For me, college means everything. I grew up with a physical disability, which has made it difficult to pursue many of the career options available to others. Because of this, I see college as my only path toward a successful future. In 2014, when I was 8 years old, I was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive muscle-wasting disorder that eventually leads to the loss of mobility and, ultimately, death. Due to the nature of this illness, physical labor-intensive work is not an option for me, which is what most entry-level jobs after high school require. This reality became clear to me as I grew older, and it forced me to rethink my future plans. Instead of focusing on the limitations caused by my disability, I chose to focus on my academic strengths. I threw myself into my studies and worked hard to excel. Throughout high school, I managed to maintain a 3.5 GPA, all while challenging myself with multiple Advanced Placement (AP) classes each year. These classes not only helped me build a strong academic foundation but also prepared me for the rigors of higher education. As a result of my efforts, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the University of Washington, where I now continue my education. In high school, I also joined a business club that introduced me to the world of business and, more specifically, marketing. Through the club, I had the opportunity to travel to local and state competitions, where I honed valuable skills in networking, public speaking, and presenting my ideas to others. The success we experienced in these competitions sparked a passion for marketing and opened my eyes to the fact that this could be a viable career for me—one where I could use my creativity, strategic thinking, and communication skills. That realization led me to choose Business Administration as my major, and I am proud to say that I was granted Direct Admit status to this selective program. Now that I am in college, my main goal is to graduate on time with my degree and use that qualification to build a successful career in marketing. However, my journey is about more than just personal achievement. I haven't forgotten the struggles I have faced due to my disability. As I continue to pursue my goals, I am committed to sharing my story with others in the disabled community and other minorities who have historically faced challenges in accessing higher education. I hope to inspire them to overcome obstacles, work hard, and pursue their dreams, no matter the setbacks they encounter along the way.

My family, who never went to college, taught me the value of hard work and helped me become a first-generation student. I need to explain their backgrounds to understand why my family never had the opportunity to go to college. My Mother came from separated parents, and dealing with the trauma associated with this fact led her to develop an addiction to alcohol. This was an issue in her whole high school career. She never graduated and had to get a GED. When she turned 19 she had me, meaning she had little money and used it to care for our family. She still struggled with drug abuse until 2018, when she went to rehab and turned her life around which taught me that if you have an issue, that hard work and determination can fix and you can improve if you put your mind to it. As for my father, he came from a separated family as well, and his primary caretaker was his immigrant father, which because of this fact, meant they also struggled with money. He was able to graduate high school but didn't have enough money or achievements for college to be viable. When he turned 22, I was born. At the time he worked at a mechanic shop, until he broke his leg and lost his job. After he was all healed we moved to western Washington. For the next 10 years, I watched him go from job to job until he got one at Boeing. After this, he would work long hours (10-12 a day) and even worked weekends often but this allowed us to get our own home and let me have a stable home life so I could focus on school. He taught me that my hard work pays off by working for years to provide a great life for me and my family. Together my parents inspired me to work hard and go to college to pursue a business degree. Since my family was never great at school and hadn't been through admissions, I had to learn it all with them, making this hard. So during school, I would focus heavily on my work and studying developing habits that continue to help me today. seeing my parents work so hard helped keep me focused on working hard as well because I could see that theirs eventually paid off. My family helped me write admission essays for the University of Washington and Washington State University, which took a while but their stories were crucial to those writings, and I eventually got accepted into both schools, choosing the University of Washington. Now that I made it into school I look back at my parent's stories and my own and appreciate that I was able to go to college. Despite this, I still have to work hard to get my degree and find ways to pay for college. My family helped send me here, but are unable to help financially. So I have to use my value of hard work to work on scholarships and grants while keeping my family in mind since they have helped and inspired me so much. I hope to graduate college to make them proud and help my future career.

Throughout my life, I have struggled with Mental Health and have had to learn how to maintain mental wellness. My struggles with anxiety began in 2014 when I was diagnosed with a rare muscle-wasting disorder called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Being aware of this led to a long-tenured battle with health anxiety since I already have to be mindful of my health. A couple of years ago I had gotten sick with a bad fever and for months after I would fear the worst for my health. I kept getting symptoms of anxiety such as dizziness, low energy, derealisation, and just a sense of doom. This led me to spiral googling my symptoms and having new fears every day. I was able to overcome this by being more mindful and aware of my body's feelings as well as letting a trusted person know what I am experiencing so they can help calm me down. Another thing this diagnosis did was cause a dramatic weight gain as well as a very short stature. For a long time, I was bullied for my "unique" appearance being called names and even harassed. This led to severe social anxiety and I was even too scared to make a phone call. This was fortunately lessened over time. What happened to cause this is that I became more myself and found a group of friends that I felt I belonged to. They helped me realize that it's not important what other people think and that the right people will be there for me no matter what or who I am. I still can struggle socially but I just see it as growing pains and fully expect that I will become better over time so it lessens the anxiety's impact. Another part of my mental health I have struggled with is depression. In my junior year, I lost all passion for doing what I enjoyed, I started to seclude myself, I worked less, and I always had a low mood. At the time I felt I was drowning, trying to reach out, but would never change. I thought it would be like this forever. I would just rot away while feeling down the whole time. Eventually, it got to a point where I thought "Enough was enough" and worked up the courage to tell my family. They were supportive and I got in touch with my still current psychiatrist, who helped me get out of the dark trap of depression. I've learned not to judge myself and take what I can get. I became more vocal about my feelings and am better able to rationalize them now. So with all these experiences, I learned a few key things. #1: Mental Health is real and it affects every aspect of our lives. #2: To overcome your struggles you need to reach out. #3: It's okay to need help. These facts show, at least to me, that mental is very important for your success and overall well-being. To maintain mental health you have to do what you enjoy while being disciplined. For me, this takes the form of hanging out with my friends, listening to music, making videos online, playing video games, and taking small victories. These help me get in a better mood. For discipline, I am pursuing a degree in business because it's my passion and I feel it's the right career path for me. All of these I feel are what helps me maintain my mental health and thanks to you for reading this essay!

Throughout most of my life, I've always had to deal with some sort of hardship. The one hardship that I overcame and means the most to me is my diagnosis of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a disease with no cure that causes muscle degeneration. I was a normal kid until I received the diagnosis. I would always be doing something outside like playing catch, riding bikes, and exploring. My parents saw my legs would cramp and I would walk on my tip toes, causing an excess buildup off scar-tissue which alarmed them as it wasn't normal. In 2014 we went to the doctors office. After a while at the doctors we received the life changing news. I had DMD. This meant my physical activity had to be limited and could no longer do sports, which I was about to be the age where I could play organized sports. This was hard to deal with as I was really looking forward to playing football. Thankfully I still watch and really enjoy it. I was also put on steroids which made me gain a lot of weight which led to bullying and I struggled with my mood quite a bit. This all left me in a dark place. Thankfully I learned about others with my disease and other circumstances I could relate to which gave me a strong sense of community. I also was able to find friends who liked me for me and helped me come out of the shell I placed myself in after my diagnosis. These events gave me a big heart for my people, friends, and family. I learned that everyone is going through hard things and it's important to have empathy for them and share your stories to help others. Without my community I would've been lost and would not have tried this hard in my academics to get where I am now. I feel I embody Agape love because I give everyone a chance and always try to seek out the great things I know everyone has and can bring to the table. I plan on giving back to my community whether through my disease or connections by showing anyone can graduate college if they put their mind to it. I also plan on continuing to advocate for Muscular Dystrophy and neuromuscular diseases by spreading awareness and I hope to eventually start my own non-profit for these diseases. This could take a while but I feel it's important to do.

Video Games, specifically Minecraft, play a big role in my interests and hobbies since I am physically disabled and limited in many other hobbies that I could pursue. I became big on gaming after I was diagnosed with Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy and was quickly told I couldn't and shouldn't do physical hobbies like hiking, sports, and even just walking long distances. I faced bullying for my changing appearance and accommodations. This made it hard to connect to people, but through Minecraft I was able to find connection and friends that made me feel welcomed. My favorite aspect of the game would then have to be the community part of it. I am constantly making worlds with my friends that can be factions or smps. Right now I have world with multiple friends on a realm so our crazy schedules won't have an impact on playing the game. We beat the dragon and are in end-game but we now use the world as a creative outlet to share ideas and just have fun! Without gaming I would have definitely struggled more than I do to make friends, but this game really helped and will forever hold a place in my heart.

I’ve had a not-so-normal life experience leading up to this point. In 2014, I was diagnosed Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy. This disease prevents growth of new muscle, and overtime the muscles I do have will degenerate. It was hard to get used to being diagnosed, carrying this label that just sort of appeared out of no where was hard for me. I had to go on a steroid as a treatment, which made me gain alot of weight and make me end up pretty short which added to my struggles in social ways, as I experienced bullying for my changing appearance. With what I had to deal with, I felt I had to become funny to counter it, so I developed my humor by watching comedians and comedies. Now I consider it a positive defining trait for me since it makes building relationships easy and is just a good trait to have in my opinion. On top of my new diagnosis, I was told I wouldn’t be able to play sports, which is something I really wanted to do. Since I lost out on a probable main focus for me, I focused my attention on my education. This new focus allowed me to take more challenging courses and work at developing my skills. I took multiple Advanced Placement classes in my highschool career, while retaining a pretty high Grade Point Average. I also took advanced math in middle school, so I was a year up `to begin highschool. My humor and academics were character traits I developed out of the situation but I also believe my story shared an important trait that I had before, my resilience. Instead of quitting and taking things easy, I decided to change my path and focus on what I had to work with. I struggled I used to not be able to speak up for myself out of fear, but slowly I learned that I wasn’t a setback to others or myself and that people are willing to help if you ask for it. I was resilient when trying to learn how to advocate and now I’m willing to get the help that I need. I feel that without my resilience I would have just gave up on myself, but since its always been there, it’s a vital character trait that I have and helped me achieve all that I already have. These traits that I have will positively impact any community I’m in since my story can inspire and help others and my traits will help me succeed in furthering my education. They will also carry on to my future careers and help me stay motivated. When I graduate I plan to further my career and use it as a platform to advocate for others with neuromuscular diseases and show that are they are deserving of an education and that they can be successful despite their circumstances. I plan on working with the Muscular Dystrophy Association to do so and hope to use my story to help others.

I have had to deal with a great deal of adversity for most of my life. For this essay, I want to write about the biggest challenge I’ve had to face in my life. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which was a shock for me. As a younger kid, I loved to do lots of physical activities. I would love to explore and play outside and was just about to be the age to where I could play organized sports. Up until my diagnosis, I thought I could continue to do these things for a long time, but then that was challenged when I found out. My scope of what I thought I could do in my life was greatly changed. I had to limit my physical activity and couldn’t play any sports. Eventually, I lost the ability to take P.E. classes and had to take a scooter to school. I could have easily settled and given up, but this diagnosis made me change my career path by focusing on what I did have, learning. This allowed me to take advanced classes, do well on tests, and take Advanced Placement classes and take many tests for those. I also had 1220 on the SAT. Besides my academics, I wanted to find a career that I would love. In my junior year, I took a business class and realized that I liked a lot of aspects of it and that it was something I could do in the real world. The following year I joined the club my school had for it in DECA and FBLA. Developed my skills and was able to compete at the state level. All these achievements showed me that even with this disability, I still had so much potential. This adversity shaped my entire academic career and allowed me to find things I do love that I am still able to do. If I were to talk to someone who just got my diagnosis, I would tell them that despite this disease being horrible, it doesn’t have to define you. There are still plenty of paths you can take and live a life worth living. To me going to college is a great opportunity to start my business career that I’ve found to be fulfilling. I hope that my story can inspire others in similar situations to push forward and become the best they can be.

I’ve had a not-so-normal life experience leading up to this point. For me, my life has been full of adversity and I've had to learn to not let it define me and change my path. My main struggle is the disease I have to deal with. In 2014, I was diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy. This disease prevents the growth of new muscle, and over time the muscles I do have will degenerate. It was hard to get used to being diagnosed, carrying this label that just sort of appeared out of nowhere was hard for me. I had to go on a steroid as a treatment, which made me gain a lot of weight and made me end up pretty short which added to my struggles in social ways, as I experienced bullying for my changing appearance. With what I had to deal with, I felt I had to become funny to counter it, so I developed my humor by watching comedians and comedies. Now I consider it a positive defining trait for me since it makes building relationships easy and is just a good trait to have in my opinion. On top of my new diagnosis, I was told I wouldn’t be able to play sports, which is something I wanted to do. Since I lost out on a probable main focus for me, I focused my attention on my education. This new focus allowed me to take more challenging courses and work on developing my skills. I took multiple Advanced Placement classes in my high school career while retaining a pretty high Grade Point Average. I also took advanced math in middle school, so I was a year up `to begin high school. My humor and academics were character traits I developed out of the situation but I also believe my story shared an important trait that I had before, my resilience. Instead of quitting and taking things easy, I decided to change my path and focus on what I had to work with. I struggled I used to not be able to speak up for myself out of fear, but slowly I learned that I wasn’t a setback to others or myself and that people are willing to help if you ask for it. I was resilient when trying to learn how to advocate for myself and now I’m willing to get the help that I need. I feel that without my resilience I would have just given up on myself, but since it's always been there, it’s a vital character trait that I have and helped me achieve all that I already have. Facing these obstacles changed my view of the world, it made me learn to look at challenges outside the box and appreciate what I could make out of the struggle. This experience has made me more empathetic of others since it shows me that everyone has their own unique struggle that they are able to overcome, so I can appreciate other's stories and use them to help motivate me. I also feel like my story can serve as a motivator for others since I was able to overcome some pretty unique circumstances that were very challenging, I feel like others can use my story to inspire them and it can help them do what they put their mind to no matter the circumstances they could face. So for me, sharing my story is important and in fact, I see it as my way of helping others navigate their own struggles and ultimately succeed when their circumstances can make it seem like they can't.