As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, one of my biggest aspirations is to receive my temple endowment. This sacred ordinance provides deeper knowledge about my spiritual identity. Likewise, gaining a quality education in sports medicine is an important goal. As a university where students "enter to learn, go forth to serve," BYU is the perfect place for me to achieve my goals. I am excited to receive my temple endowment. This is a special ordinance performed in my religion. Attending BYU will assist me in my temple preparation because I know the dedicated campus is a safe, spiritual environment I can mature in. As I learn to recognize personal revelation in my life, I will increase my understanding of my spiritual identity. BYU has a unique campus that I know will provide me with a successful learning environment. BYU places an emphasis on knowledge and learning that I am passionate about; I love to learn and am continuously seeking new opportunities to expand my knowledge. I have taken multiple AP courses in high school because I love the rigorous challenge and the deeper level of understanding. I know my classes at BYU will enhance that challenge, and I am excited for the push it will give me. I will be studying athletic training, and I cannot wait to pursue an education in sports medicine. I want to help athletes perform their best on the field, helping them listen to their bodies and take proper care of them. BYU has the best athletic training program in the state, and I am confident that I will learn and understand what it takes to help athletes recognize, understand, and care for injuries. I cannot wait to pursue this goal and learn more about the human body.

I have been a football manager for three years and have been the head manager for the past two. I am also a wrestling manager. Some of the responsibilities are providing water, filming practice, and recording statistics. As the head football manager, I was the go-to person for the coaches in the event of any problem, and I led the sideline operation during practices and games. This capacity has been one of my favorites in high school and has taught me invaluable lessons about responsibility, teamwork, and problem-solving. I have served in multiple church leadership callings, including Class President and Seminary Council. Both callings included inviting people to activities and planning fun events that invite the Spirit. As a president, I organized weekly virtual and in-person activities, built relationships, and prepared lessons. On the seminary council, I planned class competitions, firesides, and lunch activities meant to increase seminary attendance and encourage students to invite their friends. I am involved in several clubs at my high school: Interact Club, Key Club, National Honor Society, and Health Occupations Students of America. These clubs hosted service projects such as blood, food, and toy drives. I have served as the Interact Club President and Key Club Vice President. I organized service projects, recruited new members, and ran social media accounts for both clubs. I have volunteered at multiple organizations. At the American Red Cross, I checked in over 1000 blood donors a year by performing health screenings and recording patient data. At the Bountiful Food Pantry, I shelved food products and collected food rations for families in need. I created notes of encouragement that the Never Ever Give Up Foundation distributed to kids with cancer. I interned at a physical therapy office. I also worked part-time jobs with Cafe Zupas and Kaysville City Recreation.

Quarantining in 2020 altered the routines of most Americans, preventing participation in activities such as vacationing, going to school, and more importantly, donating blood. The decrease in blood donors has created a supply shortage, and medical facilities are working to find a solution even as necessity increases. I became aware of this need when my cousin Rosie, a cancer patient, could not receive the platelets she needed. Rosie and other patients have been resigned to extended hospital stays simply because they are waiting for blood transfusions. I wanted to do my part to help these suffering patients. I knew donating my own blood was not the solution for me as needles make me anxious. However, I discovered a different way I could help: volunteering. In December 2020, I started volunteering once a week at the American Red Cross Blood Donation Center. In my role as a Blood Donor Ambassador, I worked with donors by checking them in, taking their temperatures, monitoring post-donation health and appearance, and scheduling future appointments. My role was to ensure a positive donation experience and encourage donors to donate again. While it may seem like a minuscule role, my volunteering made a significant impact because the productivity of donations increased and the quality of donor experience improved. My position took a load off the phlebotomists, allowing them to spend more time drawing blood instead of performing the health screening and check-in procedures. The quality of experience also improved as the phlebotomists gave each donor special consideration and treatment. The phlebotomists had more time to build an interpersonal relationship with the donor, bringing them comfort and concentrated care during their donation. Donors were also more likely to return because their experience was smooth and comfortable. They were greeted as soon as they walked in the door and received the utmost attention during their donation. These differences will allow patients like Rosie to receive the blood they need as well as contribute to the overall fight for health and wellness.

As a ninth-grader preparing to start high school in the fall, I auditioned to be in the musical cast for Matilda at Davis High School. Although I had been in musicals before, I had never had to audition to be in the cast and was intimidated by preparing my own audition material. Going into the audition, I knew that not many sophomores made it into the musical. However, the shock still took over as I remember scanning the cast list two, three times and never finding my name. Recovering from my failure was an emotional battle. I was embarrassed about going from the junior high lead to not even making the high school cast. I was depressed and struggled to move past the rejection. I spent a lot of time praying and building trust in my Heavenly Father’s plan for me. I knew there was something else I needed to do, something that I couldn’t have done if I had been in the musical. Now that I wasn’t going to have musical rehearsals after school every day, I became a football manager for my high school team. I had planned to be a manager before learning that the rehearsal schedule coincided with football practices, and it was always my backup plan in case the musical fell through. I have always had a passion for football and was excited to get involved. I spent the summer before high school at football practices and camps. School started, and I was spending at least fifteen hours a week at practices and games. Football consumed my life, and I could forget about the musical. Though other chances to audition for the musical came, I stuck with football my junior and senior years. That turned out to be the best decision I could have made. Managing football has been my favorite high school activity. I have learned invaluable skills and met amazing people. The thing I am most grateful for from my experience as a football manager is my exposure to athletic training. I had never heard of athletic trainers before and I was always fascinated when watching our trainer work with the athletes. For the first time, I had a strong idea for a career goal. This interest led me to take CE Sports Medicine through Weber State and intern at a physical therapy office. Without my failure auditioning for the musical, I would not have considered athletic training for a career. My life now has a direction beyond high school as I prepare to earn my degree in athletic training.

My biggest aspiration is to attend Brigham Young University. BYU has a unique campus that I know will provide me with a successful learning environment. BYU places an emphasis on knowledge and learning that I am passionate about; I love to learn and am continuously seeking new opportunities to expand my knowledge. I have taken multiple AP courses in high school because I love the rigorous challenge and the deeper level of understanding. I know my classes at BYU will enhance that challenge, and I am excited for the push it will give me. I will be studying athletic training, and I cannot wait to pursue an education in sports medicine. I want to help athletes perform their best on the field, helping them listen to their bodies and take proper care of them. BYU has the best athletic training program in the state, and I am confident that I will learn and understand what it takes to help athletes recognize, understand, and care for injuries. I cannot wait to pursue this goal and learn more about the human body.

I have been involved as a football team manager all three years of high school. In my junior and senior years, I was trusted with more responsibility as the head football manager. As a manager, I worked under the supervision of the operations manager. Some of my basic responsibilities were providing water for the athletes and managing their equipment. I attended every game and practice from July to October. When I returned for my junior season, COVID-19 caused the normal routines for practices and games to change. The operations manager was high-risk, and he preferred not to attend practices. He left me with the responsibility of completing our daily tasks such as charging headsets and washing uniforms. I led the other managers in our tasks and organized our travel assignments. I became the go-to manager for the head coach, athletic director, and operations manager. The managers were trusted with other responsibilities such as filming practice, building new equipment, checking registration information, and hanging a photo gallery. This increased role allowed the coaches the spend more time preparing the athletes for their games. The success of the team increased as I took over more tasks from the coaches. In my senior season, I was once again the Head Manager. The coaching staff had switched between these seasons, and my major role in the operations allowed the new head coach to not worry about the little things and instead focus on coaching the athletes. My role continued to increase this season as the coach trusted me to run errands for the team or train new managers. The athletes noticed the leadership position I held, and they started to come to me when they needed a helmet fixed or help with their equipment. By the end of the season, I could lead the operations for varsity games, from setting up the field to managing water, headsets, and toolkits to running clean-up and proper care for the equipment. The leadership skills I learned from this experience are invaluable. My responsibility grew to the point that my failure would affect the success of the entire Davis High Football Team. The coaches, players, and parents trusted me to run the sideline during games, setup camera equipment, and fix any broken helmets or pads. My performance had real-life consequences, where one mistake could affect the future career of a player or the job of a coach. I learned how to organize the different tasks assigned to me and delegate specific assignments to certain managers based on personality and skill level. This experience in leading a small team to accomplish such a significant task has increased my leadership capacity.

I auditioned to be in the musical cast for Matilda at Davis High School. Although I had been in musicals before, I had never had to audition to be in the cast and was intimidated by preparing my own audition material. Disappointed, I did not make the audition. Recovering from my failure was an emotional battle. I was embarrassed about going from the junior high lead to not even making the high school cast. I was depressed and struggled to move past the rejection. Now that I wasn’t going to have musical rehearsals after school every day, I became a football manager for my high school team. I have always been passionate about football and was excited to get involved. I spent the summer before high school at football practices and camps. School started, and I was spending at least fifteen hours a week at practices and games. Football consumed my life, and I could forget about the musical. Though other chances to audition for the musical came, I stuck with football my junior and senior years. Managing football has been my favorite high school activity. I have learned invaluable skills and met amazing people. The thing I am most grateful for from my experience as a football manager is my exposure to athletic training. I had never heard of athletic trainers before and I was always fascinated when watching our trainer work with the athletes. For the first time, I had a strong idea for a career goal. This interest led me to take CE Sports Medicine and intern at a physical therapy office. Without my failure auditioning for the musical, I wouldn’t have considered athletic training for a career. My life now has a direction beyond high school as I prepare to earn my degree in athletic training.

While not quite photographic, my memory is exceptionally strong and one of my biggest assets. Numbers are hard for me to forget, and I have hundreds of birthdays, statistics, and facts stored in my brain. My memory is an advantage to me in subjects such as mathematics. I enjoy the daunting challenge of memorizing so many formulas and procedures. The puzzle of solving math problems and creating the one correct solution using only my memory brings a satisfying, addicting feeling. The strength of my memory is unique because it influenced the development a positive attitude towards math. The application of memorization in mathematics challenges my memory and allows it to grow stronger. I also have a strong hunger for learning. I love to learn new things, and this led me to learn math concepts earlier than taught. I remember learning how to regroup when subtracting with my dad in first grade. After completing a page of practice problems my dad created for me, I took it to my teacher to show her. Her response was optimistic, but she mentioned that it was a concept we would learn in second grade and dismissed the subject. My eagerness to learn math drove me to discover new concepts, such as regrouping, before it was taught to us in school. I wasn’t content with the knowledge I had, and I always wanted to learn new information. As I transitioned into high school, I was so excited to take AP Calculus. I looked forward to learning the challenging math, and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed taking tests in that class, and it was one of my favorite classes from high school. Constantly wanting to learn new information and being able to remember it well made mathematics an easy subject for me to excel in.

My success with mathematics will have a greater impact on my life than just what appears on my transcripts. Math is all about facing a problem and finding the solution. While I might not need to find the slope of a tangent line in my future career, I will be faced with problems every day. The problem-solving skills I have developed from studying mathematics will change the way I find solutions in the future. I know how to analyze a problem, contemplate every possible method of solving, and determine which will produce the most effective solution. I know to check the validity of a solution with the information provided. I can summarize my findings in complete sentences. Most importantly, I know how to recover if I make a mistake and find a faulty solution. Math is a simulation for what occurs in reality; I have studied how to logically address any issue for thirteen years of my life. ​Mathematics has also taught me how to think logically and analytically. Any math problem has a finite solution; there is always one correct way to find the one correct answer. The real struggle in math is never about finding the right solution; it’s about discerning how to find the right solution. With so many different procedures and formulas available, it can seem daunting to determine which problems require which types of procedures. Studying mathematics, therefore, builds analytical thinking as well as a sense for logic. These are critical methods of thinking that significantly affect decision making and problem-solving skills. Taking both common sense and analytical skills into the future sets me up for success when deciding on college majors, job offers, and other perplexing choices. I know my mathematics skills will be useful even after my formal education has ended.

Some people believe that we are all born with a unique set of abilities, talents, and gifts. We are naturals at some activities and will never be able to master others. Simply put, individuals cannot learn new skills, only enhance their God-given ones. This myth is one that too many people believe in, and until recently, I was one of those people. As a child, I believed that I could never be artistic. My attempts at drawing were messy blobs and weak stick figures. I excelled in many other areas, such as music, academics, and sports, but I hated creating any art because it was something that I was not born to do (or so I thought). For years, I avoided any art and continued to live with this fixed mindset. That all changed, however, when I discovered hand lettering. Social media was the first place I saw hand lettering; I watched many people post videos of themselves creating beautiful lettering in a way that seemed so easy. With every video I watched, I was so eager to learn but never tried. My previous attempts at hand lettering and calligraphy did not turn out well; I was horrible at it. At first, that failure stopped me from ever trying it again. However, I kept watching video after video until I finally convinced myself to buy some brush pens. I thought, “As long as I have the same pen as the lady in the video, I can make it look like she does, right?” Wrong. I was still terrible at hand lettering. But for the first time in my life, that failure did not stop me. I kept practicing. Failure met me almost every time, but I never stopped. For two months, I relentlessly practiced lettering until I had used tens and hundreds of papers. My mom was the first to compliment me on my lettering. “You are getting pretty good at that, you know?” “Yeah, I guess.” I didn’t fully believe her. I had convinced myself that I would never be good at lettering because it was a form of art. But the compliments kept coming. My mom, my sister, my friends. Soon, my confidence started to grow. I believed in myself and my abilities. That was when things changed. I was willing to spend time growing my abilities. I learned iPad lettering. I bought hundreds of pens. I set up an Etsy shop to sell my lettering. I started social media accounts specifically to share my hand lettering. Was it easy? No. I failed over and over. However, failure became my friend. Every failure ultimately turned into a new skill. Two years later, I am consistently making money from my lettering. I bring happiness to those around me, but more importantly, I have made myself happy. I overcame my fixed mindset, my fear of art, and all of my failures. I may not be the best at hand lettering, but I will never doubt that I am an artist.

My favorite place to be is on stage. Some people cannot handle the stress or are worried about being the center of attention; I thrive on it. From an early age, I loved participating in plays and musicals. Performing was what I loved, so naturally, that was where rejection would hurt the most. My first memories of performing are singing in church programs as a 4-year-old. All the kids sang in front of the congregation; some were scared, others were bored, and I was in heaven. From there, I performed in various matinees produced by my elementary school: Gilbert Academy of Creative Arts. After second grade, I took a break from actively performing. However, I did not stop singing or playacting. I spent many hours at home singing and performing for my family. I started performing again in sixth grade. My sister and I auditioned for Annie Jr. at our elementary school; she was an orphan, and I was Grace Farrell, one of the leads. After that, I was in the school musical every year. I got to play lead roles such as Edwina Spoonapple in Dear Edwina Jr. and Morticia Addams in The Addams Family. Those experiences were some of my favorite memories of junior high and were what made me excited to do musicals in high school. Only I never got to. My experience with auditions this far was very relaxed and stress-free; I had had the same director for three years and only had to sign up to be in the musical. The high school directors ran their theatre program differently. If I wanted to be in the musical at all, I had to audition. That part freaked me out; I had never had to audition to be in the cast. I was a little unsure of what to do as I had no idea what the director's expectations were. Hesitantly, I picked a song and prepared for my audition. The day of the audition came two weeks later. I have never been one to get nervous, yet worry and stress about the audition plagued my day. It only went downhill from there. My audition was terrible; I was not loud enough, did not use enough expression, did not sing a song that fit my vocal range, and more. Those failures were the only thing I could think about that night and that year. I did not get into the musical, and that rejection was the most painful, heart-wrenching feeling I had ever experienced. I remember crying and crying while consoling myself with chocolate and cheesecake. I felt alone and untalented. How could I be rejected at the one thing that I loved doing? As I coped with the reality that I would not be in the musical, I decided to participate in another thing I loved: football. No, I did not play on the team. I was one of four football managers. Their job may seem unimportant or monotonous, but the experiences I had while being a football manager are some of my favorite memories. I made new friends, watched the team succeed and fail, and learned more about my favorite sport. But my all-time favorite thing about being a football manager was my introduction to athletic training. I watched the athletic trainer every day as she taped ankles, eased soreness, dealt with emergencies on the field, and helped the athletes become more capable in their abilities. For the first time, I found a career path that interested me for more than a day. From there, I took sports medicine classes and researched athletic training. I became more and more convinced that this was the career path for me. As I look back, I cannot imagine any way I would have found athletic training if I had joined the musical. Rejection is not often something we love, but it is something that we need. It shapes our lives as we overcome the difficulty and the challenge it presents. I may not have realized it at the time, but my rejection from the musical may turn out to be one of the best things that I have ever experienced.

Some people believe that we are all born with a unique set of abilities, talents, and gifts. We are naturals at some activities and will never be able to master others. Simply put, individuals cannot learn new skills, only enhance their God-given ones. This myth is one that too many people believe in, and until recently, I was one of those people. As a child, I believed that I could never be artistic. My attempts at drawing were messy blobs and weak stick figures. I excelled in many other areas, such as music, academics, and sports, but I hated creating any art because it was something that I was not born to do (or so I thought). For years, I avoided any art and continued to live with this fixed mindset. That all changed, however, when I discovered hand lettering. Social media was the first place I saw hand lettering; I watched many people post videos of themselves creating beautiful lettering in a way that seemed so easy. With every video I watched, I was so eager to learn but never tried. My previous attempts at hand lettering and calligraphy did not turn out well; I was horrible at it. At first, that failure stopped me from ever trying it again. However, I kept watching video after video until I finally convinced myself to buy some brush pens. I thought, “As long as I have the same pen as the lady in the video, I can make it look like she does, right?” Wrong. I was still terrible at hand lettering. But for the first time in my life, that failure did not stop me. I kept practicing. Failure met me almost every time, but I never stopped. For two months, I relentlessly practiced lettering until I had used tens and hundreds of papers. My mom was the first to compliment me on my lettering. “You are getting pretty good at that, you know?” “Yeah, I guess.” I didn’t fully believe her. I had convinced myself that I would never be good at lettering because it was a form of art. But the compliments kept coming. My mom, my sister, my friends. Soon, my confidence started to grow. I believed in myself and my abilities. That was when things changed. I was willing to spend time growing my abilities. I learned iPad lettering. I bought hundreds of pens. I set up an Etsy shop to sell my lettering. I started social media accounts to specifically share my hand lettering. Was it easy? No. I failed over and over. However, failure became my friend. Every failure ultimately turned into a new skill. Two years later, I am consistently making money from my lettering. I bring happiness to those around me, but more importantly, I have made myself happy. I overcame my fixed mindset, my fear of art, and all of my failures. I may not be the best at hand lettering, but I will never doubt that I am an artist.

Some people believe that we are all born with a unique set of abilities, talents, and gifts. We are naturals at some activities and will never be able to master others. Simply put, individuals cannot learn new skills, only enhance their God-given ones. This myth is one that too many people believe in, and until recently, I was one of those people. As a child, I believed that I could never be artistic. My attempts at drawing were messy blobs and weak stick figures. I excelled in many other areas, such as music, academics, and sports, but I hated creating any art because it was something that I was not born to do (or so I thought). For years, I avoided any art and continued to live with this fixed mindset. That all changed, however, when I discovered hand lettering. Social media was the first place I saw hand lettering; I watched many people post videos of themselves creating beautiful lettering in a way that seemed so easy. With every video I watched, I was so eager to learn but never tried. My previous attempts at hand lettering and calligraphy did not turn out well; I was horrible at it. At first, that failure stopped me from ever trying it again. However, I kept watching video after video until I finally convinced myself to buy some brush pens. I thought, “As long as I have the same pen as the lady in the video, I can make it look like she does, right?” Wrong. I was still terrible at hand lettering. But for the first time in my life, that failure did not stop me. I kept practicing. Failure met me almost every time, but I never stopped. For two months, I relentlessly practiced lettering until I had used tens and hundreds of papers. My mom was the first to compliment me on my lettering. “You are getting pretty good at that, you know?” “Yeah, I guess.” I didn’t fully believe her. I had convinced myself that I would never be good at lettering because it was a form of art. But the compliments kept coming. My mom, my sister, my friends. Soon, my confidence started to grow. I believed in myself and my abilities. That was when things changed. I was willing to spend time growing my abilities. I learned iPad lettering. I bought hundreds of pens. I set up an Etsy shop to sell my lettering. I started social media accounts specifically to share my hand lettering. Was it easy? No. I failed over and over. However, failure became my friend. Every failure ultimately turned into a new skill. Two years later, I am consistently making money from my lettering. I bring happiness to those around me, but more importantly, I have made myself happy. I overcame my fixed mindset, my fear of art, and all of my failures. I may not be the best at hand lettering, but I will never doubt that I am an artist.

Some people believe that everyone is born with one set of abilities and they can’t master anything else. I was one of those people. I couldn’t draw as a kid. I could sing, cook, play sports, and succeed in school. But I never considered myself an artist. I thought I would never be able to draw like a talented artist. That changed when I discovered iPad calligraphy. I was horrible in the beginning and watched many people succeed at it. However, 2 years of practice has given me the confidence I need to say “I’m an artist” and “Nothing’s Impossible”.