My best back-to school tip is to start setting a schedule for yourself. During the summer, you start to lose track of time, and you're pretty much all over the place. When school starts you're going to have to wake up at a certain time and sleep at a certain time, so why not start getting organized early. It can also be a way to mentally prepare you for going back to school. Insta: starrs_dust

Core values are traits or qualities that represent an individual's or an organization's highest priorities, deeply held beliefs, and core, fundamental driving forces. My core values are knowledge, honesty, kindness, curiosity and loyalty. Everyone is unique in their own way, and that reason is because the difference in core values we all share. These core values are important to me because they shape me into the person I am. Core values are important in general because they are the drive of what we stand for in the world and where are morals lie. The type of civic engagement I participate in now that I'm 18 is political engagement. The way I apply these values to my civic engagement work is that I am knowledgeable about the people around me, and am I am very honest about my feelings about what I'm voting for. I pay close attention and do my research about the policies that the candidates present. My curiosity about the candidates is what would fuel my knowlege about what the candidates are advertising. As a community we vote on election day for either the governor. How I apply my values to my academic studies is that I ask questions, read, and I always stay focused on my academic studies. My curiosity is what moves me to dive deep and do extra research. I love reading books and articles daily, which builds up my knowledge. I am honest with myself about my procrastination, which is improving with time. I have always been a student where I would have straight A's but there would always have one B in a class. Next, how I apply these values to my relationships which include friends and family is that I'm loyal to them. However, just because I'm loyal to them doesn't mean I'm biased. I am very logical and have always believed honesty is the best policy. I can admit if one of my family members or even myself is in the wrong. Being trustworthy is another trait of mine, and I do not make promises I can't keep. Kindness is also a trait that I have, towards friends, family, and strangers. Being cosumed by malice is something everyone should practice to avoid, but with the way jealousy is common that's not the case. Altogether, my core values include being knowledgeable, honest, kind, curious, and loyal. These core values that I gravitated to since childhood is what made the person I am today. These traits have created a hardworking, resourceful, unique individual.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are the words the acronym 'STEM' stands for. STEM is important as it puts emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking skills, two areas where my strengths lie. I want to pursue a career in STEM to be provided with a high chance of job security, and to make a positive impact in my workplace and field of study. I have always preferred science compared to other subjects. I also plan to pursue a bachelor's degree in physics to become an astronomer. Job security is the state of having a job that is secure and from which one is unlikely to be dismissed. This is very valuable and I strive to have it. To sum it up, if you get accepted within a work field and have a small chance of losing it, then you are most likely secure for life. With this in effect, it most likely means that the workplace has a relaxed atmosphere, and with a relaxed atmosphere will increase efficiency and productivity. High productivity in the work environment is important. I would love to leave a positve impact within my study field and workplace. Whether it's being kind, dedicated, or resourceful. Ways I would do this is to treat everyone with respect, offer to help others, and to always speak up and ask questions when I notice something. Looking for ways to make a good difference in someone's life is also an example of making a positve impact. These come in all shapes and forms. The way I would use my degree to help uplift the community is donating to black neighborhoods with low income, and to deliver motivational speeches at HBCU's. I would love to visit schools to motivate the next generation of students to accomplish what they their goals in life. I plan to participate in community politics, and support local business and small business owners. Volunteering is really important if you're willing to make a difference in the community. With my degree I plan to give back and uplift the community as much as I can. In conclusion, some of the reasons why I want to pursue a career in STEM is to make a positive impact in my workplace, and to be provided with a high chance of a secure job for the rest of my life. How I would use my degree in STEM to help uplift the community is to donate to black neighborhoods, volunteer, provide motivational speeches, and to give back. Altogether, I really hope to make a positive difference with my STEM studies.

During my senior year last month in March I decided to take the SAT again, but I scored lower than what I did in December. I really wanted to score higher than I did last time. I felt really bad about it since my mom drove me there and back, to the library to print out my ticket, and in the end it was just a waste of time. This is something that you can't redo or make-up. Therefore, I was dissapointed and it was a failure in my book to be honest. Furthermore, I looked back on the events leading up to that SAT test. I went to a different testing center becuase I didn't register to the last one I went to fast enough. Also, I only started to study two days before the day of testing. These two things are what most likely contributed to my low score. My old testing center had a more organized and better testing environment overall. As well as that I had to guess on a lot of the questions, with how many questions are there the time you have is not enough. If fifteen minutes were added to each section there's no doubt that I would have done better. However, the ways that I went above and beyond was to; create deadlines for myself, stay up late at night to get work done, create checklists, and time myself on assignments. These methods have helped me a ton. Another thing I do is listen to music while I'm working and that helps also. I'm doing research on the colleges I'm interested in and applying to scholarships even faster. I strive to keep this high work ethic. In conclusion, what I learned from this experience altogether is to not wait and do things last minute. I waited last minute to register for the SAT, and there were no more seats in my old testing center. I waited last minute to start studying for the SAT, and I got lower score than last time. Whenever I did something last minute there was a consequence. Altogether, I learned to not do anything last minute, and to get tasks done as fast as possible.

One personal finace lesson that I find important is to not buy anything you don't need. Whenever you get a check I think creating your own budget is important. Especially when you do want to buy something like a new phone or outfit. Over time due to your budget, your savings has accumulated. This is a strategy that has helped me numerous times.

During my senior year last month in March I decided to take the SAT again, but I scored lower than what I did in December. I really wanted to score higher than I did last time. I felt really bad about it since my mom drove me there and back, to the library to print out my ticket, and in the end it was just a waste of time. This is something that you can't redo or make-up. Therefore, I was dissapointed and it was a failure in my book to be honest. In addition to this, it affected me in both negative and positive ways. The negative was me doubting myself and my abilities. I was questioning myself asking, 'Am I really smart or did I guess luckily last time?'. The positive was me looking back and asking myself, 'What did I do wrong?'. I did have a bad habit of procrastinating, and it's a habit I really want to stop. In the month of April I have gotten a bit better but old habits die hard. Furthermore, I looked back on the events leading up to that SAT test. I went to a different testing center becuase I didn't register to the last one I went to fast enough. Also, I only started to study two days before the day of testing. These two things are what most likely contributed to my low score. My old testing center had a more organized and better testing environment overall. As well as that I had to guess on a lot of the questions, with how many questions are there the time you have is not enough. If fifteen minutes were added to each section there's no doubt that I would have done better. However, the ways that I went above and beyond was to; create deadlines for myself, stay up late at night to get work done, create checklists, and time myself on assignments. These methods have helped me a ton. Another thing I do is listen to music while I'm working and that helps also. I'm doing research on the colleges I'm interested in and applying to scholarships even faster. I strive to keep this high work ethic. In conclusion, what I learned from this experience altogether is to not wait and do things last minute. I waited last minute to register for the SAT, and there were no more seats in my old testing center. I waited last minute to start studying for the SAT, and I got lower score than last time. Whenever I did something last minute there was a consequence. Altogether, I learned to not do anything last minute, and to get tasks done as fast as possible.