Growing up, I had the fleeting career aspirations that accompanied all children. First, I wanted to be a lawyer, a veterinarian, and then an FBI Agent. By the time I reached high school, my ability to plan out my future abandoned me in my greatest time of need. Innumerable options were open to me, but the pressures I was putting on myself to be perfect made making a decision impossible. Fortunately, when my future after high school seemed haziest, unexpected opportunities came my way and ushered me down a path toward business and showed me what my life could be if only I stepped outside my comfort zone. Adults love to stress the importance of getting involved in school activities, and I took that advice to heart. But as much as I enjoyed them, joining Key Club, Student Council, and History Club did not help me plan my future. It turns out I just needed to find the right organizations. Entirely by happenstance, I discovered my school’s chapter of DECA, and my eyes were opened to a field that I had never considered for myself: business. The organization was completely unknown to me, but I soon learned that DECA prepared students for careers in marketing, finance, management, and more through training and competition. The guidance and support of my sponsors encouraged me to pursue the major I was newly passionate about, and I have not stopped yet. I chose to major in Business Administration because of the flexibility in career options the degree provides. But as I have matured and learned more about the field of business, my life plans have changed with me. Just as businesses must adapt to the changing market, I plan to adapt to my changed mind and eventually switch to a degree in accounting and after graduation pursue a master's degree in Accounting or Forensic Accounting. Many of my childhood goals were unattainable or downright impossible, such as becoming a princess or talking to animals. But I have come to realize that a degree in accounting can help me achieve one of them: working in the United States Intelligence Community. After graduating with a master's degree in accounting or forensic accounting, I plan to become a Certified Public Accountant and gain the years of career experience necessary to apply for a position in the FBI, CIA, or other United States Intelligence Agency. While my past career aspirations have been diverse, the motivation behind them all has been the same: to help others. My goal of a career in the United States Intelligence Community will allow me to do just that, and more, for my skills in business will be used to serve and defend my country. Throughout high school, I was blessed with the unexpected opportunity to travel to Malawi, Africa three times to share the Gospel. While there, I saw the dirty water that millions across the country are forced to drink because of the lack of access to efficient water wells. Seeing extreme poverty up close has shown me how much I have to be grateful for and the importance of helping others with the opportunities I have been granted; therefore, I want to make missions work and helping those facing water poverty a goal in my life in the future. My career dreams used to be uncertain, but the opportunities I have been granted in high school have shown me that a future in business and accounting will fulfill the dreams of my childhood self to help others.

For a large part of my life, I have felt out of place in my tight-knit community. As the daughter of a pastor, I moved around quite a bit. Once we finally found a place to call home, we found it was not easy to be brought into the fold of a community where everyone has known each other since birth. Sadly, I let myself be discouraged by that until I had a realization: your community is what you make of it. Sure, I might have felt like an outsider sometimes at school, but I had other friends and a church family surrounding me. When I opened my eyes to the community around me, I realized that I belonged. Growing up in a church meant I had connections with hundreds of people around my community at a young age. It took some time for me to realize the blessing and significance of my church family. Even when I was not the most popular girl in school, I had love and support from an incredible amount of people, and I took that for granted. When they heard about my immense love for reading, they would ask me what books I was reading, or how many AR points I had. After a DECA or SkillsUSA competition, they will congratulate me and ask me about my events. My church family always takes the extra effort to show that they care about me, and so many others. Their love for Jesus overflows and outpours onto those around them and inspires me to do the same. As I have gotten older, I have realized the importance of service, not just to help others, but to share the love of Christ. Over the past couple of years, I have become very involved in my church’s childcare ministry. Volunteering multiple times a month during the church service, I help provide childcare so that parents can attend worship. The kindness of those around me made a huge impact on my childhood, and I hope to help others in the same way through my service in various ministries throughout my church. Deciding on a career path for myself took a considerable amount of thought and prayer, and I ultimately decided to pursue accounting and finance. In all honesty, I never expected myself to go down this path, but I feel it is where God is calling me. A career in accounting has numerous benefits, but one of the ones that drew me in was the pay, but not for the reason most people would expect. I have been blessed numerous times by the generosity of people in my life, and my goal is to be able to help those around me in the same way. Additionally, there is a need that has been on my heart for some time. During my mission trips to Malawi, Africa to share the gospel and help local pastors plant churches and do outreach in the villages there, I have witnessed extreme water poverty. Millions of people there live without access to clean water, and I want to be able to help do something about it by digging water wells, but unfortunately, they are expensive. Working as an accountant may not be glamorous, but it will enable me to help so many in my community across the globe. For so long, I felt out of place in my community, but eventually, I realized that God placed me exactly where He needed to for me to become the woman I am today. Formally lost and alone, I now have community and purpose.

For as long as I can remember, people have been telling me that I am meant for great things. Unfortunately, they were never clear on what those great things were, and those expectations were a bit overwhelming for my younger self. It was not until my Junior year of high school that I realized what I was meant to do. Throughout high school, I have been involved in many activities from Student Council, Choir, Key Club, and UIL Academics. But it was joining DECA and SkillsUSA during my Junior year that impacted me the most. The career and business skills that the organizations taught me as I participated in the district and state competitions opened my eyes to a new path for my future. They influenced me to double major in accounting and finance. In college, I now plan to join the fast-track accounting masters program, where I will be able to graduate with bachelor's degrees in accounting and finance and a master's degree in accounting in only five years. While in school, I will determinedly study for the CPA exam, which I hope to pass soon after graduation. As a child, I never dreamed of being an accountant, but now I hope to be an accountant at one of the Big Four firms, and I am committed to working hard to achieve my goal. The benefits of this steady and rewarding career are not just for my benefit either. Throughout my life, I have been repeatedly blessed by the generosity of others, and my dream is to possess the resources to do the same for others, and being an accountant would me achieve that. For so long, I let the expectations of others overwhelm me, but now the future seems clear.

Reading is an escape. From a young age I have had a deep love for reading and it has only grown over the years. My favorite genre of books is Young Adult Fantasy and it stems from my desire to be immersed in a world of magic, love, and a completely different environment than my own. Currently, my favorite book is Tracy Deonn, but if I am being honest, my favorites change as I read more and more! Legendborn is classified as an urban fantasy novel, because the characters live in modern times, but there is secretly an organization of knights that has continued from King Arthur and the knights of the roundtable. The combination of modern convenience and fantasy was very appealing and allowed me to vividly imagine a world where I, like Bree the main character, could go to college and be inducted into a magical order of knights. This book was appealing to me for reasons outside of the magic as well though. The author made sure to include the experience of many black Americans and the prejudice they face. Bree, the main character, is a black woman and she unfortunately faced prejudice from the Order of the Roundtable and she successfully fought to have her voice heard. Legendborn brought about a conversation about race that many YA books ignore and Tracy successfully combined it with an exceptional plot and characters. The complexity and uniqueness of this book make it my current favorite read!

"That sounds really hard. Are you sure you really want to do that?" asks Cassandra. We were sitting in the cafeteria and I was explaining my goals for the future. I was telling her I dreamed of being a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Truthfully, Cassandra had every right to be apprehensive of my career goal. It will be hard, but I know it will be worth it. I am aware that many teenagers have dreamed about joining the FBI after watching shows such as “Criminal Minds” but often those goals fade. That has not happened to me yet. I have known that I wanted to work in a federal law enforcement agency since I was a little girl, and these past few years of high school have helped me realize I want to be a special agent in the FBI. I have always been a planner, so when nine year old me realized she wanted to work in a federal law enforcement agency she knew to start working hard then. In third grade, I set the goal to be the top of my class in order to get into a good college. It is my junior year of high school and that goal has been realized. Now I am looking even farther ahead. College is right around the corner and I plan on majoring in Accounting or Economics and minoring in either Arabic or Russian. I want to learn all that I can in order to be the best possible candidate for the job. I know that it will be hard. Sacrifices will have to be made in my social life and more to achieve my goal. But the reward of being able to serve my country will make it all worth it.

"You need to slow down Peyton. When do you have time to relax?" asks Melanie. I am currently laying my head down on the table at church. "I am all good. Just a little tired is all," I reply. I stayed up till one am the night before finishing homework and had to wake up at five am for powerlifting practice. She gives me a pointed stare. "Seriously, I am fine. I make time to relax." I argue. And I do make time to relax; it is just a rare occurrence. Thankfully today was one of those magical evenings free of homework. I was already daydreaming about all the free time I would have when I left church later. I knew exactly what I was going to do... read. Everyone has that thing they do to wind down. For some it is working out, dancing, or playing video games but my favorite relaxing pastime is reading a book. Sure it is not the most exciting of pastimes, but the simplicity of it brings me peace. The wonderful thing about a book is that it can go with you everywhere. I do not get a lot of downtime in my day-to-day life, but when I do it is fairly common to catch me on my phone reading a book. This is a fairly common statement of book-lovers everywhere but books are transportive. Whenever I have had a bad day I can sit down with a book and temporarily escape the day's worries. Reading a good book makes me feel part of the story, and I often fall in love with the characters and their stories. Books bring me joy whenever I read them, and I know that even if one ends there are plenty out there.

"Hope is the only thing stronger than fear,"- Suzanne Collins. My favorite book, or should I say books, of all time is the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games is told from the point of view of Katniss Everdeen, and she is just a girl from District Twelve trying to survive. Throughout the course of the first book, Katniss fights her way through life threatening obstacles and eventually makes her way out of the arena as a victor. One of the reasons that I love the Hunger Games is because I relate to Katniss in a way I never did to other female protagonists. I discovered this book whilst in Middle School, and all the previous female book leads had very similar personalities. Katniss was different; she wasn't overly emotional, but stoic and kept her emotions locked tight. She is strong and is willing to do anything for her family. While I have never had to fight for my life in an arena, I could see myself in her naivety towards the world, and her actions to protect herself and those she loves. I continue to see myself in her as she is judged for her emotionless exterior, and as she struggles to figure out her own emotions and what choices to make in a difficult world. To me, Katniss broke the mold of what a female character could be. The Hunger Games is not just a love story, but a story of social change and personal growth. Throughout the story, the reader sees the growth of Katniss as a person but also the growth of a revolution. It became the blueprint for many books to follow. The Hunger Games series are books that I will always re-read, and they hold a special place in my heart.