More than her singing or even acting, I admire and embody her confidence and ability to overcome challenges and adapt to her situation. I am a huge fan and have full respect for Sabrina Carpenter because growing up, her courage and bravery inspired me to push myself and give my level best in anything that I do, no matter how 'impossible' it may seem. One situation in Sabrina Carpenter's life that really shaped me was her shift to a new industry. Specifically, when Sabrina Carpenter was rejected for a role on "The Connors", she didn't give up. Instead, she used it as motivation to do even better and become the world-class talent we all know today. The rejection led her to focus on music, where she delivered blockbuster songs and albums. This incident made me open my eyes to the real world. This showed me that I should never give up, even if I get rejected, because when one door closes, another one opens, leading to greater success. This has proved correct in my life, because I am always reaching out for opportunities. If I had just stopped after one rejection, I wouldn't have been close to the position and have had the amount of success. In life, there are an abundance of opportunities, so don't waste your time pondering about one lost opportunity and focus on the ones that value you for who you are.

When I was 8 years old, I moved to the USA, away from my friends, away from most of my family too. It was a struggle getting adjusted to a place with no one that I could call a friend, where I felt lonely, where I was the only one standing out-an Indian. No matter what I did, my family always got weird looks wherever we went. All of this changed, one boring day in October. My parents took me to Country Manor playground to play. Nobody really wanted to play with me. All except this one kid named Ethan, who sat quietly on the swings, he seemed to be thinking about the same thing as me-who should I play with. He saw me from a distance, and started walking my way. Me being the mega-introverted person I am, started to speed-walk away. I remember this moment like it was yesterday, he called out and said "Hey.. would you maybe like to be friends?". That was the first time I smiled in a while. I found someone just like me. That's when it all started-the unbreakable bond between Ethan and Abhi. We got our parents to meet each other and thankfully, they got along as well. We planned to play at the park every single day after school. I wasn't lonely anymore. I didn't care who looked at me weird, because I had Ethan-someone who chose me. We had continued to play for years. However, disaster struck for Ethan at age 10. I had noticed some big changes in his behavior. Firstly, his school attendance rate had decreased exponentially as time went on. When I asked him about it, he just shrugged it off and said it was vacation. But vacation twice a month, I didn't believe it. I might've been 10, but I wasn't that dumb. And whenever he did show up to school. He wasn't the Ethan I knew. The smile, the charm in his face, the playful energy, all gone, replaced with an everlasting dull emptiness, and mood swings. He even started to skip our play-dates. At first, I thought he was ignoring me, but I sure do regret ever thinking that. I asked my parents if they knew anything, but they just gave me a sad smile and said it will all be over soon. I didn't know they meant that literally. A few weeks later, a shock hit me like thunder. My teacher announced that Ethan wouldn't be continuing school here. But, I really wish the news stopped there, since that wasn't the worst of it, not even close. The suspense was killing me. I didn’t have a clue as to why he left. A few weeks later, when I was playing in my room, my parents called me and sat me down. They said it was a very important, and serious discussion. I really wish I could have skipped over that day like it was an ad. They said something that instantly made my heart shatter. They said Ethan died. I then said “What do you mean died… he’s only 10”. They proceeded on with the details saying that the treatment for diabetes didn’t go as planned and on & on about some scientific words & processes. I didn’t understand the medical details, only the emotional ones. This was like a huge blow to my small 10 year old’s heart. The one person who cared for me no matter what I was like, was gone… forever. This threw my mind into a spiral. You could say it was like a mini-depression. I would spend most of my after school time sitting in my room, crying. Even during school, my mind would drift off like it was in an abyss. My grades dropped, so did my energy, and happy mood. Everybody questioned me, but I felt like answering to no one. At one point of time, I even wanted to join Ethan, and die. My parents were shocked at my actions. They immediately took me to therapy. Every weekend, I was forced to go to these stupid therapy sessions. The lady there kept on asking me dumb questions like how I was feeling, how my day was like, and other things which I didn’t pay much attention to. I lost all hope and interest, even living, after my huge loss. Now, you’re probably wondering how this has shaped me in my life. As therapy sessions continued on, I started to feel like myself again. I didn’t realize it then, but that therapist indirectly saved my life, and I am always indebted to her. After about a year and a half, I became myself again-going to the park, making new friends, doing well in school, and everything went well. All because, I understood a key concept. One bad thing, no matter how severe, can affect my happiness. Even though I will always miss Ethan, I have more friends now, so I can share my happy and sad moments with them confidently, knowing that they will never judge me. This shows that no matter how many of your loved ones you lose, there will always be more to take their place and take care of you. My goal has always been to make new friends and never waste my life on something that is out of my control. This has strengthened my relationships because now I have a heightened sense of love & affection for all who treat me with care.

My great-grandma has been suffering from multiple disorders for many years now, and she is already 84 years old. My great-grandma has always been a strong woman. She can work more than even a teenager or young adult due to her activeness and physical & mental capability. However, a couple years back, her husband (my great-grandpa) died. As strong of a woman as she was, this took a hit on her mental health. She couldn't work as much, and she started to 'lose' her mind a little bit, by overthinking and being locked away in her room. Whenever, I went to India for vacation, which is almost every summer, I met my great-grandma and immediately began diagnosing her and taking care of her. I found out she was diagnosed with or had symptoms of 4 different diseases. Those 4 were hearing loss, osteoporosis, and symptoms of Parkinson's disease, & Alzheimer's. Whenever one of my family members talks to her, they have to talk loudly, since she is so old and her hearing has deteriorated quite a bit over time. I have used different techniques such as speaking slower, using hand gestures and more. Now, you might be wondering how exactly this has shaped me. This made me realize that I can't always live life my way, and I have to adapt to my surroundings and the problems of the people around me. My great-grandma also got osteoporosis-weakening of the bones. She couldn't do many tasks at all. So, into my already busy schedule, I have set aside time to help my great-grandma do things like walk & stretch and even made her a diet plan perfect for her needs to help her become stronger mentally & physically. This helped me manage my time to help fit family time into my hectic student life. She also had some symptoms of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Sometimes, she would forget other relatives, and sometimes even me. When I talked to her, sometimes she had puzzled/unsure expressions and I had to say who I was, multiple times. I even used pictures of our other family members and put them in her room to help her remember everyone. This greatly changed my perspective. I started putting other people in front of myself. I realized I just couldn't be selfish and care about myself. I had to help the people around me. This greatly inspired my caring nature towards everyone. She also struggled to fall asleep sometimes in which I would always help her 30 minutes each night to get her to go to sleep. I was even her 'personal therapist', and helped her remove all bad thoughts that she had and helped her mind become peaceful. This shaped my life because it implemented such a strong feeling of care that now, I will do anything to keep my family safe, happy, and healthy.

Regarding my journey through sports, I had to make my physical health a priority, and boy did it pay off. During my 8th grade lacrosse season, I took a hit to the back. It hurt a little but I just waved it off, thinking it was just like any other injury that I had before - gone before I knew it. But no, weeks and months later, I started feeling immense back pain. I couldn't even do things such as walking too fast, bending over, and other simple tasks. This is when I realized I couldn't just sit around and just make excuses that I couldn't do things. Instead, I worked to failure... every single day. Slowly, I began to get better at simple tasks, and even started exercising and practicing lacrosse again. I practiced so much every day that I became much better than my older, healthy self. This discipline and perseverance helped me to get an offer to play on FCA Upstate Lacrosse, one of the best club lacrosse teams in the nation. Now, you're probably thinking, this guy's just here to brag. But, no. I'm here to share an important effect that I learned about during my journey. Never, ever, stop. Don't give excuses for everything. Do as much as you can, until you can't anymore. And trust me, It will pay off. This goes for anything. After learning about this, I started applying this to my school. Studying, competitions, and more. And sure enough, I saw huge improvements in my achievements. I want to share this to my community, so that everyone knows the power of not giving up. I even plan to give a TedTalk about this exact topic. However, I wanted to give up at times. Initially, the results were quite slow. But soon enough, I gained traction and got exponentially better at my tasks. I saw my world differently. I always put 110% effort in everything and anything I did. Soon, my teachers, classmates, & relatives all noticed. When I told them about my new tactic, many started adapting it into their schedules and lives. This shaped my life, because I was extremely happy that I not only got better due to something I learned, but also benefited others. As you can see, something as simple as practicing daily tasks such as exercising and practicing sports, can go a very long way. Don’t ever throw your life and passions away for an obstacle. Fight through that obstacle and I promise you, in the end, the win will be yours.

Hello. My name is Sai Abhiram Pathaneni, but my nickname is Abhi. I am a 15 year old studying in the US. However, I was born in India, and moved to the US when I was 3 months old. As I am part of an underrepresented community, I have had many struggles so far, but have always found a way to overcome them. To cope, I have been doing many extracurricular activities and passion projects that I enjoy and that will prove that I'm a great candidate. I have even won some national grant and regional scholarship awards, and hope to earn even more in the future. However one thing that separates me and my dreams is lack of money. College is expensive, and one of the main reasons I'm doing anything and everything that I can to get awards & recognition is to try and get a better scholarship to be able to pay for college to help continue my dreams. This scholarship would definitely help me reach my dreams and help guide me in the right path. Coming back to my efforts, specifically I have researched topics and causes that I'm very much interested in. For me, I am very passionate about Artificial Intelligence and Finance. As for causes, I deeply care about helping the people around me in my community, neighborhood, school and other places both in the US and back home in India as well. I have done a 100 day passion project on AI and am also currently starting my own AI business/startup and doing university research. I have also done online certifications and courses on these topics of my liking. In my neighborhood, I teach kids sports, do tutoring, clean my neighborhood, and educate families on financial literacy, all for free, just because I want to give back to my community in any way that I can because everyone is family to me. I am also starting a nonprofit about financial education for teens. During weekends or times that I'm not at school, I enjoy participating in MUN Competitions, Olympiads, science fairs and many more where I have won multiple awards and grants at the regional & state level, such as UNAR MUN Honorable Mention, CNYMUN Best New Delegate, others. I have even been invited to some national & international MUN competitions such as ILMUNC India, HMUN, WMHSMUN, and others. Now you're probably wondering why I'm writing about this. This is because in order for me to have the opportunity to join in such prestigious activities, I need a stellar resume. This scholarship would really benefit me in this aspect because with this under my belt, it allows me to chase my passion and keep doing what I love, and excelling at it. Since The Bright Lights Scholarship is so prestigious, it proves to all that I’m a worthy candidate. Thank you for reading my application and I sincerely hope you will be able to provide me with this scholarship in order for me to pursue my passions and dreams to have a successful future, and help me get through my main obstacles such as lack of money and lack of opportunities.