Humor has always been my lifeline, especially during challenging times. Surrounded by friends that loved to joke around and laugh together, I quickly learned the power of humor to get through difficult moments. One experience that stands out happened during my junior year of high school. I was balancing multiple activities and clubs, and the stress of it all left me feeling overwhelmed. At times, it felt like I was about to give up. One of my close friends noticed that I wasn’t doing well. I brushed off their concerns, telling them I was fine, but they didn’t give up. Instead, they started sending me a funny meme every day on Instagram. It was a small gesture, but it made a huge difference. Even when I didn’t feel like smiling, those daily memes and videos lifted my spirits. It was a simple way of showing they cared, and it reminded me that I wasn’t alone. That experience taught me the importance of humor in everyday life. In a world full of challenges, especially in present day when every other news article is filled with despair, it is easy to get bogged down, but humor has the ability to lift us up. A small joke, a funny meme, or a shared laugh can turn a bad day into a good one. Humor has the power to connect us, to remind us that it’s okay to take a step back, smile, and not take things too seriously. This realization has shaped my passion for comedy. Whether in theater, film, or everyday life, I’ve always been drawn to the comedic side characters—the ones who bring lightness and joy to a story. The laughter from an audience, the moment when they connect with a character and forget about their worries, is what drives me to pursue acting. As I approached college, I dove deeper into improv and explored commedia dell'arte, a form of theater focused on big, physical comedy. I wanted to grow as a performer and find new ways to make people laugh. My goal after college is to pursue a career in acting, with a focus on comedic roles. I want to entertain people. I want to make people laugh. I want to take them away from this overwhelming world for just a few minutes. I hope to bring joy to others and offer them a brief escape from their everyday lives.

My first year of college experience came with a lot of highs and lows. However, what kept me going throughout the year was listening to music. Music has always helped me connect and work through my emotions. However, thinking in terms of music from the 1989 Album that has helped me get through this year, I can name only one, "Welcome to New York" "Welcome to New York" was one of the first songs I listened to at the beginning of the school year. I was on the plane ride from Seattle to Tampa, my knee was shaking up and down in anticipation for the school year. I had no idea what college was going to be like, let alone college on the other side of the country. Scrolling through my phone I was looking for some sort of song to ease my nerves, and that's when I stumbled upon "Welcome to New York". I clicked play and I instantly felt a rush of relief wash over me. Hearing the words "Welcome to New York. It's been waiting for you" made me feel a lot more relaxed. The East Coast was waiting for me. Tampa was waiting for me. The school was waiting for me. They wanted me there, and I could relax the rest of the plane ride knowing that college was going to be okay. Despite the initial relief the song made me feel on the plane, it did not stop me from struggling with college. Coming from Washington I did not know anyone from Florida and I struggled to connect and make friends. It also did not help that when I arrived at school I had no roommate as she decided to go to a different University last minute. Coming back to an empty dorm room did not help the overall feeling of loneliness. However, one night while I was on the phone with my mom, a knock came at my door. It was a girl from down the hall. She told me she was looking to switch dorms and asked if she could move into mine. She seemed nice and I had an open space so I agreed to let her stay. The day she moved in she asked if we could turn on some music. I hit shuffle on the music app and suddenly "Welcome to New York" started playing. The girl started dancing to the beat while moving her stuff in, and I started to bop around too. She turned around to smile at me, and I thought to myself as the song played, "Yeah. They are welcoming me."

Looking over the last four seasons of Stranger Things it is hard to decipher who best to bring to battle with as the whole cast of characters has been facing off monsters since they were in Middle School. However, while reviewing the episodes, there are a few characters that rise above the rest. The first, and most obvious choice, would be Eleven. She is the star of the show and a literal superhero. With her ability to lift objects into the air with her mind, there's no doubt about bringing her into battle with a supernatural threat. My second choice for the team would be Dustin. Whenever there is a new monster lurking around the town, Dustin is the first to know and to work on solving the problem. He tends to be overlooked or ignored by the rest of the groups. The groups' tendencies to ignore Dustin's warnings always come back to bite them as 90 percent of the time, Dustin is usually right. For that reason, I want to have him on my team as I know he would know what to do to fight off the monster, perhaps before it becomes a big problem. Finally, I would have Steve Harrington as the final member of our group. For starters, if I was living in the world of Stranger Things and I asked Dustin to come along on a dangerous mission, there is no way that Steve would let him run off without him. Steve, while not intellectually smart, is very street-smart and knows what to do if a situation gets tricky. He is also a fan-favorite character so in the Stranger Thing universe there is no chance of him dying to any sort of creature anytime soon.

It was about 5:00 in the morning. My friend and I were in the basement of my house finishing up the final touches of our Minecraft house. It was one of the ugliest houses I have ever made in Minecraft, but it is one of my favorites to revisit every time I open up the game. It reminds me of the importance of this game and why I love it so much. When I was younger I was not the most outgoing kid. I was timid and kept to myself in the back of the classroom. However, Minecraft was one of the few things I could connect with other kids and form friendships. Whether it was exploring the vast world of Minecraft, building our shared base, or attempting to make it through one night in a survival world, Minecraft allowed me to meet other kids with similar interests. Even as I have grown up and have become more self-assured with myself, I still have not stopped playing Minecraft. It has become a way for me to stay connected with friends back home as we explore, build, and play together. Minecraft is not just a game, it is a platform that connects players and forms long-lasting friendships.

In 2020 you could not escape the effects of Covid, even during the summer. Summer with nothing to do except stay inside would have been pretty boring. If not for the fact that my brother got a Nintendo Switch for his birthday. Now, while we did spend several hours playing Mario Cart and Super Smash Bros, one game stands above the rest as our favorite co-op game, Luigi's Mansion 3. Before my brother had gotten the switch, neither of us had heard of the game, nor had even thought that Luigi had a game to begin with. However, once we plugged in the game and started playing, we could not stop. We would spend hours playing the game, looking up strategy, and trying our hardest not to die in the game. And while we were not the best at the game, and it took a lot longer to finish the game than it should have, I would not trade the time we spent playing for anything. Playing Luigi's Mansion 3 brought my brother and me closer together. 2020 brought a lot of stress and uncertainty into our lives. However, there was one certainty, and that was our time playing Luigi's Mansion 3.

Since an early age, I have always been fascinated with storytelling. I would spend hours playing with my Legos, producing intricate storylines and characters. As I grew up, my interest turned to the one place where my stories could unfold, the stage. Every activity I did incorporate some sort of performance and storytelling. From competitive cheerleading to acapella choir and eventually theatre. I fell in love with the feeling of bringing an intricate story to life and inspiring the audience with these stories. Eventually, this love of storytelling brought me to the world of YouTube animation. Hundreds of storytellers and animators would create their own stories for the world to see and I loved it. Watching these videos inspired me to create my own stories. I would come home from school, grab my notebook, and start writing. I would sketch out character designs, write down character designs, and even enter some of my stories into a few writing contests. I adored every second I spent writing and would be up from dusk to dawn writing and rewriting my stories. The immense feeling of joy I get from creating these stories has kept me encouraged to pursue this path. I want to inspire people. I want to be the next great storyteller that people will talk about. That is why I have decided to pursue a Theatre and Communications degree. Theatre will help me understand the intricacies of a character and Communication will help me improve on my story writing. It can be hard nowadays to be a story writer. With generative AI and Chat GPT, it can feel like the world has forgotten about artists. It is also harder to be an artist with the ever-increasing amount of money it takes to go to school and learn how to become a great artist. If I want to become the next great writer and inspire others around me, I need to be able to afford school to become great. However, I worry about the financial burden as the amount of loans I have to take out this year has doubled and it makes me scared for what the future holds. However, with this scholarship, I will not have to put a lot of energy into financial worries. I will be able to focus on my work on becoming the next great writer to inspire the world with what I can write,

Taylor Swift was the first concert that I ever went to. I had not gone to many live music events before that day, usually only seeing small bands play at festivals. To be honest, I was excited. Many of my friends would describe their concert experiences to me. The crowds, the venue, and most importantly the music. They made it an unbelievable experience and I was ready for it. I got all dressed up in my cute little outfit and set off to the stadium where the performance was being held. Hundreds of people were storming the stadium to get to their seats. My mom and I had to hold hands just to make sure we did not get lost in the sea of people. Everyone was dressed up with homemade bracelets on their arms that they were exchanging with others. It was incredible! I started handing out my bracelets and chatting with others about the concert while looking for our seats. Finally, my mom and I found where we would view the concert and took our seats. Suddenly the lights went out and the hanging lights from the stage blasted into the audience. The thumping of the drums sounded through the audience, the background singers started humming and the intro music started. The audience erupted in cheers, and goosebumps formed on my arms as they started chanting "Taylor, Taylor, Taylor" A burst of smoke appeared and Taylor Swift stepped out into the audience. While I could not see Taylor clearly, as my mom and I were more toward the back of the stadium, the lights and sounds were enough to make us excited. Taylor started running through her set list from "Cruel Summer" to "Enchanted" and much more. After the concert, I could remember every song clearly. The way the lights exploded with color, the dancers moved across the stage, and the stage effects blasted into the air. I had never been big on concerts before this night and never went out of my way to find tickets to one either. However, that night taught me the importance of concerts, the comradery. Finding people who understand your love for the artist. Find your friends who will scream out the lyrics with you on the car ride home. Finding a place where your passion can come to life. That is why it is important that people can go to a concert, to find their place.

Nothing held my interest in school more than art did. I would spend hours doodling in class, creating little creatures that popped into my head. Outside of class, I would spend hours reading books or watching storytellers on YouTube. I loved watching the intricate details of the stories come to life and watching the characters grow. After a while, I started developing my own stories too. I would daydream about different characters in class, writing down every detail of the story in my notes and doodling character designs. Over the years, I grew up and so did my stories. However, while I wanted to share my stories, I never bit the bullet. I got caught up with other activities in my life and the stories I had created took a back seat. One day in my freshman year of college, my professor wanted us to write a class play. I got to work the next day. I spent over an hour writing characters, dialogue, and scenes. It was the most fun I had in a while. Once I was finished I turned in my play to my teacher. While I thought the story was good, I did not think much of it after turning it in. Until my teacher sent me an email. She stated how impressed she was with the story and how she was inspired by it. I had never inspired someone before. It was an incredible feeling that my work inspired someone else. Since that day I have been pushing myself to write my stories and get them out into the world. I would deny, it has been hard and filled with uncertainty. Especially with the ribs of AI technology, it can be hard to stay motivated when it feels like the value of artists is decreasing. However, there are so many people out there waiting to be inspired, to find their spark of imagination, and start writing. They will not find that through AI works, they can only find it through true passion. That is my WHY, I want to keep writing to inspire, in a way that AI could never do. To keep the world filled with artists who are inspired to make their own stories.