When I tell people I'm homeschooled, I'm often met with different responses. Some think that homeschooling is the best educational option, while others respond more critical or condescending. However, I'm convinced that homeschooling has prepared me quite well for my college education. First of all, homeschooling has taught me good time management skills. My classes are all university-model, and the other days of the week, I spend time working on my projects and homework. I have to use my time wisely to get everything done. My education also taught me how to engage in thoughtful conversations both inside and outside the classroom. The academic co-ops I attended prioritized teaching students how to have Socratic discussions. Because of this, I feel comfortable digging deeper into my course material. Asking hard questions is a skill I know will benefit me in my academic and career futures. Lastly, homeschooling has also taught me where to go or what to do when I don’t understand the information. Since I often have to teach myself, finding resources for when I'm having a hard time with the course material is essential. This will still be important in college as I will be in a much larger class size then I'm acquainted with and I know that my professors will not always be available. I believe that my homeschool experience has equipped me to take on higher-level education and that the lessons I have learned in high school will help me succeed wherever life takes me. My dream is to work as a marketing specialist, and eventually a manager, for the fashion and beauty industry. I would love to tackle issues in the industry, such as overconsumption, greenwashing, and overall unethical practices. To get to this goal, I'm attending Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. I'm overjoyed at the opportunity to attend such a prestigious business school at the second-largest college in the country. I plan to work hard at getting internships and job experience that allows me to reach my goals, and I know that my homeschooling experience will help me attain my dreams. My self-motivation, on top of the problem-solving, critical thinking, and discussion skills I received through my homeschool experience, gives a strong platform for my growth in my academic and career endeavors. Honestly, I wouldn't change my educational experience for any other form. I'm so grateful for everything I've learned and I look forward to what I will learn in the future.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that my mother is one of my closest friends. While I do value friendships with people my age, my mom has had an influence on me that is priceless in comparison. My mom is a parent, friend, companion, and teacher to me. While most girls I know would say that their mother has taught them a lot, my mom actually educated me, and taught me through homeschool for the majority of my life. My mother has taught me so many things. One of her most important lessons was teaching me to love learning. This mentality makes learning limitless. It turns out life is easier when you see it as an opportunity to learn every minute of your day. While this lesson is helpful in academic settings, it's essential to approach life this way too and it will get you farther along than you might think. Debate was a required class at my school, but I enjoyed it so much more than I assumed I would. Debate is a strenuous and difficult extracurricular. After every round, I feel like I've completed a full-body workout. While trying to get my point across as well as possible, my heart is racing, I'm sweating, and my mind is reeling with ideas for comebacks and counter-arguments. But just like the endorphins that hit your body after a rewarding run, I feel triumphant at the end. I forget about the hours of research in front of a computer and reciting my main argument in front of my family over and over again, and celebrate the end of the debate with my peers. While I'm aware of all the work I've done in debate, I know that I wouldn't be successful in my debate journey without my mother's support. She encouraged me to continue research and practicing, even when It seemed challenging. Debate has been an incredibly important aspect in my high school education, and I'm glad that I've gotten to participate in it. I love the research aspect of debate because there's a good chance I would never have chosen to learn about it beforehand. There's something so fulfilling in the research; I can go from knowing nothing about a topic such as refugee vetting or the military draft, to arguing for my position within a short time period. Debate has taught me that I love to learn, even when I initially thought I wouldn't be interested in a topic. Something I've learned from debate is the power that passion and performance has on an argument. One semester in sophomore year, my team and I argued that the U.S. government should change copyright laws after the rise in usage of Artificial Intelligence products. I was able to bring attention to the fact that A.I. often plagiarizes human-made work and can endanger someone’s reputation through deepfakes, where images or videos of individuals are digitally altered, usually with malicious intent. Since I had a firm opinion on the subject matter of the debate, I was able to use my personal beliefs to give my argument heart, making it more persuasive. Debate has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my high school education. It taught me the value of research, to think critically, and to be open minded. Debate forced me to understand both sides of an argument thoroughly, and to work under pressure. It’s taught me how to be both a leader and a team player, and I know I will carry everything I learned from my debate experience with me into my next chapter.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that my mother is one of my closest friends. I value friendships with people my age, but my has had an influence on me that is priceless. My mother is a parent, friend, and teacher to me. While most girls I know would say that their mother has taught them a lot, my mom actually educated me, and taught me through homeschooling for the majority of my life. When I asked her why she wanted to homeschool, she told me that she loved teaching because the best part of the job was seeing the lightbulb going off in a student's mind after they figured something out. She said that she wanted to see that lightbulb go off for my brother and I. I don't know who I would be if she hadn't decided to teach us herself. My mom motivated and encouraged me to work hard and to stay true to my ideals. My mom inspired me to be kind and to lift others up, to work hard and to learn from my mistakes. One example of how my mom encouraged me was after I failed Algebra 1 during my freshman year. Originally, I was really upset, but my mom reminded me that failure is important for growth, and changing my study habits would help me reach my goals. Something unique that I've gotten to experience by homeschooling is getting to see my teacher grow alongside me. My mother learned to accommodate as my brother and I grew older, learning to step into new roles, from teacher to tutor to counselor. Having the same teacher for such a long period of time allowed me to see what a blessing my mom is and all that she did to make sure I had a well-rounded education. My mother has taught me so many things. One of her most important lessons was teaching me to love learning. This mentality makes learning limitless. It turns out life is easier when you see it as an opportunity to learn every minute of your day. While this lesson is helpful in academic settings, it's essential to approach life this way too and will get you farther along than you might think. Education is incredibly important to me, because education produces knowledge, and knowledge produces growth, and growth produces character. I'm looking forward to where life leads me with this mindset, and I know that I will always have the same loving support from my first teacher, my mother.

“If I didn't know better / I'd think you were still around,” Taylor Swift sings softly on the song Marjorie. It’s the eighth track of her album evermore, which is my favorite album for an incredibly personal reason. Over a year ago, I lost my Oma after she had an unexpected blood clot while visiting my family in South Carolina. For a while, I stopped listening to the album, knowing that track would be too painful to listen to. The entire bridge mirrors my own experience: “And I complained the whole way there / the car ride back and up the stairs / I should've asked you questions / I should've asked you how to be / Asked you to write it down for me / Should've kept every grocery store receipt / 'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me.” I remember going to my grandparents’ home and being annoyed or bored at their house, but now I miss those days. Behind Taylor’s soft-voiced performance, Taylor’s own grandmother’s ghostly echoes fill the song. In the live rendition during the Eras Tour, Taylor’s performance is even more moving, and you can see the raw emotion on her face. My Oma played guitar and sang, writing songs for nonprofit organizations and playing for her church. She even wrote a song for me when I was born called ‘The Sadie Song.’ Right before she passed, I started playing guitar. I never got to tell her I started playing, although I know she knows now. Marjorie gives me chills every time I hear it, but it’s still comforting in an odd sort of way. It’s a beautiful expression of grief from the passing of a grandmother, and Marjorie is one of the most impactful songs I’ve ever heard. Taylor is so talented at writing relatable songs, and Marjorie describes that time in my life so closely. While I didn't get to attend the Eras Tour in person, I've watched the movie and documentary, and after my experience, it’s much more moving.

“People love what people are passionate about,” Mia tells Sebastian in La La Land. This line stuck with me the first time I watched the film. I was only a young teen when watching it, but I was immediately captivated by the bittersweet story, beautiful soundtrack, and the colorful set design. The central relationship between the two main characters was so different from any romances that I grew up seeing on screen. Even when they leave each other toward the end of the film to go their separate ways, you can tell they still care deeply for each other. I know some people refer to this film as a horror movie due to its ending, but I've never thought of it in that way. I’ve always loved the ending. It depicts two people growing together and then apart in the span of a year, but never hating each other. Toward the end of the film, Mia tells Sebastian “I’m always gonna love you,” which stuck with me on my most recent viewing. Breakups don’t have to be dramatic, ending in resentment. You can still love someone after leaving them. This is a movie from which I learn something new every time I watch it. One of the questions I asked myself after watching it the first time was if and when you should leave a relationship if it gets between you and your dreams. Sebastian and Mia both have big dreams of their own, but they become incompatible as he goes on tour, all while missing her becoming a star. While I’m only eighteen, with almost no romantic experience whatsoever, this movie accurately portrays falling in and out of love with someone. While Sebastian and Mia have grand dreams for themselves, the way they meet and their relationship is incredibly normal. Some might even call it mundane. However, this is refreshing to see in a film. Normal romantic films are filled with clichés, love-at-first-sight meet-cutes, and cheesy one-liners. However, watching Mia and Sebastian fall in love is relatable. While they have little interest in each other's passions at first, they eventually come to love the other’s interest due to their love for each other. You learn to love things you never thought you would when you love people. This is even present in nonromantic relationships. While by the end of the film Mia imagines that she and Sebastian could have had a life together, the audience knows, perhaps without wanting to admit it, that they wouldn’t work. Another thing I've considered after watching this movie is the thought that Mia’s what-if fantasy is inherently selfish. In Mia’s dream sequence, she’s able to keep both her dream of being a famous actress and be with Sebastian; when in reality, Sebastian was just as impassioned to follow his dreams as she was hers. A big point of the film is that Mia and Sebastian can’t follow their dreams and have each other, but realistically choosing each other wouldn't even work because they're such creative people- it would likely end in self-destruction. In the end, there’s no single reason why I love La La Land. It’s an incredible film that makes it impossible to pick one best part. The soundtrack, score, acting, cinematography, and script are all fantastic. La La Land is all about human connection and disconnection. It’s about following dreams and how that affects your relationship with others. Overall, this film has influenced me deeply by showing me a more honest depiction of falling in love and helped me consider when sacrificing my dreams for someone is acceptable.

As a student who has been homeschooled for the majority of my life, the idea of a teacher looks a lot different from most people. My main teachers have been my parents, but I also believe that my mentors have helped me become the person I am today. These people have continuously inspired me to do my best and to do good, and I'm incredibly thankful for them. I have felt this recently, during the stressful season of college applications. Being a high school upperclassman can be overwhelming, and it's easy to feel inferior to others. I applied to multiple schools, but my dream was to attend Texas A&M University in College Station for a marketing degree. However, I wasn't sure if I would be accepted. The business school there is competitive, and I didn’t believe that I would make it. Through all of this, my mentors encouraged me. They helped me to understand that even if I didn’t make it into A&M, God knew where I was supposed to be, and that whatever happened was a part of my life story. They took me out for coffee and opened their homes to me. It encouraged me to stay positive, even when I didn’t feel confident in myself. My parents, friends, and mentors were there for me at my lowest, so imagine how supported I felt when I opened my inbox to find my acceptance letter from my dream school. I can confidently say that it was one of my happiest moments so far, and I couldn't have done it without the adults that inspired me to stay confident and positive every step of the way. Knowing how much these people have helped me, I look forward to becoming a mentor to others as I get older. I already do this by regularly babysitting, and by assisting childcare with my church. I look forward to the possibility of getting to serve as a councilor for a camp this summer, and I will continue to look for opportunities to share wisdom and positivity with those younger than me. As I get more experience, I am looking forward to using new skills I learn through my continuous pursuit of education, such as providing marketing services for small and local businesses. Another opportunity is to continue participating in the homeschool community that I was raised in by giving back, whether that be by teaching classes or leading a club. I am so grateful for what I've been given and for the people who have supported me, and I look forward to what the future holds.

Everyone puts their faith in something. I believe that we are born with a desire to put our trust in someone or something else. This could be an individual, holding fast to whatever the future holds, or even the belief that everything will end in darkness. Whatever it is, we have a human urge to put our trust, hope, and joy in something. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus is my true hope and foundation. As someone raised in the church, I grew up with stories of sinful men and women who put their trust in God. Whether it was the Lord saving Daniel from the pit of Lions, or David killing Goliath, the Bible is full of weak people turning to God for help and receiving it. I was taught through these stories that even if all hope seems lost, I can always talk to God, and nothing can change that. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” and this verse has been engraved into my brain, repeated in my head before tests or hard conversations. Because even if I fail, I know God is with me. Unbelievers ask Christians questions like “Why do you believe in something you can’t see?” The truth is, although I can’t explicitly see God, I believe he is everywhere. He is around me at church, at school, through the best of times and the worst. While some might find this alarming and unpleasant, I find it both comfortable and compassionate. How great it is that the God of the universe is always available and is always willing to listen! My dream is to work as a marketing manager, and while it might be hard to see how religion could go into play in a job like that, the truth is that since God is around us. This is applicable even in the workplace, so we must represent Jesus as light in the darkness. I can do this by treating those I meet along my educational and career journeys with respect and kindness. My entire life, I have been in a rhythm of exponentially growing closer to Jesus. While there are times he feels farther away, or it's harder for me to understand the decisions he makes for me, I have continuously been growing closer to him. While it is hard for me to lay down my fears before him, I’ve learned to rejoice in the fact that some things are out of my control. My educational journey so far has been turbulent due to worldly fears, but finding joy in the fact that God knows what is in store for me has helped me grow closer to him.