For a cube-shaped game, Minecraft has a stellar ability to think outside the box. Each new block, mob, and terrain creates a world of possibilities; every gaming experience is different, from peaceful cottage-making to conquering everything in sight. Anything can be done if you set your mind to it, the sky's the limit (quite literally). Within this game of endless options, I find my favorite aspect relates to none of those infinite choices. What I enjoy most is a function practically every game develops; the multiplayer ability! Minecraft’s multiplayer is so much more than that of other games, in my eyes nothing could replicate it. The interactions and friendships I’ve built in this multiplayer beat any other. Minecraft is an incredible space, both in the real game and in the servers of online hubs with mini-games. I’ve met mostly strangers in those mini-games, set with a random team for only one game. This hardly is an issue, one game is all others and I require! With a little dance of buttons and some friendly clicks, a friendship is built in an instant. Suddenly you are willing to sacrifice yourself to save another in a PVP match, share your resources in Bedwars, and guide your team to victory. I once made friends with an entire enemy team in a game of Bedwars! So much so that they let me stay at their base when my bed was destroyed, and even built me a little cabin to stay in! Such sweet interactions are telling of my online Minecraft experiences; connections are found and made in an instant, lingering long after the game ends. I still remember that little team and the little Christmas party they threw at their home base; multiplayer allowed me to meet them, and I couldn’t be more grateful. This pattern of friendship continues into the real game, multiplayer servers allowing me to meet with my best friends no matter the situation. My friends, unfortunately, live far away or can’t visit often. Online games have always been our refuge, none more so than Minecraft. This block game allowed us to reconnect, building our wild imaginations while comforting each other about the real world we had a little escape from. We dealt with our anger by making worlds of TNT and celebrated our joys with absolute nonsense builds. My friends and I even played those online mini-games, screaming at each other for help while we got destroyed in PVP. Those are some of my favorite memories, and without multiplayer, I never would have experienced them. Though multiplayer can be found in several games, Minecraft provides a setting of free expression and possibility that other video games lack. Anything can be built, battles of untold imagination can be fought, and beautiful ideas can be crafted. That kind of fantasy is an important comfort of mine, a safe place I always desired to reside within. My life often feels boring and mundane, moving from one motion to the next, so I rely on those little sparks of fiction to liven my day. My dreams are filled with dragons, magical potions, flying high above the clouds, and finding others to share in my dreams. Fantasy is hardly any fun without the ‘friends you made along the way’. After all, that’s why multiplayer in Minecraft resonates so deeply with me. No other game has put my dreams so close within reach. Only in Minecraft can I be in that wild fantasy, and only in Minecraft’s multiplayer function can I share the fantasy with my friends, including those I haven’t met yet.

Cooking has always been my chance at escapism, a way to visit a life much more exciting than my own. I was born with juvenile arthritis, a disease that affects my joints by making them stiff and painful to move. The illness is focused on my knees which limits my ability to move, and without the strength to bend those joints, I found myself stuck while others got to soar. Growing up I couldn't run around and play as easily as the other kids, I practically had the knee strength of a 70-year-old man at the age of 4, so indoor life was best suited to me. There was only so much a kid could do inside alone, lacking the funds for shiny new toys or things to keep me busy left me starved for entertainment and joy. What my family DID have was a TV, a movie rack, and a phone; those proved to be more than enough. With Disney movies, cartoons, video games, and so much more the world became my oyster when I was on wifi. But nothing, absolutely nothing, caught my eye more than those cooking shows on Food Network. From the color of the food to the way the ingredients were merely pronounced, I was obsessed with the culinary universe. Food was a universal connection, something I could always find in every film and every cartoon I enjoyed. Each piece of media tackled cuisine in its own manner, showing this array of creativity I had never considered before, and suddenly cooking opened a door in my childhood mind to a universe of fantasy. Making 'potions' in my bathroom from shower gel, cooking up mudpies for a monster, and concocting 'forgotten' recipes using spare ingredients from dinner and my fridge as I wasn't allowed to use the stove; the world was reborn anew under a banner of a knife and fork! As I got older, the culinary arts expanded from my escape from my small slice of reality to OURS instead. Just like me, my father was stuck inside as well; he was often sick and wheelchair-bound, making it easier for him to stay at home raising me. He couldn't do much without the help, but what he could do like no one else was cook. I loved nothing more than to help him create delicious meals, and I became his sous chef as I peeled potatoes for his culinary masterpiece. It would just be meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but for us, it was a royal feast. We struggled in the world outside our door, but in the kitchen, we could be superheroes. Now I desire nothing more than to cook and bake every day, getting the opportunity to make those wild dreams of my childhood come true and to create new ones with each meal and pastry. I'd share that opportunity with my community, every soul who struggles in this world and needs the escape of fantasy or dreams as I did. I would work till my hands reeked of sugar and salt, gathering the funds to support all those who need the extra hand to make their escapes a reality. Donations to charities helping the sick and poor, supporting activists fighting for our rights, or even affording my loved ones a well-deserved trip; no expense or strategy is too little. I want to help, but above all aim for a world where we no longer need that escapism, a world just as amazing as potions and superheroes. Where better to start than the career that showed me such a wonder in the first place?

When I was seven, my father passed away. For a long time, his health had been deteriorating and my mother, being the only one of the two able to work, struggled to finance all his medical needs. I wasn't any help either, for I was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, which only added to our expenses. With no possible way to afford our medicines, doctors, and a house, we moved in with my grandpa and grandma to cut costs. Plenty of luxuries such as our house had to be renounced to afford our needs so my mama threw herself into her work to support us as much as possible, leaving her little time to spend with me or do much of anything else. So my father stepped up, though he couldn't stand at all after losing his leg to diabetes, to raise me. He cooked my meals, played with me, taught me my letters no matter how much I hated them, and learned every way to make me smile. He let me absolutely butcher painting his nails, became my sled as we rode down slides, and was always my favorite rival in water gun fights. He was my everything, no man alive today has ever made me as happy and filled with love as he did; my mother will tell you the same thing. But no amount of our joy would cure what ailed him, trust me I tried with all my might, and he passed all the same. Since that day, it was just my mama and I against the world. Suddenly she had so much to do: work her job, keep me fed, be on track with my medications, find time to be involved in my life beyond necessities, and battle away her grief long enough to do all these things. Parties, fun events out with friends, and just simple nights to herself, all surrendered in her pursuit to care for me. I like to think I'm a smart kid, and although my mom hid her emotions well I still knew she had spread herself and her heart thin. So, being the child I was, I tried to lighten her load with a simple remedy to the blues as if that's all the issue was: I made her smile. After spending so much time with my father I luckily inherited his sense of humor, and that humor made my mom laugh almost every time. Ridiculous reactions, dry humor, sarcastic or snarky remarks, nothing was off the table if it made the most important woman in my life happy. It wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, there was still so much to be done and face, but it brightened her day and mine all the more. I've grown a lot since those days, and a lot about me has changed, but one thing will always stay the same; my dedication to happiness. Making others smile, laugh, or even chuckle has evolved into what matters most in my life, especially for those closest to my heart. My dad's passing left my family in despair, and it was only in that gloom that I had the chance to acknowledge and experience joy's importance. I try to spread my humor, joy, and delight, everywhere I go, and I especially focus on making that happiness thrive between my mama and me. To this day that incredible woman still sacrifices and works herself to the bone, all in the hope of giving me a lively, comfortable, and joyous life, and I shall fight to do the same. Anything in my power to bring her the same happiness she has brought me will be utilized to the fullest. It can exhaust me at times, always trying to spread cheer, but her persistent strength in her work and her love will always inspire me to stay strong in my efforts. Having the privilege to be happy is not something everyone is afforded, unfortunately, the world still suffers horrible attacks on each other from military to discrimination. It's a harsh truth and one I will refuse to swallow. No matter one's beliefs, interests, financial or familial situation, everyone deserves happiness. My story may not be as impactful as others, and it may not be enough to qualify me to talk about what the world needs in any shape or form, but the message still rings true. So even if my account isn't enough, I will continue to "fight" for all those who suffer and sacrifice just as my mother had. I will do all I can with what I have, as my father had, to ensure a future filled with happiness for those who lack it in the present. I'll never give up no matter the obstacle, just as my parents showed me throughout their lives.