was very ambitious for my skill level, and failed spectacularly. After that, I decided to start over at the ideas phase. I came up with another great idea, figured out how I would do it, and then realized that it was something that had been done 1,000 times before and lost interest. Fast forward to my senior year, I was determined to make something great, and I had a pretty good idea. I started it out slow, drawing and proportioning things, figuring out the logistics of my idea before moving to a mock-up out of clay to see how the pieces all needed to fit together. With that mock-up done, I started to learn how to 3D model, and I started working on mock-ups and designs for packaging, clothing, and accessories. I am currently knee deep in prototypes and 3D modeling lessons from my sister, and I have a lot of interest growing for my toy line. My goal is to be able to produce and sell them through my Etsy store by the end of this year. I don't know if it's realistic, but I'm going to work very hard to make it happen. So why is all of this relevant? Well, the path I'm looking for and choosing to seek out is a long and complicated one, but the first step to walking down it is learning more. But that first step has its own roadblocks, I can't get a higher education unless I can pay for it, and my family isn't able to financially support me through school, nor am I able to financially put myself through school. This scholarship would get me one step closer to college, and help me get closer to getting my toys out there.

One of my biggest goals is to own my own business making toys. I have been working toward this goal for a long time, both inside and outside of school. I've been designing and prototyping toys for as long as I can remember, and this last summer I actually started my business, Twins Toys (https://twinstoysstore.etsy.com). I am currently taking an independent study art class in school, where I am teaching myself more about toy design by designing an actual toy line. I have done the research and prototyping part of it, and now I am working on my 3D models for my final project. By the end of this school year, my senior year, I will have a finished toy line and hopefully several other small toy design projects completed. My real goal with my classwork is to finish the toy line so I can begin to sell the toys on my Etsy store. So far, I have only made $7.20 in sales via the stickers I am selling in the store my mom works at, but I hope to start making more sales very soon. Right now I am only able to sell things that I am making by hand, which limits what I can actually produce. In the future I will be working with manufacturers and with actual machinery, like 3D printers, to produce better quality products. My end goal is to own my own toy company. In order to get there, I will be attending college for theatre design and studio arts in the Fall while working part time jobs, working on my current small business, and participating in internships. I am currently looking into internships with toy companies. I think an internship would be very beneficial for me because it will allow me to get some hands-on work with people already in the toy industry. It will also be a great opportunity for networking and potentially for a job position in the future. After I graduate college, I would like to work in theatre design for a while, while working on my business. I will be saving as much money as I can, and working on my business as much as I can, throughout college so that when I finish my degree I can move into an actual studio space to run my business from. Based on my research, a big part of a successful business is an online presence, which I have been working towards through a few social media pages (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562958544765 and Instagram.com/oli_twinstoys/#). I will be starting a YouTube at some point as well and I would like to be able to move off of Etsy to my own website someday.

My favorite athlete on Team USA to cheer for is Amber Glenn because, not only is watching her skate just amazing, but she's a really cool person and her story is really awesome. I feel like her story about taking time off for mental health is really important and I think it's really inspiring to watch her come back from taking time off and then becoming a national champion her way. I think it's really cool and it definitely is inspiring to me, I think she's definitely a role model for a lot of people. I don't skate, I would love to learn, but I do cheerlead and mascot and I think that watching her work so hard to get back a place we're she's competitive and exceptionally is good at what she does is inspiring to me as an athlete and it makes me feel like, if she can go so far and work so hard even in the face of mental health, so can I. Cheer is pretty hard sometimes for me because I feel like it doesn't matter how hard I work, I'll still not be good enough to get a good position or be where I want to be, most things feel like that. And some days are a lot harder than others on the mental health front, so I feel like Amber's story is a good reminder that it's ok to have those harder days and that it's important to take care of ourselves. I feel like it resonates more with me because she actually trains in Colorado! I think that's really cool. It also makes her seem more human almost I guess. Like she's not just this superhuman, crazy athlete, she's a person like me too. Hearing how she takes everything anyone could need to events and how she kind of takes the younger skaters under her wing reminds me a lot of different people in my life and I feel like I'd get along really well with her. It's also incredible to watch her performances! Because I cheer and mascot I know how hard it is to learn new skills, especially the harder ones, and it's pretty hard to have so much body control, but her performances are always so beautiful! The amount of work that must have gone into perfecting the triple axle is insane. It's so clean and it just looks effortless more often than not. I remember the first time I watched her do it my brain just felt like it was lagging. She's my favorite athlete to cheer for because she's just really inspiring to me and I hope I can take my dreams as far as she has some day.

My ideal bookshelf would definitely have to have "The Inheritance Games" series, anything by Leigh Bardugo, anything by Karen M. McManus, and the entire "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" series. I have actually read "The Inheritance Games" series and most of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, but I have been very excited to read Ms. McManus' and Ms. Jackson's books! "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" is definitely at the top of my TBR at the moment! However, my ideal bookshelf also includes the entirety of the Riordianverse, Wizarding World, and "Keeper of the Lost Cities" series. I love books by James Patterson and Gordon Korman, especially "Restart". And my bookshelf 100% has to have all of Sarah Dessen's books! She actually is popular on BookTok, which I am very happy about. Her books mean a lot to me and it's nice that they get the recognition they deserve. Most of these books haven't really had a strong impact on the BookTok community, in my opinion, but I do think that they were the starting place for a lot of people. Who didn't grow up reading "Percy Jackson" and "Harry Potter"? Gordon Korman and James Patterson were some of the first authors I ever read. "Treasure Hunters" and "Harry Potter" are what I read through all of elementary school. And I think that Sarah Dessen's books give off very similar vibes to most of what's on BookTok, they're romance but slice-of-life books. My favorite will always be "Saint Anything" for sure, but I also really love "The Truth About Forever". I think titles that have had a big impact on BookTok are more "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" and "A Court of Thorns and Roses", but personally they're not really my cup of tea, so to speak. I think that the Grishaverse led a lot of people into a new genre of fantasy and fiction for sure, and "The Inheritance Games" were a little bit more of a step back into books we all loved growing up, like "Percy Jackson". Books have always been an integral part of who I am and I love seeing people on BookTok discover and share their favorites too! I have definitely discovered a lot of books that I really liked from watching BookTok and similar videos. One of those was actually "The Inheritance Games"! And a big part of why I finally read "The Hunger Games" was also because of other people explaining what the book is about. I like BookTok videos because of the book recommendations and reviews, it also gives me some ideas for my own books!

I am a current high school senior involved in about 10 extracurricular activities including three honors societies, Varsity athletics, and musical theatre. I have held and hold several different leadership roles including being the President of my school's NAHS chapter and being the Stage Manager for the musical two years running. I will be graduating this May, 3rd in my class with a 4.083+ GPA before hopefully attending college for studio arts and theatre tech/design in the fall. I love art, reading, writing, and collecting things. I have a fraternal twin sister and a dog named Malarkey. And that is the blurb that sums up my life. :) What I am most passionate about in life is making people smile and sharing things that I am passionate about, like art. For example, one of my goals in life is to create and sell a successful toy line, which I am actually currently working on via an independent study art class at my school. But this idea excites me because I love what I make, but I also love the idea of what other people will think of it and how much joy it will bring them when they're holding the toys I designed. My intended career path is kind of out there, and more than a little involute. I have this idea of a specific place, but before I get to there I want to achieve some of my other goals. That includes working theatre tech professionally, as well as creating toys professionally! After college I will be entering into either the toy design or theatre tech fields, but probably the theatre tech field professionally and the toy design as a personal venture, as it has been so far. This scholarship would benefit me on this journey because college is something that feels a bit out of reach. There is no way I can pay for it myself, and my family can't pay either, not that I would want them to. I want to go to college because I really feel like I will learn a lot about the specific things I am interested in pursuing professionally, while right now most of what I know is things I have taught myself or learned over time. I would love to work on a show more often than just a few months at the end of the school year, and I would love to go more into depth about things like costume and set design, and learn more about rigging and proper lighting. I find the backstage world to be pretty fascinating, and the idea of working on a show on a big stage is amazing! This scholarship would help me get one step closer to that dream, and all of the other dreams that go along with it.

My soundtrack so far for this year would definitely have "Welcome to New York" because, well, first off it's a great song, but secondly, I'm a high school senior this year and I'm starting to think more and more about my future. What do I want to do? Where do I want to go to college? Do I even want to go to college? If I don't what am I going to do instead? If I don't how will that affect me? If I do how will it affect me? I've got some ideas but it's kind of a daunting thing to think about. Our decisions, as they say, determine our destiny. I feel like I know what I want to do with my life, but I just don't know how to get there. "Welcome to New York" for me is kind of a reassuring song, it makes me feel excited for the future, not just worried about it. My favorite line is definitely "it's been waitin' for you" because it makes me feel like I've got a future waiting for me, I just have to find the right doors to go through to get to it. I think that New York is associated with new beginnings and big things, which is how I think we all feel about our futures. Another song that is on my soundtrack is "Bad Blood" because, as I get closer to finishing high school, I've started to really think about what kind of people I really like to be around, and who I know I'm going to stay in touch with after school. I've got a few best friends, who are more like family to me than anything else, and I know that I want to stay friends with them for a long time and stay in contact. But there are other people who I've been friendly with who I've started to notice how much I really dislike their behavior and choices. I think that's something everyone goes through as they grow up and it's kind of sad but it's just how it is. "Bad Blood" reminds me of that because there are some people who I was really good friends with but they started showing a different side kind of and then we ended up not being friends anymore. I think Ms. Swift said it best, "The lesson I've learned the most often in life is that you're going to know more in the future than you know now". It kind of hurts in the moment to not have those friendships anymore, but the longer I'm not friends with them, the more I'm starting to realize that it's for the better sometimes.

I am passionate about pursuing theater because it's a way to build small worlds and share them with other people while working alongside other creative people to make it happen. I have participated in my school's musicals for my first three years of highschool, and plan to participate in the musical again for my senior year. Over the course of the last three shows, I have gotten to be a part of a diverse group of people and work together with them to put on incredible shows. My freshman year we did "The Music Man", the main thing I remember from that show was how it brought together so many different people who generally didn't interact. The show kind of united everyone with a common goal, and it was a really cool thing to watch. That didn't change, even as the show did. My sophomore year we did "Beauty and the Beast". "Beauty and the Beast" was the show that really made me start thinking about how much I liked building sets and props. We had the opportunity to build several 12 foot tall, two level platforms and a few big staircases and decorate them. My favorite sets were the ones that "transformed" in different scenes. For example, we had two of the platforms with an extra wall piece that folded over the wall to change the set into a library. I loved the challenges of figuring out how to make the sets work for multiple scenes, and the challenges of getting the sets to cooperate as they inevitably had problems moving and being stored. It reminded me of how I approach my personal art projects. I like to "put on a show", so to speak, with my art. Everything is viewable in a lot of different ways and, in general, it's pretty hard for me to be into a project unless there's a challenge or something interesting that draws me into it. This thinking led to spending eight months of my junior year art classes creating a full 3D diorama of the West Wing and Dungeon, from "Beauty and the Beast" that I added working lights to. Entering into doing "Mean Girls" my junior year, I was given the opportunity to have a larger role in the production of the show as the stage manager. With spending so much time working with the set crew and cast on sets, costume pieces, and props, I was starting to think that it might be something I'd be interested in doing as a career. For me, building sets is like a larger extension of my art. Instead of building dollhouse sized dioramas, we're essentially building humans sized, more interactive dioramas. And more than that, it's like how people read to escape reality, except you don't have to be reading. Theatre is a way to bring a different reality and world into ours, and that's something I find to be really magical. While I'm heading into my senior year, I'm incredibly excited for the musical. Rumor is we're probably doing "The Wizard of Oz", which would be very fun to bring to life! Though it will be my last high school musical, it won't be the last show I'm a part of. I plan to pursue stagecraft in college, and beyond that I have some dreams and ideas about building sets and theater, and I'm excited to see how they shake up.

For as long as I can remember, I've known that I want to do something with art. Opening a business, building sets for movies, TV, or theatres. Making toys for a prominent company. Whatever it was, it was going to be art. I've practically grown up with an art project in my hands at all times. I learned to crochet from my aunt, sew from my grandma, make cards from my mom. My whole family is into art, so a lot of what I originally learned was from my relatives, and what they couldn't teach me, I taught myself. I learned to knit and make miniatures from YouTube videos, learned to sew doll clothes from a pattern book, and learned painting techniques from the library books I checked out in the summer. Over time I've collected a wide range of skills and knowledge in different mediums and types of art. My real art "education" began in middle school. They only offered a few art classes, so I took as many as I could. From there, I wanted all of my classes in highschool to be art classes, and I got pretty close. I took all five of the standard art classes by the end of my sophomore year, something most people don't achieve until their senior year, if ever. I became a very active member of the National Art Honors Society and theatre programs at my school, and constantly drug art into all of my other extracurriculars. A digital animation for FBLA? Crash banners for Cheer? Count me in. Come my junior year, I was determined to still take art classes, though I had taken all of them, so my teacher and counselor helped set me up to take three independent study art classes, one in my first semester and two back-to-back in my second semester. I plan to take 4 or 5 more in my senior year. The person who has most inspired me to take this path and continue to pursue art is my art teacher, who also happens to be my advisory (homeroom) teacher. Her art class was the first art class I had real creative freedom in, and she encouraged me to try all sorts of different things. She is, without a doubt, the best teacher I have ever had. Her constant belief and encouragement has really made all the difference in not just my art, but my life and school experience as a whole. She's one of those teachers who wholeheartedly cares about every student and really takes the time to get to know us and help us however she can. I feel safe and comfortable in her classroom, and I always want to prove to her that she's got a reason to believe in me. She's one of my biggest role models and an incredibly important figure in my life, and I can't wait to come back and see her someday to tell her where I end up, show her everything I've accomplished, and maybe find a way to properly thank her for being so much more than just my teacher.

My favorite aspect of Minecraft is fishing. I know that sounds like a really simple part of the game, especially when Minecraft has dragons and cool artifacts to collect, but whenever I play Minecraft the first thing I try to get is always a fishing rod, and there's a few reasons for that. Firstly, fishing has a lot of practical aspects in the game. It is, in my opinion, the most effective and stable way to have a food source. Everywhere except the Nether, you can find or place water, meaning you can fish. You can even go fishing in the End! Because of this, you never have to worry about being near animals or having the ability to farm. You can go exploring or go on a long mining expedition without having to worry about food. And, if you're playing PvP, it's the best option for survival against other players, since you won't have to rely on things like hunting or hard to hide farms. A pool of water is very inconspicuous and portable. Other than being a perfect way to get food, fishing can also get you really useful items, like bow and arrows, fishing rods, and enchanted books. This can be helpful because sometimes it's hard to find or make enchanted items. It's also an easy way to find useful materials anywhere. Mining and out of sticks to make torches? Go fishing and catch some! Need to repair your leather armor but don't have any cows? Go reel in a pair of boots! It might not be the most effective way to get items, but it's definitely a quick and easy way to find some of the things you might need. Besides fishing being a great tool, it's just fun. I love building a dock or just standing by a pool of water and casting over and over again to see what I can find. I've probably spent most of my days in Minecraft like that. And it resonates with me because I like the surprise of seeing what I'll get, even if it's mostly fish. I like that almost all of the stuff you get from fishing is incredibly useful, even the pufferfish! And that's true in real life too! When I go fishing with my family, my favorite thing to do is "treasure hunting". I might not be able to reel in cool things with a traditional rod, but when I go magnet fishing I find all sorts of cool, useful things! Once, on a trip with my cousins, we pulled a whole fishing chair out of the lake! And we constantly find forceps and bait. Just like in Minecraft, a lot of what we find is stuff we can actually use. But even when we're fishing with traditional rods, there's a never ending supply of things to find in the shallow parts of the water or in the dirt and sand nearby. Plus, catching fish is also fun! We always make different things with them. Sometimes tacos, sometimes just smoking or baking the fish. Fishing is just always fun, whether in Minecraft or at an actual lake with my family, I always enjoy it.

The books I have read have taught me that there is always some form of magic in the world if you know where to look for it. In books, we see characters struggle, whether it's an outward struggle with a fantastical villain or monster, or an inner struggle with their own views and perceptions. But at some point in every book, the characters learn to see things differently, and their new perspectives show them that things aren't as bad as they thought or that there is something that makes the struggle worth it. For example, a book that is particularly important to me is "Saint Anything" by Sarah Dessen. In this book the main character, Sydney, struggles with other people's perceptions of her because of someone else's actions, and she struggles with her own feelings about what that person has done. Throughout the book we learn more about how she feels and why she feels that way, and, alternatively, how the people around her feel about the same things. Through this struggle, she meets Layla, who introduces her to Irv, Eric, Mac, and her family's pizza place. In these newfound additions to her world, Sydney slowly starts to overcome struggles, leading her to face what she fears the most by the end of the book. This shows how a character has a change in their perspective that leads them to see something more in the world around them. This lesson is important to me because it is a reminder that sometimes to see things in a better light we just have to look harder, or look in a different way, and that every struggle has a good side that makes it worth it. It's a lesson about perseverance and looking for the bright side. This affects my goals because, in my pursuit of art, I'm realizing that I want my art to help other people see a little more magic in the world. I love making things and building my own little worlds, but what makes my projects even more special is how they affect other people. I recently created a huge, full 3D diorama of the West Wing and Dungeon from "Beauty and the Beast", it's around 3.5 feet tall and 3 feet wide, weighs a few pounds, and has working lights and interactive features. I spent about 8 months working on it and won a 1st place ribbon at an art competition for it. I am proud of how the project turned out, but what makes me happier is how other people looked when they saw it. During the art competition the West Wing won a ribbon at, I was able to show the project to a lot of people. But my favorite interaction was with a little boy who absolutely loved it. He was fascinated by the lights and how the wall opens to reveal a full treasure room. As he walked around the show, he kept coming back to the West Wing, even bringing his family over to see it. It's interactions like that that make me want to pursue art as a career. And it's interactions like that that help me see the lessons I've learned from books. Over the 8 months I worked on the West Wing, I wanted to quit repeatedly. The whole project was a struggle at every turn, and a real test of my patience at times. But, in the end, I did finish it. And the outcome, and seeing other people love it, made all of the struggle worth it. It made my own view of my art more magical.