As an 18 year old high school student, I've experienced financial mistreatment at my first job. A handful of my co-workers and I have sat through the unfairness of how our higher-ups were treating us. In a typical workplace, as workers we are all expected to get our paystubs when we get our paychecks. At my last job, my co-workers and I did not receive a single paystub, and if we wanted one we would have to ask our manager which would take about 3-4 weeks for them to get back to us with one. With this experience of mistreatment at the workplace, I am going to make sure that I keep track of my working hours so that I am aware of how much I earn at work. This lesson is important to my future financial steps in life because it taught me that no one is going to advocate for my money the way I will. Before this experience, I never thought twice about whether my paycheck was accurate or if my hours were being miscounted. Now I understand that being finically aware isn't just about saving and spending, it starts with knowing exactly what you're owed and making sure that you receive it. Beyond the workplace, I have also been taking notes, building habits around budgeting and saving that I plan to carry with me long after high school. Growing up, I noticed that money was something that a lot of people around me struggled with, not because they didn't work hard, but because no one ever taught them how to manage what they earned. That stuck with me. I've started to keep mental notes on what to spend and what not to spend on, how much to save each paycheck and to remember how much I took out of my savings so that I could save that amount plus the promised amount back. Even the small things, like being intentional about how I spend my money, not to blow my entire paycheck at one go, started to shape how I think about money. I realized early on that the gap between financial stability and financial stress often comes down to the habits you build before the big responsibilities hit. This scholarship and the financial education that it come with would give me the tools to go above the basics. I want to understand things like credit, interest, investing, and long-term financial planning like a Roth IRA. Most financial concepts were not covered in the classes that I have taken. As I am preparing to take on more independence, whether that is covering my own expenses, eventually moving out, or planning for college costs, I want to go into those situations informed and not overwhelmed. My goal isn't just to survive financially, but to really build something. I want to become someone who is able to understand their finances well enough to make real decisions and not just whatever comes up. The experiences I've already have had, even the frustrating ones, showed me that financial knowledge is just a form of protection.