Hello! My name is Tatum Bunker and I'm a Creative Writing student at Utah Valley University. I have various pieces published in both physical, digital, and in audio formats. Writing is an extremely important part of my life and I cannot live without it. To be honest, I see myself like a shark. If I stop writing (or thinking about reading and writing, really), I'll die. Now, I grew up in an LDS community and, after graduating, moved right into an even bigger LDS community. Not the best move on my part, admittedly. It was tough growing up. As an open Bisexual, I faced a lot of hate and confusion from my peers. I was no stranger to slurs or "normal therapies". I was even told that some people wouldn't associate with me because I was supposedly a lesbian. That term was thrown around me quite a bit, which was interesting considering that I was called that way before I was out. I do admit, I made myself a bit of an easy target. I thrift all my clothes, dressing how I want. Hawaiian shirts and bright colors are what I live in. I love ornate jewelry and funky patterns. I don't exactly blame my community, but I also would have not preferred to have every friend get accused of sleeping with me. My peers could have at least asked how I identified; I would have greatly appreciated it. I was not known for being normal, and that is something I take immense pride in. I like standing out. I like being weird. I also like inserting whatever absurd plot and characters into whatever I write. I want to publish books that stray from the typical formatting and catch people's eyes. I want to show the world that writing has no formula; writing is an art. Ambition is something I find extremely important. I am ambitious and I try to surround myself with those who have similar views about their own lives. In my writing, I want people to read it. I need people to read it. I yearn to share my many worlds and characters with as many people as I can. This scholarship would help tie together my dreams. As someone who is currently in a tight stop financially, this would be a life-saver. My experiences growing up lead me to realize that people can be awful. People are cruel and demeaning. There are people who don't want you to succeed. I want to show the new generation that it's okay to be yourself. It's okay to shine and be quirky. I want to prove to the writing community that untraditional books and plots are what the world needs, especially with the modern trends of "fast-fashion BookTok" books. I want to be the role model for queer individuals struggling to get a footing in their lives. It is possible to succeed; there are always humps to get over first, of course. The world is changing in so many ways and I, like mentioned, need to write about it.

If I could have everyone in the world read just one book, I would have them read Lord of the Flies. While this book is required in some high school English curriculum, most haven't or have forgotten it. Lord of the Flies tells the story of a plane full of young schoolboys during World War II. The plane was shot down, killing every adult and a handful of children. The survivors ranged from ages 7-15. These boys had no idea how to survive on their own and quickly delved into chaos and hatred. This book explains that without any rules or collaboration, the natural human instinct is to devolve into savagery. We need to work together because if we split apart, we'll be more likely to wreak havoc. Such as our two main political parties: the Democrats and the Republicans. Most are fairly passive regarding their views, however, some will tear each others' throats out. Instead of coming up with a compromise, the extremists do things to anger the other side. The overturning of Roe V. Wade, storming the capital, and BLM riots are just a few examples of things opposing political parties cause. It also shows how any leading group must be maintained. The book begins with a group of boys working together and electing a leader to help keep the group organized. However, this led to one boy gaining all the power as well as several devout followers, also hungry for the power. He became demanding, less helpful, and overly rude to the other boys. He even went as far as to try to kill some of them for disobeying. I love this book because it shows how quickly leadership can go wrong. People need to understand that even if they have different viewpoints and opinions, we can still work together to get things done and make our society great.

The dream version of my future self is successful. I have published a successful fiction book series as well as some nonfiction regarding my career. I am a forensic psychologist, working on all sorts of cases wherever I am needed. My family is happy for me and my choices and I have close friends. Having a romantic partner isn't necessary for me to be happy, but if one comes along I wouldn't complain. I have a snake, a hognose snake to be more exact. I also have a bigger bed and a better computer.

I would be sorted into the Hufflepuff house. While I’ve been in several discourses as to which house we would be in, I’ve always said Hufflepuff. In the media, people often say that Gryffindor is the house for good guys, Slytherin is the house for bad guys, Ravenclaw is the house for smart people, and Hufflepuff is the house for everyone else. I completely disagree. Gryffindors are courageous and determined. Slytherins are resourceful and clever. Ravenclaws are witty and can learn quickly. Hufflepuffs are loyal and hardworking. I would consider myself to have the traits commonly seen amongst Hufflepuffs. I am very hardworking and I always try my hardest in every project given. I work until it is completed and I strive to be the best I can be. I am also very loyal. Throughout my years in elementary, middle, and high school, I haven’t had a great friend group. I was bullied a lot in elementary school and the group of friends I thought I had ended up ditching me. But no matter how I was treated, I remained loyal to those I trusted and cared deeply about. High school was different. I had a group all four years until the summer between high school and college, so this most recent summer. Girls I had been closest with since elementary school seemingly didn’t care to hang out anymore, despite all we’d been through together. I figured they would reject my offers to hang out, but I offered anyway. I still message them, trying to chat and keep up with them. Another quality Hufflepuffs has is fair play. I try very hard to keep things fair. Whether babysitting, at work, or even splitting a brownie with my siblings, I try to make everything as fair as possible. I believe that everyone deserves the same as everyone else. Even if I want a larger piece of the brownie than my youngest brother, I’ll still give him the same size as I got. Hufflepuffs are also known for their patience. Patience is something a lot struggle with. I don’t. I understand people take time to do things, they need the time to process their emotions or to complete a task, especially since not everyone has the same skills as others. Patience is key to treating others with respect. While sitting in traffic or waiting in line at an amusement park, having patience can make you a happier person as you understand that not everything works perfectly.

My name is Tatum Bunker, I’m a 17 year old Freshman at Utah Valley University. I plan on majoring in Criminal Justice with a potential minor in Psychology. I’ve always wanted to do something with Criminology. It fascinates me how the justice system works and what people manage to do before getting caught. I wouldn’t want to be a police officer, but any job involving investigation sounds extremely interesting to me. I’ve always loved researching solved (and even unsolved) cases and doing research papers for a class assignment. I want my name to be known after I die and I want it to be because I’ve helped people. I want to help make America a safer place to live in as well as help solve other issues people have with the justice system. As of now, I want to be a forensic psychologist or a criminal profiler. These jobs are very similar: they take evidence and potential suspects and make a profile, trying to determine who the criminal could be. They take witness accounts and knowledge from previous events to try to determine what a potential motive could be for any given crime. But recently, in my intro to criminal justice class, I’ve recently discovered an interest in online research, such as what one would do as a private investigator. While I don’t want to be directly in the action, I would love to be behind the scenes. My professor also recommended that I take Blood Spatter, which sparked a more forensic-based interest in me. One main reason I chose UVU as my college is for the forensics program. They have an entire house dedicated to fake crime scenes to allow students to experience what it would be like to investigate an actual crime! I want to be able to help bring justice to those who are unable to do so. I want to help make lives better and this country safer. While I am undecided what I want to do for sure, I want to be known as a good person who dedicated her life to helping everyone she could. I’ll work as hard as possible to ensure that everything I do will make Lady Justice proud. With this scholarship, I could worry less about tuition, as that is something my family and I are struggling with. We have gotten several loans already, and hopefully this would help pay it off faster.