“How are you?” is one of the common questions asked in a daily conversation. Many people would say that they’re fine or alright, but many people lie in such question. I can recount many times I have said “I’m good,” even though I just cried a river. Many people say such, because we always try to make a response that doesn't worry the other person or we are trying to make a response that is on top of our head. I am someone who tends to cry or panic a bit too easily. When I am driving, my father tells me to have calm confidence and quietly glide on the road. On the other hand, my mother tells me to not be too cocky on the road and to do exactly as she says. In the end, I trust my father more, because I have space to let my thoughts flow. In recent years, I have seen people hate the thing they are forced to do, because others cannot see what that person needs at that moment. Whether it’s at work or school, we hate having to do things that we cannot find pleasure in. I tend to find myself wanting to study more enjoyable without the need of someone forcing it upon me. Now, why is it that I like studying more at home than at school? That is because I want to do it, rather than it is forced upon me. Wendell Berry’s book, “Economy and Pleasure”, Berry states that if we cannot find pleasure in work, then the breaks will feel further and further away. So, what should we do? I have found that there is joy in every little thing. If you believe in it, it will be true, like the placebo effect. I have told myself that there are joys in everything no matter how small they may be. As of now, I am not able to see all the little pleasures, but I want to see more than I know. People have called my naive or called my ideals as false hope, but I believe that it has helped me grow further and want to be more than I am now. I still want to see more than I know in my world, because I simply cannot stop to end up spiraling.

Hello! My name is Sukai Churchill, and I am a sophomore high-schooler in Texas! I have a lot of passion for genetics ever since early middle school. I have always wondered why my hair color is dark brown even though my mother's hair is black and my father is a blonde. Now, I know it to be the fact of genetics. This insight lead to my curiosity about how things are today, not just people but animals too. I want to know such things on a more specific level like each protein and codon that translates into these genes that I have and other living things have. My plans for the future is to try to get rid of cancer. Sounds basic right? Well, I want to get rid of cancer not through chemo, but before even the slightest side effect of cancer. Many people have heritage of cancer from a parent or a grandparent, and I would want to get rid of it through genetics. I have faced many people face a harder tragic life not because they did something like smoking, but because their father got cancer through smoking and that gene got passed down to the child. We are weak to the Past. Many would think that we cannot control the past, but I think it is very possible to control the past to change the future. I want that control in life. I am not trying to play god, but want to expand our lifespans to be longer and live life to the fullest, if it wasn't even done so. Lately, many young people are dying because of cancer and recently, I just went to a funeral of a 39 year old man who died of stomach cancer. Now, his own kids are at risk of cancer and thank god, they do not have cancer. This is quite an ambitious dream and I do not know if it is fully accomplishable dream, but I want to try as hard as I can to make it a possibility alongside chemo therapy. Since this dream is so big, I believe that your scholarship can help me with the funds to not only understand the topic better as well as help me find the answers to my question after college. It would be a tremendous help to win a scholarship such as yours. Thank you very much for reading this essay! Best Regards, Sukai Churchill