As a three-sport and state champion athlete in high school—soccer, basketball, and track—I was used to high expectations and a very packed schedule. I thrived under pressure and was proud of my ability to perform at a high level across academics, athletics, and extracurriculars. But when I began playing collegiate soccer while balancing school, a part-time job, and volunteering at a local food bank, I encountered a brand new level of challenge. For the first time ever, I realized that being “successful” isn’t just about pushing through—sometimes it’s about stepping back and learning how to take care of myself. Early in my college journey, I was stretched extremely thin. My days started before sunrise with conditioning and ended late at night with work or studying. I felt like I was constantly in motion, but slowly losing control. I was exhausted, emotionally drained, and I started to lose passion for the things I loved most—soccer, learning, and serving my community. I made a decision that changed everything for me: I chose to prioritize my mental, emotional, and physical health. I reached out to my coaches and academic advisor to adjust my schedule and workload. I began meeting regularly with a sports counselor, who helped me learn strategies to manage stress and avoid burnout. I created healthier routines—more consistent sleep, nutrition, and rest—and, most importantly, I stopped viewing self-care as me being selfish. This mentality shift taught me one of the most valuable lessons of my life: being strong doesn’t mean doing everything all the time—it means knowing your limits, setting boundaries, and investing in long-term well-being. Since then, I’ve felt so much more grounded, focused, and capable of doing anything and everything I put my mind to. I’ve seen growth not only in my athletic performance and academics but also in my leadership and ability to support others—whether it’s mentoring a teammate or connecting with families at the food bank where I volunteer. Prioritizing my health has prepared me for a future where balance, resilience, and purpose will guide my path. I plan to continue leading both on and off the field, using the lessons I’ve learned to help others navigate challenges, just as I have. Whether I’m pursuing my degree in social work, supporting my team, or contributing to my community, I know that taking care of myself allows me to give my best to others. This scholarship would not only support my education but also empower me to continue growing into a leader who values wellness, service, and sustainability. I’m proud of how far I’ve come—and I’m even more excited about where I’m going!

My name is Paris and I am going to change the world! While that first sentence may seem very ambitious, I know that I will change thousands and thousands of lives. Big and small, human and animal, feathered and furry! Growing up my whole life I knew exactly what I wanted to do. From age 4 till 18 the only thing I have ever wanted to do is work with animals and become a veterinarian! I live in a very small town right outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. We only have 1 high school and middle school and everyone knows everyone. I love the small-town feel of the fact that I live on almost 2 acres and my dogs get the chance to run as much as they want! A lot of my friends and family have quite a variety of animals which is always a good time for me. I have gotten the opportunity to hang around and learn about so many animals ranging from dogs to chinchillas, alpacas, parakeets, mini donkeys, cows, horses, tortoises; you name it and I've probably been around it. Being a veterinarian continues to be my dream job and one of the reasons I get up every single day. When I was 15 I counted down the days until I was old enough to volunteer at our local animal shelter. I am just so passionate about helping not only animals but helping people make sure their best friends are in the best care possible. My family was always so supportive of my love for helping animals, as they let me rescue 4 cats, 3 dogs, and 2 bearded dragons throughout high school! There was one huge factor that led me to be absolutely 110% on becoming a veterinarian and getting into veterinary science. Living in a small town, the nearest 24-hour emergency vet clinic was over an hour and a half away in Las Vegas, Nevada. That was just not a realistic distance when something was wrong with my best friend. Then, one of my worst fears happened; something was wrong with my basset hound, Rosco. My family knew we would have to rush him to the vet clinic in Vegas because it was already 9 pm and all of our clinics closed at 5 pm. Only 35 minutes into the drive he had sadly passed away. That incident led me to the realization that I want to open the first 24-hour emergency vet clinic in Pahrump, Nevada. Not only for small animals, but I want it available to large animals, farm animals, birds, reptiles, etc. I want the community of Pahrump to know that there is a clinic that has not only their backs but their best friends' backs as well. I want to do everything in my power to help our community. Animals aren't just pets, they turn into our family and they deserve the best care available. I want to be the one to change the way veterinarian clinics operate in Pahrump, Nevada, and all around the country in rural towns. I need to be the change.

I have watched hundreds, maybe even thousands of shows and movies in my life, yet nothing will ever compare to the original, animated Cinderella. Blue dress, glass slippers, talking mice, evil stepsisters, pumpkin carriage, Prince Charming; the whole shebang. Despite the fact that Cinderella may just seem like a little fairy tale princess movie, it means so much more to me. Growing up my whole life my nickname was Princess. I would religiously watch all three discs in my DVD player of the original Cinderella movies. I spent day after day watching them with my Grandma having princess tea parties with cucumber sandwiches and apple juice. I would never get tired of them, not even a little bit and I looked forward to these special days with my Grandma any chance I got. I wanted to have my Princess tea parties every single day, but I guess once or twice a week would suffice. Besides being absolutely beautiful with her long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, Cinderella was also kind. Not only to her evil stepmother and stepsisters who treated her horribly, but to all of the little animals as well. At age four I wanted to be a veterinarian, so I was so excited for talking mice and talking animals, (little did I know). The fact that Gus Gus and Jack Jack were so captivated by her beauty inside and out showed me more than enough to know how great she was. I love Cinderella because she wasn't just “saved” by Prince Charming, she remained loving, hopeful, and compassionate, and the prince loved her for that. The prince wasn't the main part of the story, it was about a child abused for years and finally getting her happy ending. Although I was young and didn't really know it at the time, Cinderella had a great impact on my life. Her story taught me the importance of perseverance and staying true to myself. Despite her facing adversity and mistreatment, Cinderella remained kind-hearted and never gave up on her dreams. She showed me that no matter how difficult life gets, there is always hope and a chance for a better future. Her story inspired me to believe in myself, work hard, and never lose sight of my goals. At the end of the day she taught me that with determination and a little bit of magic, absolutely anything is possible.

My favorite set of lyrics from my favorite Olivia Rodrigo song "The Grudge" is "And I try to be tough, but I wanna scream. How could anybody do the things you did so easily? And I say I don't care, I say that I'm fine. But you know I can't let it go. I've tried, I've tried, I've tried for so long". This song always made me so emotional. While going into high school, I knew it was going to be tough and full of challenges. But never in a million years would I have expected my best friends to change in the way they did. Not even just her, but everyone around us we grew up with. While some people stayed the same, many people tried to change their whole entire personalities once we got into high school. Everyone in high school changed everything about themselves in order to fit into so many unrealistic standards that other people made. They wanted to fit into this little box, that I could just never fit into. I never wanted to attend parties, I never wanted to drink, and I never wanted to smoke with them. With that being said, we ended up growing apart. I was not going to let them and their bad choices change me into someone I did not want to be. While I never judged them, they chose to judge me. The closest friends I ever had wanted to stop being friends and it hurt me more than they will ever know. But I knew there was a bigger plan for me. Bigger than the little box they wanted me to be in with them. I ended up finding a group of people in my school that had the same morals as me. People who wanted to have fun playing board games, and Just Dance. Not the girls who wanted to party and drink. I found the people that wanted a good future and didn't try and peer pressure me into doing things that were nothing but bad news. Just because some people make bad choices, does not mean they are bad people. And that completely sums up adolescence. People are just trying to find themselves and although my old best friends changed, I will never not care for them and they will always have someone to talk to. They can always come to me if they need something, and I will still have their backs.

Growing up I was never considered wealthy or well off within anyone's standards. My community as a whole was very low income. Just about all the students, including myself were qualifying for the free and reduced lunches. During each summer we were mailed food cards to use since we were considered so low income. While I never had to worry about having food on the table or a roof over my head, I knew my parents and I were living paycheck to paycheck. When I was younger I didn't understand the concept of money. I didn't understand that my parents just couldn't throw out $20 every time I wanted to go somewhere or do something with my friends. My mom felt embarrassed to apply for food stamps when my dad was laid off from the sheet metal union Yet, they did their absolute best and worked their absolute hardest to never have me realize that. They did what they could to give me the most amazing childhood anyone could ask for. And it wasn't till I was older in high school that I realized how financially unstable we were at a lot of points. I started helping out as much as I could. While they would never let me help out with paying anything, I wanted to spoil them in the way that they continued to spoil me. I would do so many things to earn money and buy them things that they would never buy for themselves. I earned money dog sitting, doing yard work, reffing little kids soccer games out our local parks. I would buy my mom jewelry, makeup, clothes and I would buy my dad hats, t-shirts, and fun little snacks to try. While I know it wasn't a lot, I did what I could to show them how much I appreciated them for the amazing life and childhood they gave me. My senior year of high school I am currently taking an economics class and learning everything to do with money and money management. I want to take what I am currently learning and apply it to the real world once I go to college. I want to leave college with no financial issues or debt. I want to become a veterinarian and help people and animals. I want to do everything in my power to one day repay my parents for everything they have done for me all these years because I would have never gotten to his point in my life without them.

I like reading books that are either gonna make me bawl my eyes out or make me believe that love is real. BookTok has most definitely changed the way I read books and the types of books I read. The first book I read because of Book Tok was It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I read this book in 3 days and I started crying 4 different times within the 384 pages I read. It was just such a sad, yet truthful book of things that could happen in real life and it made me very emotional at the thought of that. I love books that make me feel the emotions of the characters and bring me into the story. This book led the way for my reading addiction and would be on my ideal Book Tok bookshelf. The 2nd and 3rd books I would add to my bookshelf are Wildfire and Icebreaker by Hannah Grace. After reading a few other Colleen Hoover like It Starts With Us and Ugly Love, I wanted to branch out to some different authors. Hannah Grace was another author that stood out to me. I just loved her writing style and how it isn't so proper when it comes to the use of language. Both books were hockey player romances and I just really enjoyed the love stories within them. Icebreaker rocked the Book Tok community because of how great everyone thought it was, so I knew I had to read it. And it did not disappoint! Now on to my TBR from Book Tok. These are the books that I need to read this year. These books include The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow, The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, and If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin. The 2 series sets I want to read the most are The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and the Disney Villian Series by Serena Valentino. Each of the books I listed has its own unique plot and story line while each book has a different author. I want to expand the amount of different authors I read from this year and Book Tok has helped with that a ton. I love finding new books on there and them taking the time to read them and really understand them. Reading books brings me into a different reality and I am so grateful to be on Book Tok learning about all of these new and amazing books!

My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior at Pahrump Valley High School, a small school in Nevada. Being from a very small town with only 3 stop lights, there was never much to do. So playing sports turned into a huge part of my life. Throughout my life I have played soccer, softball, basketball, volleyball, and I have also ran track. In High School I was a 3 sport Varsity Athlete starting my freshman year while also being in the National Honor Society. Although I played many sports, one sport stood out among all the others. Soccer became my life. I joined a club team in Las Vegas and traveled 2 hours to practice every day while still maintaining my 4.0 GPA. Throughout high school I won 2 State Championships for our high school soccer team, while being named 1st team all state as well as the defensive player of the year. We made it to State for basketball all 3 years, (missing my freshman year due to Covid-19), and I was named to the 1st team all State. I even placed and medaled at the Track and Field State Championships for Nevada. Being a student athlete all these years has shaped me into the person I am today. Sports have taught me so much and it has given me the motivation to work extremely hard to achieve my goals. My number one goal is to play soccer at the collegiate level at a school I am going to love. My dream finally became a reality. I recently committed to further my education and play collegiate soccer at Azusa Pacific University. This is my dream school where I can play the sport I love, go to school so one day I can eventually work in my dream job, and grow my faith in God. This summer, my college team and I will be traveling to play soccer and do community service in Columbia. We will also be traveling to Hawaii to do the same sort of things. I absolutely love volunteering and doing work with wildlife and the community. In my free time I volunteer at our local animal shelter. I hope one day to become a veterinarian and help as many animals as I can! I would not be where I am today without the help and support of everyone in high school when I was a student athlete with a dream, and 1 goal in mind.

Growing up, like most little kids, I wanted to grow up and become a veterinarian. For most people, it's a phase they grow out of. For me, it continues to be my dream job and one of the reasons I get up every single day. My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior this year at Pahrump Valley High School in Nevada. I have wanted to be a veterinarian since I was four years old. I absolutely love all animals and anything to do with them. When I was 15 I counted down the days until I was old enough to volunteer at our local animal shelter. I am just so passionate about helping not only animals, but helping people make sure their best friends are in the best care possible. My family was always so supportive in my love for helping animals, as they let me rescue 4 cats, 3 dogs, and 2 bearded dragons throughout high school! Veterinary Science is just absolutely amazing to me. There was one big factor which led me to being absolutely 110% on becoming a veterinarian and getting into veterinary science. Growing up in a small town, the nearest 24 hour emergency vet clinic was over an hour and a half away in Las Vegas, Nevada. This just is not a realistic driving distance when something is seriously wrong with my best friend. Then, one of my worst fears happened; something was wrong with my basset hound, Rosco. My family knew we would have to rush him to the vet clinic in Vegas because it was already 9pm and all of our clinics closed at 5pm. Only 35 minutes into the drive and he had sadly passed away. That incident led me to the realization that I want to open the first 24 hour emergency vet clinic in Pahrump, Nevada. Not only for small animals, but I want it available to large animals, farm animals, birds, reptiles, etc. I want the community of Pahrump to know that there is a clinic that has not only their backs, but their best friends' backs as well. I want to do everything in my power to help our community. Animals aren't just pets, they turn into our family and they deserve the best care available. I want to be the one to change the way the veterinarian clinics operate in Pahrump. I need to be the change.

In our world, sometimes things get absolutely chaotic. Things often become uncertain in hard times, but the one thing that never changes is math. I absolutely love math because when everything seems chaotic and uncertain, math is like a comforting oasis of certainty. It is like a puzzle that always has a solution waiting to be discovered. No matter how complicated or confusing the world may seem, math provides us with a clear definitive answer to things. It's like a rock solid foundation that we can always rely on. So, even when everything else in the world goes wrong, math is there to remind us that there's always one right answer. Going to my classes in high school, half of the answers in my classes were up to interpretation, but not math. With math there is one solution. I never had to worry about there being 10 different correct answers. Sort of like in life. There are all these different choices and you are searching for the 1 correct answer. The one answer you know will always be the same. Two plus two will never change. I don't need to understand how 4+6 makes the sun feel sad. I love math because it is the most simple thing In my life in a world full of chaos.

My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior at Pahrump Valley High School, a small school in Nevada. I am a 3 sport Varsity athlete and I also play club soccer year round while being in the National Honor Society and still finding time to volunteer at our local animal shelter. It has been my dream to become a veterinary assistant since I was four years old. Many people change their minds throughout their lives on what they want to be when they grow up. Yet, my mind has never changed. I absolutely love anything and everything to do with animals. Many people confuse the aspect of being a veterinarian and being a veterinary assistant. By being a veterinary assistant I get to work closely with the animals every single day and provide them with the care they need. It is going to be such an amazing way to combine my love for animals with my passion for helping others. Veterinary assistants are amazing. They play an extremely crucial role in veterinary clinics and hospitals. They assist veterinarians with various tasks like handling and restraining animals, taking vital signs, cleaning and sterilizing equipment, and providing basic care to animals. They also get to help with administrative duties and educate pet owners on proper animal care. It’s a rewarding job for many animal lovers, just like me. Animals just make me so happy. I want to be able to help people make sure their best friends are in the best care possible. And while I know being a veterinary assistant isn't all sunshine and rainbows, I want to be there for families every step of the way and comfort them as much as possible. I want to help make a difference within the lives of as may animals as possible. Within my community I try to volunteer as much as I can to try and get future experience working with animals. I volunteer at the animal shelter, I walk dogs, I pet sit, and I am currently signed up to go to Columbia on a mission trip to work with the community and wildlife in July. It is going to be an amazing trip where I can get hands-on experience with animals. I want to do everything in my power to achieve this goal of mine and this scholarship will help me pay for a couple of my college expenses to eventually become a veterinary assistant!

My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior at a small school right outside of Las Vegas. Growing up I was like most kids; wanting to play all the sports, join the Student Council, and even join the National Junior Honor Society. I loved hanging out with all my friends any chance I got. When Covid-19 hit in 2020 it was a very hard time for everyone. I felt disconnected from my friends and the world. It got to the point where I would get dressed up just so I could walk to the mail box and back. I am very grateful for my family for trying to keep me busy and my teachers still choosing to work harder than ever to get us to try and participate in class assignments online and class discussions. Having grown up in a small town, I have grown up with the same people for years. I am friends with the children of people my parents grew up with. Which is crazy to think about. One of my friends I grew up playing basketball with had an especially hard time with Covid-19. She felt alone and she felt like she had no one to talk to. Although we were there, she still couldn't feel us. She felt like she only had one option. On October 25, 2020 my friend Perry took her own life. My whole entire world was flipped upside down. It was something I had never expected in a million years. I had just talked to her, I had just seen her, I had just felt her. And now she's gone? I went through a lot of grief and a lot of denial, but then I stopped and thought. She felt like that was the best choice to bring herself into a better place. She wouldn't have wanted me to hang on to this grief and stay sad for years and years to come. God had a different plan for her and I needed to understand that she was in a better place. And although it may not have felt like that at the time, I had to learn to understand that and grieve in a better way. From that point forward I was going to live my life to the fullest for her, for Perry. It's everything she would have wanted for me. After her passing I had a rough couple of months, but I continued to push through every hardship that came my way. That next year I joined our yearbook class again and I made sure that we had a memorial page for my friend and the strongest person I knew. Now it's my senior year, and I still never fail to think about her and how much she impacted every aspect of my life. I'm going into my dream college to play soccer with an amazing group of girls who believe in me. And while I will never fail to thank God, I especially thank Perry. Perry deserved it all. She made me believe I was worth something. And maybe one day, in another universe, I could make Perry believe the same.

Growing up, like most little kids, I wanted to grow up and become a veterinarian. For most people, it's a phase they grow out of. For me, it continues to be my dream job and one of the reasons I get up every single day. My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior this year at Pahrump Valley High School in Nevada. I have wanted to be a veterinarian since I was four years old. I absolutely love all animals and anything to do with them. When I was 15 I counted down the days until I was old enough to volunteer at our local animal shelter. I am just so interested in helping not only animals, but helping people make sure their best friends are in the best care possible. There was one big factor which led me to being absolutely 110% on becoming a veterinarian and getting into veterinary science. Growing up in a small town, the nearest 24 hour emergency vet clinic was over an hour and a half away in Las Vegas, Nevada. This just is not a realistic driving distance when something is seriously wrong with my best friend. Then, one of my worst fears happened; something was wrong with my dog, Rosco. My family knew we would have to rush him to the vet clinic in Vegas because it was already 9pm and all of our clinics closed at 5pm. Only 35 minutes into the drive and he had sadly passed away. That incident led me to the realization that I want to open the first 24 hour emergency vet clinic in Pahrump, Nevada. Not only for small animals, but I want it available to large animals as well as birds and reptiles. I want the people of Pahrump to know that there is a clinic that has not only their backs, but their best friends' as well. From that point moving forward, I had no doubt in my mind what I wanted to be one day. In school I knew I had to be on top of my work to get good grades. I took every science class offered and I absolutely loved Zoology my sophomore year of high school! Throughout my high school years I loved dog sitting for people as well as volunteering at our local animal shelter. I will end high school with a 4.3 GPA and ranked in the top 20 of my class. I can't wait to attend college and do what I love one day.

My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior at Pahrump Valley High School in Pahrump, Nevada. Growing up I started playing basketball in the 3rd grade. My mom’s old Varsity basketball coach told me I should give it a try. So I went to try out for our local Junior Trojans basketball program. There were separate divisions for 1st-3rd graders and then the competitive league for 4th-5th graders. After trying out I found out that I was the only 3rd grader to make the competitive basketball team! Flash forward to my senior year now and I am about to hit 1,000 career points. I wasn’t always an amazing player, but I wanted it more than anyone else. I always say “there isn’t anyone that I won’t outwork”. My freshman year basketball season was the most anticipated one yet. I was ready to work as hard as I could to get pulled up to play Varsity basketball. I worked all summer and then it was finally time for the season to start. Then, the unthinkable happened. Our country was facing an outbreak of a worldwide pandemic and they canceled our basketball season all together. I was absolutely devastated, not just for me, but for our seniors who had worked so hard their whole high school careers just for their final season to be over before it started. All that was left to do was keep working and keep training. Going into my sophomore year, we finally knew we were going to have a full season. I had just won a state championship for girls soccer and I was bringing that energy into basketball. After a long week of tryouts, I ended up making Varsity and earned myself a starting spot. In the last 3 seasons we have made it to the state tournament twice and I have been named to the first team all league, region, and state. And most importantly I have been named to the first team all state academic team with a 4.0. This year is our year to win the state championship. Basketball continues to teach me that I need to give 110% in everything I do, because you never know when it can all be taken away in an instant. I am so forever grateful for the teammates that showed me what it’s like to care so deeply for other people and wanting them to succeed.

My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior at Pahrump Valley High School, a small school in Pahrump, Nevada. I am a 3 sport Varsity athlete and I also play club soccer year round while being in the National Honor Society and still finding time to volunteer at our local animal shelter. It has been my dream to become a veterinarian since I was four years old. Many people change their minds throughout their lives on what they want to be when they grow up. Yet, my mind has never changed. I absolutely love anything and everything to do with animals. The idea of helping people make their best friends feel better, just sounds like the most amazing thing to me. Growing up, my family always had a lot of pets; which led me to rescuing 3 of the cats we currently have! I have always wanted to help animals in need and that’s one of the many reasons I wanted to become a veterinarian. In Pahrump, while they do have a couple veterinarian clinics, the only Emergency 24 Hour vet clinic is over an hour and a half away in Las Vegas. My family and I once needed to take our dog in for an emergency vet visit, he didn’t make it through half of the car ride before passing away. Driving so far to save my best friend is just unrealistic in our small town. I want to be the change in our community and I want to open the first 24 hour surgical Vet Clinic in Pahrump, Nevada. At some point I do want to study abroad and volunteer with different wildlife conservation groups. My favorite animal is a panda and the #1 thing on my bucket list is to hold a baby panda. Currently, only one zoo in the United States has pandas and I want more than anything to get to experience them in their natural habitat in China. So maybe one day I will get to experience all of their cuteness and see their different varying personalities. I have always been drawn to all sorts of animals and any time I get the opportunity, I love interacting with them. I have gotten to be around alpacas, chinchillas, snakes, birds, cats, dogs, horses, and I have even got to hold a baby alligator. It doesn't just end there. Marine life is absolutely amazing as well. In the wild I have interacted with sea cucumbers, sting rays, sea hares, sea turtles, eels, dolphins, Spanish shawls, as well as seeing a pod of grey whales jumping in and out of the ocean. We have the most amazing world full of amazing creatures. And I want to do everything I can to help these animals in any way I can to ensure that they are around for many years to come!

If I could have everyone in the world read one book it would be, Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr.Seuss. While that may sound like a very childish and cliche answer, this book taught me more than every book I have ever read (and I have read A LOT of books). This book tells you that you can take your own path and do everything you have ever wanted to do, and of course, go to all the places you want to go. All the choices you make are completely yours. My favorite quote from this book is, "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own." I am on my own. You are on your own. We are all on our own. This book may seem like a little kids' book, which it is, but the meaning behind the book goes so much deeper than that. This book illustrates how as you get older there are many things to expect when you are moving through life such as the experience of living with joy, thankfulness, ambition and kindness. While I do understand that life isn't going to always be sunshine and rainbows, reading this book gave me a sense of hope that life will turn out better than I expected. The book finishes with the lines, "You're off the Great Places. Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!" People are going to continue to live their lives every day. Our choices impact every aspect of our life and this book shows that no matter where you go, you will always find your way.

My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior in high school. My dream is to make a difference in our community by helping animals and conserving the nature and world around us. One of my favorite things to do is clean up beaches and pick up trash within my community. I want our earth to be clean and around for thousands of years to come, and while cleaning up trash may not make all the difference in the world, if I can make any change at all then it makes a difference to our earth and my community. Another thing I have been working on is researching a certain kind of bacteria that, when put in the right environments will break down microplastic and trash in our oceans and rivers. So many sea creatures and our sea life are filled with garbage and plastic that are killing them, and we need to make a change. Our society is the reason that we are losing wildlife and habitats for these animals and we need to do something to better everything around us. My message that I would leave at the top of the mountain is, "We need to make a change to save our environment, we need to be better, we have to preserve our earth before it's too late."

My name is Paris Coleman and I am a senior in high school who has been playing soccer since I was 4 years old. I grew up watching my older brother play and I wanted to be just like him. I played Rec soccer until about 12 years old before my dad started a club team in our small town. We would travel to Vegas every other weekend for double-header games, and we were pretty good. We rarely lost games and tournaments. After around 2 years I realized that I needed to join a more competitive team if I wanted to accomplish my dream of playing college soccer one day. A lot of the girls on my team didn't like the way I played, so I needed to play with girls who wanted it as bad as me. It was extremely difficult to leave and I was losing all of my friends that I had grown up with. That was the worst moment in my soccer career. I felt like I had nobody. A few coaches heard about me looking for a team so I ended up going to a few different team practices before deciding on a team. I commute 2 hours to practice every day, have a 2-hour practice, then drive back 2 hours to get home. Joining this team would be one of the best choices of my life. Soon after joining I was being recognized by the top ECNL team around and I was invited to go play with them. I played a couple of great games and was offered the starting center-back spot. I ended up staying with my team while continuing to guest with ECNL. I was invited to the ICC Futures Cup where the top 4 United States Teams would compete against the top 4 European Club teams and it was an amazing experience when we won the gold cup. I was finally starting to realize that I was something within soccer. Missing my social life, always traveling for soccer, and losing friends, were all for a reason. I didn't know it at the time, but it was. After that, I made the Nevada Olympic team where I was also selected as captain and Invited to be on the Western United States Regional team. Sadly it was canceled due to Covid. Also due to Covid, I wasn't able to play my freshman year of high school soccer. But, in my sophomore year of high school, we ended up winning the Nevada State Championship where we beat South Tahoe 1-0. I scored a header goal and then defended the whole game after that. I was named player of the year and first-team all-state. My skills were advancing and I was starting to get recognized for all the work I was putting in. I started to get looks from college coaches during all of the camps I was attending. As I get into my senior year I have been named first-team all-state for the past 2 years and I am looking to win another state ring. In club soccer, I am talking to multiple Division 1 colleges and looking to commit soon. This scholarship would help me so much because I don't want my parents to have to try and pay out of pocket for my college. This scholarship would help support my dreams of playing Division 1 college soccer and that would be the best moment in my soccer career.

My name is Paris Coleman and I care extremely deeply about protecting our oceans. It is my dream one day to go into animal sciences such as marine biology, ocean conservation, and animal conservation. I knew growing up that when I got older I wanted to do something involving animals. When I got into the 7th grade there was a trip offered where it was a week long marine biology trip to Catalina Island. I thought it would be a fun trip, so I signed up. It exceeded my expectations in every way possible. I went snorkeling and got to see sea life up close and personal. I got to kiss a sea cucumber, pet nursing sharks, and even see a half eaten giant eel. My favorite part of the whole trip was seeing a sea turtle in the ocean and going tide pooling and seeing a baby octopus. I learned more in that one week than I had my whole entire life about the ocean and marine biology. From that moment forward I knew I wanted to do everything in my power to protect our ocean and the marine life in it. It started with supporting brands like 4Ocean where it removes a pound of plastic for every bracelet bought. Then, I started volunteering to do beach cleanups myself. Picking up sea glass was a big hobby for me because it's pollution, but pretty pollution. I started doing more and more research on stopping pollution in our oceans. I ended up writing as essay on how to get rid of microplastic within oceans and rivers by sending in a bacteria that absorbs these microplastics. I never want a sea animal to go extinct due to our own issue's. These animals are dying with garbage in their stomachs and getting wrapped around their insides. Plastic bags, plastic bottles, glass, and microplastic are just some of the many things inside our wildlife. All of our coral reefs are dying and a lot of it is due to us. Pollution in our oceans and rivers is one of the biggest problems facing our society today and I want to use my degree to prevent it as much as physically possible. I want to make a change and while it might not make all the difference in the world, it makes all the difference in the world to the animals and wildlife we're saving and preserving for many years to come.

Think pink, zebras, and adventure! My Barbie Dream house would be located in Africa and everything would be pink! I know that may sound a little crazy considering when you think of Barbie you don't think of Safari Barbie or Animal Conservationist Barbie, but that's my dream! My dream house would be 3 stories tall with a greenhouse on the roof so I can have a garden where I can grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The front of my house would have a wrap around porch with two giant pillars. On the wrap around porch it would have chairs where I can sit and read in the mornings. WIthin the top floor of my house, it would consist of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and 2 office spaces. One bedroom would strictly be a room for my 3 legged cat with all of the toys, treats, and cat posts you could imagine! Another bedroom would be my guinea pig room with all of my long-haired and short-haired guinea pigs. The first office space would just be a space for me to come and do some of my research work and things like that. The second office space would be my photo room. Used strictly for my photography of animals and wildlife with double desktops to edit my photos. The second story of my house would be 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 1 office space. The first bedroom would be my master bedroom with 2 walk in closets on each side of the room. I would have a king size bed to fit all of my dogs and cats that want to come in bed with me and a section for all of their toys. The walls would be decorated with pictures of all of my friends and family back in the United States to remind me every day how lucky I am to have people that support my dreams. The connecting Master bathroom would have a walk-in shower and a huge bathtub along with a double sink and Vanity mirror for when I am getting ready in the mornings! The second bedroom would be a bunny room for all of my rabbits to be in where they can free roam and a connecting door to the office space next to it. The first floor of my house will have 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and 2 office spaces. It will also have a living room area, a dining room, a huge kitchen, as well as a home library. 2 of the bedrooms would be guest bedrooms while the other bedroom would be a room for the meerkat I would rescue and nurse back to health. My office space would just be another place I can work on my computers and get things done. The dining room would have a chandelier above it and seat 6 people for when I have guests. My home library would be able to fit at least a thousand books and having a reading nook where I can just sit and read for as long as my heart desires. My backyard would have stables for my zebras and horses for night time and they would have 50 acres to roam around on. I would also have a pen for my 2 alpacas, Wally and Mocha. I would also have cows, chickens, and a giraffe. My backyard would have a pool as well as a swing hanging on to a willow tree. There would be a long path leading to a fire pit where my friends and I can hangout and roast marshmallows. This is my Barbie Dreamhouse!

My name is Paris Coleman and I am 3 different kinds of Native American. I am Comanche, Apache, and Cherokee. I live in a small town right outside of Las Vegas, Nevada with around 40 thousand people. It is mostly a retirement community with only 1 high school. A lot of my Native American relatives live on reservations. I occasionally get to see them, but not often. I know how difficult they have it on reservations they live on. I get told that their water truck for the whole reservation only comes once a week and that is absolutely awful. The housing is not good at all. And it's just a very dangerous place to live in. My great Grandma lived to be 94 years old on the reservation. And she was one of the toughest people I've ever known. The best part of my year is when our small town has a Native American festival where people all dress up in traditional outfits and have traditional music being played. It makes me so happy seeing that some of my culture and heritage is continuing to be shared with people. I love little knick knacks and collecting things at these festivals. My 100% Native American grandfather has many items that he lets me look at. Some being arrowheads, carved bows and arrows out of wood, as well as many very old paintings. My 4x Great Grandpa led our people through the Trail of Tears when our people were forced to travel west. I love hearing stories about my relatives and learning about what they went through. They fought through many hardships and challenges and they are the reason I am here today and I am forever grateful for that. One thing about me is that I look Native American. My skin has always been darker than other people, my hair extremely long, dark brown, and thick. I have exotic looking eyes and always get asked what I am. I always said "I'm Native American" but it wasn't until recently that I found out what tribes my family originate from. It was so fascinating to me to learn about all of these amazing things that my people did within history that I had no idea about. My people shaped the history of our country and I am absolutely amazed about that. The Trail of Tears was one of the biggest and most horrific things to ever happen. We had to migrate west in order to continue living. I can't even put into perspective what my family went through. Especially leading our people through that. Yet, with all these hardships, not once have I been any less proud of being Native American. This has shaped me into who I am. My name is Paris Coleman and I am proud to be a Native American.