I've always been a very artistic person. In primary school, art was my favorite elective. When I was bored, I'd be doodling or coloring something. The main thing that influenced me to be serious in my artistic ability was my older sister. She was like me, always doodling on anything she could find. I really looked up to her when I was younger, and I wanted to be exactly like her, so I latched onto art. When I got older, I started to study by doodling on my notes and associating information with certain shapes. Art has always been an escape for me and only me. I started to focus more on my art when I entered high school and saw all the different art classes that was offered. When homework got harder, art remained my rock. I used it to distract myself when I was upset or as a break from the rest of my subjects. It's so easy to lose myself in whatever project I'm working on because it just feels so natural to me. I loved creating different worlds and bringing my reality into them, so naturally surrealism became my favorite genre. Finding new ways to twist the real world into my own fantasies helped me get through some hard times. When everything seemed hopeless and I didn't know if I even wanted to continue, there was some sort of project to support me and remind me that life is worth living. It kept me going through middle and high school, and now I've never been more excited about what's next. Deciding to pursue the arts in college was a tough one. Despite my absolute love for arts, my other love is the outdoors. I frequently go camping and hiking, and I love being outside in general. It's easy to see how trashed our natural world is and how global warming is impacting our earth, so I wanted to be able to make a difference. I still want that to be honest, but I've decided that I don't need to be a STEM major to do that. I know I'll be truly happy if I pursue the arts in college. It won't feel like work or studying, it'll be my passion being carried out through my school. I've seen so many people around me study something because it'll pay well or it has a high career projection, but they're completely miserable while they're doing it. I want to be able to have fun and enjoy life while I'm going through college and my professional life. I'm very confident that this is the right decision for my life. As for my desire to help our dying planet, I'll be able to do that no matter my method. I could be a graphic designer for a company helping the earth, or I could create pieces moving people to take action. Whatever I end up doing, I know my life will be fulfilled as long as I get to continue my passion.

Most people think success is shown in material ideas, like having a large house filled with extravagant items. They think that when you have enough wealth for things like this, then you're truly successful. I don't agree with this idea at all. I believe that the only key to success is your mind. I grew up in a comfortable life. Both my parents were teachers, so we didn't have tons of money, but they made enough to support me and my two older siblings, to feed us, clothe us, and give us some luxuries that some people didn't get such as multiple televisions in the house or multiple (used) cars in the driveway. I was lucky enough to not only have two parents, but two parents that truly loved each other. They never let income or material things come between them. They've been married for twenty-seven years and are still going strong. They're truly happy with their lives. In my eyes, that is true success. They chose professions that made them happy instead of ones that would bring a lot of income. They married each other out of nothing but love, and they had me and my siblings for the same reason. I've always admired their relationship, so loving and pure. If I can find something like that for myself, I'll be successful. My sister is six years older than me. She struggled with her mental health and academics all through high school and college. She ended up dropping out of college in her fifth year to focus on her mental health and her career in restaurant management. She has received multiple promotions at her job and loves what she does. She has since been put on medication for her mental struggles and is doing much better. She also has a boyfriend that she lives with, and he treats her incredibly. Whenever I talk about my sister, people usually get judgemental and look down on her for her choices. They judge her for not finishing college, using medication, or even just not wanting kids. But in reality, she found the path that works best for her. She is truly happy with where she is in life, both in her professional and personal life, despite her unorthodox lifestyle. If I can find that in my life ahead of me, I'll definitely be successful. My brother is three years older than me. He is the complete opposite of my sister. He's always been very successful in school; taking the hardest classes he could, and graduating at the top of his class with honors, he thrives in an academic setting. He currently attends Missouri S&T while majoring in aerospace engineering. He plans on going into the Air Force after graduation. While it sounds like he's on a path to incredible financial success leading to a good and comfortable life, he's truly struggling right now. He thought he was going into a field he would find great interest in and would be good at, but unfortunately this isn't the case. Despite his high talent and knowledge, he's struggling to find joy in anything that he does. Despite his future in a great career and a lavish income, he won't be successful until he finds something to make him happy. My goal is to learn from him and choose something that I truly love to do, not something that people tell me I'm good at. If I can do this, I know I can be successful. In conclusion, I define true success as finding joy in my life and being happy. I've learned from watching my parents love each other, my sister finally find her happiness, and my brother struggle to find his. I know that even if I don't end up rich living frivolously, I'll be successful as long as I'm happy.

I'm inspired by the natural things around me. In today's digital age, it's easy to get lost in everything artificial and filtered. I like the natural beauty that our world has to offer. There's something so easy about nature's ability to just exist. Mountains don't worry about what they look like or how someone thinks about them. They just let their natural beauty and boldness speak for themselves. I like capturing this in my art, every beautiful flaw that nature has to offer.

Since I was a little girl I have always loved arts. Thinking creatively and getting to create whatever I wanted was my escape from anything else going on. When Covid hit, I got even more immersed in the art world because that was all I could do at the time. It was the one thing I could control. It was also the one thing I knew I was good at. I've done countless extracurriculars in the past 5 or 6 years, but art has remained my top love and my top skill set. During high school, I was recruited by our theater department to design their show posters for the past few years. More recently, my principal came to me and requested a design for a "currency" to be used school-wide. I've also designed multiple t-shirt designs for organizations both in and out of school. As a member of Future Business Leaders of America, I competed in the graphic design category as well as the website design category where I took third, and the computer applications category where I took fourth. I've taken numerous art classes in which I have produced art projects of various levels and techniques. I want to transfer this passion into my studies because of how much I enjoy the arts. I'm not a big fan of school in general because the required topics are very mechanical and strict, unlike the arts which is flexible and enjoyable. I believe that if I pursue my passion for arts I'll enjoy school even more and be successful in my life. In addition to my passion for the arts, I also have a strong love for the outdoors. I want to figure out a way to use my skills and talent to help save the environment. Whether it's graphic design advertising for a pro-environment company or designing websites for non-profits, I want to find a way to help. I have always had a love for both of these topics so it would be my dream to combine the two. I also want to be able to create for my own enjoyment. With an art degree, I'd be able to take on whatever artistic challenge I want because I want to. I'd be able to have an outlet of art whenever I needed it. I'd be able to help others needing an artistic outlook or design. Being a freelance artist on the side of my career might not sound glorious, but it's something I want to pursue because I know it's something I love. Getting the privilege to study the arts further in university would be an absolute dream because it would unlock these opportunities. I would be happy with my life and what I'm doing in it, which is true success to me.

I define success as being truly happy. Most people look at success as having lots of money or owning expensive material items, but I believe you can't be truly successful if you're unhappy. I get this perspective mainly from my parents. Both of my parents are retired teachers, so they didn't make a ton of money. Don't get me wrong, we aren't poor by any means, but we also couldn't afford extravagant things like long vacations every year or the latest technology. Despite sometimes having to make sacrifices, they were always happy because they loved their jobs and they loved each other. When I was younger, all I wanted when I grew up was to be as happy as they were, and I still have that goal. I believe that as long as I'm happy with my life, I'm successful. With this extra dopamine, I could be able to achieve lots of great things in life. But nothing I have and nothing I achieve would matter if I wasn't happy, and that's the true key to success.

I joined track my freshman year after a head coach approached me in the weight room about throwing. His main argument was that “we don’t have very many girls on the team” and I “looked pretty strong.” I thought this was really funny because I barely knew the man, I might’ve said two words to him prior to this. I went home and told my parents about it because I thought it was funny, not because I wanted to join. But, they thought it was a great idea to keep me active in the off-season of volleyball. I was miserable during that first season. I wasn’t very good, I wasn’t very strong, and the off-season workouts were tougher than anything I had experienced. I desperately didn’t want to return for my sophomore year, but my parents wanted me to give it one more season because it was good for me and I just had to give it a chance. I went back and ended up having a bit better year. I dragged one of my friends out there to suffer with me, which helped, but I also noticed myself just getting better. Towards the end of the season, I was having fun. I was genuinely excited to go back for my junior year. The pre-season training was getting easier for me, and my skill was getting better. When my junior year came around, everything became about throwing. I wanted to get stronger to throw farther, I wanted to eat more to get bigger like all the other amazing throwers I watched, and I wanted to spend more time working on my technique and footwork. I put in more effort in the off-season and the regular season seemed to fly by with more progress than I ever expected. This sport has not only introduced me to some pretty great people, but it's also taught me to work towards my goals and not give up on myself. The thing about throwing is that everything is on you. Sure, you have teammates, but when it comes time for meets they're your competitors. When I step into the discus ring I know that it's my responsibility to get the discus as far down the field as I can, and nobody else can help me or do that for me. I am forever grateful for everything this sport has given me, and I can't wait to get started again in a few days. Even though my season takes up most of my time, it's always worth it.