I remember that day. A day once filled with excitement, slowly churned toward fear and horror. It was 3 am, when my mom woke me up with a mischievous grin on her face. She asked if I wanted to go on a bike ride. I drowsily replied yes. We quickly dressed, and headed out as stealthily as possible. After feeling the crisp morning breeze race through my hair, I woke up rather quickly. I can't say the same for my mom, who was already on her own personal high after going to sleep early beforehand. We rode through Cicero. My mom caught site of a police car that seemed like it was following us. We cut down a side street to lose the squad car. It turned out they were. They remained on the street that we were on, and once we rode far enough to the point where we thought we had lost them...but we were stopped by another police car. This time, they got out of the car, and asked my mom why we were out so late, and asked if they could see her ID. When I glanced at my mom, I could sense that she was panicking. She tried to remain composed, but wasn't really cooperative with them. They handcuffed her, and put her in the back of the car. My mom was EXTREMELY cautious about the authorities approaching her, because about ten years before I was born, my brother was taken into the DCFS system. My mom tried to take custody of him again, but she just grew tired after a while. She started losing the beautiful person she was before she succumbed to depression. When I was born, my mom wasn't the same. She had become fearful and paranoid. We ended up getting to the station, where I was reunited with my mom. After the moon had drifted below the horizon, and the sun rose in it's place, a officer came in and said "Young lady, can you come with me?" My mom was confused by who he meant. Then he looked at my mom, and told her to come with him. We hugged one final time...who knew that would be the last time I would see her again. Luckily, I only stayed in one foster home. Living with a different family encouraged me to try my best and persevere at school. My depression increased during that time...so I started falling behind during my freshman year of high school. It completely broke me that I wasn't with my mom anymore. In a way, living in foster care has stunted my growth academically, and pushed it as well. My life experiences made me realize the real importance of school. In eight grade, I told my aunt that I didn't want to go to college. Now, I'm going to apply to about 16 or 17 schools. I dreamed of becoming a veterinarian...that has always been my dream career. This goal has really pushed me in school. I volunteer at a humane society, I'm taking care of feral cats right now in my own backyard. This goal has gave me a positive outlook into the future. I feel like I can actually achieve this goal, and live my dream. When I get into UW-Madison, I plan on taking in as much knowledge as I can, so I can be a productive veterinarian, and learn important life skills along the way. This scholarship would help support my goals by decreasing the cost of tuition, so I can focus on self betterment instead of debt from my tuition.

This is honestly a hard tie between my mom and my maternal aunt. My mom definitely supported me the most as a child with reaching my educational goals. She not only made sure that I reached the standing point for my age and grade level, but she also made sure that I would overly exceed. She homeschooled me until I was ten years of age. We read a lot of classic books together like A Christmas Carol, Bridge of Terabithia, Oliver Twist, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and one of her personal favorites, the Anne of Green Gables Series. We went over an astonishing amount of definitions. My mom would always write down the definitions in the stories that we read that I wasn't necessarily the most familiar with. When she finished writing them down on a separate sheet of paper, she would have me copy the words onto my own sheet of paper and let me find the definitions. My mom even had ways of educating me in other ways during our work days. She would always turn to the Spanish channel (known as V-me) on and let me watch Sesame Street, Franny's Feet, and a few other elementary shows so I could learn a second language. In addition to teaching me Spanish, she also taught me a bit of German, Cantonese, Mandarin, and even Thai. She really wanted me to learn Thai because I'm actually a quarter Thai myself. With math, she taught me my time tables up to about 13 or 14, she taught me how to multiply, divide, add, and subtract fractions. I could go on and on and on about the wondrous knowledge that my mom taught me. She taught me so much scholastically, but nowhere near enough socially. I'm forever grateful for the knowledge that she did happen to instill in me though. My mom was truly ingenious. Even her mom says that she has no idea how her daughter became so smart. She was truly the full package. Wicked smart, kind, loving, caring, sociable, beautiful. I didn't realize just how much of this I wrote about my mom. To shorten this out a bit, my mom has helped me when reaching goals because she planted an everlasting seed in my head...the incessant thirst for knowledge, the passion to learn all that I can, and even ask questions when necessary. Her teachings have helped support me tremendously scholastically, with writing, and especially with finding my own voice. My aunt has helped build on top of the skills and goals that my mom invested in me. She has helped to push me through the rough times that I have faced within my young life so far. After everything that happened, I became very reclusive, insecure, doubtful in my mental and physical strength and abilities...in other words, just when I was a few steps closer to figuring more out about myself, I experienced a major setback when my mom passed away, and I was put into the DCFS system a few years before this substantial tragedy. My aunt became my biggest cheerleader and took over the role that my mom had as my guardian angel. In addition to pushing me and helping me through this tragedy, she helps me to become a wiser adult and a smarter and productive member of society. She's teaching me to care for my mental health, believe in myself more, remind me that it's okay to be myself, to allow myself to truly grow and accept the fact that I will have setbacks...that's just a natural part of life.

This isn't a huge and substantial contribution to my community, but I do volunteer at Homewood Adoption Center every Sunday, and I would like to volunteer for more hours during the summer. I do plan on giving a lot back to Chicago when I become older, and stabilized in my career, which is to become an exotic animal veterinarian or a veterinary assistant. I hope to become a philanthropist as one of my hobbies so that I can create more gardens on the South Side of Chicago, care for young children, teach them that they can be whoever they want to be, and give extra money to pet shelters. I love animals...they truly make me happy and hopeful. And I see myself in the future working with animals as a career. Animals have always been such a huge inspiration for me ever since I was little. When I was around six or seven years old, me and my mom moved back to our hometown in Chicago, and we lived with my grandmother for a brief period of time. My mom took full control of the backyard. Even though it was very ornate at first, my mom made it into something truly beautiful. It seemed like she toiled incessantly, and spent the majority of her time back there. She planted sunflowers, marigolds, care for the Morning Glories, and even planted pansies. Being out in nature so much with my mom really allowed me to connect with so many different creatures. I played with grasshoppers, worms, lightning bugs, bees, preying mantises, and other animals. My mom taught me to truly enjoy nature, and to love everything in it. She helped me care for injured animals, she bought me a bug catcher so I could observe insects closer without them fleeing immediately. She was patient with me whenever I stopped to pick up an insect and place them back in the grass so they wouldn't get stepped on, or when I wanted to sit on the front porch and give a stray cat some tuna and milk. As I got older, my love for animals started to branch further beyond insects, and common house pets. I began to grow a great fondness towards more exotic animals like macaws, bearded dragons, cockatiels, flemish giants, and more. My first reason as to why I chose either of these fields is because animals have always had a soft spot in my heart. They make me truly happy. Even viewing pictures of animals can increase my mood substantially. Another reason is because this has been my ever growing passion since I was a young girl. My final reason is that I know that there are so many animals out there in the world who are mistreated and abused daily. Even though I know that some human beings will continue to use animals as their punching bags and mistreat them, I would still like to feel like I'm making some difference in the animal world...even if it's just a miniscule one. I want to show that I care a significant amount about all animals, and only want to help them and make their lives better. I think about the vaquita. The vaquita is the most endangered cetacean in the world. Their population is very low, with only 25 vaquitas remaining. It is concluded that many Asians and Mexicans use them for food, or trap them in gillnets. I would love to be one of the ingenious people who are trying hard to conserve these beautiful porpoises. I long to make a positive impact on the animal world.

Hello, my name is Tabbie Major. I am an incoming senior at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. First, I would like to thank you for such an amazing opportunity. To answer the writing prompt, I really wish to see acceptance become embraced in our society. Societal standards have controlled all of us for far too long. They tell us what to wear, what we should act like, what we should do with our bodies, and so much more. Even though acceptance has become widely accepted a little more during recent years, it still just doesn't meet the halfway mark. Individuals are still slandered and judged for sexuality, race, behavior, interests, and even personality. I read an article about intersex people, and the challenges that they go through. They're constantly questioned about their sexuality, and not necessarily in a respectful way. I understand that people are curious, but they shouldn't ask in a way that's harmful, or could be considered as harsh. They're judged over something that they have no control over. Intersex is not necessarily a birth defect, but it is something that someone has no control over. And it's already hard enough to truly love yourself and feel confident in your own skin if you fit neither of the boxes labeled for every member of society. I wanted to talk about the lgbtqia+ community. Even though it has been more openly celebrated, there are still some ignorant people out there who are against it. I feel like love is love. Anyone should have the innate right to love who they want to love, and be who they want to be...regardless of backlash, discrimination, and dirty looks. I'm overjoyed that there are young people in this society who have come out as lgbtq, so that other kids and young adults can feel more comfortable when they're ready to come out of the closet, and express their sexuality. More young people are starting to see that it's okay to openly discuss their sexuality, and even try finding romantic partners. I love that more people in this world are learning that they can gravitate toward making a different box, despite the two that society has for us. Even though coming out to family and friends isn't always the easiest, it does count for something...to be brave enough to tell your loved ones who you are and who you are attracted too. Honestly, my coming out experience wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. I consider myself a lesbian because I have a very strong attraction to girls, and feel more comfortable in the presence of females. The first person I told about my coming out was my therapist. She was very supportive, and we talked about waiting until I was comfortable enough to tell my aunt. No pressure whatsoever, right? Not exactly unfortunately. It was very overwhelming because I still didn't have a clue as to how she would react. One day, I ended up telling her, and she didn't yell or anything. She just told me that she wants me to find myself first before trying to enter and force myself into relationships when I might not be completely ready. This bothered me because I really want to see what it's like dating someone of the same sex, instead of subsiding my feelings. I desire to see acceptance become more embraced in our world because it's such a beautiful thing. Everyone is different, and that should be celebrated. Why don't we learn from one another instead of tearing each other apart because we don't fit the norm?

Hello, my name is Tabbie. I am an incoming senior at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. I love animals, and have a growing passion of helping others in need. Thanks for this scholarship opportunity. :) Honestly, becoming an exotic animal veterinarian has always been the apple of my eye as a career, but psychology has also been a very grand passion for me. I plan on majoring in both veterinary science and psychology. I believe that I should be awarded with this scholarship because I am very passionate about helping others in any way I can. This passion continued to grow as I became older, and was separated. Growing up, my mom struggled with mental illness. As a child, I never truly understood what mental illness was. I thought my mom's reclusive behaviors and actions were completely normal. She shut almost everyone out when I was younger...her sisters, her brothers, her mom, and other relatives that she used to have such a strong bond with in the past. She thought that she couldn't confide in anyone anymore, and that everyone was out to get her. She endured so much, even before me and my older brother were born. She lost her dad at the age of 16, and later on in her adult years, my brother was taken into the DCFS system when he was ten years old. I don't believe she ever fully recovered from either of these events. When I was raised by my mother aka my best friend and soulmate, I don't believe I ever saw her true personality. I never saw that beautiful and truly amazing person that she used to be. I reside with my aunt now, and almost have for a total of four years. She's very consistent when telling me stories about her mom when they hit her. She expresses these memories with such glee and passion. She's either always grinning from ear to ear, or looking back with awe and a tad of slight dismay. Even though my aunt isn't a therapist or other type of mental health practitioner, she has taught me so much about mental health, put supports in place to help me help with my own mental health, and helped me realize the difference between rational and irrational thinking. She is truly such an amazing person inside and out, and I'm forever grateful for her. One of the most valuable lessons that she taught me is that you can love someone indefinitely, and still realize that they made mistakes or erroneous decisions. I am still learning to accept that my mom wasn't perfect. I viewed her as this smart, beautiful, amazing deity. She was truly ever so special, so it was hard for me to see her on a different lens. I love my mom always and forever, and I long to make her proud. Even though the pain of losing her is still weighing heavily upon my soul, I want to be able to help others who are struggling with their mental health, or just might need to know that they have someone that they can talk to. I see so many homeless people and others struggling with their mental health, and it makes both me and my aunt feel very melancholy. It breaks my heart to see people sleeping under bridges, lying on benches, or shaking a cup of change and begging for money. No one deserves to deal with those kinds of hardships. So many people tend to condone them, especially the upperclassmen. I just wish that more people could just take a second to imagine being in the shoes of a pauper, or someone struggling, and just imagine how desperate they are for food, shelter, and help to get back on their feet again, instead of just turning their nosing up at them and ignoring them. To solve this issue, we all need to come together to find a solution. Even something as simple as shining a smile their way could be enough to make their day. This scholarship will assist me to propel in the field of psychology using positive behavior by keeping me motivated and aid with pushing me even harder to my dream of helping people struggling with mental health or other developmental disabilities. I could use this money to really broaden my knowledge of the field, so that I can become a more equipped person in this field. Also, maybe I could use the scholarship money to donate to organizations that are helping kids and adults with issues such as spina bifida, autism, down syndrome, and more. Thanks again for this opportunity!

So many animals are abused every single day....even by organizations that plead to protect them. I used to live in a house next door to careless owners that would constantly neglect their dog's needs. Before we even found out that they weren't caring properly for the dog, me and my mom would see their dog every single day. Every single time we were outside and he was out, I would stick my toes through the gate and let him lick them. (Sounds odd right? I was a weird kid) My mom would always tell me not too though, because she was worried that he would bite me, or start showing other kinds of aggressive and territorial behavior. I would go outside in the afternoon very eagerly, awaiting for his owners to let him out into the backyard. I would let him lick my toes, and I would stick my small fingers through the gate to try and pet him. He was the sweetest dog. He truly deserved all of the love in the world. Even my mom started to let her guard down with him. She would let me spend time out there with him by myself. She grew quite fond of him actually. One day, I decided to name him Doggy Park. Even to this day, we never found out his true name. Everything was euphoric and perfect. I wouldn't want to have had things any other way. About a fortnight later, we saw that Doggy Park was becoming very skinny. You could see his ribs through his skin. I was deeply saddened by this, and my mom was hurt as well. We knew that we couldn't keep him as our own because his actual owners next door had full ownership of him. My mom wanted to help very much, but she was slightly wary at first because food didn't come easy to us. We didn't ride to the store every time we needed food. We didn't have a car. We went to food pantries. We walked and biked there. Even though we were scarce on food as well, we continued to give Doggy Park a can of food. Looking back at it, it might have been a can of Pork and Beans or Sloppy Joe meat. My mom would let me jump over the part of our porch that led to the side of our house. She would pass me the bowl of food, and I would pass it to him through the small opening in the gate. A few weeks later, we found our efforts successful. Doggy Park slowly but surely started to gain his weight back. Me and my mom were flooded with incessant happiness during that time. We continued to feed him, and give him fresh water everyday. One day, we just stopped seeing Doggy Park, which really started to bewilder and made us extremely concerned. One of the worst days of my life was when my mom told me that Doggy Park died. Everything within me just collapsed, and I broke down in tears. My mom comforted me with a warm embrace, consoling words, and planted kisses on my forehead. I was in denial for a while. It still saddens my heart even to this day. I really loved Doggy Park an infinite amount. I just wish we could have protected him from his nonchalant owners and cared for him as our own. I saw him as my own pet. He was my first pet. I don't want any more animals to suffer due to mankind. I know firsthand how dreadful that pain is.

I love nature for an infinite amount of reasons. I have always felt a deep and personal connection to nature. Me and my mom would be out and about in nature riding our bikes, so we were out in nature constantly. As a child, I loved staring at the luminescent golden sun, while playing in the backyard with bugs and our next door neighbors dog. My mom would always expose me to the beauty of nature. She had me help her plant flowers, water them, and we would even spray each other with the nozzle of the hose. We both loved the mist setting on a sweltering summer day. With eyes filled with childlike wonder, I picked up worms, grasshoppers, butterflies, praying mantises, and so much more. My mom taught me to love insects. She didn't want me to fear them like a lot of other people tend to do. She always wanted me to view them as nature's helpers. They each have an important role in our ecosystem, and our environment overall. On rainy days, I would go outside and hunt for worms. Quite a few times, I saw a few lonely worms slowing inching towards the grass, and more protective shelter. Whenever I saw them, I would always try too pick them up and place them in the grass...and if I had enough time, I would try to place them far enough in the grass that it would be highly unlikely that someone would step on them. Even though nowadays, as a teen, I don't go hunting for bugs anymore, sometimes I will pick up a roly-poly if I see one, and pick up a caterpillar, and pet them, or just hold them. This may seem small, but I appreciate nature by taking in everything it has tooffer.

I honestly would say that the biggest problem that the world is acceptance. It just seems like we can't accept each other as a whole. We tend to find minuscule imperfections or differences to nitpick on and judge. We all do it, even though we may not be conscious that we are doing it. We are all guilty of not accepting either a person's beliefs or their interests, because we might not understand them or might not relate to them. I will use myself as an example. I am a lesbian. That's my sexuality. I feel very strong feelings to girls, but not boys, so I consider myself a lesbian. I've come out to my aunt, grandmother, and a few associates. Even though I support LGBTQ and love everyone who is involved in that community, now I have developed a little bit of harsh feelings towards homosexuals. My teacher showed us a movie, and I saw this man and woman kissing. I honestly cringed and wanted to barf. I couldn't help but think that the girl in the movie could do a lot better than some guy. I know...it probably seems sexist, and I'm trying hard to keep these feelings at bay. I hate these feelings and don't want to feel this way. Homosexual love and intimacy is just as beautiful and wondrous as lgbtqia+ love. To answer the second question, I think that we can work on this problem by just keeping an open mind. Instead of allowing our parents and grandparents views to penetrate our minds, and then pass these beliefs down to the next posterity...why don't we break the cycle? What if we allow our children to choose their own paths, instead of forcing them on the same path as us?

My main goal for college is to have enough experience with animals, volunteer work, and have other eye-catching things that I can add on my resume before I start applying for colleges this summer. I figured since I probably won't have perfect grades to get into vet school, maybe I can push through, and defy the odds by doing other impressive things to stand out. I realized that whatever college you want to go to isn’t just about your grades, SAT, or ACT score. Sure those things matter, but most importantly, colleges are looking for who you are as a person. They want to know you…and don’t want to just look at grades or different test scores. I was wondering if I should just give up on my dream college, which is UW-Madison. I didn’t want to give up just because of my grades, but also for other reasons…such as worrying about debt, not being familiar with the area, etc. After I talked to her, my hope was replenished a bit. To measure this goal, I will write down the number of places that I have volunteered at. Not just places similar to veterinary science. I plan on volunteering at food pantries, giving food and toiletries to the homeless, volunteering at animal shelters, etc. I already struggle with my mental health, so I’ll only pick certain activities that won’t kill me mentally...and try the activities that I really love to do. I love animals…and I truly want this. I want to help care for animals. I plan on becoming an exotic animal veterinarian like Dr.K. I’m serious about getting into vet school. That would be my dream…so I’m not going to continue to sit on my ass and do nothing. I’m going to make this dream a reality.

I actually learned quite a few things when it comes to applying for scholarships. One thing I learned is that there are like an infinite amount of scholarships out there. I really love how there are literally scholarships for everyone. Whether you play sports, or like to dance, have an interest in computer science. It's always some scholarship out there for anything that you love, or would really like to pursue an education in in the future. Sometimes the application process can be really easy, and other times kind of challenging. I know that sites like Niche have "No-Essay Scholarships," and those are always really easy to apply for, and honestly I've applied for several of those. I found out something that was really disappointing to me though. I am a high school junior who wants to go to UW-Madison to major in animal science, veterinary science, and definitely zoology. I would love to work with exotic animals. Unfortunately though, I found out that it's really hard to find veterinary scholarships to apply for as a high school student. They have a few for college kids though. I remember one said that you had to be a college Sophomore or Junior, and you had to have two letters of recommendation, upload your resume, proof that you're actually in the required year of college, and write a long essay to go along with it. I only found one veterinary scholarship that I could actually apply for, but it was past the deadline, so I couldn't complete it. I learned that you could also look for scholarships within the school/university that you would like to attend. I actually found one that I'm still going to apply for. It's called the Posse scholarship. What caught my eye is that it was actually a scholarship that is partners with UW-Madison. I've learned that you can actually get a full ride scholarship! I never knew that until a few months ago. I would love to get accepted by one of those scholarships since I'm going to vet school, and I know that it's quite expensive. I learned that there isn't a limit on the number of scholarships that you can apply for. With that information, I really kept it in the back of my mind, and now I think I have applied for maybe a little bit more than 15 scholarships. I figured it would be better to apply for more scholarships, because obviously I'm not going to win every single scholarship, and I could really use that money for college fees. One of the final things I learned is that you can even apply for scholarships while you're in college. It doesn't have to end in high school. You have more options! Yay! Thanks for this opportunity!

When I was younger, I used to really believe that family is everything, and really is all that mattered. I was a strong believer of this until I turned 10 years old. That's when everything in my life changed, and was turned topsy-turvy. During the early spring of 2015, I was separated from my mom by the police, because we were riding our bikes at three in the morning, and the police thought that this behavior was odd so they confronted my mom about it. They asked to see ID, but my mom wasn't really compliant with the process. She didn't go berserk, but she was a little defensive. When we were taken to the police station, me and my mom waiting in a bleak waiting room for about two or three hours. Later on, they took my mom in for fingerprinting, and that was the last time that I would ever see her again. I cried incessantly, and it was such a difficult goodbye that I never wanted to have to say. After this, I was taken into the system, and I had no contact with my mom. As years went on, I realized that family wasn't everything to me. At the time, my mom was the main person who I loved dearly, and cared for since we were around each other almost 24/7. She was gone...so I had to find some way to move on as well even though it was very painful. Now I live with my aunt, uncle, and younger cousin. I love them so much, but at the same time...I love other things as well that ended up being of great importance as well. Such as writing, reading, playing games on my phone, archery, and playing my guitar. I hope this was ok.

One time that I showed up for an individual who was actually a good friend of mine at the time is when we were going on stage to perform a song. Me and this friend of mine were a part this arts/dance class named Global Girls. Me, my friend, and several other girls had practiced and performed many different dance routines for months. Later on in the year, we were all going to either perform a song, dance, or poetry with our chosen groups. That day, we stood in front of many different younger kids and teenagers, and performed our piece that we were going to do for the show. Me and my friend Glennace were both extremely nervous, but in the end we were able to get through it. We sang in front of our audience, and received applause. For the final dance/performance, we were supposed to show up at Corliss High School, which is also on the Southside of Chicago. We performed other dances in our groups that we were a part of before. We danced to the Alexander Hamilton play, and Freedom by Beyonce, along with a couple of other songs...then, that's when we were ready to perform in our own chosen groups. In our group, there was actually three of us that were supposed to perform together, but our other friend ended up falling ill last minute. When it was our time to shine/perform, we walked past a few of our other peers behind the curtains, and stood in the middle of the stage. The audience actually wasn't actually as packed as we thought, but the pressure and unaverted eyes glaring at us with curiosity and wonder, burned through my skin. My friend started out the song, because she had the first lines, while I had lines closer to the end of the songs. Her voice was absolutely beautiful, and she did absolutely amazing, even though she was just as nervous as I was. When my lines came in, I started to sing, but the audience couldn't really hear me that well since I have a very quiet speaking voice in general, and I don't talk that much...so my voice has never really had that much of a chance to really get the opportunities needed to project. My voice was shaking, and my whole body was trembling, but I was able to get through it. After we were done, we received a loud applause, and left to go back behind the stage. I think I told her that she did amazing, and I think we hugged as well. I gave this story as an example because I was so scared...honestly I did want to ditch long before, but I didn't want my friend to have all the pressure and anxiety added onto her, so I stayed and we ended up getting through that difficult moment together. Thank you guys for this scholarship opportunity.

To answer the second question. I would say that one of my plans to positively impact the Black community is by coming up with something like a movie in the park type of thing. Our kids deserve the exact same as children in Caucasian communities. Maybe another thing could be some type of art club where African American children of all ages can come to, and learn to paint different things...whether animals, people, and with a benefit of making new friends. A goal that I really value in the Black community is helping with the taboo topic of mental health. I see so many adults and children out their suffering from mental health issues, and either don't know where to go for help, or they might be afraid to ask for it since there's so much stigma behind it. My mom struggled with mental health for many years. Even though she's no longer with us, I always wish that there could be something that I could have done to help her, but I was too young to understand at the time. I don't want anyone to go through the pain and suffering of watching a loved one suffering with mental health, or a loved one just feeling hopeless. So, I think about some kind of meeting to talk about mental health, and kind of vent about or different experiences. The charge would be completely free. There would be refreshments, snacks, toys, books, and even articles about mental health. I would like to make the talk about mental health more intriguing to others, so that it won't just seem like a chore. Personally, as a junior in high school, whenever my school mentions anything about mental health, I just feel like "ughh here we go again." I know how important mental health is, and I appreciate my school for trying to make the topic more interesting by performing different rotations throughout the day such as, mental health cheer, art, music, even outdoor walks, and ways to make students with disabilities feel more included within our school and our community, but still...just the slightest mentioning of mental health makes me feel kind of annoyed, and it just feels like a chore, to say the least. With the mental health discussion, I would like to also include all ages as well, since it isn't just adults suffering with mental health. Maybe the adults and kids could introduce themselves to each other, and establish bonds in the meantime while learning about mental health. There could be different lounge chairs, or chairs you can pull up to the table. There will be access to different snacks and drinks like yogurt, oreos, nutter butters, string cheese, chocolate with and without nuts, and water, tea, milk, orange juice, apple juice, and lemon/lime flavoured water. Maybe I could ask my family to help me, and maybe we can set this up together. And we could also have really cute shirts and hoodies for kids and adults to take home. I'll end this here. Thank you all for allowing me to speak all of this, and have an opportunity to win this scholarship.