"Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve." These are the words of Martin Luther King Jr. I aspire to become a servant leader! Community service is a way of life. I have been lucky to have been exposed to service at a very young age. All of my schools from Kindergarten through high school required students to serve others. This has vastly shaped my life and made me love giving back to my community. I see serving others as an expression of love. Throughout my life, I have had the pleasure of serving hundreds if not thousands of people in my community. I have helped in a wide variety of ways from clearing fallen trees off pathways or completing environmental clean-up projects with my Boy Scout troop to serving my Catholic Church in our fundraiser, community events and religious services to serving at my school by volunteering at the school auction, school community events and sports concessions. My Senior year of high School, I began working at the Saint Vincent De Paul Society. Over the course of the Summer and Christmas break I worked on Wednesdays and occasionally Mondays stocking the food bank, organizing the distribution system, transporting materials for activities, or handing out food. This work has exposed me to the most in need in my community and has given me new found compassion and love for the vulnerable in my community. Many of these people are out of work due to being a part of the special needs community. I enjoy spending time practicing my Spanish with them, hearing their life stories, or just politely exchanging conversation while I offer them food. This opportunity has not only helped me learn how to serve people, but also has given me an opportunity to give back to my community and to practice my service within my Catholic faith tradition. This job has taught me valuable skills: self agency, scheduling, accountability, and communication, as well as life lessons about how to be firm with people while simultaneously being gentle and polite. My work with the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul has been one of the most valuable experiences of my senior year and is an experience that I will continue to learn from and take lessons from into the future. Currently, I have signed up as a member of the Dawg Crew at the University of Washington. Our purpose is to help our fellow students. We serve in the move in process at the beginning of the year and we serve students at admitted students day and many other events. This has allowed me to continue to grow as a servant leader as well as provided me with a unique opportunity to meet new friends. Without the gift of community service, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I love serving people and I have found a great group of friends who share my service view. If there is a job that needs to be done we will do it because it’s who we are. Love who you serve with and love who you serve. Service brings people together and is one of the greatest gifts of life.

I love math because of math’s simplicity within complex problems. Math is a logic based discipline that if understood properly makes sense. Math builds on itself over time, when people start learning math as children they begin with addition, subtraction, and basic application problems that allow them to quantify the world around them. After this students learn how to do these operations faster and with larger or many more numbers. From these humble beginnings mathematics grows from solving simple equations to solving some of humanity's greatest problems. I love math because of how vast it is. Math can be used to measure the areas of shapes, to figure population growth over time or trends. It can be used to create structures, tools, or machines; and it can be used to model our entire understanding of reality. In the century following the creation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity we have observed many phenomena that Einstein predicted would be true but he never could have observed. Math is also beautiful. Anyone who has ever played with a graphing calculator understands how beautiful graphs can be. Visual representations can be manipulated in so many unique ways with the use of hundreds of unique equations that help us visualize the world around us in order to understand the basic nature of reality. The final reason why I love math is because of its unexpected tricks. One of my favorites is the Monty Hall problem. It states that if there is a goat behind two doors as a game show and a car behind one, if you pick a door and if the game show host reveals the location of one goat, you should switch your door choice because it has a higher probability of being the car. This math problem plays an unexpected trick on our brains which is one of the reasons why I love math.

Mental health is one of the most serious concepts within the maintenance of the human psyche. Humans are spiritual creatures as well as physical ones and even though our bodies can be healthy our minds need to be equally strong in order for us to live happy and fulfilling lives. I have personally struggled with my mental health throughout my life and know first hand how important being happy is. Mental struggle can lead to many changes in a person’s beliefs, relationships and plans for the future. I was diagnosed with social anxiety at the age of twelve after I passed out during a church service. After the incident I began to go to therapy regularly to learn important coping skills so I could be happy. Therapy changed my worldview and the skills I learned helped me to control my mind more effectively. I have a fear of people. The possibility that people can do whatever they want scares me. I spent years in therapy working out how to think rationally about how other people will act. This has directly influenced my beliefs about the world because I have learned to expect people to act in more predictable and less malicious ways. This allows me to cope with my fear. My social anxiety also affects the ways that I view relationships. I have always struggled with relationships because of the power people gain in relationships. Whether it is my friends, my parents, siblings, or girlfriend, all the people in my life hold certain power over my life because of our relationship. Because I trust them I take their opinion into account and they also are aware of my personal faults. This means that I cannot deal with them in my usual fashion; normally if someone is hateful or makes me generally unhappy I can decide not to listen. Unfortunately with the aforementioned people I respect their opinion too much to cast it aside. This leaves me vulnerable to emotional turmoil. This causes me to attempt to perceive emotional threats before they occur, leading to many false alarms. This is a behavior I am working hard to correct because it is unhealthy. The people that I trust are in my life because I know they are good people. Struggling with anxiety has made me aware of my own shortcomings and has allowed me to strengthen my relationships by thinking more logically. Finally, my struggle with my own mental health has led to a change in my plans for the future. As I struggled through my early high school years I went to therapy quite frequently and I discovered an affinity for critical thinking and debate. I love to sit down with someone to discuss problems and to figure out a solution. My mental health has been a major factor in my formation as a person. It has caused me to change my beliefs on how people act, how relationships should be taken care of, and how I am going to handle my future. I hope to use my University of Washington education to become a successful bio-engineer. In academia, I aspire to earn a Bachelors of Science in Bio-engineering before continuing by earning a PhD in Nano engineering . With these degrees, I want to work to engineer some product, whether it is a GMO, or a prosthetic, or a medical device, to help people live safer and more successful lives. I have taken an interest in Bio-nano engineering because of the possibility it holds to facilitate cancer treatment or surgery.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve had an interest in how things work. When I was in grade school, I loved spending my summer catching small insects in habitats, keeping them safe, feeding them, and then releasing them into my yard. I raised spiders, ladybugs, ant colonies, mantises, and butterflies. As I entered middle school, I turned my attention to the sky. For the next few years, I read everything I could get on astronomy and astrophysics. But then I competed in my seventh-grade science fair. In that competition, I completed an experiment on Microbial Fuel Cells. This project reignited my interest in the biological sciences and I decided to test two projects based on my original experiment over the next two years. This experience helped me realize my genuine passion for biology. I still love astrophysics and think the study of space is fascinating; however, I think it is more theoretical and slightly less practical. I want to help people on Earth by studying bio-engineering, virology/immunology, or biochemistry. My friends and family have been a critical force in my decision. My parents have always supported my curiosity in biology. From my dad and I watching monster bug wars: a show with entomologists that study insects and arachnids in the wild before they would fight; to my mom suggesting I study Microbial Fuel Cells for my second science fair. They have been supporters of my learning the whole way. On the other hand, my friends have fought beside me and inspired me to be greater than I ever thought I could become. Whether fighting in the gym, fighting through the terrible wind on a run, or fighting with each other over the best way to finish our calculus homework, together we have learned how to persevere, stick together, love one another, and how to help other people. We work, serve, win, and lose together. I couldn’t embark on my journey without their support, without the time I’ve spent with them, and without the lessons I’ve learned on our journey together. Over the years I have spent time with my friends inside the classroom working on projects, research, or on presentations. We worked together outside of school on our Science Olympiad team where we cultivate our love of STEM and interest in the natural world as we prepare for the yearly regional and state competitions. Here we face challenges together, redesigning engineering projects, fixing wooden planes and gravity powered cars, along with our intense study of our test subjects. These challenges teach perseverance, creative thinking, and teamwork. Without these people and these lessons I would struggle to move forward in my life with my own goals, plans, and dreams. Another important aspect of my life is my Muay Thai training. Muay Thai has become a large part of my life since my first class on January 2nd of 2023. Over the last year, I have spent at least one hundred hours sparring, drilling, listening, and conditioning on the heavy bag. I have fallen in love with combat sports. Muay Thai is a beautiful art. I have made countless new friends, developed crazy new skills, and learned practical self-defense techniques. The rigorous training and demanding schedule has grown my discipline and commitment. Muay Thai is a wonderful funnel for my competitive desire and my goal oriented personality. I started to train Muay Thai shortly after I earned my Eagle Scout rank and Muay Thai filled the extra time I had and gave me a new goal: to earn my Kru title as a certified martial arts instructor. As rigorous and disciplined Muay Thai training is, it also has helped me break out of rigid structure and has taught me how to be adaptable. Fighting is all about fluidity and unpredictability. Fighters have to change their patterns and read their opponents patterns in order to succeed defensively and offensively. This has been an area of struggle for me. I love schedules, order, and consistency. Constant change and adaptation is difficult. Muay Thai has not only changed my life for the better physically but it has also helped me break out of my stress and adapt to changes. Becoming a Nak Muay was one of the best decisions of my life and I look forward to continuing my training throughout my college years and beyond. In the future, I want to work as an engineer to help people live happier and healthier lives. I am interested in a wide variety of topics of study in bio-engineering from prosthetic development to gene-editing and brain function. Currently I am focused on attending a quality university to further my education in bio-engineering, and then I want to move on to study for a PhD. After that I hope to contribute to the greater good of humanity through meaningful research/employment. In addition to my academic goals, I also want to publish a book. Over the last few years I have written a fantasy novel. I am in the process of editing it and publishing it. This story, alongside my love of biology, is my life’s passion. Impact wise, this scholarship would allow me to take less money out with loans for college, lowering my debt, and helping me move forward with my personal financial goals. After college I hope to have enough money to buy a house and to support a family. This scholarship would alleviate some debts and therefore push me towards that goal. I have begun the process of completing these goals by being admitted to the University of Washington's Engineering college. As I move to college in the next few weeks, I have applied for a job with the University as well as signed up to volunteer on campus to develop my leadership skills. I plan to join several engineering clubs and find a Muay Thai gym close to campus.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve had an interest in how things work. When I was in grade school, I loved spending my summer catching small insects in habitats, keeping them safe, feeding them, and then releasing them into my yard. I raised spiders, ladybugs, ant colonies, mantises, and butterflies. In 7th grade, I completed an experiment on Microbial Fuel Cells for the Washington State science and engineering Fair. This project reignited my interest in the biological sciences and I decided to test two projects based on my original experiment over the next two years. This experience helped me realize my genuine passion for biology. This helped me discover that I want to help people by studying bio-engineering, virology/immunology, or biochemistry. My friends and family have been a critical force in my decision. My parents have always supported my curiosity in biology. From my dad and I watching monster bug wars: a show with entomologists that study insects and arachnids in the wild before they would fight; to my mom suggesting I study Microbial Fuel Cells for my second science fair. They have been supporters of my learning the whole way. On the other hand, my friends have fought beside me and inspired me to be greater than I ever thought I could become. Whether fighting in the gym, fighting through the terrible wind on a run, or fighting with each other over the best way to finish our calculus homework, together we have learned how to persevere, stick together, love one another, and how to help other people. We work, serve, win, and lose together. I couldn’t embark on my journey without their support, without the time I’ve spent with them, and without the lessons I’ve learned on our journey together. Over the years I have spent time with my friends inside the classroom working on projects, research, or on presentations. We worked together outside of school on our Science Olympiad team where we cultivate our love of STEM and interest in the natural world as we prepare for the yearly regional and state competitions. Here we face challenges together, redesigning engineering projects, fixing wooden planes and gravity powered cars, along with our intense study of our test subjects. These challenges teach perseverance, creative thinking, and teamwork. Without these people and these lessons I would struggle to move forward in my life with my own goals, plans, and dreams. In the future, I want to work as an engineer to help people live happier and healthier lives. I am interested in a wide variety of topics of study in bio-engineering from prosthetics to gene-editing and brain function. Currently I am focused on attending the University of Washington to further my education in bio-engineering, and then I want to move on to study for a PhD. After that I hope to contribute to the greater good of humanity through meaningful research/employment. In addition to my academic goals, I also want to publish a book. Over the last few years I have been writing a manuscript of a story. This story, alongside my love of biology, is my life’s passion. Impact wise, this scholarship would allow me to take less money out with loans for college, lowering my debt, and helping me move forward with my personal financial goals. After college I hope to have enough money to buy a house and to support a family. This scholarship would alleviate some debts and therefore push me towards that goal.

Community service is love. In my opinion, service isn’t about helping others by itself. Serving is an act of love that starts by helping the server grow. Community service is about learning to be happy through helping others. Serving brings people together and encourages people to love others and themselves on a deeper level. Throughout my life, I have had the pleasure of serving hundreds if not thousands of people in my community. I have helped in a wide variety of ways from clearing fallen trees off pathways or completing environmental clean-up projects with my Boy Scout troop to serving my Catholic Church in our fundraiser, community events and religious services to serving at my school by volunteering at the school auction, school community events and sports concessions. Recently I began working at the Saint Vincent De Paul Society. This organization collects food, organizes boxes of a variety of food and feeds the poor and those in need in our community. I have already served over 20 hours helping hand out the food to people who arrive on Wednesdays. It has been life-changing. I have been able to see the faces of those who I am serving. I have bonded with older community members who have made this their mission. This service has also allowed me to practice my conversational Spanish both with the people I am serving and with those who are working to serve. Serving has taught me leadership, integrity and appreciation for my community. Without the gift of community service, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I love serving people and I have found a great group of friends who share my service view. If there is a job that needs to be done we will do it because it’s who we are. Love who you serve with and love who you serve. Service brings people together and is one of the greatest gifts of life. As I enter college, I have already signed up to be a part of the University of Washington's Dawg Crew. this is a group of students who serve their peers. I will arrive at college early so that I can help students move into their dorms. I hope to become a mentor or an RA in the future. I will use my education to become a successful bio-engineer. I aspire to earn a BS in Bio-engineering before continuing by earning a PhD in Nano engineering. I want to engineer products, whether it is a GMO, prosthetic, or a medical device, to help people live safer and more successful lives. I have taken an interest in Bio-nano engineering because of the possibility it holds to facilitate cancer treatment or surgery.

Community service is love. Service isn’t about helping others alone. Serving is an act of love that starts by helping the server grow. I have had the pleasure of serving many people in my community in a wide variety of ways from completing environmental clean-up projects with my Boy Scout troop to serving my Catholic Church in our fundraisers, community events and services to serving at my school's auction, school community events and sports concessions. I have served as an altar server and an usher at Mass. My elementary/middle school is affiliated with my church. The school has a carnival every September which provides 10% of its budget. I have served at this event every year since I was 7 years old. As I have grown, my duties at Sausage Fest have changed. As a kid, I handed out toys to children. The last few years I have built booths, worked the game booths on my own and helped clean up after the event. I also provided peer tutoring in my high school’s after school teacher access time. The school asks students to provide tutoring to make wait time shorter for students who are in need of help. I provided tutoring in science, spanish and math to my high school peers. In addition, I enjoy serving my high school by setting up and serving food at our annual crab feed which raises money for our Junior class. I also enjoy running the concession stand at football and basketball games. During my senior year of high school, I decided to volunteer at my local Society of Saint Vincent De Paul. I worked stocking the food bank, organizing the distribution system, transporting materials for activities, or handing out food. This work has exposed me to the most in need in my community and has given me new found compassion and love for the vulnerable. Many of these people are out of work due to being a part of the special needs community. I enjoy spending time practicing my Spanish with them, hearing their life stories, or just exchanging conversation while I offer them food. This opportunity has not only helped me learn how to serve people, but also has given me an opportunity to give back to my community and to practice my service within my Catholic faith tradition. This job has taught me valuable skills: self agency, scheduling, accountability, and communication, as well as life lessons about how to be firm with people while simultaneously being gentle and polite. My work with the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul has been one of the most valuable experiences of my senior year and is an experience that I will continue to learn from and take lessons from into the future. Throughout all of my service with my friends and family, my favorite service project was my Eagle Scout project. I volunteered to build a stone bench around the flagpole at my high school. To pay for the materials, I raised over two thousand dollars with the help of my classmates, the school community, and church parishioners. My father, my best friends, and I spent three days and over twenty-six hours constructing the bench.Without my community, I wouldn’t have been able to raise enough money to pay for my Eagle Scout Project and without my friends I couldn’t have completed the construction. I love serving people and I have found a great group of friends who share my service view. Love who you serve with and love who you serve. Service brings people together and is one of the greatest gifts of life.

Leadership is one of the most important characteristics a person can have. The ability to lead is an invaluable skill because of its necessity in overcoming adversity as a group as well as its inherent difficulties. Leaders are the people that are tested, constantly pushed to their breaking point, and through these experiences they gain critical traits. The three characteristics of leadership that I value the most are responsibility, service, and courage. Responsibility is arguably the most important trait of a leader. Leaders have a duty to ensure the success of the team, because of this, they get more credit for success than their subordinates; but they also take the fall when things do not work out. This is the epitome of responsibility, leaders have a duty to ensure the success of their team. They need to continue to do their own work effectively while also watching their team to make sure their work is done as well. The role of a leader is not only to make executive decisions but also to organize the work force. Service is another critical component of leadership. Servant leadership is by far the most effective type of leadership. Servant leaders are characterized by their willingness to take the most difficult tasks for themselves as well as their ability to sacrifice for their people. Servant leaders lead by example, this makes them very attractive to many people because they are not above their team, they are just another integral component of the team. Service is critical because of its role in hard work as well. Generally people who serve others work more productively and inspire others to serve as well. I believe that servant leaders are the most important leaders to have because they are effective and they create better people in the process. I believe the last and most important leadership quality is courage. Leaders have to be courageous in order to take responsibility. Leaders also must be courageous to serve their people. Throughout history many leaders have had the courage to take on the most difficult tasks for themselves. At the battle of Gettysberg in 1863, Andrew J. Tozier of the Army of the Potomac would stand beside the company flag as bullets flew by him to hold the line against a confederate assault. Later in the day when a bayonet charge was ordered, another Union officer, Lieutenant Melcher, would lead the charge down Little Round Top. These two brave men single-handedly rallied the 20th Maine and held the hill, saving the Army of the Potomac and the Civil War for the Union. Those acts of leadership required courage. Leaders need to have the courage to act, even if they have to jump forward alone. The three most important qualities for a leader are responsibility, service, and courage. These three qualities are not found in people, they are made. Leaders have to toil through trials in their lives to acquire these traits. I aspire to be such a leader. I serve my community through the Saint Vincent De Paul Society by handing out food to those in need. I lead my Cross Country team as captain by designing difficult workouts and always completing them along with my teammates. I led my friends and fellow scouts in an Eagle scout project, raising money to build a bench at my high school. I am still working on being courageous. This quality can only be developed through life trials. I have lived a pretty good life so far. Hopefully if the time comes, I will be courageous when it is needed.

I will be attending the University of Washington with direct admittance to the college of engineering with the intention of majoring in Bio-engineering or Biomedical Engineering. Currently I am eighteen years old. For simplicity’s sake, I am going to assume that I will be looking back on my life on my forty-eighth birthday. At forty-eight, the largest and most successful part of my life will be over. I will be approaching old age and my strongest years mentally and physically will be behind me. When I look back fondly on my life, the most important things to me will be my relationships, my achievements, and my character. First, I hope to have a wife, kids, and a good relationship with my siblings by the time I look back. They are the most important. The other relationships I need to have to consider my life successful is a strong group of friends. I want to have and have had friends that I would die for, that I would do anything for. I want to be confident that all of my best friends would do the same for me without hesitation. These relationships are the foundation of any good life because friends and family are the ones that make life worth living. They catch us when we fall and push us to greatness. Without these people, I doubt that I would make it to see forty-eight. Next, I need to have accomplished many of my personal goals. I want to obtain a degree in Bio-engineering, I want to become a Kru in Muay Thai, I want to learn Jiu-Jitsu, I want to raise good children, I want to publish my book, and I want to make enough money to support my family. These goals are not the most critical aspect of my life, but without them I would be left without a purpose.They will help me measure my progress towards being a stronger, better person for my friends and family. At forty-eight if I have done most of these things, I will be happy with my progress. Finally, in order to consider my life a success I need to be a good man at the time of my reflection. Character is the most important quality a person has at the end of their life, no matter when that is. Whenever someone dies, people give eulogies of who they were and what they were like, not what they accomplished. At forty-eight I want the people I love to know me as a good man. Someone who was not perfect, but tried his best no matter what. I want to be a man who is just, strong, loving, humble, and helpful. If I make it to forty-eight as a good man, that will be one of the greatest successes I can ever achieve. This opportunity would greatly help me to reach my educational dreams of becoming a Bio-engineer. Although I am a highly qualified student, I did not receive any financial assistance through my FASFA or my university. Therefore I am left to pay for my college out of pocket. Any scholarship will ease my burden. I aspire to earn a Bachelors of Science in Bio-engineering before continuing by earning a PhD in Nano engineering . With these degrees, I want to work to engineer some product, whether it is a GMO, or a prosthetic, or a medical device, to help people live safer and more successful lives. I have taken an interest in Bio-nano engineering because of the possibility it holds to facilitate cancer treatment or surgery. The internships and opportunities for connection at the University of Washington will allow me to network with companies to secure internships, as well as an eventual full-time job to achieve my goals. The final career goal I have is to continue to write books. Currently, I am in the middle of editing my first novel and I want to continue writing stories throughout my career. I hope to take classes in English and literature at the University of Washington to improve my writing.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve had an interest in how things work. When I was in grade school, I loved spending my summer catching small insects in habitats, keeping them safe, feeding them, and then releasing them into my yard. I raised spiders, ladybugs, ant colonies, mantises, and butterflies. As I entered middle school, I turned my attention to the sky. For the next few years, I read everything I could get on astronomy and astrophysics. But then I competed in my seventh-grade science fair. In that competition, I completed an experiment on Microbial Fuel Cells. This project reignited my interest in the biological sciences and I decided to test two projects based on my original experiment over the next two years. This experience helped me realize my genuine passion for biology. I still love astrophysics and think the study of space is fascinating; however, I think it is more theoretical and slightly less practical. I want to help people on Earth by studying bio-engineering. My friends and family have been a critical force in my decision to pursue science in college. My parents have always supported my curiosity in biology. On the other hand, my friends have fought beside me and inspired me to be greater than I ever thought I could become. Whether fighting in the gym, fighting through the terrible wind on a run, or fighting with each other over the best way to finish our calculus homework, together we have learned how to persevere, stick together, love one another, and how to help other people. We work, serve, win, and lose together. I couldn’t embark on my journey without their support, without the time I’ve spent with them, and without the lessons I’ve learned on our journey together. Currently, I am considering medical research to help people recover from illness or fight illnesses. I have recently discovered bio-engineering. I am passionate about the idea of engineering devices that can solve illnesses and help people live better lives. This degree would allow me to continue to explore genetics and pair my passion for solving problems with my love of biology. The cost of college increases each year. My quest is to complete my degrees with as little debt as possible with the ultimate goal of zero debt. This is an enormous challenge since I foresee myself pursuing not only an undergraduate degree but an advanced graduate degree or possibly a Ph.D. In the future I plan not only to get a degree in Bio-engineering, but also I aspire to publish a book, to become a Kru in Muay Thai, and to become conversationally fluent in Spanish. This scholarship would go a long way in helping me achieve that goal. Any amount of money goes a long way and two thousand dollars is a significant amount of money that would contribute to paying for college. My family has always supported me and they will continue to support me, but I have two siblings who also will need to pay for college. My parents will also need to support them. I want to reduce the financial burden they will shoulder ensuring we all have an opportunity for an education.

Community service is love. In my opinion, service isn’t about helping others by itself. Serving is an act of love that starts by helping the server grow. Community service is about learning to be happy through helping others. Serving brings people together and encourages people to love others and themselves on a deeper level. Throughout my life, I have had the pleasure of serving hundreds if not thousands of people in my community. I have helped in a wide variety of ways from clearing fallen trees off pathways or completing environmental clean-up projects with my Boy Scout troop to serving my Catholic Church in our fundraiser, community events and religious services to serving at my school by volunteering at the school auction, school community events and sports concessions. Recently I began working at the Saint Vincent De Paul Society. This organization collects food, organizes boxes of a variety of food and feeds the poor and those in need in our community. I have already served over 20 hours helping hand out the food to people who arrive on Wednesdays. It has been life-changing. I have been able to see the faces of those who I am serving. I have bonded with older community members who have made this their mission. This service has also allowed me to practice my conversational Spanish both with the people I am serving and with those who are working to serve. Throughout all of my service, my favorite service project was my Eagle Scout project. For my Eagle Scout project, I volunteered to build a stone bench around the flagpole at my high school. To pay for the materials, I raised over two thousand dollars with the help of my classmates, the school community, and church parishioners. My father, my best friends, and I spent three days and over twenty-six hours constructing the bench. Everyone had an amazing time serving the community which is truly what community service is about. Without my community, I wouldn’t have been able to raise enough money to pay for my Eagle Scout Project and without my friends I couldn’t have completed the construction. Without the gift of community service, I wouldn’t have the friends I have now or be the person I am today. I love serving people and I have found a great group of friends who share my service view. If there is a job that needs to be done we will do it. Love who you serve with and love who you serve. Currently, I am considering medical research to help people recover from illness or fight illnesses. I have recently discovered bio-engineering. I am passionate about the idea of engineering devices that can solve illnesses and help people live better lives. This degree would allow me to continue to explore genetics and pair my passion for solving problems with my love of biology. This scholarship would help reduce my cost of tuition at University of Washington to make this dream come true.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve had an interest in how things work. When I was in grade school, I loved spending my summer catching small insects in habitats, keeping them safe, feeding them, and then releasing them into my yard. I raised spiders, ladybugs, ant colonies, mantises, and butterflies. As I entered middle school, I turned my attention to the sky. For the next few years, I read everything I could get on astronomy and astrophysics. But then I competed in my seventh-grade science fair. In that competition, I completed an experiment on Microbial Fuel Cells. This project reignited my interest in the biological sciences and I decided to test two projects based on my original experiment over the next two years. This experience helped me realize my genuine passion for biology. I still love astrophysics and think the study of space is fascinating; however, I think it is more theoretical and slightly less practical. I want to help people on Earth by studying bioengineering. My friends and family have been a critical force in my decision to pursue science in college. My parents have always supported my curiosity in biology. On the other hand, my friends have fought beside me and inspired me to be greater than I ever thought I could become. Whether fighting in the gym, fighting through the terrible wind on a run, or fighting with each other over the best way to finish our calculus homework, together we have learned how to persevere, stick together, love one another, and how to help other people. We work, serve, win, and lose together. I couldn’t embark on my journey without their support, without the time I’ve spent with them, and without the lessons I’ve learned on our journey together. While in college, I hope to explore continuing peer tutoring. Over the last four years, I have enjoyed participating in my high schools peer tutoring program. I have been able to tutor fellow students in biology, Spanish and English Literature. I frequently spend time editing my friends English essays and helping them with College admissions essays and applications.Currently, I am considering medical research to help people recover from illness or fight illnesses. I have recently discovered bio-engineering. I am passionate about the idea of engineering devices that can solve illnesses and help people live better lives. This degree would allow me to continue to explore genetics and pair my passion for solving problems with my love of biology.

Mental health is one of the most serious concepts within the maintenance of the human psyche. Humans are spiritual creatures as well as physical ones and even though our bodies can be healthy our minds need to be equally strong in order for us to live happy and fulfilling lives. I have personally struggled with my mental health throughout my life and know first hand how important being happy is. Mental struggle can lead to many changes in a person’s beliefs, relationships and plans for the future. I was diagnosed with social anxiety at the age of twelve after I passed out during a church service. After the incident I began to go to therapy regularly to learn important coping skills so I could be happy. Therapy changed my worldview and the skills I learned helped me to control my mind more effectively. I have a fear of people. The possibility that people can do whatever they want scares me. I spent years in therapy working out how to think rationally about how other people will act. This has directly influenced my beliefs about the world because I have learned to expect people to act in more predictable and less malicious ways. This allows me to cope with my fear. When I first was diagnosed with anxiety, I struggled to have confidence in myself. I would avoid eye contact with my peers and I was shy at school. This led to some bullying from boys in my class. As I have learned to deal with my anxiety, I have grown more confident. I first learned how to communicate more directly with people. When I entered high school, I began training in Muay Thai. Muay Thai has become a large part of my life since my first class on January 2nd of 2023. Over the last year, I have spent at least one hundred hours sparring, drilling, listening, and conditioning on the heavy bag. I have fallen in love with combat sports. Muay Thai is a beautiful art. I have made countless new friends, developed new skills, and learned practical self-defense techniques. The rigorous training and demanding schedule has grown my discipline and commitment. Muay Thai is a wonderful funnel for my competitive desire and my goal oriented personality. As rigorous and disciplined Muay Thai training is, it also has helped me break out of rigid structure and has taught me how to be adaptable. Fighting is all about fluidity and unpredictability. Fighters have to change their patterns and read their opponents patterns in order to succeed defensively and offensively. This has been an area of struggle for me. I love schedules, order, and consistency. Constant change and adaptation is difficult. Muay Thai has not only changed my life for the better physically but it has also helped me break out of my stress and adapt to changes. It has also helped me gain the confidence I need to face my anxiety in the real world. Therapy and Muay Thai have helped me to be able to take risks at school, in clubs like Science Olympiad and Chess. Without the ability to control my anxiety, fear of other peoples opinions would have held my back from achieving my goals. These strategies have allowed me to complete high school with great success. Being confident enough to be Valedictorian of my class and giving a speech to my graduating class was a fulfilling moment in my journey through controlling my anxiety.

Mental health is one of the most serious concepts within the maintenance of the human psyche. Humans are spiritual creatures as well as physical ones and even though our bodies can be healthy our minds need to be equally strong in order for us to live happy and fulfilling lives. I have personally struggled with my mental health throughout my life and know first hand how important being happy is. Mental struggle can lead to many changes in a person’s beliefs, relationships and plans for the future. I was diagnosed with social anxiety at the age of twelve after I passed out during a church service. After the incident I began to go to therapy regularly to learn important coping skills so I could be happy. Therapy changed my worldview and the skills I learned helped me to control my mind more effectively. I have a fear of people. The possibility that people can do whatever they want scares me. I spent years in therapy working out how to think rationally about how other people will act. This has directly influenced my beliefs about the world because I have learned to expect people to act in more predictable and less malicious ways. This allows me to cope with my fear. My social anxiety also affects the ways that I view relationships. I have always struggled with relationships because of the power people gain in relationships. Whether it is my friends, my parents, siblings, or girlfriend, all the people in my life hold certain power over my life because of our relationship. Because I trust them I take their opinion into account and they also are aware of my personal faults. This means that I cannot deal with them in my usual fashion; normally if someone is hateful or makes me generally unhappy I can decide not to listen. Unfortunately with the aforementioned people I respect their opinion too much to cast it aside. This leaves me vulnerable to emotional turmoil. This causes me to attempt to perceive emotional threats before they occur, leading to many false alarms. This is a behavior I am working hard to correct because it is unhealthy. The people that I trust are in my life because I know they are good people. Struggling with anxiety has made me aware of my own shortcomings and has allowed me to strengthen my relationships by thinking more logically. Finally, my struggle with my own mental health has led to a change in my plans for the future. As I struggled through my early high school years I went to therapy quite frequently and I discovered an affinity for critical thinking and debate. I love to sit down with someone to discuss problems and to figure out a solution. Without my struggle with mental health I also would never have uncovered my love for psychology. With these two things in mind I would like to further my knowledge in psychology and human social tendencies. My mental health has been a major factor in my formation as a person. It has caused me to change my beliefs on how people act, how relationships should be taken care of, and how I am going to handle my future.

Community service is love. In my opinion, service isn’t about helping others by itself. Serving is an act of love that starts by helping the server grow. Community service is about learning to be happy through helping others. Serving brings people together and encourages people to love others and themselves on a deeper level. Throughout my life, I have had the pleasure of serving hundreds if not thousands of people in my community. I have helped in a wide variety of ways from clearing fallen trees off pathways or completing environmental clean-up projects with my Boy Scout troop to serving my Catholic Church in our fundraiser, community events and religious services to serving at my school by volunteering at the school auction, school community events and sports concessions. Recently I began working at the Saint Vincent De Paul Society. This organization collects food, organizes boxes of a variety of food and feeds the poor and those in need in our community. I have already served over 40 hours helping hand out the food to people who arrive on Wednesdays. It has been life-changing. I have been able to see the faces of those who I am serving. I have bonded with older community members who have made this their mission. This service has also allowed me to practice my conversational Spanish both with the people I am serving and with those who are working to serve. Serving has taught me leadership, integrity and appreciation for my community. I enjoy finding small acts of service daily. I spend time peer tutoring at my school but I also enjoy informal service. I find joy reading my friends essays and providing feedback to them to help them improve their grades. We share our documents and assist each other to help ensure we all succeed. If a family I know is in need of help, moving furniture, cleaning up a yard or some other job that needs to be done, I find joy in lending a hand. Without the gift of community service, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I love serving people and I have found a great group of friends who share my service view. If there is a job that needs to be done we will do it because it’s who we are. Love who you serve with and love who you serve. Service brings people together and is one of the greatest gifts of life.

My father grew up on a small farm North of Pasco in eastern Washington. There his family grew cherries, alfalfa and sugar beets. My Great Grandmother won the farm land they farmed in the Railroad land lottery for Veterans. My parents loved the small town life of Pasco and continued to reside in Pasco after I was born. I grew up going to you pick orchards with my mother for our fruit in the summer, planting gardens and frequenting the farmers markets in downtown Pasco all summer. Over my lifetime, Pasco has grown into a bigger city but the farm communities of North Pasco still prevail. I have gone to high school in a community full of farmers and farm workers as well as scientists and professionals. The opportunity to be immersed in this diversity has greatly impacted my personal growth and development. I have a great love of the Hispanic community here, I have had the joy of learning a new language with them and exploring their culture and customs. My friends and family have been a critical force in my decision to pursue science. My parents have always supported my curiosity in biology. From my dad and I watching monster bug wars: a show with entomologists that study insects and arachnids in the wild before they would fight; to my mom suggesting I study Microbial Fuel Cells for my second science fair. They have been supporters of my learning the whole way. On the other hand, my friends have fought beside me and inspired me to be greater than I ever thought I could become. Whether fighting in the gym, fighting through the terrible wind on a run, or fighting with each other over the best way to finish our calculus homework, together we have learned how to persevere, stick together, love one another, and how to help other people. We work, serve, win, and lose together. I couldn’t embark on my journey without their support, without the time I’ve spent with them, and without the lessons I’ve learned on our journey together. Over the years I have spent time with my friends inside the classroom working on projects, research, or on presentations. We worked together outside of school on our Science Olympiad team where we cultivate our love of STEM and interest in the natural world as we prepare for the yearly regional and state competitions. Here we face challenges together, redesigning engineering projects, fixing wooden planes and gravity powered cars, along with our intense study of our test subjects. These challenges teach perseverance, creative thinking, and teamwork. Without these people and these lessons I would struggle to move forward in my life with my own goals, plans, and dreams. In the future, I want to work as an engineer to help people live happier and healthier lives. I am interested in a wide variety of topics of study in bio-engineering from prosthetic to gene-editing and brain function. Currently I am focused on attending a quality university to further my education in bio-engineering, and then I want to move on to study for a PhD. After that I hope to contribute to the greater good of humanity through meaningful research/employment. In addition to my academic goals, I also want to publish a book. Over the last few years I have been writing a manuscript of a story. This story, alongside my love of biology, is my life’s passion.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve had an interest in how things work. When I was in grade school, I loved spending my summer catching small insects in habitats, keeping them safe, feeding them, and then releasing them into my yard. I raised spiders, ladybugs, ant colonies, mantises, and butterflies. As I entered middle school, I turned my attention to the sky. For the next few years, I read everything I could get on astronomy and astrophysics. But then I competed in my seventh-grade science fair. In that competition, I completed an experiment on Microbial Fuel Cells. This project reignited my interest in the biological sciences and I decided to test two projects based on my original experiment over the next two years. This experience helped me realize my genuine passion for biology. I still love astrophysics and think the study of space is fascinating; however, I think it is more theoretical and slightly less practical. I want to help people on Earth by studying bioengineering. My friends and family have been a critical force in my decision to pursue science in college. My parents have always supported my curiosity in biology. On the other hand, my friends have fought beside me and inspired me to be greater than I ever thought I could become. Whether fighting in the gym, fighting through the terrible wind on a run, or fighting with each other over the best way to finish our calculus homework, together we have learned how to persevere, stick together, love one another, and how to help other people. We work, serve, win, and lose together. I couldn’t embark on my journey without their support, without the time I’ve spent with them, and without the lessons I’ve learned on our journey together. While in college, I hope to explore continuing peer tutoring. Over the last four years, I have enjoyed participating in my high schools peer tutoring program. I have been able to tutor fellow students in biology, Spanish and English Literature. I frequently spend time editing my friends English essays and helping them with College admissions essays and applications.Currently, I am considering medical research to help people recover from illness or fight illnesses. I have recently discovered bio-engineering. I am passionate about the idea of engineering devices that can solve illnesses and help people live better lives. This degree would allow me to continue to explore genetics and pair my passion for solving problems with my love of biology.

I hope to use my education to become a successful bio-engineer. In academia, I aspire to earn a Bachelors of Science in Bio-engineering before continuing by earning a PhD in Nano engineering. With these degrees, I want to work to engineer some product, whether it is a GMO, or a prosthetic, or a medical device, to help people live safer and more successful lives. I have taken an interest in Bio-nano engineering because of the possibility it holds to facilitate cancer treatment or surgery. The internships and opportunities for connection at a high quality research university will allow me to network with companies to secure internships, as well as an eventual full-time job to achieve my goals. The final career goal I have is to continue to write books. Currently, I am in the middle of editing my first novel and I want to continue writing stories throughout my career. I hope to take classes in English and literature in college to improve my writing. The William A.Stuart Dream Scholarship would greatly help me close the gap of the $50,000-$70,000 per year it will cost me to follow my dream of becoming a Biomedical engineer. I believe that I have the perseverance and dedication to make good use of this scholarship and attain my goals. First, I am motivated in my academic and professional preparation for my life post college. I have applied to a multitude of scholarships over the last year in an attempt to prepare to pay for college. I wrote countless essays to apply to colleges and have applied to many independent scholarships. I participate in academic extra curricular activities like Science Olympiad (A national science and engineering competition). I am also taking the most rigorous course load my High School offers including AP Calculus BC, Honors Spanish V, and Honors Psychology. Alongside all of my classes, I am capable of independent learning and research. Throughout my life I have always been an independent intellectual who loves to learn no matter where I am. I spend my free time reading books, listening to history videos, discussing philosophy, and engaging in friendly religious debate with my peers. Teamwork is an additional part of my life that I value and understand as a necessary and constructive aspect of human interaction. I work on a team on Science Olympiad events and on my cross country team. Collaborative teamwork is one of the most valuable parts of life because it gives us the ability to grow with other people, to bond, and to be stronger than we otherwise could be alone. Teamwork at Science Olympiad lightens the burden of studying at meetings, allows us to share our strengths on engineering challenges, and provides a second person to hold on to information during tests. On the cross country team my friends/peers provide extra motivation to work harder at practice and to run faster on the course. Another aspect of my life is my service work at the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul (SVDP). During my senior year I worked forty hours at my local Saint Vincent De Paul food bank helping the other volunteers organize, package, and distribute food to the vulnerable in our community. At SVDP I also helped run errands between the food bank and the local Catholic High School. This gave me the opportunity to give back to my community and my church that have both provided me with so much opportunity.

Becoming a professional in any area takes considerable leadership and time management skills. Being a well rounded person helps you grow into a successful adult able to balance the demand of college and life. I believe that I possess the skills and values needed to reach my goals. First, I am a scholar and pride myself in my academic merit. I have maintained a 4.0 perfect GPA my entire education, I competed in the Mid-Columbia science fair in four consecutive years, and I am in the process of writing my own book. In my free time I enjoy discussing intellectually stimulating topics. In addition to my academic record, I am an Eagle Scout. I was awarded the Eagle Scout rank in June of 2022 after I completed my Eagle Scout project. My project entailed building a bench around a flagpole at my high school to protect the flag lights and provide seating for students after school. This required a considerable amount of planning and direction from myself during the process as I designed the wall, gathered funding from church donations, and directed its construction. This process was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and at the end I achieved a goal I have worked towards since I was six years old over the course of a decade. As a senior service project, I serve at my local Society of Saint Vincent De Paul food bank. At the food bank I do numerous jobs including box construction, food distribution, and food sorting. Most recently I helped transport curtains to the food bank to hide stockings from children to help preserve the magic of Christmas for our families at the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul. This has been one of the most valuable experiences of my life that will stick with me for the rest of my life. The opportunity to love and serve others in my community is a gift. These people have not only benefited from my service, but spiritually they have helped me grow into a better man. Finally, I want to share about physical fitness, an area of my life that I am passionate about. I am an avid runner. I ran Cross Country all four years of high school and for a year or two in middle school. This experience has turned me into a lifelong runner and even though my final season of Cross Country is over I still run three to five times a week. More recently, on January Second 2023, I attended my first Muay Thai class. Now, a year later, I am healthier than ever. I workout six days a week, I started weight training, and I am rapidly improving in my Muay Thai skills. Because of these experiences in my life, I have learned the value of hard work and perseverance. I have applied to 9 colleges under the intended major of Biomedical Engineering. I aspire to earn a Bachelors of Science in Bio-engineering before continuing by earning a PhD in Nano engineering . With these degrees, I want to work to engineer some product, whether it is a GMO, or a prosthetic, or a medical device, to help people live safer and more successful lives. I have taken an interest in Bio-nano engineering because of the possibility it holds to facilitate cancer treatment or surgery.

The Millenials-Gen Z have a rendezvous with destiny. Today we face what might be the beginning of the worst of the twenty-first century. Like the Greatest generation before us and greater generations before them, we will rise to the occasion. For the passing of all time, people have faced the toughest times and have risen to the occasion, so why would this time be any different? I think that the ideas offered in the Ode to Millenials-Gen Z text capture the idea that the youth will rise, but I think it leaves out a clear motivation as to why we will rise. We will shoulder the burden that has been thrown onto us because we have no other choice. Gen Z and the Millenials are people born into a world of hope and prosperity and we have watched that prosperity disappear before our eyes. Even though the prosperity is draining out of our society as if someone has pulled the plug in our great tub, we still saw the prosperity, and we still have dreams. The most driven members of Gen Z and the Millenials will shoulder the burden to save our dreams, to bring back our prosperity, to refill our tub. Worldwide millions of people are hopeful that if we keep pushing, we can turn this around. If we want to live our lives the way we want, and if we want to give our children the lives that we want, then we will push forward to deliver the world to the people. Hard times force people to rise to the occasion.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve had an interest in how things work. When I was in grade school, I loved spending my summer catching small insects in habitats, keeping them safe, feeding them, and then releasing them into my yard. I raised spiders, ladybugs, ant colonies, mantises, and butterflies. As I entered middle school, I turned my attention to the sky. For the next few years, I read everything I could get on astronomy and astrophysics. But then I competed in my seventh-grade science fair. In that competition, I completed an experiment on Microbial Fuel Cells. This project reignited my interest in the biological sciences and I decided to test two projects based on my original experiment over the next two years. This experience helped me realize my genuine passion for biology. I still love astrophysics and think the study of space is fascinating; however, I think it is more theoretical and slightly less practical. I want to help people on Earth by studying microbiology, virology/immunology, or biochemistry. My friends and family have been a critical force in my decision to pursue science in college. My parents have always supported my curiosity in biology. From my dad and I watching Monster Bug Wars: a show with entomologists that study insects and arachnids in the wild before they would fight; to my mom suggesting I study Microbial Fuel Cells for my second science fair. They have been supporters of my learning the whole way. On the other hand, my friends have fought beside me and inspired me to be greater than I ever thought I could become. Whether fighting in the gym, fighting through the terrible wind on a run, or fighting with each other over the best way to finish our calculus homework, together we have learned how to persevere, stick together, love one another, and how to help other people. We work, serve, win, and lose together. I couldn’t embark on my journey without their support, without the time I’ve spent with them, and without the lessons I’ve learned on our journey together. Currently, I am considering medical research to help people recover from illness or fight illnesses. I have recently discovered bioengineering. I am passionate about the idea of engineering devices that can solve illnesses and help people live better lives. This degree would allow me to continue to explore genetics and pair my passion for solving problems with my love of biology.

Community service is love. In my opinion, service isn’t about helping others by itself. Serving is an act of love that starts by helping the server grow. Community service is about learning to be happy through helping others. Serving brings people together and encourages people to love others and themselves on a deeper level. Community service is a critical factor in the health of a community and the formation of good character. In a healthy community, service is required from the population to take care of the vulnerable, to operate churches or charities, and to do work that no one is hired to do. Volunteers are necessary to operate fundraisers, clean school campuses, run extracurricular activities such as Science Olympiad, and staff public monuments. Service is also a necessary element when forming cohesion in a community. When people serve friends, family, and strangers within their community they bond with everyone involved. Servers spend time together helping others and the people being served see friendly faces helping them. This creates a community of love and trust that leads to happier communities with happier people living fulfilling lives. Throughout my life, I have had the pleasure of serving hundreds if not thousands of people in my community. I have helped in a wide variety of ways from clearing fallen trees off pathways or completing environmental clean-up projects with my Boy Scout troop to serving my Catholic Church in our fundraiser, community events and religious services to serving at my school by volunteering at the school auction, school community events and sports concessions. Recently I began working at the Saint Vincent De Paul Society. This organization collects food, organizes boxes of a variety of food and feeds the poor and those in need in our community. I have already served over 20 hours helping hand out the food to people who arrive on Wednesdays. It has been life-changing. I have been able to see the faces of those who I am serving. I have bonded with older community members who have made this their mission. This service has also allowed me to practice my conversational Spanish both with the people I am serving and with those who are working to serve. Throughout all of my service with my friends and family, my favorite service project was my Eagle Scout project. For my Eagle Scout project, I volunteered to build a stone bench around the flagpole at my high school. To pay for the materials, I raised over two thousand dollars with the help of my classmates, the school community, and church parishioners. A week after I had raised the money, my father, my best friends, and I spent three days and over twenty-six hours constructing the bench. Over the weekend, we spent hours talking, singing, laughing and eating together. Everyone had an amazing time serving the community which is truly what community service is about. Without my community, I wouldn’t have been able to raise enough money to pay for my Eagle Scout Project and without my friends I couldn’t have completed the construction. Without the gift of community service, I wouldn’t have the friends I have now or be the person I am today. I love serving people and I have found a great group of friends who share my service view. If there is a job that needs to be done we will do it because it’s who we are. Love who you serve with and love who you serve. Service brings people together and is one of the greatest gifts of life.

My parents are both cyclists. The day I got the call from my father that my mother had been in an accident was one of the scariest days of my life. Her crash was caused by an unleashed dog who chased her down the street and caused her to flip her bike. She spent some time in the emergency room and 6 months in physical therapy trying to repair her wrist and knee. She was lucky that the car behind her was able to miss her in the street when she crashed but she still suffered injuries. She was taken to the hospital and treated for severe road rash and possible fractures of the face, both shoulders, wrists, elbows and knees. Thankfully she had no broken bones. This incident still worries me. Both of my parents bike upwards of 120 miles a week. There are many dangers to cyclists and it seems there are no safe places for them to ride. Bike paths are overtaken by unleashed dogs, pedestrians and now a growing number of motorcycles. Streets are not any better as the statistics of distracted drivers killing cyclists increase. This paired with motorist complete lack of knowledge of bike laws make riding on the streets dangerous. Improvement of available dedicated bike lanes would be a good start to making the roadways safe. Our community only has a few stretches of roads that contain bike lanes. We live in a community with over 300 days of sunshine and a large cycling population. The city should make adding bike lanes a priority. Bike lanes are only safe if motorists obey traffic laws surrounding interactions with cyclists. Increasing knowledge of how to drive around cyclists in the driver's education program would also help keep our cyclists safe. It would also be helpful if there were ad campaigns in the media that help raise awareness of cyclists' road rights. Many people think they can speed past a cyclist and then make a right turn in front of them. Most motorists don't understand how fast the cyclist is moving. This causes a great danger at intersections. We also need to raise awareness of the laws that require cars to yield to a cyclist just like a car. In our community, many people stop over the bike lane and block it. This causes cyclists to be forced out into traffic. Or citizens will park cars in the bike lane obstructing it. Most people just ignore the posted signs and laws that are meant to keep cyclists safe. The average person doesn't seem to understand that a collision with a cyclist almost always means a significant injury as opposed to a car accident where low-speed collisions can be escaped with zero physical impact. I would like to see awareness on YouTube, tic tok, instagram and other social media platforms educating the average driver on how to share the roadways with cyclists so that my parents can enjoy their bikes and come home to us each night.

I have always been the kind of guy who participates in out-of-the-ordinary sports. I never was a football player and I tried my hand at basketball but it just wasn't in my heart. I have a very active mind and I needed a way to allow my fast-paced thinking and athletics to work together. I began running Cross Country when I was in the 8th grade. I started because I wanted to meet new people when I got to high school but it quickly became much more than that. It gave me a way to deal with my anxiety. When I run, the suffering I do gives me a place to think, solve problems and pray. Cross country became a way to get away from it all and find peace. While in cross country for the next three years, I became much more confident and I met my best friends. A group of guys that all have the same ideas and interests that I do. Cross country changed my life because it set the stage for the best years of my life. My high school experience has been so good that I can't imagine anything better. This experience is because of the friendship and bonding I have with my team. We do everything together. We run, train, laugh, study and hang out together. I can't imagine my life without my group of friends. I am also a fighter. Muay Thai training at my local gym has been a positive bonding experience with many pleasant people and most nights I leave the gym wishing I had started earlier and could go well into my college years. I have also had the privilege of taking three of my good friends with me and we have had a wonderful time bonding over the martial arts that we have grown to love. These are the same guys I run with. Muay Thai has made me more confident and capable of coping with stress. It also has made me proud of myself and of the wonderful people I choose to surround myself with. Through Muay Thai I have set new goals, I have made new friends, and I have developed my fitness in ways that I had never imagined before. I am very grateful for all of the experiences I have had and I wish it could last for the rest of my life. As I move towards college, I know I will continue to run and train at a Muay Thai gym. I hope that these activities will help me find the kind of friends in college that I found in high school.

Ms. Sims was my history teacher, she was a young teacher too, she was just out of college and hadn’t even gotten her master's degree yet. Through her time at our school, she became one of the most respected and legendary teachers ever. She loved her students, she enjoyed our company, laughing with us, sharing stories and experiences, and seeing us the way we saw ourselves. It seemed that if we forgot that she was our teacher, she could have joined us. At the time I was self-conscious, shy, and generally uncomfortable around other people. I had never enjoyed history before, it was just a subject like all the others; That changed due to Ms. Sims. She made history fun, she always tried to make us enjoy history by talking about the best parts of it, the battles, the civilizations, and the people. She allowed us to express ourselves and we were given projects on a topic of our choice off of a list she provided. At this point, my life changed, I decided to do the largest project possible…a presentation on The Roman Army. I worked on the project nearly every day. I read about weapons, formations, strategy, construction, the Roman Wars, and everything I could find added to the presentation. I had a desire to learn about war, to understand, the strategy, and the tech, and once I finished my project I couldn’t wait to present it to my classmates. I felt so much better, so much like myself. After the project was over, I just kept learning, kept reading, kept discovering more about war and history and technology until I found my place in the historical world. I read about World War II and the events leading up to it which led me to World War I, and then to the American Civil War. It was then I decided I would learn about the 19th and 20th centuries. Eventually, Ms. Sims became my mentor. As my love of history expanded, she helped me learn more, encouraging me to learn everything I could about what I wanted. I talked to her after school all the time and I talked to her about my life, opinions, and any questions I had about history. I trusted her with everything. After a couple of years passed, Ms. Sims was getting married, and she was going back to Alabama to live near her family. I dreaded the end of the year more than anything, and on the last day of school, I could barely get up to go to school. It felt as if a lead weight had been dropped in my stomach and my blood had been turned to ice; but as all dreaded things do, the end of the day came too quickly. As the end of the day announcements came on, I felt like breaking apart. I went to see Ms. Sims one last time We each said our goodbyes, remembering the good times of the last two years. She hugged each of us, crying as she did, I held back tears with my eyes stinging and burning like fire as I hugged her one last time. I haven’t seen her since. Ms. Sims changed my life. She taught me to learn for knowledge and not for a grade. She taught me to connect with my teachers. I have had many great teachers and the most influential of them are the teachers who take the time to get to know me and care about who I am and what my goals are. I am thankful to all of them.

Life is full of many amazing things. As people we experience many joys and gifts as we move through life, friends and family, great food and fun games, achievements and fulfilling work, but one of the most important aspects of life is making a positive impact on the world. I plan to make a positive impact on the world by focusing on the little things in life that matter, not the grandiose achievements that make people famous and save millions of lives. The most important thing you can do to make a positive impact on the world is by positively changing the world of a few people day after day for as long as you live. The first thing I would like to do to make a positive impact is to be good to everyone I meet. I know that life is difficult for everyone, but there are many people in my life who make a positive impact on my world just by greeting me in the morning or checking on me if they notice I am not acting normal. These people are the people that everyone should preserve in their life and should strive to be like. Being a good person is a great way to make a positive impact on the world. Another way I plan to have a positive impact is by growing into myself as a good man, becoming a role model for others, and helping them grow into the best version of themselves. The world can never have too many good people and another great way to make a positive impact is to leave many more people who will make a positive impact behind when you go. No matter who they are, good people need guidance to reach their full potential and to change the world. I do not have any desire to change the world, but I want people to remember me as someone who was an admirable good man who made their life better. Finally, to make a positive impact on the world I would like to have a strong family that I can lead through the challenges of this world to make a positive impact. Similar to my last plan, I would like to guide people to become better people, and I think that the perfect people to teach would be my own children. Parenting is one of the most noble endeavors a person can undertake because it involves sacrificing one's whole being for the success and happiness of their children. Parents are constant supplies of strength and love in their home and also in their communities. I want to make a positive impact by showing others how to make a positive impact through my service and love. Making a positive impact on the world is often interpreted as the need to make a grandiose change for the betterment of all people. Medical Breakthroughs, Nobel Prizes, and heroic exploits all come to mind when we think of making a positive impact. Some impressive names accompany these thoughts such as John Snow, Marie Curie, and Abraham Lincoln. Although all of their actions were great and they did make a positive impact on the world, not everyone can do what they did. The world needs thousands of times more good men and women living lives of love and service to make an impact. This is a charter everyone can undertake and we are all called to make a small impact together.

Starbucks is a family favorite for us. It is a treasured road trip stop for our family vacations. For a long time, I avoided the Pumpkin spice latte. I thought it was over done and many people go crazy for this drink in the fall. I find pleasure in things that are a bit underrated. Finally, after watching so many people indulge in this drink, I decided to give it a try. The pumpkin spice latte is now my fall favorite. It holds a special place in my heart because it reminds me of the great times we had as a family at the pumpkin patch on early fall mornings. Just smelling that delicious drink takes me back to arguing with my siblings about the perfect pumpkin or running through the corn maze. Fall at the pumpkin patch gives me a feeling of childhood freedom. The smell of the cool air, the crunch of leaves under your feet and the feeling of a new school year and all of its possibilities before you provide nostalgia and happiness in my heart. Fall was a time of new beginnings. Everyone is excited about the new school year. The homework isn't in full swing yet and the excitement of seeing all of your friends that you lost track of over the summer is still fresh. At the School I attended as a child, they hold a fall festival for the whole city. Students were always required to work it but it never seemed like work. It was one of the most fun community events of the year. The entire school plays games and hangs out working all weekend. This event makes the fall my favorite time of year. My parents would proudly prepare their game booth both with a hot Starbucks in hand. If we were lucky we also would receive a hot chocolate from Starbucks as well. We would proceed to "work" the festival game booths for the weekend. Both Friday and Saturday nights, community members and students alike enjoy a party into the wee hours of the night. For most of us, it is the only time our parents allow us to run around unattended until well past our normal childhood bedtime. It felt like freedom. It made us feel so grown up. In reality, our parents could see us from their game booth posts but we didn't know and we felt invincible. I still go back and work the festival. I see the next generation out there living their dream. I hope they have the same great memories I do. When fall arrives, I can get a pumpkin spice latte and immediately be flooded with these great memories of my childhood. It is by far more than a drink, it is an experience and window into my childhood past.

If I could have everyone in the world read one book, I would have them read Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. There is an overarching beauty to this novel: this book is a microcosm of human existence as a whole. From the start to finish the main character, a young country boy named Billy, experiences all of the highs and lows of every human life through two wonderful coon hounds that he buys. First, early in the novel Billy wants to hunt raccoons. Everyone in his area hunts raccoons and he wants to be like his father, grandfather, and many other male friends and relatives. In order to hunt raccoons he needs a dog to tree them. After his parents say they can’t afford one and he will not be able to take care of a dog, he proves them wrong by working hard to make money with his grandfather so he can buy himself the dog. He saves money for two years and finally his grandfather informs him that he can buy not one, but two dogs. This shows Billy’s work ethic and responsibility. This is a key foundation of any successful life and Billy represents all of our success and hard work. Billy also suffers when he is attacked by a mountain lion. The dogs save him, but one of them is mortally wounded in the process. Eventually, his dog dies, and the other one quickly follows after a long battle with depression. These losses are gut-wrenching blows to Billy. This symbolizes how the losses we face in our own lives are out of our control: relatives or pets die and we have to continue on through our grief. Billy sadly buries his dogs, and the family moves away from their country home soon after. Before they leave, Billy turns and looks back on his dog's graves one last time. To his surprise, a red fern is growing over them. He recalls stories about red ferns only being planted by angels, and this fern comforts him. He is representing all of us, when he is comforted by the love of God in his life and he sees that even though his time with the dogs was short, they were a great blessing and he wouldn’t trade the time he spent with them for anything.

Mental health is one of the most serious concepts in the maintenance of the human psyche. Humans are spiritual creatures as well as physical ones and even though our bodies can be healthy our minds need to be equally strong for us to live happy and fulfilling lives. I have personally struggled with my mental health throughout my life and know firsthand how important being happy is. Mental struggle can lead to many changes in a person’s beliefs, relationships and plans for the future. I was diagnosed with social anxiety at the age of twelve after I passed out during a church service. After the incident, I began to go to therapy regularly to learn important coping skills so I could be happy. Therapy changed my worldview and the skills I learned helped me to control my mind more effectively. I have a fear of people. The possibility that people can do whatever they want scares me. I spent years in therapy working out how to think rationally about how other people will act. This has directly influenced my beliefs about the world because I have learned to expect people to act in more predictable and less malicious ways. This allows me to cope with my fear. My social anxiety also affects the ways that I view relationships. I have always struggled with relationships because of the power people gain in relationships. Whether it is my friends, my parents, my siblings, or my girlfriend, all the people in my life hold a certain power over my life because of our relationship. Because I trust them I take their opinion into account and they also are aware of my faults. This means that I cannot deal with them in my usual fashion; normally if someone is hateful or makes me generally unhappy I can decide not to listen. Unfortunately with the aforementioned people, I respect their opinion too much to cast it aside. This leaves me vulnerable to emotional turmoil. This causes me to attempt to perceive emotional threats before they occur, leading to many false alarms. This is a behavior I am working hard to correct because it is unhealthy. The people that I trust are in my life because I know they are good people. Struggling with anxiety has made me aware of my own shortcomings and has allowed me to strengthen my relationships by thinking more logically. Finally, my struggle with my own mental health has led to a change in my plans for the future. As I struggled through my early high school years I went to therapy quite frequently and I discovered an affinity for critical thinking and debate. I love to sit down with someone to discuss problems and to figure out a solution. Without my struggle with mental health, I also would never have uncovered my love for psychology. With these two things in mind, I would like to further my knowledge in psychology and human social tendencies. My mental health has been a major factor in my formation as a person. It has caused me to change my beliefs on how people act, how relationships should be taken care of, and how I am going to handle my future.

I love math because of math’s simplicity within complex problems. Math is a logic-based discipline that if understood properly makes sense. Math builds on itself over time, when people start learning math as children they begin with addition, subtraction, and basic application problems that allow them to quantify the world around them. After this students learn how to do these operations faster and with larger or many more numbers. From these humble beginnings, mathematics grows from solving simple equations to solving some of humanity's greatest problems. I love math because of how vast it is. Math can be used to measure the areas of shapes and to figure out population growth over time or trends. It can be used to create structures, tools, or machines; and it can be used to model our entire understanding of reality. In the century following the creation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, we have observed many phenomena that Einstein predicted would be true but he never could have observed. Math is also beautiful. Anyone who has ever played with a graphing calculator understands how beautiful graphs can be. Visual representations can be manipulated in so many unique ways with the use of hundreds of unique equations that help us visualize the world around us to understand the basic nature of reality. The final reason why I love math is because of its unexpected tricks. One of my favorites is the Monty Hall problem. It states that if there is a goat behind two doors at a game show and a car behind one if you pick a door and if the game show host reveals the location of one goat, you should switch your door choice because it has a higher probability of being the car. This math problem plays an unexpected trick on our brains which is one of the reasons why I love math.

God has always been a central presence in my life. I was born Roman Catholic, and I have been raised Roman Catholic. For many years I did what all normal Catholic children do. I went to church every Sunday with my parents, I prayed, and I learned about my faith. Over those years God was an unquestionable fact of my life. Then, Covid-19 took the world by storm. When Covid hit the world life just stopped for a while. Many people stopped going to church and many still haven’t gone back. During this time I distanced myself from God. It wasn’t on purpose at first, but after a few months, I began to doubt my faith. Did I need to listen to God? Do I need to go to mass? Is God even real? Looking back on this time of rebellion in my life I remember having many debates with myself over who I was, and why I believed in God. I considered how much easier life would be if God wasn’t real, and I remember trying to rationalize my sins by promising I would come back to the church as an adult when I would have a better handle on my life. Even though throughout this period of my life I was misguided, I think that it was an important developmental stage that I had to go through to figure out who I am and where I stand with God. About a year ago I began to go back to mass. I went to confirmation classes and began to discuss my religion with Catholic friends. I embraced my faith wholly even though I had turned away. I focused at first just on going to mass, and from there I began to see God a bit more clearly. He is a rock that I can lean on in times of need as a helpful guide through life’s treacherous jungle. When I was stressed I began to ask God for help, when I was joyful I would thank God for his blessings. As time went on I continued to move towards holiness. In November I faced a difficult decision about whether or not to break up with my girlfriend. After asking for God’s help, I was informed that I had to break up with her, and I did. Weeks later I was called back into the faith through the sacrament of reconciliation. At my confirmation retreat, God sent my group many wonderful role models that inspired me to confess all of my sins to come back to the church. God was there with me through the hard months that followed my reentry into the church as I adjusted to being a practicing Catholic again, and now that I’m on the other side I can see how much God does for everyone. In my life, God has given me a purpose, given me love, and forced me to become a better man. My faith will assist me throughout the rest of my life. In my career, God has given me a moral foundation to stand on and defend. He has shown me the love that I need to show to others in my workplace, and I pray that He will give me a higher purpose to work for, helping others. In my career, God will be my motivator, guide, and counselor.

The movie that has had the greatest impact on my life is the film, Gladiator. It is an action movie about a Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius at the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Maximus is selected by the Emperor to succeed him; however, before this can happen the emperor is murdered by his son Commodus. Maximus knows about the murder, so when Commodus asks for his loyalty Maximus refuses, prompting Commodus to execute him and his family. Maximus escapes but his family is crucified. Maximus is heartbroken but discovers that if he wins his freedom in battle he will meet the emperor and he can avenge his wife and son. He does this and after a failed coup he is set to fight with the Emperor himself. Maximus wins the duel but dies shortly after due to his injuries. This movie contains a multitude of valuable lessons. First, Maximus shows the honor of serving a higher cause. Maximus is a Roman general and he constantly defends Rome from the “Barbarians” to the North. In his service, he accepts years away from home, harsh conditions, and the brutality of war to protect his family. He displays his love for his soldiers when he says, “Five thousand of my men are out there in the freezing mud. Three thousand of them are bloodied and cleaved. Two thousand will never leave this place. I will not believe that they fought and died for nothing”. He does not enjoy killing, he does not enjoy war. Maximus only does what he needs to do to ensure the safety of Rome and its “light”. Next, Maximus shows his undying devotion to family. When he is taken by Commodus and his execution is ordered, the first people he thinks of are his wife and son. He tells his second in command to look after his family, a request that is immediately denied. After he kills his executors, he rides as fast as he can, despite his injuries, to reach his family before the soldiers do. When he reaches his house to find his family slain, instead of choosing to die, he gets up in the gladiator arena and begins to work towards freeing Rome. Maximus’ entire life is for his family and after their death, he keeps their honor by holding himself together to free Rome. He refuses to become bitter, instead, he keeps the blame on Commodus and focuses on the problem at hand. Lastly, Maximus is a good man and a role model. He is a loving husband and father; he is a good soldier, and Maximus does not seek power for the sake of power. Maximus does not enjoy killing, nor does he enjoy the role that Marcus Aurelius asked him to take as the emperor. Maximus simply wants to return to his family and live a peaceful life. Maximus is also good to his soldiers. He is a servant leader. Maximus fights in the front with his men, and he leads by example. During the opening scene of the movie, it is clear that the hardest jobs are his and he doesn’t expect his soldiers to do anything he wouldn’t. Finally, Maximus is self-sacrificing. Even at the end of his life, he is concerned about the fate of Rome. He conveys Marcus Aurelius’ dying wish before passing. In the end, this movie has shown me how to be a good man. Maximus is a good role model and a strong person. He is a hero that has set a bar for me to aspire to reach.

Leadership is one of the most important characteristics a person can have. The ability to lead is an invaluable skill and always will be because of its necessity in overcoming adversity as a group as well as its inherent difficulties. Not just anyone can be a leader. Leaders are the people that are tested and constantly pushed to their breaking point, and through these experiences, they gain critical traits. The three characteristics of leadership that I value the most are responsibility, service, and courage. Responsibility is arguably the most important trait of a leader. Leaders must ensure the success of the team, because of this, they get more credit for success than their subordinates; but they also take the fall when things do not work out. This is the epitome of responsibility, leaders must ensure the success of their team. They need to continue to do their work effectively while also watching their team to make sure their work is done as well. Leaders also need to understand the entirety of the task that they are undertaking. The role of a leader is not only to make executive decisions but also to organize the workforce. Even though responsibility is a critical quality of leadership I believe some qualities are far more important. Service is another critical component of leadership. Servant leadership is by far the most effective type of leadership. Servant leaders are characterized by their willingness to take on the most difficult tasks for themselves as well as their ability to sacrifice for their people. Servant leaders lead by example, this makes them very attractive to many people because they are not above their team, they are just another integral component of the team. Service is critical because of its role in hard work as well. Generally, people who serve others work more productively and inspire others to serve as well. I believe that servant leaders are the most important leaders to have because they are effective and they create better people in the process. I believe the last and most important leadership quality is courage. Leaders have to be courageous to take responsibility. Leaders also must be courageous to serve their people. Throughout history, many leaders have dared to take on the most difficult tasks for themselves. At the battle of Gettysburg in 1863, Andrew J. Tozier of the Army of the Potomac would stand beside the company flag as bullets flew by him to hold the line against a Confederate assault. Later in the day when a bayonet charge was ordered, another Union officer, Lieutenant Melcher, would lead the charge down Little Round Top. These two brave men single-handedly rallied the 20th Maine and held the hill, saving the Army of the Potomac and the Civil War for the Union. Those acts of leadership required courage. Leaders need to have the courage to act, even if they have to jump forward alone. In conclusion, the three most important qualities for a leader are responsibility, service, and courage. I hope to become a leader like this someday. I would like to further develop my leadership skills. I have been allowed to practice leadership in the process of acquiring my Eagle Scout rank. Through this experience, I learned to put the troop first and to teach younger scouts. I also learned to serve others. I have also practiced leadership on my cross-country team. Leading our team in off-season practices with the goal in mind of the entire team advancing to the State competition. In the end, our team advanced to the State competition.

Generational Wealth is wealth that is passed down from parents to children or over one generation. Normally generational wealth refers specifically to money or possessions that have monetary value; however, this is not the only kind of generational wealth. Generational wealth can also describe conventional wisdom, skills, language, culture, food, religion, lessons, and education. These forms of generational wealth are worth more than money. Throughout childhood parents have a responsibility to form their children into good men and women of the world. As they guide their children, they leave them bits of themselves. Over the years that we have our parents they build the generational wealth within us by passing on traditions. Parents teach their native language, their hobbies, and their favorite meals to their children. Parents help their children face the darkness of the world, and they are our bastion of strength against challenge. Parents also pass on their values to their children. Ideas about responsibility, education, and self-worth are ingrained in children early on and play a major factor in their success. This is the basis of the American Dream. All people can be happy with enough hard work, determination, and support from their loved ones. These values can lead to the creation of monetary generational wealth, but the teachings are more valuable than the money. They create people who are self-sufficient and inherently wealthy no matter how much money they possess. In my life, I plan to create generational wealth. I want to have enough money to provide for my future family and to pay for my future children’s education. Alongside this, I also want to pass on my values, traditions, language, and culture to the following generation as well. I want to be a good parent. To start this process, I can take the wealth my parents have passed on and put it to use. I also will continue to learn from my parents. As they grow older they also gain more wealth to pass on to me that I can pass on to my children. In addition to learning from my parents, I can also take generational wealth from my other mentors. I am currently learning Muay Thai and am furthering my study of Catholicism with different mentors. These are both rich traditions that I will pass on to my children. Generational wealth is not just about money, it is about learning the values of the people that came before us and taking their wisdom into the future. Generational wealth spans millennia of human existence and has always been an important part of life. I don’t need to just think about how I will create generational wealth because, in this beautiful system, I already am.